bye bye

- June 16, 2012

There are people I miss from back home more then anything. Certain people that I am counting down the days (one hundred twenty eight to be exact) until I see again.

There are people in China that I'm going to miss.

There are people that have left China that I'm already missing.

Its funny how that is, people making connections and building relationships. Bridges crossed even in foreign lands.

Who would have thought that I'd be missing and preparing myself to miss people from parts of the world that I've never even visited??

We're foreigners, wàiguó rén , outsiders, lǎowài , different. Different then the Chinese, different even from each other. We speak different languages and have different opinions about absolutely everything. How does it work then?

That's just it though, isn't it? All of us together here in China, holding on to each other as if for dear life. Pulled together by a bond that overlooks nationality and background. Why?

I never thought I would become friends with a netball playing Scottish girl, a gamer from Devonshire, or an Angolan engineer, each person an individual. Each a genius at something.

No matter what part of the world you're from, we cry when we're sad and laugh when we're happy. Language doesn't mean anything when you're hugging a friend. Ethnicity, accents, none of that matters when you're in need of a smile or just someone to just be with.

It's a different kind of friendship, each of us a different spice mixed into one big wok just getting heated up for the stir fry.

I think you have to be a little bit crazy to pack up and leave like we all did.

Each for their own circumstances and reasons, we all ended up here. In this part in our lives that we'll look back on and think of, China. Good memories, & not so good memories, but memories none the less.

We all have each other to laugh with about our random experiences here. That's one of the best parts. People we can reminisce with.

People that understand what we went through and how it felt for them as well. People we'll look up in a few years and smile, friends.

Goodbyes are hard no matter who you are. Goodbyes in China have been especially difficult, not just because British people bury their emotions (don't deny it!), but because it might just be "goodbye forever".

Goodbye, have a good rest of your life. Goodbye, it was fun. Goodbye, if you're ever in Utah hit me up.

Goodbye to those faces that will come to mind every time we eat Chinese food. Goodbye to the crazy nights that pictures can only begin to describe. Goodbye to our little China family.

Then again, it might not be goodbye forever. It may just be goodbye for now, zàijiàn, see you someday.

Who knows? Ten, twenty years from now I may just bump into you again. It's a big world, but we found each other once, why not find each other again?

Whether we do or we don't see each other again matters only a little, really. We have had this time together, here, now.

We have lived in China, we have had good times and bad times. We have had emotional breakdowns and fits of laughter. We have what we have. And for now that is enough.