Map of Beijing

Metropolitan Beijing:



Beijing Normal University is up north-northwest of the forbidden city.

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The fact that I am now an adult, have no siblings, and am part of a nuclear family lax in its christian dogma has allowed any Christmas excitement I have to be eclipsed by the anticipation of stepping off the plane in Beijing. Not helping I'm sure was the stomach turning footage that was just broadcast on network television of 'the first Christmas mass in Kabul held in over ten years!'

The next few days will be relatively empty aside from packing and preparing. I have a number of loose social ends to tie up, and a good amount of driving between Downingtown and Newark. I think the main theme of my overall state of mind is that I by no means trust myself to succeed. The amount of logistical responsibility for getting my person to China dwarfs what faith I have in my abilities. The fact that I have made it this far is based solely on the fact that I managed to pull through 5-6 bureaucratic deadlines either at the inexcusably gut-wrenching last second or well past the deadline at the pardoning of an administrator. Keeping my person and belongings in one piece, making it to the airport on time, and then home again without incident seems a surreal goal.

I am much more worried about this than any specific physical circumstance of China. I am relatively unfazed by the prospects of the physical strain of the trip. I have received a number of shots. My stomach copes well with stream water and well water. I am no stranger to backpacking and prolonged day to day life without appliances and electricity, nor am I uncomfortable navigating urban bustle and sprawl. My spring/summer/fall regimen of running has fallen to the wayside, but as of last friday I could still finish 5 miles in under 40 minutes. Plus, the thousands of hours tramping around in workboots and a carhartt suit up at the port has me with little fear of not being able to handle extensive exploration. I even feel relatively prepared for the battle with jetlag. I am a veteran of avante garde sleeping patterns and am armed with a modest arsenal of legal ingestable weaponry.

I am quite apprehensive of the mental strain of the trip however. I have no real experience with a trip like this and have no idea the price total linguistic and cultural immersion will exact on me each day. I told Tom that it is likely that the energy spent trying desperately to understand all that I hear will wear me out and that the end of the day, it will be up to him to drag me back home.

And I'm also sure that this pre-flight assessment will be laughable in a week. I'm stabbing in the dark trying to contextualize what this trip will be like.

Cheers, Merry Christmas again.
I hope that your wine hangover is nowhere near as bad as mine is shaping up to be.

-Winkler