From New York City...to Hangzhou, China.

As promised, I interviewed the adventurous Miss KA on her all-of-a-sudden move to the Far East, and below is what she had to share! Yes, it is a little lengthy, but I couldn't find a thing to edit out - I find it all so fantastic. I also managed to grab a few fascinating pictures from KA's Facebook page of some of the sights she's caught so far. I hope that you all enjoy the details of her adventures as much as I do.

Where in China will you be living and for how long? 

My commitment is for one year. I'm in Hangzhou, if you want to look it up. The city's website is actually quite informative (it's on my list of Things to Peruse, but I skimmed it over briefly). It's a small city of 6 million people just south of Shanghai, and 12 hours ahead of the East. There's a lot of money here tied up in banking and tourism in Hangzhou, so the city is well-kept and quite lovely in the tourist spots. It's typical "city" in the other spots (where I live, for one) in that it's busy, crowded, and full of random shops.

KA, overlooking her new home city of Hangzhou, China

Do you have a living situation already in order for once you arrive, and do you already know anyone there? 

My friend from college, Adam, has been here for 1.5 years and works at the school I am joining.  

I had to get an apartment. It was a disaster. Below is an email I sent on 7/29. The good news is that the way of the world is the same all over the world—when I threw a temper tantrum, EVERYTHING got fixed at once. But boy was there a temper tantrum. My apt is now livable and it’s only $200/month.  

Complaint: 

The broker told me that the key would be ready at 9AM yesterday, so we got there at 9:45. No broker. No sign of broker. Phone is off. Awesome. So after waiting 2 hours, we finally get a call from him that the key will arrive in half an hour. An hour and fifteen minutes later, the key arrives. It is now noon. We drop off our things then go to the store to get everything we need. The store was overwhelming, but not as overwhelming as all of my realizations of how NOT ok this apartment is.  

Things That Are Wrong with My Apartment: 

-AC is not connected to anything, so the hose that is supposed to run somewhere actually just pours water onto the floor instead. 

-The part of the floor where it's pouring water is dirty. So now it's muddy. This is not a joke. Legitimately, there is mud in my apartment. 

-The washing machine is not hooked up. Because we needed sheets and because you cannot sleep on brand new sheets, I washed our sheets by hand. In China, there is no such thing as a dryer. So I tried to hang the sheets in the drying area, which also happens to be the muddy area. Seeing as how I am new at hanging things to dry, I'm sure you can imagine that I washed each sheet more than once, after dropping it straight into the mud. 

-My room has holes in the ceiling. 

-The aforementioned ceiling is more akin to that of a greenhouse than that of an apartment. 

-There are holes in my wall where the AC hose should run to the outside. We stuffed it with a plastic bag. I'm hoping this is our makeshift solution. 

-Said hose also leaks. 

-It has not been cleaned, despite our adamant request that it be cleaned before we move in. 

-There is no desk in my room, which was promised. 

-The closets are filthy. 

-The drawers in my bedside table are filthy. Like, actual dirt in the drawers. 

-I haven't even entered the kitchen . . . which should be condemned. 

-The fridge is disgustingly dirty and hasn't been plugged in. 

-The floor is untouchable. 

-There is no stove (yet, but there is a box sitting on the area where the stove "will" be). 

-The cabinets are rotting. 

-There is rust on the outlet. 

-And, we have a third roommate who lives under the sink. He's quite cocky to think he can live there. I was not brave enough to see if he had friends.  

I put "will" in quotes above re: the stove because the people who are supposed to be fixing this apartment are NOWHERE to be found. There is so much work to do and they're just . . . not there. How do they expect it to get finished???  

By 5PM, after waiting for the key for 3 hours, dragging my luggage across town, across the street (to the broker's office to wait in the AC for only one of those hours), back across the street, and up 2 flights of stairs, after spending 2 hours in the grocery store, spending all of our combined money, and going to the bank again, after washing the sheets 2x each . . . I was seen drinking a WARM beer.  

The good news: beer in China has a much lower alcohol content, and that is why I can drink it. Thank.God.for small favors.  

I woke up bright and early just upset at the whole situation and started to pull things back together. Within half an hour I had to take a breather before I burst into tears.  

China: 1 

Kirstjen: 0  

Adam said it's like he threw the baby bird out of the nest. He admitted that he was nervous about spoiling me in my first week. When I said China was a dreamland, I didn't realize what a rude awakening I had in store.

A canal in Hangzhou at nighttime.

What will you be doing during your time in China? 

I will be teaching English to children! The kids are great. They don't hate me! One of them even held my hand, and they were all adamant about making me play every game. I think it's going to be fun to do this, and my boss is super nice. They can't pronounce "Kirstjen" at all (the "r" is hard, the "stj" is hard . . . not to mention the "ir" part that is hard for Americans), so I have to go by "Kitt." Only, "Kitt" doesn't make sense to them, but they ALL know and love Hello Kitty. Hi, I'm Kitty. I haven't been Kitty since I was 4. I'm so excited about this.

Apparently, children fly kites there with actual lights on them...how pretty?

What inspired you to want to pack up your life in New York and move literally across the world? 

Making it in NYC is often referred to as “living the dream,” but for years I have joked that I was living someone else’s dream. I never wanted to live in NY and I was just kind of doing it to pass the time. I literally woke up one day on or around April 15 and realized this wasn’t my dharma, and it was time to go live my dharma. 3 months later, I’m in China! Some people find freedom in New York; I found shackles. I now feel free to be who I want to be and do what I want to do, instead of living someone else’s dream, or someone else’s dream for me.

Tea fields...how amazing?

What and how long was the process for you once you decided that moving to China was something that you wanted to do? 

I looked up options for jobs abroad b/c I thought a year away to explore would be great. China was available and I have a friend here who set me up with the job, so it was definitely a breeze. It took a few weeks for the visa process and I wasn’t convinced I was going to get the visa. Once gotten, it was smooth sailing and I ended up here within 2 weeks!

A boat on the Xihu (she-hu)

Will this be your first time to Asia? 

YES. I’m good with Europe. Asia is NOT Europe. The saying “It’s all Greek to me” holds no weight; Chinese is MUCH harder!

Another tea field. It looks fake to me. I'd love to walk through there, wouldn't you?

What are you hoping to achieve while you are in China, both personally and professionally? 

I’m taking a year for me. Personally, I need to come to grips with the changes that happened in my life in my twenties. My family situation drastically altered and I haven’t been too accepting of that. I need to let it happen. Professionally, I want to leave Corporate America behind and move into Education, so teaching for one year puts me in the right field. While here, I can work on my grad school apps and move to a completely new city upon return to the states.

Such a gray setting in this shot, but so amazing.

Is there any advice that you would like to offer to anyone that is debating a great change/ adventure? 

RESEARCH, but go in with a flexible attitude. You have to take what comes at you, and know that you will be ok. I brought a couple of books on meditation and nothing is more helpful—they continuously teach throwing out old knowledge in order to let in new knowledge, and having the permanent impermanence of water. Both are key to surviving in a completely different culture.

Another view of her new city of a mere 6 million, close to the same population of New York City.

I still can't get over how inspiring KA is in making such a leap and taking such a risk. Have you ever thought of making a life change and/or embarking on such an extended adventure?