It will probably be my last visit to China for a while, and I have the feeling it will be an important one. I’m lined up to see a lot of people in Beijing and Shanghai, to say my final goodbyes, and in some cases to say my introductory hellos (folowed quickly by goodbyes).
I had my last day of work this week. As soon as I get back to the US I’ll have to start looking. I’ve always had pretty good luck finding jobs, but I hear the current job market in the US has rarely been worse.
So I have a lot of complicated thoughts to sort out, and a lot of issues I have to come to terms with. There are some people I will miss so much I can’t imagine being so far away from them. And I know there’s a lot about living in Asia I’ll miss, especially being able to maintain this blog with a live-from-Asia perspective. I don’t know what it’s going to become after I get home.
48 hours until I arrive in Beijing, followed by a trip to Shanghai and then home, first for three days in New York to see friends there, and then, finally, a return to my home and family and loved ones and cats in Arizona. It is so overwhelming and so surreal I can’t describe it. I am bracing myself even now for the culture shock.
1
By vaara
Well, there’s no need to let geographical distance affect your ability to report on Asia… and besides, there’s plenty of interesting stuff going on in the U.S. right now, not least the gay marriage thing — history in the making.
In any case: goede reis! (as we say here in Semi-Old Yurp.)
March 6, 2004 @ 11:53 pm | Comment
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By Joseph Bosco
We are looking forward to seeing you soon…
March 7, 2004 @ 3:16 am | Comment
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By Fiona Pollard
You said I should suggest places for you to visit – that’s really hard as I don’t know where you’ve been to before (though if you can make it to Hungzhou, why not also Suzhou?).
I’ve been wondering if you have friends who can take you to see some of the countryside, some of the peasants and how they really live? During Spring Festival, one of my friends was teaching in a volunteer programme just in the countryside outside of Beijing and was shocked by the poverty and different way of life, so you wouldn’t have to alter your schedule too much.
If you could make it to Jiangxi we could find you plenty of villages to visit – but that’s a bit out of your way and the poor are everywhere with us, to paraphrase a rather famous guy 😉
Anyway, I hope to hear lots of interesting stuff about your trip, and then about what it’s like going home after so long.
Best wishes.
March 7, 2004 @ 2:14 pm | Comment
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By richard
Thanks Fiona. I only have a week, and I need to spend at least two days in Beijing and a day or two in Shanghai. So my tour guide told me I should delay my trip to the countryside until next time — it has been my dream to visit Yunnan for two years now, but SARS stopped me the last time, and timing will stop me this time. I will spend two days in Hangzhou and will see if we can get to Suzhou as well. I have already been to Xi-An, Guilin and Yangshuo. Yunnan is definitely No. 1 on my list for the next trip to China, and maybe Jiangxi as well. 🙂
March 7, 2004 @ 3:08 pm | Comment
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By Brendan
Hey – hope you have a good time here, if it’s not too late.
March 11, 2004 @ 5:21 pm | Comment