I’ve decided that I don’t use this blog nearly enough. Hence this new “Weekly Wrap-up” idea. Let’s see how this goes.
I’ve been trying to make the most of my time in Beijing, but it’s hard. There are so many places to go to, restaurants to eat at, people to see, and what makes it all the more harder is that it’s the last time in a long time – if not forever, considering how fast Beijing changes – that I’ll go to/eat at/see these places/people. When I left the US, I knew that even though people dynamics would be different, everything else would fundamentally be the same. My friends would be there when I returned. My favorite restaurants would be there when I returned. My favorite landmarks would be there when I returned. But I can’t say that for Beijing. Hell, in the last two months or so that I’ve been away, already the face of Wudaokou has changed. It’s weird.
I’ve also mended a few bridges that I didn’t do such a hot job of maintaining towards the end of last semester. I don’t want to get into the details, but long story short is that the end of last semester was a hot mess and I needed to smooth things over before I left Beijing. The lesson I’ve taken away from this is that it’s incredibly easy to burn bridges, but it’s not always as hard as one thinks it would be to start mending them.
My plans so far for this weekend include numerous dinner dates, last minute shopping trips, seeing friends and packing. The fact that I’m leaving Beijing on Monday hasn’t settled in yet, not completely. I still feel like I’ll be here forever. Still, regardless of how I feel, it’s my last weekend in Beijing – I’m going to make it count.
