In my 20s I’ve forgotten my birthday every year until someone else (or facebook) has reminded me. It’s been a good system 🙂
I picked a representative sampling of 26 photos of this past year (in nothing resembling chronological order) and wrote a little blurb to go with each one. Not the best photos I’ve taken, but I like to think they’re the dodgy hostel adventures of memories and not the 5-star hotel memories.
This post comes about two months past my actual birthday partly because of the usual moving business, and partly because it was emotionally heavy to look at all these and reflect on my position in life. It’s been very fun picking only 26, I highly suggest you give it a go — if for nothing else than to remind yourself how full your life is.
After I was done the captions, I was filled with a sense of happiness and sadness all at once. I wish I could re-live all the good things but also looking forward to next year’s inevitable 27 pictures 🙂
And to sneak in a bit of math: a year is just over 52 months, and half of that is 26, so I’ve had important moments about once every other week. Pretty neat!
There’s something special about working at an international school vs. a regular school. In London, I don’t often see my coworkers outside of school and felt lonely a lot because making friends as an adult is some next level hardship. In China, your colleagues at the international school were often the only people you could interact with around so friendships formed fast and easy. It’s been fantastic being more social and going on more adventures than I would brave alone. (The Bookworm, Beijing)I prefer to play things on the safe side — other than teaching on three different continents — so we only lit four of these pollen fluffs on fire before we ran back inside. I try most of the time to be responsible and mature so it was very fun to run around for an hour collecting these and lighting them up. At 26 I’m learning that you don’t grow up, you just learn to hide things a little better. (Outside the school gates in Beijing, China)As a second-generation immigrant, I’ve lost a large portion of my connection to China. I worry that I would never regain them., stuck in a weird limbo where I’m a foreigner no matter where I go. Visiting the Forbidden City however, I met a lot of other Chinese who were just as new to these sights as I was, and who were very happy to see an expat return to China. No matter how far off I am from being Chinese, it will be here waiting for me to find it again. (Forbidden City, Beijing)Even if you hate the cold, Harbin during their Snow & Ice Festival is So Worth It. It is a true winter wonderland at night when the complex of huge multi-story ice sculptures are lit up. This snow sculpture wall was easily 4 floors tall and only one of dozens of structures this size. I find myself forgetting (and not caring) that the hotel we stayed in the previous night had no heating. The more I see the world the more I come to redefine what’s important in life, which apparently doesn’t include heating if the price is low enough. (Snow & Ice Festival, Harbin)The view from my parents’ house. I see a lot of multi-generational communal living in China, grandparents often living with the family and taking care of the kids. I’ve come to realize it’s a very Western value that the children must leave the nest. I’m re-thinking whether I want to live separately from my family once I return to Toronto (caveat: if you don’t get along then obviously it won’t work). I want the knowledge that’s kept with them and I haven’t had time to learn yet, their recipes, life lessons, and how to grow a vegetable garden. (Home, Toronto)The school I first worked at started classes at 7:30 and I tend to walk there quite early around 6:30. It wasn’t the most fun but in the winter months with late sunrises, I got to see views like this every day. Given enough quiet time and beautiful views you end up with existential crises (Tianjin, China).,Chinese schooling is largely still very traditional and academic. Starting cooking club was a way to give the kids something relaxing to do. Or in professional lingo: build rapport with the children. If I could start my own school, I would mandate a for-fun cooking club and a full set of dishwashers. (Tianjin, China)A friend from my time teaching in London came to visit me in Toronto and I took her to Centre Island. Sometimes I think about my life and just marvel at how privileged I am. I have friends all over the world and it’s very normal to check the world clocks for 4 different timezones. I didn’t think this was where I would end up at 26. (Centre Island, Toronto)My grandpa told me a proverb, where there are friends, there are ways. I did not expect to build such strong bonds with the staff at my school but it goes to show you there are great people everywhere. One of the downsides of being an international teacher is the yearly heartbreak as friends you loved leave, or you leave. I keep in touch online but you can’t set pollen on fire over skype. I’m the one with the hair. (Tianjin, China)Growing up in Toronto meant I had a lot of Chinese friends. When one of them came to Beijing we managed to meet up and she introduced me to this classic breakfast item, literally translated as “tofu brains” 豆腐脑. I felt amazing being able to connect to a new part of my cultural background. (Beijing, China)Very early birthday celebration a month before my actual birthday, for which I would be in China. I felt like the richest person alive surrounded by family, friends, and food. I could not have asked for a better life than at that moment. My family is entirely vegetarian so it was very fun to show my carnivorous friends Buddhist cooking. (Toronto, Canada)This was in the Nanluoguxiang hutong (南锣鼓巷). The entry way to this magical restaurant was a tiny little door on the main street, you blink and you miss it. A colleague is a Beijinger and showed us the way. I had traditional zhajiangmian 炸酱面 and it felt like it was filling up the cracks in my diasporic heart. 