Half a Year and Half a World Away

Last night I indulged in a trip to my favorite gelato place and enjoyed a bowl of half espresso, half mayan chocolate. Best of all, it was 20% off. Why was it on discount, you ask? Well, they have this deal this time of  year, where you get 1% off for every degree the temperature is below zero. Yes, it was 12 degrees last evening. You think that's bad? The thermometer on my desktop is telling me the temperature as I write these words is 2 degrees, and the weatherman is predicting midday highs of 15 tomorrow, with winds of up to 20 miles per hour. We're getting a reprieve from this cold snap over the weekend, when it will climb back into the high twenties. I'll leave it to you to convert those numbers to degrees Celsius, if you're so inclined. Personally, I feel like calling it -17 out makes it feel frigid, whereas it's really not so bad.

Gus is a bit chilly.

Nonetheless, these season low temperatures have brought me to thinking about where I was 6 months ago - my last days in Guangzhou's hot, steamy summer. The experience is distant, now, both in time and space, and I feel more able to reflect upon it.On the other hand, it's Jeopardy night and I'm not too inclined to be overly wordy tonight, so I'll keep this short.

Settle in for story time.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, goes the saying, and it's true. It's harder and harder to remember just what it was that I didn't like about my life in Guangzhou. I don't remember being overwhelmingly homesick, so could it really have been the distance? I don't recall the weather being oppressively awful -- not always pleasant, but given the introduction to this post, clearly I am familiar with uncomfortable weather. I didn't love my job, but my coworkers were nice and I had good friends there, and the job was doable if not fulfilling. My new job here is quite similar -- I'm working in insurance, now. In reality, it was a combination of things that made me ready to leave Guangzhou. I had gotten what I wanted to get out of the experience. I proved to myself that I could live independently and handle new situations. I had new experiences and even if I didn't fully take advantage of the opportunity, I had a good time. Now, I'm glad to be home. I've got new life goals,  and the success of past experiences giving me the confidence to work on them. But you know what I really miss? Dim sum. I think it might be time for a trip to Boston.

Welcome to my rural life.

The title of this blog comes from the folk song Westering Home, the slightly modified first stanza of which is at the top of the right hand sidebar of this page. The last stanza is this:


Now I'm at home and at home I do lay
Dreaming of riches that come from Cathay
I'll hop a good ship and be on my way
And bring back my fortune to Isla

My fortune is my memories, and I am so glad to have them. Guangzhou will be in my dreams for years to come. And someday, I'll be there again. When, I don't know. But someday. Until then, thanks for taking this journey with me.

Hello and Best Wishes to my friends beyond the sea.