Monday, August 13, 2007

"Womaniness" and Such...



One of the greatest blessings this summer was the chance to come visit my sister Emily in Dallas. I was not sure that I was going to get to see her, but it just worked out okay. It has been a great couple of days. We have spent time at the pool, relaxing, shopping and just catching up.

On Sunday Emily and I went over to Sean's mother's house. We ended up shooting the breeze for a while and then going to a movie. We saw "No Reservations" which was pretty cute. Afterwards we went shopping and we bought dresses (they happen to be matching... lol...) and other "essentials." It was purely a girls day and it was so great. This may sound silly to you fellow readers, but sometimes it just feels so good to be a girl. In China, I feel as though some "womaniness" is knocked out of you. We seldom get dressed up and if so it is in the same clothes we wear each day. Clothes shopping is out of the question there. A nice dinner is Pizza Hut. You have to be a tad tougher and hold yourself together even when sometimes you don't feel like it. Sometimes it is just hard to feel beautiful. On Sunday I had a "beautiful" day and it was much appreciated! Hopefully there will be a few more of those before I go back...

Friday, August 3, 2007

That's Democracy For You...

So I have not blogged since being home because I have not found anything as worthy to blog about until today...

Today Nashville had the election for its mayor and councilmen. Since I had the chance I thought I would vote because it is the American thing to do. After talking with friends and doing some research online, I made my decisions. So this morning my grandmother and I drive down to Glendale Methodist where we vote. I was surprisingly excited.

I did not have my voter card, but that was no problem. The lady took my drivers license and flipped open the notebook. I noticed my name was highlighted. There was a problem. Since I did not vote in the last election I was an "inactive" voter. It would have been easily solved except the election official had just left to run an errand. I was shocked! Election officials don't have to be on voting property the whole time!?!?! I did not know if I would be able to make it back in the day so I was bummed. I actually teared up! (Yes, I think that is crazy too! I guess it was important to me.) The new election computers messed up my grandmother's vote, but luckily she caught it. So first trip kind of unsuccessful...

Second attempt, later in the afternoon... The election official was there this time. However, I had to fill out several forms and then she did not know exactly what to do because I was her first inactive voter for the day. She called the phone bank which had not had any phone calls all day (the woman did not even know she was the phone bank!) and after quite a bit of time I was approved to vote. I was the first inactive voter in Davidson County and maybe even the only one! That is hard to believe.

Anyways, I got to vote. The official took a picture of me so I could show my students when I go back. All the workers had questions about China and I left feeling like I had accomplished something. I wore my "I Voted!" sticker all day. :)

Tonight I looked on the news website to check the results and what to my dismay did I find... Not ONE single candidate that I voted for won. Not ONE! I made 7 different votes! What an outrage after all the hassle! Guess that is democracy for you...

(For the record Gentry should be Nashville's next mayor!)