Crazy Chinese and Empty Apartments

It's coming to an empty end
Though it's been full of fun and friend
And yet I know I can depend
On you to dreams and future blend

I'm totally excited about my upcoming trip to China, and I can almost start my countdown, though it will officially start at 10pm on Tuesday, the moment I finish my last exam. Yup that's right, at 10pm. Sucks like an ass. But anyways. Yesterday John and I went to the Chinese Embassy to get our entrance visas and it was a true adventure from the start. We walked in and it was a veritable zoo -- so busy, as if they were trying to get me used to how China's going to look. Good for them for helping me out. Good thing that John was there, though because I would not have figured out how this whole process worked on its own. So he grabs forms for both of us and we sit down and start filling out the forms. I was only able to fill out a few of the boxes, and I had to get John to write a lot of the information (in Chinese) in for me because of my, um, illiteracy. Anyways, he goes off somewhere to get something and I am attacked by this crazy old chinese man who is speaking at me in rapid mandarin and gesticulating wildly. "I don't understand you," I say, and he starts gesturing like he's writing. "I can't help you, I don't know what you're saying," I say again, shrugging the universal gesture of not understanding. Eventually I get fed up because he's STILL talking to me so I just point at the box of pens. He shakes his head. I point at a bunch of signs and run away.

So finally, John and I are in line waiting to have our forms processed and this guy in front of me starts asking me questions, in mandarin. I shake my head and refer him to John. Okay, fine, that works out okay. Then John decides he wants to go read the sign on the other side of the room, so he leaves me and as soon as he is 7 feet away from me, a woman starts to ask me questions, and I just tell her I don't understand her. Then the man in line behind me starts saying something to me and by now I'm terrified. When we're in China, I swear EVERYONE, all 1.3 billion people are going to ask me a question. I'd better start perfecting my shrug.

On another note, today I moved most of my furniture out of the apartment, as is Peggy, as I type, and Mabel will be moving out tomorrow, with Ada pulling up the rear on Sunday. It's sad to see the apartment so empty when it's normally so full and cluttered and messy, but I think I'm actually starting to feel okay about the soon-to-be non-student-ness. Well, at least of the four of us, I'm really the only one who won't be a student anymore, but I'll just have to placate myself with food and chocolate and ice cream and a great big trip to China, so I think I'll manage. This time it really IS the end of an era...and era which Peggy and I sat around reminiscing about for three hours yesterday when we missed the biomeds at the Maddy. Anyways...it's sad...but it's a new beginning birthed from the end.