I'm a little sad today.

A woman named Yanfei came to the United States from China to get Lyme treatment at my Lyme doctor's office. She spoke a little bit of English, enough for us to carry on two conversations. At first I was extremely hesitant to speak to her as I didn't want to screw up and say something she couldn't understand. But today, it kind of hit me that it's okay if I said something beyond what she knows as she's learning too. She had a lot of trouble with 'she' and 'he' but I could still understand her.

So now I have a spider encased in plastic hanging on my purse, a neat little beaded cat that I have to find a special place for, and an invitation to come to China...Yanfei told me she'd show me around and I was welcome in her home.

Now I'm not saying I'm about to board a plane and fly to China by any means! But we have an email address to keep in touch, so maybe I'll be able to talk with her a little more, and it's just nice to have that oppertunity.

So why am I sad? She's currently being driven to the airport to board a plane and go home and I can't help but wonder if I missed a chance to really get to know a person because of a language barrier.

But the wonderfullest trick of all was the coffin trick. We nailed him into a coffin and he got out of the coffin without removing one nail. . . . There is a trick that would come in handy for me—get me out of this two-by-four situation! . . . You know it don’t take much intelligence to get yourself into a nailed-up coffin, Laura. But who in hell ever got himself out of one without removing one nail?

-Tennessee Williams The Glass Menagerie

That line from The Glass Menagerie is one of my favorites from the play. I have to say, I think its probably my favorite play I've had to read, just as over this year I've drawn more and more parallels to myself in the story. Sure, there is really only one likeable character in the play, but yet I find myself identifying with them all- even Jim O' Connor when I really think about it.

I don't know why that line just came to my mind, maybe because I've recently found myself dealing with things I have no desire to deal with, stuck in the same patterns and have had the desire to break free. But like Tom, stuck in his situation, wanting to leave his mother and sister but knowing he cannot make a clear break from it all, I find myself hesitant sometimes to do so, to take risks because the fact we cannot free ourselves without removing one nail, without accepting some change that comes along.

Just some quick thoughts as I work on chemistry work...which I should probably get back to...

I'm thinking about finally giving in xanga...and getting a facebook.

I don't really want to, but it seems pretty soon everyone will be done with myspace and then once again I'm going to be out of the loop...

...I'm truly troubled.