Return to China: A Familiar Reality

 

                                My return to China started off eerily similar to that of my last departure.  In no small part was that due to the necessity of returning to my past teaching site to collect my personal items left under the care of my former supervisor, Mr. Tian.  Knowing that I was going to be actually spending the 12-13' academic calendar in a different city allowed me to feel a sense of relief upon returning to Rongchang (荣昌).  Even before I returned to my past teaching site, I honestly was extremely happy in the knowledge that I was going to be moving to a much larger campus and city for the upcoming academic year.  For too long I had felt isolated by the confines of living in the sparsely populated city of Rongchang.  With that being said, I know that my first year and a half spent in Rongchang truly was a transformative experience for me.  I would earnestly be remiss if I was not grateful to everyone who had a role in my experience there.                                        Even with that sense of gratitude already in mind I could seriously tell that staying in Rongchang would have been a mistake for me.  Knowing that all I needed to do was collect my belongings and move onto another location was a bone to my constitution moving forward. 

 

                                It is strange to think how quickly we can resign ourselves to some changes in life while struggle mightily while dealing with others.  In my case, moving away from Rongchang seemed so innately natural to me that there was no need to reconsider my decision to move onto beibei(北碚).  Throughout my time spent in China there has always seemed to be a guiding force keeping me engaged forward on a path towards greater knowledge.  For me, the transition to living in Beibei was a means to fulfill that longing for deeper logos in my intellectual life as I prepared to focus hard on improving my oral Chinese over the next year.

 

                                Even with feeling the effects of the jet lag and dealing with my often pre-occupied ego I still found the time to appreciate the experience of getting to see the Tian family during my day in Rongchang.  Mr. Tian was his usual jovial self and did a marvelous job of hosting several meals for me before I was to leave the next day.  I again greatly enjoyed receiving his beneficence as he would never dare allow me to pay for my portion of the bill.  I also truly appreciated the modesty of his character as he continually brushed off my occasional, "thank you" with his patented, "it does not matter" reply.  After collecting my belongings and receiving my flight reimbursement I was driven to my new apartment in Beibei.  As I sat in the car pondering my future I could not help but thinking that as quickly as an old chapter in my life had closed a new one was about to begin.