Adieu?

I’ve always been one to really appreciate the little things in life, but with the departure of probably the nicest neighbor I’ll ever have, I’ve realized just how big of a difference those little things make in a person’s life. This week for the first time in eight months when I woke up, there was no more Qunxing, smiling and ever-cheerful to greet me with an enthusiastic “Bonjour!” or “Salut Matt!” No more happy scuttle and right-up-in-your-face conversations; she’s just completed her three-day trek back to her home in central China.

Monday and Tuesday were filled with lasts for her, and I have no idea how she held it together. It was our last meal together, her last time at Sylviane and Jean-François’ house, and her goodbye to Sylviane. I was watching them as they were hugging and seriously I don’t know how she did it. I’m not one to start blubbering when I know I’ll see the person again, but with her I’m pretty sure none of us will be taking a 15 hour train ride from Hong Kong into Wuhan to visit.

Even though she’s only two years older than me, I’ve learned some (what I think anyway are) really important life lessons from her. Lesson one: A smile is the most powerful tool you possess and it’s almost impossible to abuse its power. Lesson two: Smile, laugh, and always appreciate the person next to you because regardless of who they are, you can’t know the impact you’ll have on their life (or they’ll have on yours) until they’re gone. And lastly, while it’s not exactly my definition for the indefinable, the meaning of life is to make a difference in somebody else’s.

Right, so now that you’ve had a healthy dose of Asian sagesse, I’ll recap the week. Things have slowed down a lot here, and when I say a lot I mean it because I’m not one to get bored easily. Usually if I have a book or nice weather or something I can amuse myself, but now that all of the assistants but one are gone, my contract is up, and I have a month and a half until my next “job” over here starts, I’m going a little stir crazy. I’m glad my room gets the morning sun, because otherwise I probably wouldn’t get up until after noon.

There are two words that sum up this week: dinner and walking. Walking because I’ve done tons of it, just as something to get me out of the school and to explore all those roads I’ve always wanted to go down, but never took the time to explore because I was going somewhere else. Dinner because I ate more meals out this week than I did at home; dinner at Sylviane’s, dinner with Qunxing, dinner with one of my teachers Tatiana who made an amazing lapin provençale, and then just last night dinner with some of my students who are graduating this year.

For the foreseeable future I think the cabin fever will be held at bay – tomorrow I’m going to Paris with 40-some British 8th graders on exchange with my collègiens, then Wednesday I leave for my week long adventure to Ireland and England. It pays to know people.