reflections

As summer grows closer, I find that I am thinking more and more about Shanghai and last summer. In a way, that's not true -- I think about Shanghai every day in some respect. Maybe it's not so strange, but I can remember every day of the summer so vividly that if I close my eyes I can see the strange ads for Happy Valley across the train tracks disappear as a train approaches, the tall fake-looking, gold-tinted buildings and sparsely planted trees around Jing'an Park, etc. Sue Ling tells me it must have been a stress response, but I rather like that I can recall any given day if I close my eyes.

I think about Shanghai more now, though, because I can't imagine what this summer will be like. I was just reading John and Liren's blogs from last summer and I cracked up remembering all that had happened.

This summer, I will be in Vermont, working at a wine company. What will I learn this summer? Will I gain new perspective? It seems like I will be in another well this summer. Last year I was separated from the general population by language and culture, but this summer I will be living in a town of 5000 people and working in a "village" of 800 people. So, in a way, I will be separated from all outside life by my distance from high population densities.

Regardless, Shanghai was a summer I will never forget -- and I'm sure I will enjoy this summer just as much.