It’s been over a month and a half since I’ve returned from Beijing, and yet the experience still affects me every day. I no longer take a healthy sky for granted. Anyone who has lived in Beijing for over a month probably feels the same. For the six weeks I was there, the sky was blue for six days at most. The rest of the time it was gray and cloudless during the day, darker gray and starless during the night. I took these pictures out of the window of my dorm on the day after it had rained, which was one of the most clear days of the summer (same day I went running), and on a day when the pollution felt particularly bad. See the difference.
This photo probably was taken at a different time of day. But still.
I don’t think I’ll ever look at America’s skies the same way. And I don’t ever want to look at them the same way.
In Beijing, I knew I was leaving on August 15th, and so I had a very specific and narrow timeframe in which I had to accomplish all of my goals. I didn’t want to come back to America and regret not taking full advantage of my time in China, so in my downtime I forced myself to go to places even when I was exhausted and forced myself to go on every field trip even when I felt like shit. I also created an itinerary spanning the first week to the last, to avoid having to cram everything into the final week.
I do not think like this normally. But I had a similar reevaluation of my time when, on May 15th, I found out that I had been accepted to Columbia, and knew that I would be leaving Chicago and Northwestern for good on June 11th. I had put off participating in Northwestern traditions, such as Dance Marathon, since I thought I could do it the next year. I also had planned on going to Navy Pier and to Franklyn Lloyd Wright’s house the next year. In those final weeks of school I explored other parts of Chicago, but couldn’t make the time to go to those places.
When you have a specific day of departure, there is a sense of urgency, and you act deliberately. When you think your time in a place is limitless, you can afford to put things off until another day, another day. And so I've lived in New York my entire life but have never been to The Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island. I barely know downtown New York, and the other boroughs not at all.
It's hard to take advantage of every day when you're in the middle of schoolwork and classes. So I'll set a smaller goal for myself: to live at least one day a week with the same urgency I felt in Beijing and in the final weeks at Northwestern. To actually explore and take advantage of my surroundings.
I signed up for this program at the end of January. Once I knew that I was transferring, it didn't make much sense to go on a Northwestern program. I contemplated making other plans for the summer, or trying to switch to a Columbia study abroad program in Beijing. I am so happy I didn't.
I now have a more positive view of Northwestern, and actually want to go back some time. I learned a lot, more outside of the classroom than inside, and still had the most fun I've had all year. I made really good friends, friendships I see lasting indefinitely. I feel closer to my family. I learned about myself. I changed, and my worldview changed.
I miss Beijing and China, and want to go back soon.
Until then,
Anna
In Beijing, I knew I was leaving on August 15th, and so I had a very specific and narrow timeframe in which I had to accomplish all of my goals. I didn’t want to come back to America and regret not taking full advantage of my time in China, so in my downtime I forced myself to go to places even when I was exhausted and forced myself to go on every field trip even when I felt like shit. I also created an itinerary spanning the first week to the last, to avoid having to cram everything into the final week.
I do not think like this normally. But I had a similar reevaluation of my time when, on May 15th, I found out that I had been accepted to Columbia, and knew that I would be leaving Chicago and Northwestern for good on June 11th. I had put off participating in Northwestern traditions, such as Dance Marathon, since I thought I could do it the next year. I also had planned on going to Navy Pier and to Franklyn Lloyd Wright’s house the next year. In those final weeks of school I explored other parts of Chicago, but couldn’t make the time to go to those places.
When you have a specific day of departure, there is a sense of urgency, and you act deliberately. When you think your time in a place is limitless, you can afford to put things off until another day, another day. And so I've lived in New York my entire life but have never been to The Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island. I barely know downtown New York, and the other boroughs not at all.
It's hard to take advantage of every day when you're in the middle of schoolwork and classes. So I'll set a smaller goal for myself: to live at least one day a week with the same urgency I felt in Beijing and in the final weeks at Northwestern. To actually explore and take advantage of my surroundings.
I signed up for this program at the end of January. Once I knew that I was transferring, it didn't make much sense to go on a Northwestern program. I contemplated making other plans for the summer, or trying to switch to a Columbia study abroad program in Beijing. I am so happy I didn't.
I now have a more positive view of Northwestern, and actually want to go back some time. I learned a lot, more outside of the classroom than inside, and still had the most fun I've had all year. I made really good friends, friendships I see lasting indefinitely. I feel closer to my family. I learned about myself. I changed, and my worldview changed.
I miss Beijing and China, and want to go back soon.
Until then,
Anna
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