Adventures in China

Everything in China seems to be done at the last minute. This was rather frustrating to me, since I prefer to plans things weeks in advance and being in a new environment makes me want to have even more planning control. However, I wasn't able to refuse last minute offers because I didn't want to miss out on anything. Perhaps if I had refused to do anything at the last minute, I could have trained other people to plan farther ahead, but I doubt that would have happened and I would have missed out on a lot.

I would have missed out on so much because planning that far in advance rarely works. If I made plans with a friend, their company may have decided to switch their work schedule. If I planned to visit a different town, it may rain and be impossible to get there. If I planned to cook something, the vegetables would have been out of season. Regularity is never taken for granted in China which can be rather frustrating, but it also means that people don't expect too much and are very adaptable.

When I came back to the US, I was so happy to be able to plan ahead again. I loved being able to plan a lunch with a friend a week in advance. I loved being able to plan meals and plan time to myself and plan . . . a lot of things. But I think I also miss a little of the spontaneity that comes with the inability to make plans and the joy at finding out that someone else can be spontaneous, right now, too. However, I don't think I'd like going back to being unsure of my next day's work schedule.