Retrospective

When I identify to people that I spent last semester abroad as well, the inevitable comes up:

Do you wish you stayed in China?

The answer in a nutshell: yes.

There isn’t a day that goes bye that I don’t miss China. The people, the food, the classes, the cheap DVDs. The ability to knock someone’s socks off when I bust out my Chinese…really, I miss it so.

But the answer is more complicated than that: had I stayed in China it most certainly would’ve been different. And not necessarily for the better either: my closest friend on the program, Emily, wouldn’t have been there, my classes would’ve been totally different (and I would still have had to have class with a kid I really REALLY disliked) and I would’ve been in a homestay, which might have sent me over the deep edge.

But I miss the daily servings of DanDan mien, ice cream and Tsingdao. The pouty-face that Zhong Laoshi would make when we were being annoying, the jokes John Cho would make in class, walking down to Emily’s room and persuading her that, infact, it’s a good idea to travel ½ hour across town for dinner, even though we have a test the next morning.

Do I regret coming to France? Not really.

I get to travel in Europe, eat amazing food, meet more cool people whom I would’ve never met had I stayed in Beijing. I get to live in one of the chic-est arrondisments in Paris, learn how to properly peel my fruit and how to properly entertain men at a luncheon, when being the only female at the table (tip: be witty).

I learned that I like “developing nations” more than the first world. I learned that, at the end of the day, no matter where I am in the world, I still love NJ more than I love that place. (True. I love New Jersey. As I travel to all of these cool places, NJ is still my #1 love…sorry Mom….).

It was exactly a year ago that I decided to spend my year 1/2 in France 1/2 in China. Things have changed since then...but I still love me some foie gras...