The big 2-3. Not really the most significant year. At 22 I felt over the hill (well over the 21 hill at least), and I'm sure at 25 I'll begin dreading the approach of 30. But at 23 I was able to enjoy a birthday with barely a hint of introspection, nostalgia, or reflections on my mortality.
It was just a fun day. This was my first birthday out of "the country", and while I missed my friends and family back home in the states, getting together with all the people I've gotten close to here over the past half year made me realize how much of my life has been transplanted in Beijing. By the end of the night I was fending off multiple declarations of love (some from strangers - friends of friends - the others from my basketball teammates).
Beijing - the city - sucks in a lot of ways. Oh Beijing. How do I despise thee? Let me count the ways - foulest of the foul pollution, overcrowding, inept public transportation and screaming banshee bus ticket ladies, grumpy people, other people who stare/laugh/spit/point at you as you walk down the street. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of things about Beijing that I like (those are more abstract and harder to enumerate). There are just plenty more things that I don't like. However I've settled into a pretty nice life here between work, friends, basketball, and the occasional class or two. And with the weather improving, Beijing is moving closer an closer to a livable city everyday.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
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