It's always interesting to go to new places. I spent today in Chengdu, waiting for my airplane to Bangkok. Since I haven't visited all of China, I will have to make comparisons based on my experience. In that light I would say Chengdu is between Beijing and Xining. It is a modern city like Beijing, but it is so much more inland that it doesn't have the same penetration of culture that Beijing does.

Of course that is changing, for instance I ate at McDonalds and then had a latte at Starbucks (and let me tell you after 6 months away from home a Big Mac tastes pretty damn good!) But you definetly notice the differences...for starters it was the biggest and busiest McD's I have ever seen...then in the bathroom they had squatter toilets...almost western, but not quite.

I find it interesting to observe this country, a country that is going through rapid growth and change. After all it has only been open for 25 years, but you definetly notice western culture seeping in in all facets. I find this somewhat ironic considering my own country is made up of a diverse group of people...many cultures coming together but creating a definate american culture. Here there is a definate culture, and yet it seems many youth want to embrace the West. When our Grandparents and Great-Grandparents arrived in America did they wish to keep their own customs, or adapt to the "Great Melting Pot"...and how about their children.

The strangest thing is to see people my age that look like me, and to simultaneously know that I will always be an outsider. It's a different world.

But although the outsider is the norm, I think it's changing. For instance as I walked through downtown Chengdu today I came across a store with some cool looking kids...dressed like I did in high school, smoking Marlboro Reds and playing guitar. I asked one of them where he had gotten his earring, since he had an enlarged guage similar to mine. Although he didn't speak very much english he and his friend spent a couple of hours taking me around to different places to look for earrings. I don't know too many people in the States who would do that for a complete stranger.

On to other topics...

I had a funny feeling when I arrived in the airport and looked at the departing flights. Sitting in an international terminal with a pocket full of money I suddenly experienced some strong wanderlust. Maybe it's being on break for so long, or being here for half a year, or just realizing that the world is an open door full of opportunities. But at this point if I was to leave I would have to head straight for one destination...home. And yet when I do make it back, how much will have changed. You kind of get stuck on an idea of the place and people you left without realizing that they are also changing in their own ways while you are off on the other side of the globe. Almost everyone I know has gone through some sort of major life altering change since I left...moving, parenthood, death, divorce, starting school just to name a few. Time just fades the pages in my book of memories.

And now I'm off to Thailand for a week. Is it a little crazy to go off to a new country by myself? Maybe. But time waits for no man. New adventure and experience awaits, and I hope my next entry will be some good things that are yet to occur.