back from China

It strikes me as ironic that my URL is "India on my mind", but I just returned from 2 months in China. A friend there suggested that few people like both India and China, they usually hate one and love the other. I neither loved nor hated China, and I have yet to go to India. It makes me wonder how I will like it!

So I've been back on US soil for less than 48 hours, and already I hate re-entry. My first few hours were great. My friend Libby picked me up from the airport and we went straight to my friend Eric's going away party. He is moving to Scotland, and I've already been planning my trip to the UK! It was great that I got to see him before he left, and it was fun to see a few other friends, too.

Yesterday I didn't leave my apartment all day. I spent most of it vegging on the couch. I didn't have the mental capacity to start my schoolwork yet, but I did unpack and do 4 loads of laundry. However, I foolishly didn't go to bed until 5am, then slept until 2pm. I'm already regretting that one! I didn't sleep that well. For the second night, I kept waking up, confused about which Asian city I was in! I think if I had gone to bed by a decent hour, I could have avoided the jetlag thing entirely.

So it's now 5pm, and I've gotten out of bed once: to make a pot of coffee to stave off the caffeine headache. It's strange to not have a job to go to, or any other commitments that require my presence at a certain time and place.

My friend Brian called me at 3pm. He was on his way home from work on the East Coast, I still hadn't gotten out of bed. He asked about China, but I'm already tired of talking about it. I'm sure I'll get into a routine - find a speech and repeat it over again to everyone who asks. If you read this and talk to me about China, it will probably be better for both of us if you ask me a more original question. I will appreciate the opportunity to think about a different aspect of my trip, and you'll get more than the standard reply. ;-) But I promise to answer even the more boring questions.

Thanks for checking back into my blog after a 3-month hiatus! There is more to come, I think, now that I'm state-side and job hunting!