If you look anything like me, and I mean anything like me, and you are feeling like you just are not enough of a celebrity, you should take a visit to a small town in northwest china. At home I am very accustomed to being fairly average (that is if I don't take into account my spastic tendencies and my eccentric lifestyle choices). Here, I can barely walk down the street without being met by blank stares and school children shouting "hello" and waving emphatically. A few days ago I had dinner with the other volunteers and a few school children, and one of the girls from Yumen was entirely flabbergasted that our eyes were not simply dark brown. When I go to the market the vendors rub their cheeks and touch their hair while staring at me in amazement and speaking Chinese that I have no hope of understanding at this point. On occasion I have walked into one of my classes and been met with applause and cheering. Today, as I was walking back to my school after lunch a man from inside his store waved to me to come in and visit him. When Susi and I went in he asked us to sit down and he started asking us questions in Chinese. Susi understood a few of them, but most of it was just a really strange (though nice) interaction.
I have actually heard from previous volunteers who claim to have experienced "reverse culture shock" upon returning home. I am beginning to worry that I will be disoriented when I return home and I am not worshipped simply because I have pale skin and blonde hair.
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