One Week

Countdown to departure: 7 days
Countdown to culture shock: 192 days

I will go to Beijing alone and work as a private tutor. The arrangements are more or less in place: I get my visa on Wednesday, and I have given notice at work (my last day is Thursday), Tom will have his friends whisk me off to the apartment when I arrive, and then send the first couple of clients my way; from that point, I'll have to find the rest of my clients on my own. Fortunately I already have a handful of contacts in Beijing to help me out.

My personal growth the past couple weeks has moved beyond meditation to real life lessons. Damaging my parents' car twice in that span of time is distressing to the point of hilarity; the first incident ate up all of the funds I had meant to use for my travelling expenses, the second has left me in debt to both my brother and my best friend. But dealing with a brush with death and that encumbering sense of regret that comes with game-changing mistakes easily avoided have left me wiser to an extent that could very possibly save my life in a place where risky choices will be all-too-tempting to make. And I find comfort in that.

So let my last week begin. Here goes nothing.