There are a number of Chinese things I enjoy, not least of which is living on the other side of the International Date Line. The time difference — 15 hours for some, 12 hours for others — makes intercontinental communication pretty easy. But moreover, the fact that I reach tomorrow before my friends in America gives me a ridiculous, almost pathetic joy. Oh, you’re dreading Monday because your weekend has come to an end? Well, homie, been there, done that. I’ve experienced this “Monday”; you’ll be okay. I’m like a time-travelling prophet whose project is to reassure people of their uncertain futures.
Now I’m hurtling back to the United States. Glad, to some extent (laundry dryers! drinkable tap water! large and tasty variety of baked goods!), but I can’t help but feel somewhat out of place; the girl from tomorrow must head back to today and face the present.
Returning feels odd. For one, whenever I leave a place, I expect it to remain in stasis until I return. It’s a natural feeling, I guess. However, since I departed for Beijing, two people I know gave birth and another got married, one of the church youth got baptized, a close family friend received news about a brain tumor, and church member passed away. Los Angeles will be familiar, but changed.
Second, the shift from Beijing to America is sharp. I’m typing this entry on a layover in Narita, Japan, where the only language I can use to communicate is English. To be sure, Japan has obvious differences from America, but my new English default language is a taste of what’s to come tomorrow. For the past few months, Chinese was woven into my daily fabric; now the threads are unraveling and it’s strange. Also, my time in Beijing was, for lack of a better word, very full. It was a period of much growth, shrinking, excitement, and anxiety. I come back to Los Angeles having changed, as well.
Anyway, those are just some thoughts on China. Sorry I was so crummy about updating this blog; as noted, the wireless lords were against me, the GFW was long resilient to blows, and I was, in all honesty, often too occupied doing things worthy of recording and so had no time to record them.
I’m unsure of why I prefer the Sina interface to WordPress, but I do. To make things easier on most everyone, all posts I write herein will be crossposted to my mphatic WordPress blog, so pick the site you like better.
_mphatic 