Halfway home from halfway around the world

I'm now past the halfway mark of this journey! From a quick calculation I came to the conclusion I've been living here in China for 200 days now! I still have 5 months to go, but now that time seems so short. The weeks are going by quicker and it feels like I don't have enough time to do everything I want to do. I remember back in December and some of January I was pretty miserable because of the cold and the hassles of adjusting to a new culture (not to mention being away from everyone I love for the holidays). But now things are looking alright, from what I've been reading this must be the "Adjustment phase" of culture shock.
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/cultural-services/articles/cultureshock-stages.html;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_shock
I remember a couple of months ago I could only think of the foods, people and places I missed from America. I wonder now what I'll miss from China. It feels good to come into a new country and know that if I absolutely had to, I could make a life here. Unfortunately though, I don't feel I could every be fully integrated into the culture and become "Chinese" as I was able to move from Brazil and become an American. America is so diverse in it's demographics that it really doesn't matter who you are and what you look like, anyone can be an American. An American could not come into China and be seen and treated as a local, like a Chinese immigrant could in America.  Even a foreigner completely fluent in Mandarin and the culture. My experience is limited to my city however, which is considered a "small city" in China. I don't know how foreigner's are reacted to in big cities like Shanghai and Beijing. Not to mention I was also raised in South Florida of all places and not the Midwest. But this is how I feel as of now, maybe that too could change in time.
On the other hand though, it's sometimes nice to be seen as a visitor. I've been attending the local university's painting classes up to twice a week without having to pay or be a student. It's an observational figure painting class which they labeled as western painting; all the students like to watch me paint and the teacher doesn't mind having me over. I wish I could take part of art classes in American colleges for free too. I've been spending more time there recently, it's interesting to see their notion of western art.

My time here frequently feels like a lucid dream. I constantly find myself saying in disbelief "I am in China...". I imagine some of it might have to do with the lack of personal contact I have had with anyone I know from America. I only talk to friends and family through the computer or phone, and it's funny to think that they're usually sleeping while I'm awake. Gives me even more of a sense that this is just a long dream. This weekend I'll be heading to Shanghai to travel for 2 and a half weeks with my parents across China. I'll write and upload photos of that trip when I get back. This is enough rambling for now.