waves lapped my sandy toes yesterday

I’m sitting in the arrivals hall of Hong Kong International Airport, having staked out some space to spend a few hours. I’m departing, not arriving, but it turns out the only pre-security Starbucks is in arrivals, downstairs from departures. My hostel required me to check out this morning, so I headed to the airport so I would know for sure how much money and time I had, instead of hanging out in Tsim Sha Tsui (where I was staying) and having to budget time and money to get to the airport in the afternoon. I don’t fly out till 5:35 (on time, please… I don’t want to spend the night in Shanghai) so used 57 of my last 60 HK dollars to get lunch and a latte, and now, satisfied to have spent all of my money but 3 HK$ (less than 50 cents), I’m sitting and waiting until it’s reasonable time to check in upstairs.

My arrival back in Beijing tonight (if all goes as planned) will mark 3 months to the day since I arrived in Beijing to stay for a while. I’m renewing my visa in Hong Kong, just like I did last month, but have generally stayed in Beijing this whole time, and life there feels pretty normal now. I teach a few days a week, mostly just doing private tutoring for students, and it pays well enough that I can work very part-time and make ends meet. My students provide me with some pretty good anecdotes, not all of which are fit for posting on here, but ask me and I’ll share. One of them has a cook who makes lunch, a car she gives me rides in, and a dog that just had many fluffy white puppies, one of which she offered to me (I used all my willpower to decline, as I won’t be in Beijing long enough to keep it, and it will grow too big to live in a small apartment). Another is going to university in the US in the fall, so we spend a lot of time discussing what to expect and differences between life here and there (“here” being Beijing, not Hong Kong, where I actually am right now). Another two students I teach together, and they both have very basic English levels but are good enough to say “Take care! Good luck!” to me at the end of class.

I’m planning to return to the US in June, probably right at the end of the month, in time for my dear friend Sarah Yates’s wedding in early July, then will probably arrive home around the 4th and plan to spend a week in mid-July vacationing with my family aboard a Bermuda-bound cruise ship (rough life, I know). My plan after that is still a little up in the air, but I’m considering a few places in the US to live in starting around early August. I’ve applied for a couple jobs and as the time gets closer, I’ll apply for more.

I’m glad I came to Beijing. My time there isn’t over yet, of course, so it’s not really time to talk about it in past kinds of terms, but I came knowing I’d only stay a little while and wondered if it would be worth it to live somewhere I’d never really call “home,” somewhere I wouldn’t invest in like I would if I would be there long-term, somewhere I wouldn’t ever speak the language or know like the back of my hand. I’ve been trying to be fully present in Beijing, in spite of the short-term nature of things, and think I’ve mostly been able to do so, perhaps because I don’t know exactly where I’m going from here. I do know that my life isn’t here, which is the main thing keeping me from staying longer. I miss the little things that have defined familiarity with other places I’ve lived in more long-term, but at the same time I’ve been thankful to get away from the familiarity that made much of last year difficult. I think being in Beijing made it much easier to decide where to go next than it would have been if I had stayed home, and let’s face it, teaching 8-10 hours a week is way better than working at a drive-thru 39 hours a week for only a little bit more money.

I lost my iPod headphones the other day, through an unexpected sequence of events that led them to end up in Virginia. They should be en route back here soon, but for the time being I was dying without any music to accompany me on my travels, so I looked in a few stores in Hong Kong, found nothing cheaper than 170 HK$ (about $25), and then strolled through the market area downstairs from where I was staying, finding a pair for 20 HK$ that were a lesser-known brand but dare I say seemed similar to the ones for sale for more than 8 times as much in a store. I figured I had 3 bucks to lose and bought them, and so far they seem to be working in my computer and iPod. They’re not the best sound quality, and they’re sort of uncomfortable in my ears, but they’re doing the trick for the time being, and I hope my trip back to Beijing isn’t as silent as my trip from Beijing was.

My arms got sunburned pretty significantly a few weeks ago (my forearms, no less, since I only put sunscreen on my upper arms and shoulders), and they’re STILL peeling, but at least they’re turning to a nice shade that’s unlikely to burn again anytime soon, especially through the Beijing smog.

Alright, it’s just after 3 and seems like a reasonable time to venture upstairs to check in for a flight that I’m hoping will leave on time so I can make my connection in Shanghai! Thanks for reading!