Two Lists

I will leave China in five days, and I have very mixed feelings.

Things I'm looking forward to at home:

• My bed.
  
• My cats.
  
• Insanely strong coffee and good bread, warm with olive oil for breakfast.
  
• Cool weather.
  
• Friends and colleagues in Maine.
  
• Cooking yummy food while listening to loud music.
  
• Quiet Maine nights.
  

Things I will miss about Beijing:

• Good Chinese food, especially eggplant. I've never even come close to cooking eggplant so it tastes like it does in China.
  
• Clubs that play music that I like.
  
• The local coffee shop where the staff cheerfully greets me with a chorus of "good morning" no matter what time of day it is.
  
• Some great friends that I've made over the last two years.
  
• The excitement of living in a city of 16 million people.
  
• Eating pizza and cupcakes with chopsticks.
  
• The inspiration I draw from working with and being around so many smart, creative, and kind people at the summer school.
  
• The sense of adventure and possibility associated with almost everything here.