Back to Reality

Unlike the rest of the Chinese, Woody never smiles in pictures. This is a shame, because his smile could make the saddest heart glad.

I feel as if the last few months were all a dream. It's amazing how quickly your senses can forget- the smells and sights I took in everyday, the way it felt to walk on the bumpy sidewalks, or how my entire body rebelled against the heat (but also amazing at how quickly they can remember with just one sniff of a familiar scent!).

There's nothing left but the images in my head and on my computer.

2 1/2 months is such a short time. It felt like it would be an eternity, but it went by so quickly. Somedays were just as awful as I had thought they would be, but fortunately those were less often than expected. Sometimes I miss it, but I'm happier to be home.

Things worked out much too perfectly to be just good luck. The couple that lived in our apartment were saints, and I didn't worry about a thing all Summer. We could have ended up living in a nightmare from Craigslist, but lived better than I could have imagined and with a host who made me laugh even in the very worst of China Days. I met 3 beautiful girls whose life circumstances were so similar to my own, nothing could tear us apart as we braved a new world together. Summer in Shanghai was unusually mild this year, and the very worst of it was just beginning as I was leaving. I didn't get sick. Not once.

I learned a lot this summer, about life, people, and myself. Maybe later I will tell you what I've learned, so much so that I've already made changes.

Things always work out for our good- in the very end at least- don't they?