Last January when I was applying for exchange, there were more than 150 universities in 40 countries to choose from and without hesitation, I chose Beijing.
I chose to come “home”.
I was born in Beijing and all of my mom’s family lives here. Having moved to Canada when I was two years old, I never really got to spend a lot of time with my grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousin when I was a kid; I only visited once every three years for a month or so every time. I decided that this was something important to me and that I wanted to spend more time with them.
These seven months were crazy. I came to Beijing for a four-month exchange semester at Tsinghua University. I met some of the sweetest people and had some crazy fun (like bungee jumping!). Halfway into exchange, I decided I wanted to stay even longer in Beijing, so I found a co-op job here (it’s a super cool startup called Origins Technology). Three months later, I am done co-op and getting ready to head back to Vancouver. I completely maxed out my stay in Beijing—I start classes at UBC the second day I get back. Oi!
Probably the hardest thing about leaving Beijing will be saying goodbye to family. My grandparents are now in their mid-eighties. I’m so glad I got to spend this much time with them.
I also got much closer to my aunt and uncle. After exchange, I moved in with them and stayed at their place for three months. Thank you for taking care of me and always cooking me yummy food, yima and yifu!
During my time in Beijing, I witnessed two major milestones in my cousin’s life: his marriage and his first house with the wifey! Congratulations!
Seven crazy months have passed and now it’s time to wrap things up here and head home. I don’t like saying goodbye so this post will just be short and sweet.
Farewell Beijing! I will miss you!
Dina
