I'm finishing my third week back at my American University, and it's like returning to the States all over again. Sure, I've assimilated to living in this country, and I've become three months removed from the China experience, but my friends are asking me about it as if I've just returned, which to them I have.
It's getting harder to talk about the trip the farther I am from it. I find myself using more general adjectives to describe it as "awesome" and "unbelievable" rather than detailing the experience of climbing the Great Wall or seeing the hospitals or wandering through all the parks. I don't think it's going to get any easier to talk about, but I think I'm getting better rehearsed about the way I can talk about it not to dominate but still to share. I do have the "In China..." moments a lot, though, because my friends don't know about the little things that I'll think of as they come up, so I can tell the stories that way.
It's also super weird to see the group I traveled with on campus. This isn't like it's bad or awkward, but we all associate each other with being in Beijing, and now that we're in the states, it's a little more unexpected to see each other. I have a class with one of the guys from the trip, and I see somebody pretty much every day just wandering about. It's interesting that we've all coexisted on campus but never recognized each other until now. I think I like it.
As for school, things are going really well here. I am so used to the educational system at my university and in the US that it's very comforting to be back in that pattern. I get up, go to my classes, hit the gym, see my friends every day, do theater. I am happy to be back, even though the touring doesn't feel as special or exciting here. Beijing was wonderful, and so is the US.
Today is awesome because it fits my pattern of a day at school.
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