End of the world feeling

Who turned the clock? Is it really that late? Madness, when I look at my phone I can hardly believe it, November is actually over and the first Advent has already passed me by....

The week with Thomas and Dani went, who would have thought, super fast. Within a few hours, the two had wormed their way into the hearts of the Cobra 7 Gang and soon, a night without Dani in my bed was hard to imagine. As expected, the two, including the rest of the gang, spent their time in Shanghai mainly at night. Unfortunately, I got a little sick again, but after two nights of rest, on Friday evening we went to Fusion to see Solomun (a talented electro DJ that I had already seen this summer at the festival in Berlin) for the final party. The rest of the weekend, after Dani had left me again, I spent relaxing at home.

The following week was all about sports. After it had been missing for the past two months, it was high time to get the heart rate up again. Through Chloé, who is currently traveling through Asia for a month, I had the opportunity to use her card at a pretty fancy gym. In addition, Yannik and I had integrated squash and tennis as a regular part of the week. It felt really good to move around again, then to eat healthy and to fall into bed completely satisfied and exhausted...

On Tuesday evening, I went to dinner with Pauline and Jc, my two roommates. Right in front of our door, there is a small street grill where you can get a wide selection of fish and meat skewers, vegetables, salad, bread, and beer. You sit on small plastic stools and tables on the street and fill your belly for 5-10 EUR. With Jc by our side, who is Chinese, we could also ask for the first time what exactly is on the skewers or order a cold beer instead of a warm one... After two months, I have definitely grown fond of my flatshare. Movie nights on the couch, beers in front of the door, or a party night with Pauline have become regular parts of my life. Jc is always helpful when it comes to organizational matters in combination with Mandarin, which is more than valuable...

A kind of 'quiet' everyday life has crept into Shanghai by now, it's slowly getting cold and wet, the exam periods at the universities are starting and demand attention, and a kind of mental retrospective of the past year and especially of the time in Shanghai is setting in.

What have I experienced? What will I take with me? Who will I see again, who or what will I forget forever? In a phase where so many intense encounters, experiences, and impressions hit you in such a short time, a lot quickly falls back into oblivion and you lose the feeling of time.

Situations, experiences, people that you could only imagine a few months ago, before leaving for a foreign place, have now become part of everyday life and are impossible to imagine without. Just a moment ago, the great adventure that you embark on outside your comfort zone was called Shanghai, you don't know what will happen, who you will meet, if you will like the time. Before you know it, Shanghai has become the comfort zone and the next adventure ahead of you is called Australia. A new phase, new people, a new country....

But before I get too theatrical, there is still some time ahead of me with a lot of things to do and I'm really looking forward to it. Very very slowly, a kind of Christmas atmosphere is also setting in here and on the weekend, we will be testing some Christmas markets here in Shanghai. In addition, plans are being made for the celebration of love, which we want to celebrate together with a big dinner, secret Santa, and of course, partying far away from home. Most likely, I will also have another visit from home and won't spend Christmas Eve completely without family.... :)

I send you lots of love and will be in touch soon