day one

I have wild ambitions regarding this blog. I want it to record unforgettable moments, utter unrepeatable thoughts, expose the large pink elephant in the room, and somehow explain the wonder of a country I won't pretend to understand in words that you can. But right now, I can only write the beginning lines of adventures, the first few fragments of an autobiographical romp - era se que era una vez - but I promise you that it will be a delicious, joyous romp.

It has been fourteen hours since I packed away 1/2 of my possessions (the other 1/2 being donated away or left scattered on plastic tarps) and headed back towards Jersey, fifteen hours since I watched the back of a rude yellow taxi take my darling away. Forgive me my maudlin moments, even goal-oriented neurotics find parting ways painful.

I've been watching Grey's Anatomy and looking for a job. Although I'll be here for only a month, I can't imagine spending all my days sitting around the house. That being said, I do have a few goals for this summer which I hope to have accomplished by the time I close this blog. These goals are:

• Read - books, blogs, magazines, anything
• Some ideas for books - 'The Virgin Suicides', 'Middlesex', 'Reading Lolita in Tehran', 'The Gospel of Judas'
• Explore nooks and crannies of Beijing and Shanghai that are only accessible on foot or by bicyle
• Relearn the butterfly, ditto for diving and no-hands-bike-riding
• Find at least one good piano piece to start studying now and continue practicing in the fall
• Keep in touch with pre-college and college friends
• Get back into shape, run a t<10 minute mile
  
• Figure out Stephen's beer bread recipe and then recreate until perfection
• Find the good dim sum places in Beijing, learn all the lyrics to at least one Chinese pop song, reconnect with relatives, eat grandmother's food and listen to grandmother's advice
• Take lots of photographs, write long posts, fill up the summer days with memories

good night to you and let us see what this summer brings ^^.