Adam’s Not Here

So I made it. When the plane was coming in to land I looked out over Toronto and had the same feeling I used to get landing in Winnipeg when visiting my grandparents. After Shanghai, Toronto definitely has a quiet, small-townish feel to me. Everything looks almost exactly the same, I just see it differently now. The first couple days I felt pretty crappy, just generally jet lagged and not that thrlled to be here. Living at my Mom’s home sort of reduces me to feeling like a kid again. Starting with Res and now having taken the trip I realize that I really can’t live at home anymore. So it’s really good that I was able to pick up my keys for Res and start moving my stuff in. The last couple days I have been going around and seeing friends which has been a serious pick me up. I really missed all of you and am so happy to see you again. I am excited to get back to school next week. And besides, U of T has so many Chinese students, it’ll be like I never left Shanghai!

Ok, so now some random impressions while I am still adjusting. It’s really strange hearing Chinese people speak perfect English. They sound just like me, no accent, perfect grammar, it weirds me out. It’s great seeing people of all creeds and colours living their lives together. When I see Blacks, Indians or blondes walking down the street they are no longer being following by everyone else’s eyes. Further to that, there are a lot of wacked out looking people on the streets here. In China, the spectrum for types of people and styles you see is much narrower and more homogenous. I was talking to my Mom about this and we figured that here since people are encouraged to be themselves a lot more, eccentric or counter-culture personalities are not concealed. More stuff…. Main Street subway station is filthy, seriously, it’s really disgusting. So many people here are fat, especially women. Maybe it’s the summer, but Torontonians seem a lot more laidback and friendlier than I remember. Or maybe it’s just that I am actually able to communicate with strangers again. Either way, it’s kinda nice.

So tomorrow I head up with my family to the cottage for 4 days. I come back and jump right into Don training, which I am super excited for. The TAing situation is really up in the air right now, which is pretty frustrating since I need to get some cashflow going. I just have to wait a couple weeks and see how the chips fall. Other than that, the plan is to just try and get in shape, put some weight back on. Leila and I are planning to do Yoga twice a week (now it’s in writing, so we can’t back out!) and hopefully I can add a morning workout routine on top of that. I’m going to see if I can audit a Mandarin class so that I keep up my exposure to the language, I definitely don’t want to lose it. So that’s it, hugs and kisses to everyone back in Shanghai (don’t worry, not to you Mason) I miss you all a lot.

Well this is it. Last night in Shanghai. Tomorrow I have a night train to Beijing and then I fly out on Monday. Since buying my ticket a few weeks ago, I have been pretty excited to be coming home. I’m looking forward to seeing so many people and really happy that I’ll be Donning again at UC. The thing is, as the day has gotten closer I have realized how unhappy I am to be leaving Shanghai. Guess I want it all. The past couple months living with Damien and Mason has definitely been the best part of my time here. When I first got here I was basically on my own, which was good as it really forced me to explore things over here. Having to figure everything out myself made me get exposed to things I might have missed otherwise. I met a ton of people here, but no one I really clicked with. So I had a great time those first few months, but the social scene just wasn’t quite what I was looking for. Having been there, and now living with two awesome people, it’s hard to leave. And the whole feeling is compounded by having Evan here to visit this past week. Needless to say it has been just a hilariously fantastic time altogether. And showing someone around who is new to a place makes you rediscover all the reasons why you love it.

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Date: 08/11/2006Views: 928

So there it is. I am glad to be leaving on a high note. I can’t put in to words how amazing this entire journey has been. I’m leaving one great situation to head to another, so I have a lot to be thankful for. And now I have my goal to work towards over the next year: Shanghai, Summer 2007. Goodbye to everyone here in Shanghai, I’m going to miss you. And everyone at home, I’ll see you soon.