Wanderlust

25 Memories for Turning 25

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Surprise I’m 25! On my birthday, my coworkers totally surprised and pranked me! They had a decoy cake on the morning followed by a prank in the afternoon where they told me our December holiday was canceled. I actually was fine and said I would be gone no matter what. Ha! Needless to say, I had a great day and wonderful dinners with friends. 25 feels so good and I’ve had an amazing year. Here are 25 memories that I have loved and will cherish forever. And I truly believe the best is yet to come! Cheers to 25.

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Shanghai Life Lately

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I love a “life lately” post as it allows me to reflect on the latest and greatest and share with all of you! It is the most perfect weather in Shanghai right now, with sunny days that have a light breeze and aren’t too hot…yet. Summer is coming and it is going to be a struggle surviving the heat and humidity. Lately I’ve been ordering a lot of food and not cooking. I know people don’t believe me, but ordering and having food delivered is often cheaper than cooking. Welcome to shanghai and high consumerism! I love my delivery via moped. Lately I’ve also been thinking a lot. What’s new. I’ve been planning future trips, scolding naughty kids, singing Queen songs with my precocious students and wondering what’s the next step! So here’s a little glimpse into what I have been up to….

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Sheryl in Shanghai Part II

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Shanghai is the ultimate metropolitan city and no visit is complete without checking out the Starbucks Reserve which is an incredible space of design and delicious treats! It’s filled with both food and beverages you can’t get in regular stores and you can watch them roast the beans right their. It’s a symphony of excellent customer service and beautiful execution. Of course I had to take my mom! It’s also located on West Nanjing street which is a happening and trendy place to check out.

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Daily Shanghai Essentials to Take Everywhere

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I decided to take a moment to do some yoga meditative poses on my nightly walk and reflect on the past few days and challenges that have come my way. I’m so proud of myself for how far I have come as a person and my growth in learning to truly feel my emotions and to do my best to lead with kindness, empathy and compassion for myself and others. The past few weeks I have learned what are essential things to always have with you to make life easier and for basic survival skills. I thought my backpack I got at REI and it has been the perfect bag. It’s canvas, light, durable, has lots of room and I’m so happy I brought it. The first thing I learned was to ALWAYS bring an umbrella with you because rain or shine, the umbrella is critical to surviving the weather extremes and changes of daily life in Shanghai

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Falling in Love with Shanghai

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I’ve only truly fallen in love once before. Love is the most inexplicable emotion that doesn’t quite make sense but is like nothing else and perhaps the purest of all the emotions. When it is real and lasting, there is nothing better. There are so many variations and types of love. I fell in love with school from a young age, have a true love for food and love traveling. I have also received the most pure and unwavering love from my family that as I get older continue to be so grateful for. I know how fortunate I have to have a lot of love in my life from my family and friends. There is a great quote from the movie The Fault in Our Stars that perfectly summarizes love for me.

“Falling in love is like falling asleep, it happens slowly then all at once.” 

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What Happened to August?

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During my commute on the metro back home this afternoon, it dawned on me that it is September. I arrived in Shanghai the evening of August 15th and the last few weeks have been somewhat of a blur between surviving the heat, welcoming afternoon rain showers, moving out of my hotel, training for work and exploring Shanghai. I recently received my schedule for work and was informed that I have the first week of October entirely off for the autumn festival. I can only imagine that this week is hectic with celebrations and busy assuming that most of the country has the week off.

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Where Have I Been: Vietnam 2015

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“Adventure is worthwhile.”

– Aesop

As a break draws closer (Thanksgiving break can’t come soon enough!), I wanted to reflect on a trip that I took almost a year ago to Vietnam. I was hired as an adult adoptee mentor for a travel group that takes adoptees and their families back to their birth countries. As an adoptee myself who has gone back to China, it was a very moving experience where I learned a lot. While a large part of the trip didn’t go as I planned or expected, that’s part of life; learning to accept yourself, adapt to unexpected situations and learn from every experience.

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Naturally Cool? Or Nature is Cool?

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What a Labor Day holiday weekend it was, spend with total weirdos kicking back and enjoying all the amazing wonders of life in the wilderness. My long weekend started with a hike in the Flat Irons/NCAR area of Boulder with the ultimate homie, continued with watching CU smash CSU, a day of homework and running around Boulder and ended with a camping trip up to Nederland that will go down in the books as one fantastic weekend.

You are who you surround yourself with. I guess that makes me a nerdy weirdo. 

wouldn’t have it any other way.

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Looking Back:Costa Rica

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A electrifying and educational trip that I took the summer before my senior year of high school was to Heredia and Monteverde, Costa Rica where I lived for a month with host families and attended a spanish language school for five hours a day. Immersion is the only way to effectively learn a language and I had the best time with my host family and international friends that were also at the language school. Shoutout to my mother for forever installing my love a travel and sending me out in the world to independently explore, knowing that I would come back a better version of myself! What an amazing role model I have.

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Looking Back: China and Inner Mongolia

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A trip that I will remember forever and had enormous impact on me was my trip to China in 2008. It was my first international trip without my family or friends from back home and really inspired my future travels and helped me reconnect back to the country I was born in and one of the many places in the world that I call home. I went on a three week trip throughout China and Inner Mongolia with four other Chinese Adoptees, a guide and a driver doing various activities…mostly having fun and exploring the country we were all born in. It was such an amazing trip and I feel so lucky that my mom trusted the universe enough to send me out there and let me learn from experience independently! Adoption is so special and I found some forever friends on this trip and cannot wait to go back! Hopefully ASAP!

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