Here and There

The last few days have been spent here and there. School. Kachow. Apartment. Downtown. Fung Yan Yuan.

All these places are around town, some farther than others. What I've noticed is that I look for markers to tell me I'm in the right place. There's rubbish street to let me know I'm back at campus. There's a road full of construction stores before I have to get off for school. The opera house is downtown where I need to get off the bus.

But sometimes the markers I see, are not just for navigation. The other day I saw a black VW bug drive into school and I paused for the 15 seconds it took to drive by. I had to make sure my mom wasn't driving it. The grass near the kindergarten was cut and I took a few deep breaths reminiscing about Autumn...how I probably won't have one here, and missing my piece of crap lawn mower because I love to mow the lawn at home. Waking up and putting my slippers on. The ones I wear because the tile is cold. The same slippers that I wore through winters at school, and trips to get wood at home.

I'm not sad, or homesick, I'm just really appreciating the small things that are different about my  life now. I'm technically a working adult. But instead of driving a car, I ride a bike. Instead of pulling into a driveway, I have 6 flights of stairs. I don't mow the lawn, vacuum the living room, or make dinner. I change the water tong, hang up all my laundry, and get cheap (sometimes mysterious) street food.

I'm fairly confident that everyone envisions their future. Either the grand scheme or the finer details. Looking around sometimes, I know I never envisioned any of this. Who would have thought I'd end up in a foreign country living life nearly opposite to how I grew up or living in a city of 4 million people. I definitely did not, but then I pause to think about what it was that I did envision. I come up blank usually... Sometimes I think about hidden, secluded mountain or forrest homes. Living off the land and raising animals and children. Then I think 'nah' and jump to a high rise in a big city with a view full of lights. Basically, the vision always changes and I've got no plan on where I want to end up. Is the lack of an end goal detrimental? I don't think so. I think I've got the opportunity to go anywhere, and be anything because I've got no preset notations of what my life should be. My book is being written day by day. I've got no future plots lines sketched out. I'm just reading. And I can be happy anywhere.

Until next time.

P.S. I bought a bike.... gonna tackle these Chinese roads!