the revolving door.

The expat world has a revolving door. 

Some stay and plant themselves here, eventually calling this strange city home and adapting to the nuances of living in another language and culture. 

Others, like my friend K, come and find that China is different than how CNN portrays it and purchase return flights to their homeland sooner rather than later. 

We met together tonight to celebrate K's return to the SUNSHINE STATE tomorrow. I cannot believe that this weekend she will be so close to my home andfamily. (slightly jealous, though I have an exciting weekend planned too, so that helps the impending homesickness that her flight to Tampa would normally ensue). 

I am not the homesick type, never have been, but knowing that she is going to be under the blue skies of Florida soon makes my heart flutter just a teeny tiny bit. Oh Florida, home, what a glorious place. 

We met at the local fave restaurant and had a feast of garlic eggplant, pumpkin, cabbage, fish soup, and meat for the meat-eaters. 

Goodbye K! (center)

This is what a Chin.ese feast looks like at the end - food that lept from chopsticks littering the table, a sign of well-fed people.

Because we were high on food happiness, we decided that money is no object and went in search of foot massages. We found a place perfectly names, "Big Foot Ancestor" and were rubbed down for 80 minutes for a whopping 20$ each. (I'm never leaving Chi.na.)

We said our goodbyes on a street corner, shielded by umbrellas from the night rain.

And so goes the revolving expat door. They come, they go, but I'm still here.