Finishing Up in Nanning

With a month to go here in Nanning I am really starting to look forward to the next stage of my career. The next four weeks will be busy, but it'll be nice to finally be done.

I still have two and a half weeks of classes left, plus a 6 day intensive at the IELTS Centre. It is a nice little chunk of change to finish in Nanning with, though it leaves me a bit rushed. Still, nice to keep busy these next four weeks. It will also be nice to finish with motivated students, as all the ones at the College have already graduated (or haven't) and so have no motivation at all. Makes my life easier, but less enjoyable. Professionally though, Nanning was good for me. It gave me an intro in to university work, and showed me what to do (and in the case of one college, what not to do), but even that is valuable information moving forward. In that sense GXU has been a success, and I am happy to have had that experience. However, professionally there really isn't anywhere for me to go here, so that limits any interest in staying.

Personally there is absolutely no reason to stay. I am actually very ready to head out. Nanning has been great for making friends, but that is about it. I do enjoy having bbq's by the lake near our apartments, and walking around the west lake near here, but that is not reason enough to live in a city. There is just nothing in Nanning. Even the campus, which was once a green oasis in a dull, grey, urban sprawl, is being dug up. Any green space or hint of China pre-1998 are being systematically destroyed to make way for ostentatious gates and grey buildings. Time to move on.

The province of Guangxi is far more beautiful, but with trips to Guilin, Detian,and Tongling Gorge done, and Beihai this coming weekend, I feel that I have "done" Guangxi. Obviously there is more to see, and I haven't really been to the northwest at all, but as a 20 month stay goes, where the focus was on professional development and paying for a wedding, I have still seen the highlights, which were spectacular. So with little going on personally, and less professionally, it is time to move on.

That being said, I hope to keep in touch with the people I have met here, some of which are staying. I don't think I'll ever be nostalgic for Nanning the way I am for Daegu (in fact, I know I won't), but the friends I have made here have made the last two years much better than they otherwise would have been, and I will be nostalgic for that. Mike, Matt, Charlie, Tad, Richard. I'll hopefully be in touch with all of them in the years to come.