Things I've Learned About Myself that Surprise Me

Things I've learned about myself that have surprised me.

- I have usually considered myself to be a bit of a homebody. Even on family vacations, I would often rather stay in the hotel instead of going out and doing something. However, right now I am really really excited about going out and seeing things in Beijing. The last thing I want to do right now is lay around in my dorm.

- I love shopping, I realized. Back in the Atates, I thought shopping (particularly for clothes) was really silly and materialistic and I had no desire to do it. Here, however, I have found myself totally pumped about shopping for clothes. The difference is that I can afford designer clothes here that are a tenth of the price they would be in America. I am truly eager to buy clothes here whose brands I had never even heard of a week ago. No more will I be able to sit smugly and listen to people talk about shopping and think to myself, "I'm glad I'm not like those people." I'm just as "materialistic" as everybody else -- particularly (it would seem) when I can actually afford nice clothes. And I guess a lot of that isn't even bad.

- I'm quiet in large groups of people. I've known that I lean towards introversion, but it has been startling to me how quiet I am around big groups of people on this trip.

- I'm much bolder in speaking Chinese to Chinese speakers than I had thought I was going to be, and have less reluctance to try my hand at talking to native Beijingers than I had anticipated.