At the airport.

Though this won't be my final post on China, this is my short debriefing.

As of this moment, I'm sitting in Beijing (PEK)'s international
terminal... it's like a giant spaceship, completely blows my mind. I
know I disappeared for a spell (again), but there really hasn't been
much to talk about. I'm not a fan of Beijing for a variety of reasons,
which I'll discuss in a later post (with pictures). But in summation,
the most interesting things I did include seeing Tiananmen Square,
which is pretty much like the National Mall; some of the Forbidden
City, which was a lot less thrilling than anticipated; and Mao
Zedong's body, something I've been eager to do for a long time. Of
course I went to some other places, but they reminded me so much of
home I lost interest pretty early on. I could have taken a two-hour
ride with my hostel to go see the Great Wall, but I think the
miniature in Chongqing will suffice for now... plus, I don't
particularly enjoy climbing shit lately. Trees excluded.

Trying not to start another center with a comma, I have never been so
eager to come home. I don't exactly know what home even is right now
-- my Grandmother's house? Where my parents live? I don't even care
where I end up. I miss my green suburbs, I miss Baltimore, and driving
back and forth all the time. I miss everyone that has a tendency to
rub me the wrong way every other time I see them, if not most of the
time. I miss that skinny guy I love, and Kelvin, Alissa, Libby! I miss
everyone that had the decency of showing up to my Goddamn goodbye
party, and I really hope that we see each other asap. And I want to
see Tierra get married. :)

Going to other countries inevitably changes people. You experience
more in a couple weeks that you can in a couple months at home, and a
couple months ends up being years. I don't mean to be so literal, but
for some reason, I keep telling people I'm 23 -- then I go, WAIT - oh
wait, nvm, I'm not. It's been confusing. But the point is... everybody
wants to talk about how such experiences have changed them. And the
important part for me is, how much? I have to wait and see. When I go
home, am I going to see my family and feel absolutely strange,
unfamiliar? Will I be excited? Will I cry? What if I feel absolutely
nothing? What if it's just a day in the life of?

That would be kind of disappointing.

But Goddamn, I'm ready for Chipotle!! :D See y'all soon!