In a weeks’ time I will be home
for Christmas and I will have been here 6 months. 6 months. Half a year! That just seems unbelievable to me, especially
when at the end of the first two weeks I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able
to stick it.
It wasn’t the easiest of
transitions – losing my incredible nan 3 days before coming out here and
missing her funeral, living in a hotel and then my boss quitting after my first
week made me feel completely lost and alone and desperate to sack it all in and
come home. But I stuck with it, and I’m so glad that I did.
I am having such a good time here
and I completely love this city. I’ve been so lucky to have met a really good
group of people. Everyone says the best aspect of expat life is the social side
of things and they’re right. There’s no planning here, which at first drove OCD
me insane - you might mention going out for drinks one night but nothing’s ever
planned until the last minute. Everything feels spontaneous, and everyone
knows, spontaneous nights are always the best!
And there’s always someone to do
stuff with. It’s not like at home where you have to book your time in 3 months
in advance, someone can message you on a Friday night and say let’s go out and
off you go. Maybe some of that is just living in a city vs. a town, I’m not
sure.
My resolution for when I come
back is to travel more – go on weekend breaks and see more of China. Having
only seen Beijing and Shanghai up to this point is terrible, so I am going to
see more. Selfie stick at the ready…
I am so excited to be coming home
for a bit –to see my family and friends, meeting all the new babies and my
niece, who is getting so big now and Skyping just isn’t the same as giving her
a big hug! And even though there are Christmas trees all over the place here
(and knitted reindeers in my building lobby), it’s not the same as hearing
Slade or the Pogues blasting out every time I go into a shop or get in my car.
Anyone who knows me well knows how much I love Christmas, so being somewhere
where it’s not such a big deal makes me a bit sad. Plus there’s all the little
rituals missing – decorating the trees with my mum, going Christmas shopping,
putting my best friends’ tree up whilst drinking red wine and watching the
Muppet Christmas Carol. And I can’t find anywhere that sells Advocaat, which
upsets me more than I would care to admit!!
And finally on a slightly cheesy
note (but hey it’s Christmas), it’s been a tumultuous year but I am so lucky to
be surrounded by such amazing friends and family who have been with me every
step of the way this year. Your love and support is what gave me the strength
to do all this, and I am so grateful for you all xxx
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