One down...

Topic of the day: Coming up on the one year mark

Time flies, time flies, time flies! In the blink of an eye, one year has passed and in a few days time, it will be my first anniversary in China. Who would've guessed that with my sudden arrival in China, I would last this long? Certainly not I - after all, I was suppose to have visited the States last August!

Inspired by what Adam wrote in his blog when he marked his anniversary in Beijing, below is a list of some of the things that I have learned, experienced, and achieved during my first China year:

- Understanding why Beijing is the "largest small town" in the world.

- From alternative fuel source to law firms to a "harmonious society", learned a little about a lot of different things.

- Further acquainted myself with China by traveling within her - sometimes to revisit the old (Shanghai, Qingdao), but often to be introduced to the new (Tibet, Gansu, Qinghai, Tai Shan, et al).

- Finished an internship and got a job! Woo-hoo! J

- Moved to my very own flat.

- Discovered more professional interests - like photography and CSR.

- Found areas where I need to improve myself.

- Met many new friends and had even more depart... It's always a shame...

- Learned my 2^nd ring road from my 3^rd ring road!

As I have said and will continue to say, living in China at this point of her development is interesting, exhilarating, and always fascinating. I have no grandiose future plan, but I do look forward to further developing myself and continuing to learn about Asia for as long as this road takes me.

For now, exciting opportunities loom in the near future: 2 weeks in Xinjiang (now, I have decided to forgo the Southern Silk Road and head to Kanas Lake instead) and some old friends visiting Beijing in the summer (they're actually old AIESEC trainee friends back during when I was in Turkey! Haven't seen them in years!).

As Delphy once said: Adventure awaits! And I'm excited to start! J