California Dreaming
I'm heading back home to California on Wednesday for a three-week visit with friends and family. It has been awhile since I was last home- 16 months, in fact. For me, this is the longest period of time I have spent away from the Golden State in my life. That, in itself, is significant.
But what will make this trip doubly interesting is how things have changed during the period. In January 2008, there was a mild degree of pessimism about the health of the economy, but that was months before the pervasive sense of doom and gloom struck the world.
Then, the presidential primary season had just begun. Now, we have a new President who, while hardly flawless, represents a marked improvement over the departed President Bush.
On a more personal note, my friends in California are also hurtling toward their thirties, getting married, starting careers, hand-wringing, and generally doing what people our age do, regardless of where. Living in China makes things different but not that different.
I should have ample blogging time, particularly in the first few days as jet-lag will put me online at all sorts of weird hours.
More to come.
