Remember Me As A Time Of Day

Yesterday was my last day of work. The kitchen staff commemorated the event with a bag of flour, some pickle juice, lemons, and ketchup to my car. The bartender served me a couple long island iced teas to send me off. The subsequent rain washed my car clean.

It has to get me down to see my girl one more time before my plane leaves on Monday. I'm not worried, I've made the journey too many times already. I feel rushed, mostly. Today I have to get the rest of my teaching clothes and start the packing process, because after my visit it's two days in Atlanta of birthdays and going-away parties, and then I have Sunday to finish whatever I don't get done today. I have 5 days, but it feels like 2. Everybody seems a little hurt that I can't take a day off and visit or at least stop by and say hey, but that's how it's going to be for the next few days, a frenetic rush to the airport drawn out to the extreme.

I've said from the start that this will hit me when I get on the plane. Wow, I'm really going and all that. Today is significant because I know what I'm bringing. 15 changes of clothes, 2 wall hangings, my laptop, my cell phone (for which I have to buy a new SIM card when I get there), my camera, my passport, paperwork, and 4 SSAT/ISEE prep books that were sent to my house, which I am told will assist me teaching high school students. This is really shaping up to be quite an experiment. Of course I'm going to fit a few more things in the suitcase as I pack and decide I can't live without them. We'll see.

I also got an email from my roommate today. I've sent him back a series of questions for my own curiosity, about costs of living and things like that, so I can know how poor I'll be for my first unpaid month in China. His name is Scott and he's also American, I'm told. If there are any restrictions on blogging in China, he'll tell me what he knows hopefully in the next day or so.

Am I overpreparing because I'm bored? Or am I worrying?