Another year has nearly passed. It's been an extremely eventful year, and perhaps it's beneficial to begin to try to take stock things. Perhaps a bit more after I finish my last exam on Monday.

On the night of December 31, 2008, I sat in my room in Oakville packing. I rummaged through my closet in the quiet of the night. The year prior to that night had been a massive build up of anticipation for what I would do on January 1, 2009. It was getting late (probably approaching 3 AM or so) and I think my mother was fairly worried about my packing, so she came in to try to help me pull things together. In the end, I over packed anyway. I finished up at around 5 AM, so history tells me. Remembering back now, I recall that it was my quasi-plan all along to stay up so late that night, in some crazy attempt to get over my jetlag before I even got on the plane.

But eventually, I got some sleep. And soon enough, my new year started with a drive to Pearson International Airport. The new terminal at Pearson is quite cold in appearance, yet, very modern. Arching metal supports hold up a vast ceiling with large pillars and yellow-green dot-matrix-like signs to indicate the different check-in counter rows. Checking in at the Air Canada counter, I was a bit disheartened to hear that they could only issue my boarding pass for the first leg of my journey. I would have to look for the Singapore Airlines counter when I arrived in Shanghai.

It was still early, and we hadn't eaten breakfast yet. But somehow, the check-in area of the terminal was fairly devoid of any attractive restaurants. There was a small make-shift coffee place. We sat there for a while. I swapped SIM cards with my sister. Someone had to make use of my wireless contract while I was away.

But soon it was time to head out.

Making our way over to the security checkpoint, we said our goodbyes as typically as possible. I hugged my parents and my sister and entered the secured area where they could not follow without a valid boarding pass. I quickly joined the screening line and then it subtly hit me that I would not see my family again for eight months. It was a bit of a strange feeling. Not entirely sad, as I knew I would be back here again. Just, strange. Granted, for a lot of you reading this, you may gawk at this sentiment, since you've probably lived away from home continuously for much longer periods of time. For me, however, four months (one academic semester or co-op work term) had been the longest I had ever had to do before that day.

I don't really remember all that happened after that. I may or may not have gone to the business lounge. Thanks to my father's company sending him on numerous business trips to Asia in the year prior, we had collected enough points to get me free business class tickets. Something that's quite a once in a life time thing. I never imagined that I'd be blessed enough to fly business class ever in my life.

Sometime soon enough, I boarded the plane. And of course, everything after that was a blur. I slept for most of the flight, feeling quite nostalgic the whole way. Thoughts about my friends crossed my mind quite a bit. UWCCF had become such a large part of my life over the two years prior to my departure. But of course, you cannot pack your friends in a suitcase (well, safely and/or legally at least).

Many hours later (probably something in the order of 14 or 16 hours), I landed in China for the first time in my life. Specifically, in Shanghai. More specifically, in the Pudong region. Yes, the air looked different. I was told more recently that it was probably blowing sand that I saw.

It was good to be able to step off the plane after so many hours. I disembarked and slowly looked around - I was tired from the flight. Perhaps I should have just kept on moving with the crowd. But I didn't, and eventually everyone had moved on, and I looked as lost as ever. Sometime close to midnight and everything in the airport looked closed.

Somehow through a combination of whatever really bad Mandarin I could force out and pestering people enough till I could at least get them to try to speak English to me, I managed to navigate my way through Shanghai Pudong Airport, and actually ended up outside the secure area. I learned later that this airport didn't have any baggage transfer facilities, which explains why I had to pick up my luggage (行李 as I learned that night), exit the airport, sleep with it through the night until the SIA counter opened, check it in again, and then re-enter the airport. (Incidentally, jumping ahead, transiting through Beijing on my way back to Toronto was much, much easier than transiting through Shanghai Pudong).

Regardless, I felt relaxed once I got my boarding pass and checked in my luggage. This time, I remember going to the lounge. I only wish the SIA counter opened 8 hours before my flight, rather than just 1. I sat in the lounge for a bit and enjoyed the free internet connection, as well as some light food. The terminal gate area was otherwise empty.

Soon enough though, I was able to board the plane for the last leg of my flight: off to Singapore.

The SIA flight was very empty. There was no one in the seat beside me. Not that it mattered anyway. I was so tired that I slept for most of the flight again.

Some hours later, I arrived in Singapore. It was something like 5 AM in the morning. It was very warm. And my thick UW-branded sweater was making me sweat. Regardless, over a year of preparation, and I had made it.

And the rest, I suppose, would set the tone for the next year of my life. And quite possibly, well into the future.