How much can you take?

My Mom once said that her 20's were the hardest (albeit most fun) years of her life. As I rapidly approach my  late 20's, I actually reflect a lot on her statement. We're in our 20's but who of us has actually stopped and thought "how much can I take?" My 20's so far have been full of everything from my car catching on fire, to me traveling the world to exotic places to losing jobs and making new friends. Some of the stuff happened intermittently and other stuff happened all at the same time, sometimes within hours. How much can I take? Well, I've apparently learned that I can take a lot. Granted sometimes there were tears, but here I am still standing, probably stronger than I was yesterday. I've dealt with career chaos, fear, emotional changes, heartbreak, envy, and uncertainty and my 20's aren't even close to being over! I think life gets a kick out of making you struggle, but I'm ready to see how much more it throws my way. Besides, I never told you the second half of what my Mom said... She said her 30's were her most calm and secure years. I guess there is something to look forward too at the end of this emotional 20's gauntlet.

People talk really fast

It’s only been just over  a month since I’ve been home yet so many things have changed already. I am very thankful that I managed to find a decent and reasonably priced apartment as well as a very nice and hopefully stable and fun job. It was pretty stressful, but I am happy it all worked out for me. First off, I want to back track and touch upon how my first week went. I was picked up at the airport by two of my closest friends and immediately driven to go enjoy some sushi.

This is me being ultra lame (hem... awesome!) and running towards Andi. :)

One of the things I remember thinking during that first day back, was omg, everyone around me talks so fast! At that moment, I knew that the transition into normal life was going to take a while. And let me just confirm that it did in fact that a while. It took pretty much until I started my job. Why is that you ask, well it’s because for me to feel normal, I had to get back to not only the same state that I was at before I left for China (i.e. working at CME) but I also had to get on the same schedule as my friends. Now that that is all aligned, I feel not only happier but also more normal. It’s funny how the Chinese don’t value their jobs and don’t use it to define themselves, while here I am being back home using my job as a reference point of how to feel normal again. It doesn’t define me, but it is definitely a big part of my life.

I'm finally normal and I'm ready to start exploring and relearning to love Chicago. This past Sunday was a great start.

Go Cubs Go!