Note of Thanks

So it's pretty much the end of the road for the Chinese adventure. This blog was never supposed to be a diary and was only to be a documentation of the experiences. A quick thank you to all those who were a part of this wonderful experience.

China 13 team... it's been great knowing each one of you. Susanna, Denis... thanks for all the support. Tom/Dan.. thanks for the wonderful time spent in Club M and all the intellectual discussions we had. Sue.. thanks for being there for me on my birthday when the clock struck 12:00. Duli: I'm going to remember you for your persistent search for 'flexibility' and also admire you for your theory around Indian body structures. Any trouble I get into in India could be on account of you. Carlos/Thiago... you owe me one for saving your marriages :) (by repressing freedom of speech and visual expressions). Andrea... you owe me HotPot in the US sometimes; I'm going to remember it. And Shruti...our experiments with speaking in Hindi just for the heck of it made me realize how screwed up my grasp over my so called 'mother tongue' is. 

Stay in touch guys. 

Some more folks who deserve a mention:

The massage girls who defy the laws of physics and exert more force psi than humanely possible. Those elbows are lethal weapons and could cause serious harm if used the wrong way. 

The room cleaning lady who kept the 'home' clean and the 'club' functional. Thanks for taking out the trash everyday. And thanks for not judging me by the bottles removed everyday :)

The pancake guy: Can I just call you mommie? You fed me some of the best food in SHJ... food almost at par with what my mom makes. Must have been the love in it. I did get you an extremely loyal clientele eventually. Thanks for the lovely food!

The 'Ni Hao' receptionist girls. These were the pleasant girls on whom I practiced the only Chinese phrase I managed to pickup.

The Support System

 Lucy... a BIG THANK YOU for everything. I being your closest room-mate, could often sense the exasperation in your body language at handling these 11 grown up kids. You did a fantastic job. Thank you so much! 

 

Em 'n' M

And lastly Emily - who complained that she wasn't given enough of a mention in my blogs. When friends back home told me that I should pick up a Chinese doll for my house, they could have well been talking about this one. One could really gift wrap and get this cute girl back home, but for the potential run-in with Indian Customs. By 'Customs' I really don't mean the authorities at the airport... rather I mean the socially prevalent 'Customs' that entitle a wife to drive you out of the house if you get a  live Chinese doll home! Hey thanks for everything Em!