10/10 would recommend.I ended up taking a few colleagues from the new school as well and introduced them to it, passing on the chain. (Beijing, China)The last Beijing trip I had with my colleagues at my first school in China. We went to the Art Alley thinking the art would be on display. We were wrong. Most of the galleries were by paid entry though there are still numerous sculptures and cool graffiti like this outside. (798 art district, Beijing)Happened upon a surprise park on the route between two tourist traps and had to go through it. Japan balances traditional and modernity very well, you see the two existing side-by-side beautifully. I wonder if I can manage to pull off that balance as a Chinese-Canadian. There’s a metaphor somewhere in there about unexpected detours, journeys, and destinations. (Tokyo, Japan).The view from my colleague’s balcony during our last staff party. Allow me to get poetic and maudlin for a bit here: even though the sun was setting, it was still beautiful, and you know it will rise again the next day.I have adopted an aggressively positive outlook, every small joy is worthwhile because there are many and you’ll always find something. The apartments weren’t the best, I worked 10-12hour days, and I seriously lacked physical exercise, but darn if the spring isn’t beautiful and food delicious. (Tianjin, China)The public park near me gets lots of use. Every weekend dance troupes/clubs come and all gather, young and old. You’re welcome to join any of them and have a good time. During particularly windy days you see these massive kites being flown above, quite a few over 4m long. It amazes me how much a sense of community there was even in a huge city full of millions. (Tianjin, China)China has a lot of living history. Right behind this cleaned up tourist street people still live in traditional houses and use much of the same stuff that’s in museums and history books. The rising middle class has been good for a lot of Chinese people, but I can’t stop the jaded voice in my head that says being more ‘developed’ really just means being more Westernized. (Old Beijing Food Street, China)My bedroom at the new school apartment. (Beijing, China)The view from my balcony at 5am. There were a few days I woke up stupidly early to set up a timelapse of the sunrise from my balcony and then immediately crawled back into bed because I was sensible and did it on the weekend. I didn’t end up with any great time-lapses but I did get to see the sunrise anyways 🙂 (Tianjin, China)Walking through the Temple of Heaven was incredibly peaceful. I almost wish China wasn’t a secular country and we could get to see some of the old rituals being performed I completed the cycle this year by also visiting the Templf of Earth.(Temple of Heaven, Beijing)The view right outside our hotel in Vietnam. I found the buildings to be very deceptive here because while the outside was jumbled and wild with electric lines the insides were always incredibly clean and beautiful. Behind the busy streets, lots of back alleys like this exist where families lived. Check out the Vietnam blog post for a more detailed breakdown of my thoughts. (Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam)China banned ‘foreign celebrations’ so the Halloween party at the school was a very secretive affair. One teacher had a hundred glow sticks left from another party the year before so we stuck them liberally all around. Seeing the kids are the party just reminded me more than ever of the fact that kids are kids no matter where you go. We all deserve happiness and some unproductive fun in our lives. (China)For my early birthday celebration, my grandma and I made vegetarian dumplings for everyone. I loved just calmly folding these and chatting with her as some random youtube video played in the background. It’s moments like these that I will need to think about when I make my decision to stay or leave China in the future. Meaning is created in life if you can share it with others. (Toronto, Canada)This is the area where I grew up and where most of my friends still meet to hang out. A lot of things have changed since I first met them more than 12 years ago but a lot of things also stayed the same. We’re all over the world now but our experiences bind us and give us history. Every summer since I graduated high school I’ve made my way to this apartment and to this view to hangout with a close friend. However, next summer it will be different as they have moved to a new place. (View from friend’s old apartment)Meaning is gained only through reflection. I find that I grow a little in different places, and it’s only when I take in the sum of every change that I see myself as one big whole. By themselves, each of these 26 photos aren’t particularly meaningful, but by going through all my pictures and putting words to each one I feel like I’ve truly gained a year’s worth of growth. (Moon exhibit at the Aga Khan museum)
