Changes are all around.  It’s a new year and it definitely feels like a fresh start.  I’m leaving Beijing behind, something that is way overdue.  I lived in Beijing for two and a half years and that is long enough for me, at this point in my life.  I will likely return to China; there are still things about living in China that I love.  However, Beijing is not the place for me right now.  Rather it is… Melbourne!

I’m in flux right now, and I don’t know that I like it.  However being able to look forward to something different is definitely keeping me going.  I’m ever so anxious.  I’ve never been to Melbourne before, never mind lived there.  I’m going to be going all on my own and I’m going to need to set myself up all by myself.  It’s a little daunting.  Plus, I’m going to be going back to school after having not been a student for almost four years.  Having said that, I’m feeling freer as well.

I’m feeling so liberated by the idea that I will actually be able to go out to the grocery store and buy familiar items again.  I’m going to make an oven one of the things that my new abode has to have because I miss being able to throw everything in a casserole dish, chuck it in the oven and forget about it.  I’ve never been much of a cook; I’m terrible at it.  However the thought of being able to make sure that I have fresh veggies on my plate again makes me giddy.  We’ll see how my routine ends up fitting together, but I have romantic ideas about Sunday being the day that I cook everything that I’m planning to eat through the week and throwing everything into into containers for each meal.

I’m looking forward to parks and fresh air.  I’m tempted to try and find a flat across the park from school just so that I can make the walk through the park in the mornings and afternoons.  And get this – I’m even tempted to join one of those boot camp sessions that takes place in the parks.  For that one, we’ll have to see how the finances go.

I’m excited about the Australian yarn!  My good friend Bev (how I miss being able to gab with her daily) had this wonderful corriedale, a lovely natural brown, with all the lanolin still on it.  It’s wonderfully rustic stuff.  I’ll need to see if I can find something similar.  I will likely have to do a lot of yarn shopping there, as I’m only allowed 20 kilos in baggage.  It’s a rough life.

In the meantime, I need to finish things here and tie up loose ends.  I have been working on the Back-To-School U-Neck, although I don’t think it will necessarily be flattering because of the large gauge. I am so close to being done with this one though that I just want to power through and have that be it. Off to it then….