Saturday, July 2, 2011

The Final Countdown

I wrote my last exam yesterday, officially finishing my year of studies in China. I leave Chongqing on Monday to spend a couple days in Hong Kong and Beijing before flying home on the 13th. I have less than two weeks left in China. My little dorm room has been stripped bare, and my roommate and I officially “divorced” today after sharing these intimate quarters for nearly a year. My things are already packed in a brand new suitcase the size of a Volkswagen, and I’ve stocked up on enough bootleg DVDs, cheap sundresses and wild coloured tights to last me until my next trip to China, at least. Although this blog has clearly been a total fail, I figured I’d write one last post for…closure, or something.

I’d expected to be more reluctant to leave China every day as the deadline loomed, but I’ve actually found the opposite. Once I got down to the last few weeks, I started to feel that all I really had left to look forward to here was exams, packing, saying goodbye (permanently, for the most part) to all my new friends, and preparing for the daunting task of moving back to Canada and resuming an entirely different life. In the meantime, I’m stuck in this limbo, far from home in a foreign country and too stressed out to enjoy much. I just want to get this last push behind me. I’m exhausted. Having moved eight times in the past five years, with each time being more stressful than the last, the prospect of another move – compounded by the sheer logistics of moving to another country – has got me so paralyzed with anxiety that attempts to go out and enjoy my last few weeks here haven’t really been worth the effort. Not to mention it’s hotter than the pits of hell here now! I’ve pretty much been camped out under the air con in my room for the past few weeks. Once I’ve officially vacated my place – always the worst part of moving – I’ll be fine. When I’m all packed up and back on the open road I’ll feel a little lighter and get a bit of that travel bug back.

Last night I had a housecooling party to say goodbye to my friends and, hopefully, unload some of the stuff I’ve accumulated that couldn’t take back home with me. We had a great time, and I did manage to get some extra stuff off of my hands.

It's the dream team - me on the left, my roommate Bridget on the right, and our adorable friend Benson, who we met our first week here, in the middle.

So that’s me right now. What am I most looking forward to when I get back to Canada? Having my own bedroom. Cheese. Electric dryers. Not nearly getting run over by motorcyclists driving down the sidewalk every time I step outside. Democracy. Not having to deal with the incredibly obnoxious and pervasive Chinese habit of loudly spitting all over the street (or even indoors, on the floor). Not being stared at when I dare to go out in public. What am I going to miss the most about China? Every little thing being a novelty. Every experience being a challenge and an adventure. Being able to take off and stay in a hostel in a Ming palace or a 700-year-old traditional courtyard house on the canal for under five dollars a night. The local spots I’ve come to know and love, like the café just off campus where I took the barista class or the little shop where I get fresh-ground red bean milk every day. The openness and lack of reserve of the Chinese people which makes socializing so much easier than it is back home. Having fresh-brewed soymilk for breakfast every morning. Marking the passage of time by the constantly changing selection of seasonal local fruits and vegetables being sold by the roadside. Buying snacks like roasted chestnuts and yams or deep-fried stinky tofu cooked in a converted oil drum on the back of a street vendor’s bike.

Chinese word of the day:
离开
lí kāi
(verb) to depart, to leave

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