So at this time last year I was wrapping up my stay in China. With a year's reflection, I am still a bit surprised/disappointed at the dichotomy between my initial excitement at the prospect of living in China vs. how ready I was to leave after a year. Don't get me wrong, there was much about China I liked: the food, the cost of living compared to the states, etc. And I did really like Guangzhou. With the exception of the Tiyu Xilu station, the metro was pretty convenient and efficient - albeit often crowded (duh, Guangzhou has 20 million people living in it). On the whole, the city was clean (although some parts had horrific smells). It was very modern, had most of the same conveniences of America, although with some differences. There was a decent amount of stuff to do, and was conveniently located to Hong Kong, Shenzen, and Macao. And I loved the idea of working for Disney and liked a lot about my job.
But the people. It goes to show how important this one aspect is, and of course it makes sense when you take time to think about it: no matter how wonderful a place is, if you're surrounded by millions of people you don't like, it can be unpleasant. Conversely, I've learned that you can live in some relative shit holes, and if you're surrounded by nice people, people you love, etc., it can be bearable. I won't re-hash all the "negatives" of the Chinese, as most folks have already heard me bitch about their rudeness, selfishness, how uncouth they are, etc. But I WILL emphasize again that it seems to be almost wholly a MAINLAND Chinese "issue." I found the Chinese in Hong Kong, Singapore, etc. to be perfectly fine - and was both gratified and dismayed to find that the Chinese in those places had the same disdain for their mainland cousins.
So anyway, it's a year ago this month I escaped, and I have to say that this past year has to rank up there as one of my very favorite years--up there with my junior year at OU, my second year of PC, and a few other random years in San Francisco and probably one or two in San Diego. But the main reason this past one ranks up there is, of course, because of travel.
It was this month last year I got to go on that fabulous cruise of the Baltic Capitals with a fun group of friends, and then spent 3 months afterwards zipping around Europe and SE Asia knocking many, many places off my bucket list while waiting for my security clearance for Peace Corps. At the end of the day, in the past year, I was able to visit 17 countries and 25 cities. I added Copenhagen, Singapore, and Cape Town to my very favorite cities list, and also got to spend time in a couple of "old favorites" - DC, Paris, and Amsterdam. I got to see my boys for the first time in too long, and added another few cities to my "lunch with Doreen" list - one of my favorite people because she's a wanderer like me and I've been able to meet up with her and have lunch on 4 different continents now (granted, we lived in 2 of those continents at the same time) and in at least 6 different cities.
I got to "come home" to a great (busy) job with Peace Corps, living in a unique African country that not a whole lot of people have ever been to due to its location and obscurity. And, ironically, I'm living in the nicest house I've ever had while also dealing with the challenges of living in a third world country.
And if all that wasn't enough, I've already got lots of awesome plans and adventures lined up for the coming year - including a conference next month in Namibia, a birthday trip to Mauritius, and a trip in September that includes a few days in Dubai, a few days in Venice, and then a week cruising the Greek Isles. Also hoping to see Victoria Falls and Kilimanjaro in the coming year, along with another dream cruise next year to South America (Argentina, Uruguay, the Falkland Islands, and Chile). Yes, indeed, it's great to be me! Haha.
