Monday, September 1, 2008

Anything at anytime

Soon to be: dearly missed Anna.

Today my friend Anna left Shanghai -ahhhhrrrgg, that's what I don't like about living in big cities like Shanghai/London. People come and go, and it is quite rare for someone to stay for more than 3 years... Well, I have no intention to leave this place for a looooong time yet, but during my 2 years here I have already met, had a great time with, and said goodbye to, at least 4 really good friends. Sure, I still keep in touch with all of them, but still... Me don't like. But I guess that's how it is over here. Living in Shanghai is attractive to many people -for a while, but few people come here on a long-term. Oh well, u can't have it all...

This week is my last week of 'freedom' (read: being able to train a lot, do some extra work, and not spend hours every day on writing characters) before the autumn semester starts. I am getting just a tad bit nervous about Mandarin Level 4, but I guess that's normal. Later this week I'll head to the uni to register, sign up for a class (I am guessing there will be 2 level 4 classes? Which is a good thing, -if the teachers in one class are bad u can always swap to the other class if you do it within one week), buy books and so on. Hopefully some of my former 'level 3' classmates will go on to level 4, instead of returning to Korea/Japan/Indonesia. I am guessing the class will be 99% Asians.

Until then I have some bits and pieces to deal with, yesterday I had a business meeting/interview and that was quite interesting, so let's see how that goes. Hm... now when I think about it. That's actually one of the things I like about Shanghai: business meetings on Sundays? No problems? Party on Tuesdays? Bring it on! Going to the post office on the weekend? Sure, why not? They are open. Ahhhh.... You can pretty much do anything at anytime here. Obviously living here has its pros and cons. Just like any other place.

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