Taking a step back...

Chris wrote about what it's like to stop being a part of AIESEC in Mainland of China. I totally agree! In fact these are some of the things I've noticed now I've stepped back from the world of working full-time for AIESEC, into a random, waiting-to-be-a-student-again kind of lifestyle:

• Not every conversation will wander into discussion of AIESEC, either philosophical or practical
• Acronyms don't pop up that much in daily life (I'm not techy!)
• You don't actually need to check your email every day
• People expect you to have credit on your phone, and to answer it!
• Your day is determined by what you want to do, not by what your plan says or what other people have asked you to do
• T-shirts come in varieties other than AIESEC ones that fit and AIESEC ones that don't

Coming back from Beijing, these are some of the more general things that have struck me in the last week (I've been here for 3 weeks now):

• A surprisingly large amount of the general (well, the ones I bump into anyway!)population freaks out at the thought of living in (or even travelling to?) a developing country
• TV is nice for a change, but really not necessary, no matter what anyone says
• Middle doors of buses don't open automatically for you to get off - I was waiting for a while last night! I must have suddenly reverted back to Beijing ways or something...
• Speaking of buses, you really do need to look at a timetable before you leave the house, because buses don't just come all of the time! This requires a bit of extra planning...
• There really are hardly any people in Adelaide! There's heaps of peaceful places, and you bump into people you know everywhere. It's kind of cool.
• Hot chips really are under-rated, and coffee is cheaper than food!
• Heaps of people do things that they don't really enjoy, for no apparant reason other than perhaps habit? Why IS that? Are they just too lazy or afraid to change things? I find it so frustrating...
• Everyone at uni look so young! I know I do too, but...
• Some people seem to me to have changed a lot, and others not at all. I wonder if people think I'm much different? I know some parts of me have changed, but not others...

It's always the music...

The other night, someone was playing that song - the Supersonic one, that AIESEC in Germany has a great dance to. And if I hadn't been in the car, I would have jumped up and started dancing. Not just because I happen to enjoy dancing, or even cos that particular dance is so fun. Because it reminded me of the feeling at January National Conference, and the amount of fun that I had doing that dance with the faci team and with the whole delegation. And again at April Conference! It's always music... it brings back memories and feelings SO fast! And made me miss my crazy life in Beijing... And then "toxic" was playing on the radio yesterday when I was on my bike - hahaha - I couldn't help but smile :) I'll probably feel the same way when I'm 100, I'll hear those songs, and the memories will come flooding back, and I won't be able to stop smiling. And everyone will think I've lost my mind. I hope I don't forget...

Nomadlife, here I come!

Welcome to my first Nomadlife posting! I've made the move and hope that I can put my new HTML skills to use over the next few weeks to make it look nice :) (don't hold your breath!). I also hopethat it will make it easier for me to keep in touch with all those nomads out there!

Fashion
There's these GORGEOUS jackets in fashion this winter, short with one or two buttons, really nice colours and fabrics... I've never been big on fashion, but these are SO NICE! The unfortunate thing, I've realised since I first saw them 2 and a half weeks ago when I arrived in Adelaide, is that everyone has one. At uni, on the bus, in every single women's fashion shop. There is just no way that I could wear a jacket like that (cute as they are) and look any different from anyone else! It's sad, cos they're SO nice, but I just can't let myself become such a severe fashion victim like that.

And it's made me think - the fashion here is a lot more defined than in Beijing. I know Chris used to say that fashion in Beijing and Shanghai were really different, and I never really noticed, but I couldn't really define the fashion in Beijing. To me, everyone was wearing all kinds of stuff! Random! Though I could tell the shoe fashion.... very cute!

Also, I swear people around uni look way more dressed up than they used to. Or maybe it's the fact I've been living in jeans and AIESEC t-shirts for the past 12 months...

Luv and hugs, Flic