Retrospect

I have lived in China for 11 months. In 11 months I have gotten quite comfortable with the way of living. Yes, I miss home but the adventures never cease here in Beijing. At the beginning of October my adventure in China will end. I am sad to go but I know its time to move on. I will be moving to Prague for five weeks and hopefully staying there longer.

Many people have asked why I am leaving China. I don't hate China. China has been very good to me. China has helped me grow and see the world in a different light. One game that I like to play now is where is every at right now? Before I always thought narrow minded. I only thought about people in Pennsylvania and that time zone. Now though I have friends and family around the world. It is crazy to stop and think while I walk down the street in the middle of day people around the world are doing different things. And when I leave a place, nothing ceases it continues. At home the world goes on. I bet if I went back to Pittsburgh the same group of people would be getting on the 5:45 bus to get to downtown Pittsburgh. Just the same when I leave Beijing, the same people will be walking across the bridge to get to work at 8:30 in the morning.


But in all fairness, I know China is not home for me. I miss things that only a Western culture can cure. I miss religion. I miss seeing churches and having a religious society. People here are not Christian. There are very few churches around. I have seen maybe three Catholic churches in the time that I have been here. My work schedule does not allow for me to go to church on Sundays. That being said, the churches here have one mass in English on Sundays. There really isn't daily mass in China either. Christianity is frowned upon here. Only if you hold a foreign passport are you allowed in a church.


My health is not the greatest here in China either. I am a healthy young women back at home. In China I constantly have stomach issues, minor aches and pains. My throat is constantly swollen and sore (thank you pollution). I need to move to an area where the air is cleaner and I can restore my health. In the 11 months I have been here I have lost about 15 pounds. Every time someone sees me they are like did you lose more weight. I am not complaining I lost weight, but I know its because of the food. The highest rates of cancer in China are lung and bowel cancer.

I am very glad I moved to China. I am glad I got to see the world in a different light. This is an experience I will not forget! And in the next three months I am in China, I will be having more crazy adventures!