Second Prelude: 机不可失，时不再来

My flight leaves for Beijing in about seven hours.

I had hoped to spend the days leading up to today thinking about where I would like to visit, what I would like to experience. I had a taste of Chinese culture by trying to rent an apartment close to Tsinghua University through emails with the landlady. My Asian neighbors offered contact information of their relatives in China and bordering countries. I perused through the Lonely Planet travel guides and Jonathan Spence's The Search for Modern China as much as I could. However, I'm still clueless. Perhaps I'm better off not planning at all. After all, I made my goals - to master the Chinese language and to understand Chinese society and culture - purposefully broad in order to force myself to travel and try everything while I am abroad.

I wonder what the next twelve months will bring. Will the silver iodide pellets bring clear skies on 8/8/08 for the opening ceremonies? Will Liu Xiang, the reigning world champion in the 110m high hurdles, take the gold again? Will Beijing change drastically after the Olympics? Will I drastically cut my hair? Will the winter snowstorms and spring snowstorms be short? Will Wenchuan and the surrounding areas recover from the earthquake by next May? Whatever happens, I hope I'm there to witness it.

The sun is rising.

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