Here are a few photos from my last week in Beijing. The first two are of my students, ATAP1 then ATAP2. And the third is of some colleagues; TAs, teachers, and staff. Digging through these photos makes me miss everyone very much. The batch of photos below were taken at a bar during my last weekend in Beijing.

After visiting my sister and friends in NYC I have returned to the valley. It’s been a couple days being back, and so far so good. I can’t get enough of the trees and fresh air. Although Beijing has considerably impacted my life, it now feels like a distant dream. Some of my friends still there have said that the relations between foreigners and government have only gotten worse. Apparently, officials have been performing random visa and residence permit inspections. Bars have been shutting down all over the city and the population of foreigners continues to drop. I am relieved to get out when I did. But I already miss the city, for all the people I know there, and for the insanity that runs through it.

Now that I am back, I am excited to be here. There are a couple of projects that I’ll be involved in immediately, and another much longer one, if it is able to get off the ground. Over the next couple of months I’ll retrospectively be posting pictures and stories from Beijing, and also hope to show some of the artistic influences that have affected me since living in Beijing. But right now, I need to get situated. Look forward to seeing those of you that I haven’t already.

I stayed up all night getting ready to retransplant my life back home. That’s really the way it feels… I’m excited, but also nervous. In the past year I have assimilated to the culture, both the bad and good, and its going to be a challenge to readjust. Bishop told me that the most intense culture shock he’s experienced was returning home after living in Beijing. I have to agree, I felt the same when I returned last Winter.

I am a little disappointed that I didn’t get to capture Beijing as well as I had wanted to. The photographs I have to show don’t communicate the intensity and chaos that consumes this city. This place feels like a wound that can’t heal; raw, open, and exposed. But is always pulsing and alive. Energy pours out from this city like no other place I have been to. On some late nights it feels like your walking through a pre-apocalyptic SCIFI wasteland. Probably doesn’t sound so attractive, but there is something romantic about possibly witnessing human history’s last breath.

Lots to say but not enough time, the rest of this reflection will have wait until I see you all in person. I really look forward to it and can’t wait to relax with you all. In two and a half hours I’ll be leaving for the airport. See you all very soon.

As some of you already know, I’ve been having Visa issues and will be coming home early as a result. The Olympics have proven itself a pain in the ass to many of the foreigners that currently work in Beijing. It was a long and convoluted process, and in the end got us nowhere. So I will be seeing you all very soon. July 1st to be exact. I fly into NYC and plan to stay with my sister for a few days before heading back to the valley. Look forward to seeing you all then.

On a side note… As I was walking home from dinner I passed by a restaurant that was engulfed in chaos. A group of men were holding onto another shorter and fatter man and persistently beat the hell out of him. A barrage of fists continuously shot out from the pack, and crashed into his swollen face. They threw glasses and plates at him. One even tried hit him with a chair. I’m not sure what the fight was over, but there was a ton cash scatted over the floor. Somewhere between 50 and 100 $100 RMB notes. That’s somewhere around $1000 USD. The fight, if you want to call it that, carried on for quite some time and traveled all over the restaurant. The poor man was tossed over and under tables, pushed out the door, then thrown back inside again for additional beating. This continued for about 15 minutes before the ill-equipped security guards got involved. Fortunately the battered man escaped without severe injuries. Or at least it seemed that way.

It will be interesting to move back to the pioneer valley after being here for so long. I’ve become accustomed to the chaos that consumes this city. In Beijing, there is never a dull moment.

I’ve uploaded a few photos from the screening. As you can see a cake fight ensued shortly after. You can view the entire album here.