想家

At the risk of turning this into something of a "real" blog, (which I do not want to do) but in the interest of full disclosure to you dear reader, (which I do try to aim for) I am going to talk about FEELINGS! I also don't feel like like doing the Pizza Hut post now. That will be tomorrow.

Well nothing too heavy, as that's not what you pay me for. Except to say that after the field trip week, the day immediately following our return, was when for the first time I felt "I would rather be sleeping in Wilmette or Madison tonight, and I can't wait to." Probably a nearly textbook definition of homesickness, if however vague; I can't say I was missing anything in particular. It's probably mostly the fact that I have not least seen a family member for 9 weeks, now 10. A significant minority of it however is the wear of being in China, the return of gray skies, a busy couple weeks coming up, class never far from mind, and simply hearing Chinese everywhere. It's also something about the fact that I'm leaving a place and people that I do still like very much, and it is a feeling of a departure more permanent than any other I've made before. It's not like leaving camp, it's not like leaving for college; it's an exodus from the unknown to the keenly familiar for a seeming eternity. I'll stop waxing poetic here, but you catch my drift. How can I possibly fathom when I'm coming back?

Anyhow, my schedule for the next two weeks is as follows:
Monday 4th/Tuesday 5th: regular class, "talent show" ie chess competition on Tuesday
Wednesday 6th: Oral final, review day
Thursday 7th: Big final, presentation on field trip, soccer game
Friday 8th: Program closing ceremonies, Olympic opening ceremonies (only watching these on TV unfortunately)
Saturday 9th: Do nothing/wikigroan. I am already mostly packed, as I put 2 of 3 suitcases at Shino's parents' apartment earlier today and do not have a lot left to do.
Sunday 10th: Put last bag at Shino's aunt's. Attend soccer game. Get backpack ready for flight to Kunming.
Monday 11th: Board bus to Beijing at 6:00 AM, arrive around 9:00. Wait 4.5 hours until Kunming flight departs.
Tuesday 12th-Friday or Saturday 15th/16th: Spend time in Yunnan, including Tiger Leaping Gorge, Stone Forest, Shangri-La county, Dali.
Saturday 16th/Sunday 17th stay in Tianjin. Do nothing in particular, hang with Shino's family.
Monday, August 18th: Leave Tianjin for the foreseeable future on a bus headed Northwest to Beijing at around 9:00 AM. Get to airport 3 hours later. Board United Flight 850 bound for Chicago O'Hare International Airport departing at approximately 4:00PM. Arrive at ORD 6 minutes before I landed, at least by local times.
And then drive home.

PS When I said "real" blog I meant I do not have any designs on turning this into a blog that I update about what I had for breakfast, the new DnD character I'm thinking of in class, or unpleasant opinions about any coworkers or classmates. That's all for the most part incredibly boring, and I have no desire to keep a LiveJournal or its equivalent. I have an email address (eric.mathis@gmail.com, if you have any questions go ahead and send away) and most of you already know my phone number or AIM name anyway if you want to get in touch. This blog will pretty much die a few days after I get back probably, after I post any reports on coming back to America and things I didn't even realize I missed. (Though I have realized most all of them it seems.) I will return to it in the event I go abroad for a significant period of time again, be it France, China, or wherever.