5 months!!!

*long-ish post*

WOW!!!! Closing another month in Shanghai. March 31, 2018 (so clearly I’m behind posting this) brings me to my fifth month in China and April 1 will be the first day of my sixth month! Half a year in Asia. It has definitely had its fair share of challenges. A lot of good days, a lot of laughs, smiles, and some tough days in between all of that. I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything at all. I am looking forward to coming home when my contract ends.

If I didn’t take so many pictures I would probably forget much of what I have done. Here is a recap of KMG’s March and what to look forward to with me in April!

 

TWG – Afternoon Tea

I have always wanted to have afternoon tea! Seems super nice, relaxing, and cultural. One of my friends said, “it sounds like you’re eating a little bit of food for a lot of money” – that’s kind of true but my small portions were yummy and my cherry blossom tea was so good! I am so glad I went and had tea – and I went SOLO. Living abroad has pushed to do more things on my own and it hasn’t been so bad even though enjoying activities with friends and family will always be at the top of my list. But, if experiencing something new or traveling to a new place means doing it SOLO – I am not against it!

Celebrations- Christens birthday

Christen has been a great part of my life since my time in Shanghai. Totally my #ShanghaiBestie. Starting over can be tough- and starting over in a new country can be really tough. Meeting Christen definitely helped my starting over experience in Asia. We are coworkers, neighbors, and #passportbuddies.

We partied all night to celebrate her birthday. Salsa dancing and friends. Shanghai definitely knows how to party!

 

John Legend

If I am honest – I am the biggest John Legend fan but since he was here in China my friends and I went to the show. #TinyWonder as my girl Jasmine puts it – puts on a great show. His show was amazing! We really enjoyed ourselves and Shanghai showed up for J.Legend. It was nice to have this little piece of home here in China.

Black Panther Premiere

Yall know I been HYPE about BLACK PANTHER — #WakandaForever since the very first preview. One of the first things Althea said to me when I said I was moving to China was “You’re gonna miss Black Panther with us.” That made me all kinds of sad. But, I still went to China. Then I arrived here and was unsure if it would be released here. Finally! Found out that it would be released but not until almost a month after it was released everywhere else. That broke me! I wanted to see this movie opening weekend.

I went to Thailand for my birthday in February and had big plans and a tight few days there. I saw a billboard for Black Panther and everything stopped. I had to see it! I was able to see Black Panther opening weekend in Thailand and opening weekend in China. Yall know I love that I was a part of two global opening weekends for the movie. That’s pretty cool. I absolutely loved the movie – as you know from a previous post.

We had a big premiere here. A friend here- Kristen – is an event planner and she planned a full night of fun and we transformed the W. Hotel and the neighboring IMAX theater into Wakanda. There was red carpet, photos, backdrops, African dancers, everyone dressed up in their best Wakanda outfits and we bought 3 rooms in the theater and each one sold out. It was such a great night and lots of fun to see everyone come out and support the movie.

I am looking forward to seeing it again soon.

 

Disneyland – of course!

…because …. Why not???

 

SH World Financial Center (http://www.swfc-shanghai.com/)

#SHWFC is on my list of top 10 things to do in Shanghai. IT was nice. I went to visit it on my weekend. The Shanghai World Financial Center is a supertall skyscraper located in the Pudong district of Shanghai, China. I bought tickets for the tour- enjoyed some history of Shanghai – watched a short film- and went to the 100^th floor to see wonderful areal views of the city. I can check this off of my list. There is another place in Shanghai where you get similar views – I feel like if you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all but here is information on the other one if you’re ever in China!

Oriental Pearl Tower http://www.orientalpearltower.com/

 

Bowling with the homies

Would you believe there are lots of Black people in Shanghai??? Welp! There really are. It has been really nice building a community while here. A bunch of us planned a night out to go bowling. We had a blast!

 

Pearl Art Museum

I have been using my weekends to explore Shanghai and all that it has to offer. I checked out this new museum with some friends two weeks ago and we explored the neighborhood that we were in. We even stumbled on a small pizza shop owned by a guy who is from Southern California – he’s a USC Trojan. Crazy Small World. I’m always thankful for these moments!

 

 

Cooking with Ruby

This is Ruby! She is my Learning Partner (LP) or Co-Teacher as we would probably say at home in America. She has been simply wonderful. She is teaching me Chinese – which I need to use more and we work great together in the classroom. She came over to my place a couple weeks ago and we cooked a traditional Chinese meal. I asked Ruby if we could cook together since she told me she really loves cooking and she was super happy to cook with me.

Dumplings. Vegetables (eggplant and green beans). Ribs (those of you who knew me know I was happy about this) in Chinese sauce and spices. IT was all so good.

I am really thankful for Ruby… I have heard some people talk about their experience with their LP’s and it not being so great and the fact that my experience has been TOP … I don’t take that for granted. Ruby and I plan on hanging out more so I will be sure to share about our experiences with you.

 

 

……I wanted to show with this post that Shanghai has so much to offer. Shanghai’s populations is about 24 million people and his China’s largest and most populous city. This city is full of dining (from all over the world), museums, arts, sports, nightlife, fitness, shopping, travel- almost anything you want is here. To live overseas – kinda cool!!!

Every day has not been perfect for me. TO BE COMPLETELY HONEST – March was full of some very challenging days. I signed myself up for this experience so I am doing my best to be as positive as I can and learn from everything that is presented to me.  It’s amazing to me how two people can be presented with the same exact experience and experience it differently. When I talk to some of my friends here it’s crazy to hear about their time here and I compare it to my time and it’s like night and day. My life as a Black foreigner has had its moments here. Definitely…… but….then there-is-this

“Everyday- Aint- Gone- Be- Perfect- But- That- Still- Doesn’t- Mean- Today- Doesn’t- Have- Purpose” – – I try and remember this!

 

We are over a week into April. My 6^th month here. The interviews are coming soon with my friends and their experiences here. I am so excited to share it with you all. Sorry its not ready yet, but I do hope that you enjoy it once posted.

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I am excited about life! I am filled with Hope. I am overwhelmed with JOY!

I am going to do my best to live by the ‘Glad Texts’ 

(one of my favorites is–Psalms 98:4-Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,
    burst into jubilant song with music) — Did you know that there are over 800 Glad Texts in the Bible?!?! More than one for each day of the year for me to live by.

#FearlessinShanghai #Thankful #joychangeslives #KMarieTakesChina #BlackGirlMagic #KarlaGirlLivingLife #BlackGirlJoy #LivingMyLifeLikeItsGolden #ChinaorBust #ChinaAintReady #BlackInShanghai #LookOutWorldHereComesKarla  #KarlaGirlJoy #BlackGirlInShanghai #eatsleeppartyrepeat #givingisgood #givingisfun #WakandaForever #ShuriAndNakiaAndOkoye #MelaninMagic #Blessed #FaithfulIsMyGod

“life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all”  – Hellen Keller

*I choose ADVENTURE*