Sun, Sand, Waves ... Relaxation

So that's what a holiday feels like.  I'd begun to forget.
I spent the last week on Hainan Island, in and around the beach resort town of Sanya.

This describes my mood all week.

Now, given the abundance of signs like this one:

Simplified Chinese, Korean, Traditional Chinese, Russian, and English

I can forgive you if you think Hainan Island must be up near the Russian border. But, no, it's just a very popular vacation destination for Russians. I lost count of how many times I had to blink stupidly at waitresses, vendors, or hawkers and say "I'm sorry, I don't speak Russian" in Chinese. Actually, i only chanced upon two other English-speaking couples/families in my week on the island. Also, I resisted the urge to ask my Russian deck-chair neighbors their thoughts on Putin's re-election. No one wants to think about politics on holiday, after all. I, for one, am very strongly not thinking about the voting results out of North Carolina. Actually, Hainan is about as far south as you can go in China, diving the South China Sea from the Gulf of Tonkin.

It's like Canadians flocking to Key West.

Anyway, I did a lot of things, and had a lot of fun, and did a lot of relaxing (despite never  sleeping later than 8am). During all of that, I took about 170 pictures. So, rather than talk you to death about it, please enjoy this video slideshow of events. If for some reason the embedded video is not working, you can view it here.

I had a lovely time and I am very happy I went. My sunburn isn't all that bad, considering how hot and sunny it was and how much time I spent in the sun during the heat of the day (interesting note: Sanya's latitude is 18*15'12" N, making it the closest I've ever been to the equator). Now that I am back in Guangzhou, I am staving off the post-vacation blues with reruns of Hawaii Five-O and the comforting (and terrifying) knowledge that my work here in GZ ends in just 9 more weeks. And, as the Tolkien quote on my wall says, wither then? I cannot say.

Length of time left in China < Time it took the Mayflower to cross the Atlantic