Europe Trip: The Return Journey

As you can imagine, the last few days of my journal are hardly interesting--mostly morose moaning about my impending departure, and too-enthusiastic descriptions of events as I tried to ignore my impending departure. Nick and I spent time going to a few sites I had yet to check off, such as the Pergamon museum, which was simply amazing in its grandeur. We spent also spent time at our usual haunts--the Indian food place we had come to love with the quiet but enthusiastic waiter. A.horn, with their fabulous bagels and breakfast food. The gym and the food street near Nick's apartment. All places that I had come to love in my short time in Berlin, and which I miss dearly now that I have returned to China.

The departure itself was inevitably tearful. My promise not to cry was immediately broken as soon as I caught sight of the customs gate. However, despite the miserable departure not being easy (and no, it definitely wasn't easy), I felt better prepared for the future than the last time I had parted ways with Nick at an airport. I was on my way back to China, to a job and a home. We had made plans to see each other relatively soon. I felt in control and purposeful.

Of course, that 'in control' feeling disappeared as soon as I touched down in Abu Dhabi, when I found out that my flight had been delayed for over 12 hours. However, in the end it was actually a very enjoyable layover. The airline put me up in a hotel room with free meals for the entire day, and the hotel was right in the down town area. I spent the day napping and wandering around the city, taking in Abu Dhabi's beautiful seaside and abundant mosques. Not a bad way to end the trip, especially as I had just left below-freezing Berlin.

Now, I've been back in China for just over a month, and life has gone back to the same old routine. I have the same classes this semester, with the same students. There has been one VERY welcome change, in that this semester I have text books for all of my classes! I had never been so excited to see text books in my entire life. My daily life consists of teaching 2-3 classes a day, learning Chinese, bumming around the university gym, and spending my free time by reading, sketching, or watching Netflix. Not terribly exciting, except for the occasional weekend trip to Chengdu to go shopping or celebrating St. Patrick's Day.

But fear not, dear readers. There are some weekend travel plans in the works in the very near future. Stay tuned for more exciting adventures and wacky Chinese shenanigans!