Semester 1

Chapter XVIII: Wrap-up & Break

Okay, I have submitted all papers, I have done all the exams, my school responsibilities are over. The first semester in China is all wrapped up and ahead of me, there’s a month of recovery. Mental and physical. I love Shanghai but changing the environment for a while will be nice. Cannot wait for the warm Malaysian weather, cannot wait for breathing something that’s not full of chemicals killing you.

It’s been fun – all the shit I went through, all the people I’ve ran into, all the parties, bars, game nights, wandering around this enormous city… I still don’t miss my hometown much but I do miss it a little. I believe that by the time summer kicks in, I might be actually looking forward to getting back and enjoy its calmness, cleanness, organization, little hipster cafés on every corner, no nightlife etc… Point being, getting out of there was one the greatest things I’ve ever managed to execute – no question about that…

As for the last week, I went to see the new Star Wars movie. I didn’t expect much so I wasn’t really that disappointed. It has its moments. I didn’t really socialize much as there was still shit to do, deadlines to meet and responsibilities to face.

I also went face to face with corporate machine after a while again. A friend of mine passed me this one day gig at HP – I was assisting with localization of one of their products to the Czech language. All those open space offices, motivation posters, statements referring to environmental responsibility, recycled paper cups and shit… It’s just beautiful. I kinda like how Chinese spend their lunch break. Some go out to eat, but others just use that window to get some sleep. Legs on the table, comfortably pushed into their chairs – haven’t really seen that before…

One of my friends I hosted like a year ago through Couchsurfing arrived to Shanghai for couple of days too. I gave her a little tour around local vegan places, we hung out, drank some beers, involved some other people – it was cool. On Friday, I joined a group of veggie heads (and veggie friendly carnivores) for this hot pot dinner at one of the high class vegetarian restaurant at West Nanjing Road. The food was amazing but the place is shit. It’s on the third floor of a mall, you place orders on ipads and when you need a fucking service, you push a button. Thanks but no thanks…

Yesterday, me and my bro went for some beers at a Windows bar right next to Jing’an park. I’m glad we discovered that one – definitely the best choice for cheap beer around my place. Afterwards, we continued to the Elevator for a party headlined by Murlo and those Genome guys. It was lit, music was on point, lots of cool ass people around – I needed that. Since I still had some shit to do today, I left after 3 o’clock to make sure I wake up at 8 and appear as a presentable young man.

And there you have it. The first fucking semester is over, 7 more to go. Tomorrow, I’m outta here and I’ll be back in around 3 weeks to follow-up on my Chinese life. For now, your boy taeb is czeching out. Peace!

Highlights:

• I kinda enjoy the new season of Sherlock. Just sayin…
• Air quality has significantly risen over past couple of days. After weeks of shit, outdoor work out doesn’t feel like a suicide. Compared to Europe, it’s still ridiculous but on local standards… All good.
• Being able to keep this blog for so long. Didn’t really expect that.