moving out

So it's getting pretty official. Daniel handed in his resignation letter on the first day of this week, and was given a last "scavenger hunt" to accomplish a.k.a. going to more than 10 offices to secure stamps, signatures, returning my mac book (aaaaaa)...so he can be approved for release. One of the paper squares waiting to be stamped is for the housing office, which means that we are packing and getting ready to move to and stay at a hotel for a few days before we leave Hangzhou forever. We've spent the last three weeks visiting bank branches to convert RMB to USD and discovering the draconian laws surrounding that, getting denied, getting in heated "discussions", and finally having a mainland citizen/friend help us wire most of our converted money to Pittsburgh. It was...a real education.

I'm most sad about leaving the friends we've made here. The expat moms I just started hanging out with, who seem to keep forgetting that I'm going to be gone for good. The locals here--security guards, cleaning folks, fellow academics, church friends--that I wonder if we'll ever see again. It makes me reflect, once again, on the people I really want to keep in my life, for the rest of our lives. I've come upon a lot of people through the years from vastly different backgrounds because of my own diverse interests and, also, moving nearly every single year and immigrating, and although Facebook and Google+ give a false sense of staying in touch with everyone, there's only so much time one can really devote to nurturing existing relationships.

It's time to prune accordingly and really go deep with true friends. For example, I've only shared with a handful of people our news about leaving China, and surprisingly the people who are most glad about our deciding to leave have been (1) most wary of our decision to come here but then (2) the ones who've kept in the best touch and been the most supportive during our time here. And, ironically, most of the people who had expressed happiness for our initial decision...were never heard from again after we left the U.S.

This short stint in China has opened my eyes to so many things. I am not sorry we came. And, after learning all that I have, I am ready to leave for a freer place where this knowledge gained could be put to use instead of stifled. T minus 10 days.