Meet Bambi! The ~8 week pup my friend Kate and I took in for a couple of days.  We found him without a mom, hence, Bambi!

It was rough at first; he was very shy. We found him on our way back from the subways after a day at the silk market – he was eating grass and chewing on beetles! Yuck. So we took him back and bathed him, gave him food, and waited it out.

This smart lil nugget turned out to be one of the best things that has happened to me on this trip. He learned to respond to his name, when to sit, when to get into the purple bag we hid him in, AND he followed me to a T.

Whenever I called for him, he’d come running! Cutest little thing ever. Needless to say, we got very attached to each other. Whenever I left, he’d come chasing after me, and when I had to give him away, I was close to tears. ):

In a way, Bambi was a blessing in disguise. He completely pulled me out of the little funk I was in.

I hadn’t had to care for anyone but myself for the last couple of weeks. I didn’t have a responsibility to anything but myself, my schoolwork, and getting to see Beijing – no extracurriculars, no clubs, nothing.

Once Bambi came along, I had an extra purpose to get up early in the morning to walk him. I had to make sure he was eating, that he didn’t get trampled by any cars, bikes, or people (there were many close instances) and it was just really nice to be by myself, but not really – he was my constant company. He was a slight distraction sure – but only a distraction from the fact that I was away from home and missing my family and friends.

In fact, he even helped me make friends! As I was running with him through the park one morning, a man approached me and asked about him. We continued talking about me and where I was from, and soon I learned that he was a Harvard fellow teaching at Renmin University.

I guess he was impressed with my involvements and the fact that I was taking care of Bambi, and asked me to be a guest lecturer for his class at Renmin!

Pretty cool, huh?

All thanks to Bambi! Although I really miss him still, and every time I see a puppy my hearts strings get plucked a little, I don’t regret a thing – and now I look forward to all the other random spontaneous things that will happen while I’m here. (:

Conclusions from this post:
– Blessings in disguise may come in many shapes and sizes! Don’t dwell on the negative, but the positive!

Also, updates!
– I took a cooking class and learned to make dumplings and stir-fried noodles. They were pretty darn good if I do say so myself. Next post will be about this!
– I climbed The Great Wall (Mutianyu)! I even stood/sat on one of the edges. Then, I slid down the luge to get to the bottom. Cool? YES.
– I’m going to Korea this weekend for the National Holiday!
– I planned a trip to Inner Mongolia, which I’m super excited about, with 13 other people. Horse and camel back riding, here I come!

That’s all for now!
Over and out,
kv.