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  Benji!

a quick thought.

first off, the last few weeks have been really unusual for me.

for the last eight weeks, there's been a houstonian warehouse specialist guy, who's a pretty awesome dude, and we've been hanging out a lot. it was quite refreshing to have an american around to speak american with, and, even more, to explore this part of china again with the zest to see new stuff. i've become very comfortable with hangzhou. it's become my home. so having him here made me remember that it's not really my home, and that there's still so much more to see. we went to huzhou (lake city), qiandao hu (thousand island lake), and all over hangzhou. and he provided me with another lens to see the city through, analyze through, etc.

i went to hong kong, my home away from my home away from home. i love that city. and i love my friends there. but after the second or so day i was there, i really wanted to come back to hangzhou. except for missing daisy, i've never felt a strong pull to come home (hangzhou) from hong kong before. so that was a little weird. but at the same time, it felt good. it reminded me of my freshman year trip to work in a poop field with Keri, bitts, and others. i had a blast, but oh man, did it feel good to see that exit sign for colo spgs.

then i went to shanghai to see my folks. it was like a dream. it was so great to see them, to wander around a city like shanghai. we were all three on an adventure, but each of us on a completely different one. for me, i was adventuring a big city with time and company. my folks were adventuring china, the china that they'd heard about and were confused as to why they missed it when we met up three years ago in kunming, where the word "china" proves that no country can be stereotyped (woah. does that make any sense? it did when i was writing it...).

there was a point in hangzhou, after four days in shanghai, where the three of us were on bus 198 heading to my apartment. it hit me. my parents are with me in hangzhou! it was a really strange feeling, but so wonderful. for what is nearing a year, i've told them small details, but now they finally could see what my life is like. it reminded me of those blind mice who are feeling up an elephant, each thinking it's something different. now they have seen the elephant, and know that it's not merely a sum of those smaller pieces.

at work, i'm back where i belong, on the bottom of the bosses' shoes. i'm a pawn in the game again, doing what i should have been doing for over a year. it's a bit refreshing, but still something that'll take some time to get used to.

--

and yesterday i said farewell to my folks. and this morning, james will take off. and like that, everything will go back to what it was before. strange how that sort of thing happens.

right now, i feel kinda like i did when i read that chicago sun times article about smashing pumpkins, when billy corgan said "i'm going back home." so i'm hoping you guys will all be there to welcome me back to my old routine. while of course i part wish it were in colo spgs, geeking with benj and hank, or in san fran, coffeeshopping every day and night, or in chicago with the family i've never seen at once in almost two years, i'm glad i'm in hangzhou, my new home, and just hope you guys are still in the peterdot / tsp universe while i find my way back to it

(ps. thanks, mom and dad! that trip was awesome!)

October 9, 2008 @ 5:50pm . 41 views . 2 comments