Saturday afternoon my family took me to KTV, or karaoke. Having heard various friends’ horror stories about their own experiences at KTV that lasted four, five, six hours at a time, I was a little apprehensive. Upon arriving at the complex, which was adjacent to the bus station, I was ushered into a private room with my Chinese mother, grandmother, three-year-old-sister, and her pet turtles. As in, two live turtles she had bought at the market that morning and was swinging around in a little plastic cage. My grandmother told me that since I was the guest, I had the honor of singing the first song. And the second and third and fourth songs, as it turned out. I alternated between Elton John and assorted Christmas favorites.

When I told my Chinese grandmother on Sunday I was going to meet friends to study, she wouldn’t let me leave the house without an entire picnic of items from the kitchen. We argued back and forth until I finally managed to leave the house with only a loaf of bread and a pomegranate.

I survived riding my bicycle in Kunming. I am one with Chinese traffic. To imagine that this summer I was too afraid of cars to even ride my bike in Medford…I don’t think I will ever think Boston drivers are crazy after having lived in China. I am fearless. Okay, so I have been walking the past few days since my back tire blew. But there are only five bike-repair stands between my apartment and school, and I’ve already been to all of them.

I genuinely love Sophie. I usually compare small children to kittens—they’re cute and small, but the novelty wears off very fast. But Sophie is like a miniature real person. I like everything about her, how she asks me every day if her outfit looks beautiful and how she comes to get her grandfather during the scary parts of Sleeping Beauty. Living with a family let me transcend my habit of treading water on the sidelines, and I’m so thankful that they helped me to understand more of Chinese culture. I will miss them. I will also miss the kid who practices piano every night somewhere in this apartment complex. It reminds me of my brother after dinner when we were in high school.

My grandmother asked me if we had the Barbie movies in the United States. I said I thought so, but I personally had never watched them. She nodded. “You don’t have time,” she said sympathetically. I didn’t have the heart to set her straight about my relationship with Barbie.

Tomorrow morning I leave for the countryside, where I'll be for the next month and a half. Chinese cities are great (well, no, they're not), but this is what I've really been waiting for.