The end of the beginning

I leave here in 5 days and I'm starting to get nostalgic already.  

Things I'm going to miss about Beijing:

1.) My friends:  I've made a lot of awesome friends here.  Mostly Westerners, but some Chinese as well.  I was originally planning to do a homestay during my time here, but I think I would have gone insane if I didn't have any Western friends to bum around and commiserate with. I've learned so much about other parts of the world, and hope to see many of them again.

2.)Beijing food, especially stuff that I don't expect to find at home: jian-bing, beef noodles, yummy soups.  I'm addicted to street food.  It's so simple, cheap, filling, and loaded with MSG and other delicious flavor enhancers.  

3.) Speaking Chinese:  It's pretty satisfying to be able to converse with people in another language.  I don't know how much practice I'll be getting out in Colorado.

Things I'm not going to miss:

1.) Annoying salespeople:  You can't look at something in a store without the salespeople walking up to you and pestering you about buying it.  You like? you like? No. Buyao!

2.) Pollution:  Today was especially bad.  Sometimes it just smells really nasty.  It's usually not too noticable, but on days like today, I decide that sitting on my butt inside is better for my health than going for a run.

3.) Speaking Chinese:  Yes, it's love hate.  It's fun, but so frustrating sometimes, especially when people try to explain things and you feel like this stupid little kid who never learned human speech.