Thursday, July 26, 2007

Hard to tear myself away

Why does Beijing do this to me?

I had been itching to get away. I was growing desperately, miserably weary of Beijing, China, my life.

But then, I had a rare completely free day today - having been unable to procure a flight to the UK until Thursday; and, for once, having had the sense to throw my leaving bash a day early (well, my flight leaves at dawn tomorrow!). I've only managed a scant handful of days without any work at all in the past three months; so this was really quite a luxury.

And Beijing has just given us a near-perfect day: a day such as we rarely see in late July, and just about never in August; a day such as we have rarely seen this year since early June. Bright, clear sunshine, low humidity, powder-blue sky. I've just been ambling about my neighbourhood all day, reading a book, getting a tan; and, for once, not having any extraneous shit to worry about (apart from my packing, and my ridiculously early start for the airport).

And suddenly I am missing the place, before I've even left. This seems to happen to me every year when I get ready to leave for my summer break. The weather gods, it seems, are joining in the great cosmic conspiracy against me. Why, WHY do you tease me so?

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