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Before departing this beautiful coastal city that had given me the chance to
dance on tables, eat great seafood, enjoy the local hospitality, the power
of the net and many more experiences; I had to bid a teary farewell to
my best mate ‘Jan’.
Her time was ending and I for one was beginning to sink into sadness
more and more as the days turned like pages of a novel. Jan her self was
also starting to worry if she would fit into western life again after
living the easy and simple life of Chinese style. We both knew it would
be hard. The day finally arrived and Jan was all packed and with her husband
in toe, the three of us headed to the airport as she was heading home
and I was heading to Shanghai to visit my beautiful partner. Checking-in
was quicker than getting served at McDonalds on a slow day.
With not really knowing if we would be able to sit and chat before the
plane departed, we both said our teary farewells before the frosted glass
wall separated us and I stood with a quick visual reflection of entering
China for the first time again present in the back of my mind.
Waiting in the departure section of the domestic area, I could visibly
see my friend in the far distance and we communicated via text messaging
before the final call was made and she was no longer on solid Chinese
ground. I sat for a few minutes quietly staring through the glass and
not really noticing anything before clicking my mind into strength. I
was now heading to Shanghai to see and be in the arms of my loving partner
who I knew would be waiting to greet me with a smile and the glazed look
of joy from their eyes. I had nothing to worry about.
* * * * *
Shanghai was a metropolis of activity and everything you needed was there
and I felt that the people were very business focused. Over the past few
months, I had traveled back and forth to Shanghai and I was becoming more
and more like a bird attracted to the array of colored trees offering
life of hope and dreams, just like that of a house and land display billboard;
except the billboard showed life of not the average Chinese family.
Becoming acquainted with the locals and the areas to shop in, I noticed
the locals didn’t give me the attention that I got back in Qingdao
or was I just too accustomed to the eyes glaring everyday by the same
faces, my mind was curious.
Over the days of relaxing and enjoying the scenery, my eyes captured
the brightness and the buzz of how life is in this international city
that didn’t look like a city belonging to China, while looking a
like of my hometown city back in Oz. The only factor displaying images
of this was China, were the thousands of Chinese citizens walking and
talking in a language that was becoming more familiar to me everyday ‘CHINESE’.
Before long, I was heading back to Qingdao to hand in my resignation and
start the tedious task of packing my belongings and moving to Wuxi. It
was a short month and I had to read a lot of information about the new
company I was heading for and the area that I didn’t know much about
except for the excerpts from Joe my foreign teacher friend and my education
manger. I knew that I had chosen the correct decision while also being
excited on living close to Shanghai and my partner.
The count down was drawing closer and closer with the thought of knowing
that after such a short time, my good old friend from New Zealand was
packing her bags and heading back to Qingdao to resume the job of the
schools Dean of Studies again. Now my mind was racing with thoughts of
happiness and the feeling you get when you have drunken so much that placing
you head on the pillow makes you feel like you are floating. But I wasn’t
drunk, only sober and I was the bullet heading forward quickly. |
