I’m sitting in the airport waiting for my flight to London, and thinking about how far I’ve come on this trip. I grab a snack in an airport restaurant, and as a I eat my sticky rice (silently judging the quality and texture as less than exceptional), with my chopsticks (that I can hold at the very back like a pro) and count out my last few quai, I give a quiet thank you to China in my head. This trip definitely felt less like a vacation and more like an experience, and for that I’m very grateful. I’m going home with so much more knowledge than I had when I arrived, and at least an appreciation, if not yet a complete understanding, of what it means to be Chinese in an incredibly turbulent and significant time in this country. I will watch the news from China with a more critical eye, and notice the changes there with a personal attachment to the people that I’ve met and the places that I’ve seen. So thanks, China, for teaching me so much. I promise that the next time I order an egg roll, I will do so with an appropriately cynical look.
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I just want to say that I have learned a lot from your China experience. Your blogs really were great in letting us all know how complicated China is and how deep the culture runs, beyond the political stuff I think we are most familiar with. In the last few weeks when I have heard a story on China, I have definitely thought about you and your shared experiences and thought a bit more about the information being communicated. So you thank China and I thank you Kelly West. xoxox Missing you horribly.
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