The end of a great chapter.

I’ve let 9 months slip by without updating my blog, much to my own regret. I personally enjoy writing about the big and small things that come my way every day. For some reason, the moment we (Vincent and I) knew our future in Tianjin was due to change, I didn’t know exactly what to write without feeling unsure. Everything became so temporal, so touch-and-go. I was almost afraid writing anything would mean committing to it.

Then over time I left the blog to manage ‘bigger’ issues in life – finding a new home, saying my goodbyes, enjoying China, securing a new job and more. In retrospect I do regret not posting more about all that has happened in the last 9 months, because  it’s like we’ve gone through a huge tidal wave. For one, we both secured good jobs to keep us afloat. By miracle, we scraped through the Singapore government’s iron measures to withhold the buying of a second property. Then we cleaned out our savings turning the dream home into a reality. And, cats survived the painful month of quarantine. All of them now only logged in the memory, and only an iphone cameral roll to remember it by.

Before I move on I thought I’ll put an end to my first chapter (ie. China) of my blog.

So here’s a little full-stop to my life in Tianjin:

Being in China a second time (first time being in Shanghai 2004-06) has been very much part of what I wanted. Having come out of it this time with a partner on my side, the experience has been simply incredible. In retrospect, Vincent gained a lot more out of being in China than I did – he secured a great MBA (coming out #1 in class even!), formed a pact with group of fantastic friends from all parts of the world (literally, every continent) that we’ll visit one another in the coming decade, and especially to have immersed himself in the throes of China. Being a non-Chinese speaker, it is truly a remarkable achievement.

On my part, having toiled through this love-hate relationship once more, I can honestly say that as much as I love China, I can never call it home. I’ve become too westernized, too tree-hugging and perhaps just to earnest to appreciate China in her modern pursuit. Perhaps I was only fascinated with the old, ancient ways that held China’s roots for thousands of years, and maybe the reason why I wanted to go back was to convince myself that China is different from how today’s media portrays it. At least I polished up my Chinese and earned myself a good bout of experience in developing sustainability in China.

Anyway,  I’ve only scratched the surface of the reality – through my various travels across China’s cities, through my work, all the books I’ve been allowed to read about China from China. But I reckon it’s enough for now, I’ll probably never have a conclusion to this anyway.

So with this, I’m happy to say the chapter on China is closed for now. At least for Vincent and I, all those incredible moments in China will turn to memories that will serve as nothing less than a good story for the future.

On to the next chapter:

RETURNING TO THE OL’ SUNNY ISLAND!