Beginning to reflect

Tomorrow, or I suppose as it's past 1 am...today, is my last full day in China.

It's certainly bittersweet. I've gotten used to a life here and have spent so much time with Justin, Sebrina, and Madison that I feel like I've become a part of their new nuclear family. I'll miss that.
I'll also miss the amount of art here.
I'll miss feeling proud of myself for being able to cross the road without being hit by a car, or navigate down a sidewalk without bumping into people.
I'll miss using the apartment as a safe quiet spot out of the hustle and bustle of the outside world.
I'll miss the adventure that is bound to happen nearly every day.
I'll miss feeling myself adapt to a new country.
And I'll miss the Olympic fever here.

But I'm looking forward to seeing Shaun and Leila, and then seeing friends in Seattle and Bellingham!
I'm looking forward to starting a halloween costume way early this year. The plan is to sit myself down in the living room of an artsy friend of mine-Maryann-and start constructing something out of cardboard and see where it goes.
I'm looking forward to really fixing my bike so this new found freedom in moving around outside in the dark can be sustained in little Bellingham where taxis just aren't a good option.
I'm looking forward to no more humidity! There's nothing like a comfortable heat with clear skies and dry air. Seriously, humidity is just horrible.
I'm looking forward to walking around relatively unnoticed.
And I'm looking forward to sitting in a cafe that isn't Starbucks and maybe seeking out a vegan baked good. Seattle is a great place for that.
Oh oh, and going to a library, just to remind myself there are whole buildings full of books in English.

Amidst these thoughts of positives and negatives of leaving this place, I've got crazy weird hormones running through my body. The past few days I've felt overly emotional, sometimes irritable, and have had bouts of lethargy. It's been more than the ordinary once a month few days of strangeness, but despite the emotional fog there's one thing I am clear on and that is, I want to and will come back to China.