As of 2011, the Manhattan borough of New York City has a population of approximately 1.6 million people. China’s population is quickly approaching 1.35 billion, and my current country of residence–Italy–has almost 61 million. 20,000 young people from my religious organization might, therefore, seem like a rather measly number, but I was blown away by the sheer number of people my age who believe, more or less, the same things I do.
I’m not there now, but living in New York was hard for precisely that reason; everyone has different beliefs and opinions, which is wonderful and completely a result of the freedoms I get to exercise as an American, but it’s always nice to be surrounded by the like-minded, if only for three days. That said, if the conference were much longer than that, I’d probably go insane–diversity is what makes life exciting, at least in my opinion–but I enjoyed my time, learned important lessons, and have since moved along.
I was in New York for three days but that hardly counts since most of that time was spent unpacking from my summer life and repacking for my academic one. I got to see old friends, which was wonderful, but left me feeling strangely divided. Seeing people that whose friendships I value once more before leaving the United States for almost a year was, of course, really nice. And we had a grand time. But there was a part of me, though small, that wished I hadn’t gone to New York at all. Life can be bittersweet at times, and I’m not always sure that the benefits outweigh the negatives. In this case, they definitely did; but do they always? I don’t have an answer to that one. It might just be something for each of us to decide on our own.
Returning home to China was nice too, until I had to leave. I have been dreading my year abroad since I decided to go to NYU in the Global Liberal Studies program around May of 2011; this has been a long time coming, and its turned out to be amazing, at least so far. The problem is that I had no idea how much I’d enjoy myself in Italy and how comfortable I’d become in such a short time. If I had known this, I probably could have left China for Italy with a much lighter heart. As it is, I was so stressed about this transition that I stayed up the entire 10 hours of the overnight flight and was absolutely exhausted when I finally arrived in Florence. I could have saved myself so many hours of sleep, but I just didn’t know. 20-20 hindsight and all that.
So now we’re all caught up. At least mostly. When life is coming at you faster than you can think, it’s hard to process it personally, let alone for other, faceless people on the internet. Although if you’re reading this, the chances are high that I actually know who you are.
Thank you for that, by the way. Keeping a blog is a lot more work than I imagined, as most things in life usually are. I can’t promise consistency in updates, but you’ll at least never be bored. That’s a plus, right?
Until next time, then. That’s when you’ll get the fun stuff. And in the words of River Song, “No sneak previews.” Cause I’m in Italy, but I’ve barely begun to tell you about everything that’s happened to me here, and if I spill all the good stories now, what’s to keep you coming back? So no spoilers this time, but when we return, prepare to be amazed–I certainly was.
**Title: “Nothing Ever Happens” by Rachel Platten**
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