Reflecting and Contemplating
Sitting in the plane ready to depart China, my two week vacation coming to an end, I finally have time to reflect on the hectic past month, the past four years as a whole, and look into the future.
I graduated on the first Friday of this month (May), less than three weeks ago. The culmination of a four year journey that began during COVID and consisted of part time jobs, intramurals, lots of MARTAing, and a North American collegiate championship, these memories will be reminisced on for years to come.
I honestly didn't enjoy my freshman year. Due to COVID, I spent my first college semester remotely at home. In an attempt to change things, I moved on campus that following spring semester. However, campus was still effectively shut down, with every event held virtually, and I spent the majority of the semester alone in my dorm room.
As campus gradually shifted back in person, my experience also improved. I made new friends through a part time job and at in person club meetings, attended my first in person college classes, and in general was ecstatic at how fun college was starting to become. My happiness the latter three years of college was a increasing curve with no peak, as my final semester was by far the most fun I had out of any semester. Old and new friends filled both previously empty weekends and certain weeknights with fun activities, but most life changing of all, my new girlfriend made sure I never spent a single evening lonely. For this I must thank each and every person who made my college experience as enjoyable as it was.
Two days after I graduated, my mother, brother, and I began a two week vacation that consisted of six flights, where we spent roughly three days in Tokyo and the rest in China. Tokyo was everything I had imagined and more, with countless little stores everywhere that my brother and I, particularly my brother, spent hours roaming and shopping in. Food was incredibly cheap. Everywhere in Tokyo was crazy clean, and subways made it easy to get around the city. The only disappointment was that the Studio Ghibli and Snoopy museums were too far out of the city and we were unable to visit them given our short time in the city.
This was my first time visiting China in roughly ten years, having not been since I was in eighth grade. Leading up to the trip, I was excited to see my grandparents on my mother's side, and my mother's brother and older sister and respective families. Visiting China is always difficult as trips under a week are not worth the time spent flying to and from, and taking off over a week from work is difficult for my parents. Now that my brother started working a few years ago after graduating, and that I plan to begin working in August, who knows when if ever we'll be able to visit China again.
The number one reason I was excited to visit China was to see my uncle. To mini me, he was the coolest person ever. He took my brother and I to the supermarket everyday to buy us all the snacks we wanted, took us to the square to spin tops by whipping them with ropes tied to sticks, and more. I have a vivid memory of him helping me fish for loaches in a rubber pool outside of the supermarket.
The day after my graduation and before our first flight, my mom broke the news that my uncle had just passed away and my heart shattered. It turns out that he had been in the hospital for a few weeks, and my mom had hoped we'd be able to see him, as we were due to be in China in five days. I believe that my mother found out about his condition during my graduation ceremony, and I thank her for waiting till after to let me know.
Everytime we go back and visit, we go out for a fancy meal with other family members. This time, there were ten of us. Outside of good cheap food, there isn't much us positive about the city. It's dirty, aging, and both pedestrians and cars act as if they don't see each other. There's also an always lingering stench of smoke, and often times people are smoking inside restaurants. My brother and I, and usually my mother, busier ourselves by rambling around supermarkets and malls, visiting almost every single one in the city.
We were lucky to be able to visit two other cities during our week ish here. The first was Dalian, a coastal city. It looked recently developed and was a significant improvement compared to my grandparents' city. The city was significantly cleaner, there was a nice subway system, and overall seemed like a livable city. We also visited Shenyang, where my aunt lives. The city was nothing like I remember it from when I visited as a little kid. The city itself was really pretty, and most of the buildings were well kept. At night, however, the city lit up. Countless streets turned into night markets, filled with bustling food stands and pretty lanterns and other lights.
As I get ready to head back to the United States, I have roughly two more months of summer vacation before starting my job. While my job is secure and I'm not worried about losing the offer, my location is still in the air, leaving me in a constant state of nervousness while I await my fate. I know my company will put me in a big city; I'm just hoping they're able to do so on the east coast. I also plan to hang out with my friends, both who graduated and those with more school to come, before summer ends and everyone heads their own way. I have a fishing day scheduled, a week in Charlotte, and a chance to retain my collegiate championship all to look forward to.
As my flight gets ready to depart, I'm ready to finally to home and relax without nothing to worry about (for now). I'm ready to turn back the clocks and be a little kid again, lying in bed at night listening to the sounds of crickets fill the air along with sounds of cars zooming by my neighborhood, where my only thoughts are when my next hangout with my friends will be.