Perhaps the biggest transition that I (and, I think, my friends) faced after graduating from college was the immediate loss of virtually all built-in metrics for both success and the passage of time. Gone were the concepts of test scores, grades, semesters, and the vacations that naturally fell in between them. In their place, work (read: real life) provided little in terms of concrete means of evaluating how well one was doing. Similarly, there were no built-in breaks - vacations had to be carefully planned, and enjoying them became a small source of pressure thanks to their scarcity.
Until 2 years ago, September 1st usually meant a new beginning; the passage of time and one's success in school clearly defined by the advancing from one school year to another. In many ways, I used to (and still do, to a certain extent) consider the time unit of a "year" as extending from September to September, as opposed to from January to January. Ideas like 9th grade to 10th grade, or sophomore to junior, were way more salient to me than 2002 to 2003 was.
So it's September 1, 2012, and for almost two and a half years now I have worked to grow accustomed to this new-fangled way of assessing the progression of my life. One silly way I have done so, is to revert to a "traditional" way of marking the beginning of months, as taught by my infinitely wise mother: by saying "Rabbit rabbit." So rabbit rabbit, everyone!
Speaking of rabbits.... I officially have a place to live in Shanghai. Okay, you might ask, what does that have to do with rabbits? Well, um, I went to see the apartment for the first time last night. On the tour of the place, my future roommate skipped over one of the bathrooms and said, "That's a bathroom too, but the bunny is in there so we don't generally use it. But we're planning on getting rid of the rabbit soon, so we'll be able to." Sure enough, there was a bunny rabbit in the bathroom. I didn't bother asking where it came from.
I should point out briefly that I'm not entirely comfortable with this idea of "getting rid" of the rabbit. I'm going to have to either stay out of that decision entirely, or do my best to ensure the continued well being of the rabbit without actually having to take care of it. Bunnies are cute, but I didn't exactly come to Shanghai to spend time feeding Fluffy-Bottom.
The rabbit notwithstanding, I'm pretty excited by the apartment. It's not as conveniently located as some of the others I saw, but it's a great place, with a really huge living area and...wait for it...a DRYER. Dryers are, apparently, extremely rare in China due to how much energy they consume. Most places, including each of the other 6 or 7 I've seen in the past three days, have a washing machine, but no dryer. People generally just air dry their clothes. So while I feel a bit sheepish admitting it, the dryer-factor was at least a small consideration in my decision. Mostly, though, it was the people. Having roommates that I actually think I'll be able to hang out with, and become friends with, was something that was definitely true of this place and probably not true of the other places I was considering. I'll be living with an American guy, a Canadian guy, and a Chilean girl. All seem like they'll be great roomies.
So it's September 1st, 2012. There's no starting school to mark a new year, no new classes to provide objective evaluations of how well I am doing. But I've been in Shanghai for 3 days, it feels more like 3 months, and tomorrow I will be moving to my new apartment. I suppose those are as good metrics for time and success as any.
Congrats on apt.
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