Random Thoughts at a Stop Light

 I was on my bike waiting for a light to change the other day when my mind started thinking. This in and of itself is nothing new, my mind tends to get the better of me from time to time but this process of thoughts hit me harder than I could have expected. What feels like months in a new country has actually only been one, plus a few weeks. Yet, I know the streets around my campus and even the subway system better than I know my way around back home. Sitting waiting for the walk light to flash it's neon green hue I catch a waif of the faint scent of cigarette, something I have grown to expect and take hand in hand with China; a smell, while not exactly pleasant, will always return my thoughts to memories from this experience. As I wait the lights of the open air rotary begin to flicker on, then the ones above Wal-Mart, then one by one the rest of 五角场 (Wu Jiao Chang), the local shopping plaza. My time here is limited, and yet there is still so much to explore, so much to experience, so much to.....the light turns green and the street corners jolt to life. These thoughts will be put on hold to another day, time to bike home.

五角场 in the daytime, I'll take a more neon filled one and edit this post with it later