Can the End Really Be Here?
We said goodbye to Jared at the Beijing airport, and a private car took John, Ethan and me to the St. Regis, where, for the first time in 24 days, John, Ethan, and I would be parting ways. John and Ethan stayed at the St. Regis with John’s mom, who was in Beijing on work, and I stayed with my friend Craig, who is still working in Beijing, closing out his company’s games-time operations. We couldn’t stand to be apart for too long, though, and all of us (including Jared) met up for one more Saturday night of drinks and dancing at Destination.
Sunday, after I picked up the bag I’d left at the Beijing International, we went to the 798 Art District, a group of former German-designed Bauhaus factories which years ago were taken over by artists using them for studios. Before the Olympics, the city finished renovations on the trendy District, which now contains more than 300 galleries of all kinds of artwork. While we wandered through the artwork, it began to rain, and after a couple of hours, we headed back to the hotel to meet up with Jared and go out to dinner at Muse, my favorite French-Vietnamese fusion restaurant, where the four of us enjoyed our last moments over shrimp-wrapped sugarcane, fried rice noodles, fresh-wrapped spring rolls, and fried bananas.
John flew out early Monday morning, and Ethan checked out of his hotel. I went down to the Jet Set office to say some last goodbyes and pick up the empty suitcase I’d left there. It was gone! Someone else must have been packing up in the last couple weeks and decided that they wouldn’t have enough room without my suitcase! Ethan, Jared, and I met up to do some shopping at Nanluoguxiang, a trendy alley with some better quality souvenirs, and there we ran into Tiffany, Heather, Frank, and Tracie, who we’d worked with. This turned out to be a stroke of great luck, as Tracie invited us to stay at her apartment Monday night, which allowed us to cancel a hotel reservation we’d made when we learned that Craig and John, the sources of our housing, were both flying out Monday. We taxied back to the St. Regis, picked up Ethan’s bags, and went over to Craig’s apartment, where Craig and I both finished up our packing and shared a couple bottles of wine with everyone. When Craig left for the airport, we went to Tracie’s and dropped our bags. I went out to dinner for muslim food with Tracie and Frank, while Ethan met some of his local staff, and Jared went home to make some arrangements at his hotel. We all met up again at The Saddle for a true goodbye. Tracie and Frank had also been to Tibet recently, so we all had plenty to chat about, and of course, we all wondered after each other’s future plans.
At 5am this morning, Ethan got up and caught a cab to the airport. At 1pm, I said goodbye to Jared and caught my own cab. I met Heather and Liz at the United counter, we shared a Burger King lunch, and boarded the flight to Chicago. I was seated next to a Buddhist monk; he needed some help filling out his immigration card, and I was happy to oblige. After an uneventful flight, Vinnie gave me a ride home from the airport, and I went out to dinner with my roommate and best friends Tim and Mikey. It was good to catch up with them, sitting outside on Broadway, eating $22 All-You-Can-Eat sushi. This is real. I'm home. I spent the evening opening my mail, paying bills, and booking a MegaBus ticket home to Ohio. The China Chapter has ended.
Sunday, after I picked up the bag I’d left at the Beijing International, we went to the 798 Art District, a group of former German-designed Bauhaus factories which years ago were taken over by artists using them for studios. Before the Olympics, the city finished renovations on the trendy District, which now contains more than 300 galleries of all kinds of artwork. While we wandered through the artwork, it began to rain, and after a couple of hours, we headed back to the hotel to meet up with Jared and go out to dinner at Muse, my favorite French-Vietnamese fusion restaurant, where the four of us enjoyed our last moments over shrimp-wrapped sugarcane, fried rice noodles, fresh-wrapped spring rolls, and fried bananas.
John flew out early Monday morning, and Ethan checked out of his hotel. I went down to the Jet Set office to say some last goodbyes and pick up the empty suitcase I’d left there. It was gone! Someone else must have been packing up in the last couple weeks and decided that they wouldn’t have enough room without my suitcase! Ethan, Jared, and I met up to do some shopping at Nanluoguxiang, a trendy alley with some better quality souvenirs, and there we ran into Tiffany, Heather, Frank, and Tracie, who we’d worked with. This turned out to be a stroke of great luck, as Tracie invited us to stay at her apartment Monday night, which allowed us to cancel a hotel reservation we’d made when we learned that Craig and John, the sources of our housing, were both flying out Monday. We taxied back to the St. Regis, picked up Ethan’s bags, and went over to Craig’s apartment, where Craig and I both finished up our packing and shared a couple bottles of wine with everyone. When Craig left for the airport, we went to Tracie’s and dropped our bags. I went out to dinner for muslim food with Tracie and Frank, while Ethan met some of his local staff, and Jared went home to make some arrangements at his hotel. We all met up again at The Saddle for a true goodbye. Tracie and Frank had also been to Tibet recently, so we all had plenty to chat about, and of course, we all wondered after each other’s future plans.
At 5am this morning, Ethan got up and caught a cab to the airport. At 1pm, I said goodbye to Jared and caught my own cab. I met Heather and Liz at the United counter, we shared a Burger King lunch, and boarded the flight to Chicago. I was seated next to a Buddhist monk; he needed some help filling out his immigration card, and I was happy to oblige. After an uneventful flight, Vinnie gave me a ride home from the airport, and I went out to dinner with my roommate and best friends Tim and Mikey. It was good to catch up with them, sitting outside on Broadway, eating $22 All-You-Can-Eat sushi. This is real. I'm home. I spent the evening opening my mail, paying bills, and booking a MegaBus ticket home to Ohio. The China Chapter has ended.
Comments