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Yesterday was my do over day. I left Shanghai just before 6pm Monday, and I arrived in Chicago just after 6pm Monday. Now, I'm sitting at home, bleary-eyed from too little sleep and trying to process the last six weeks while I do laundry and sort through souvenirs. I'm feeling really fortunate for having had this opportunity and really glad I kept this blog so that I'll have a written account of my travels. I'll miss China and writing the blog.

China is the strangest place I've ever been. By strange, I mean foreign. I wrote a lot here about the many things that struck me as different. Some of the strangeness wore off as my visit progressed. I got used to the way the university operated, to the sound of the language, to the fact that tap water is undrinkable, to being stared at all the time. But I never got completely used to the sights and sounds of the place. I'm glad about that. I found that I really liked the fact that I was in a place where the common and mundane could be perpetually surprising. It's made me want to find other places to visit, places just beyond my comfort level. I think it's good for me. It feels that way, anyway.

On the plane from Shanghai yesterday, I was seated down an empty row several seats away from a Chinese woman. I glanced over at her during the dinner service, and I saw her scrutinize the contents of her tray and then had most all of it back to the flight attendant. At breakfast, she took the tray, but then studied her blueberry muffin and looked around as if to say, "Really? Is this seriously what you people eat for breakfast?". I have no proof of this, but I think she was heading for her first visit to the US. She looked at the food a little like I looked at unfamiliar things during my first days in China. I watched the woman speak to the American flight attendant, and I could tell that she didn't speak much English. How would she make her way in the US? I had the benefit of being in a country where many of the people with whom I interacted spoke a lot or a little English. How many people will my plane companion encounter in the US who speak Chinese? Will she navigate language barriers and cultural differences better then I did? Will the people she meets be as generous to her as those I met? I hope so, but I wonder.

My trip taught me a lot about cultural difference, about the things I take for granted here at home, and about my own ability and inability to adapt to change. It taught me, once again, about the power of new things, and how those experiences make me happier. It's going to feel strange to go back to a mere one new thing a month after the novelty extravaganza of China. Perhaps that's the biggest challenge, though. Finding new adventures in everyday life is more difficult than finding them in a completely unfamiliar environment. I'll keep trying, though. I think this New Thing Campaign is a keeper.




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