Busy

It's been a pretty insane week for me. Let me list what's been going on (and what's coming up) for those who are less than well-informed as to my antics.

Saturday July 21: release of Harry Potter 7
Sunday July 22: my sister arrives for a week-long visit
Monday July 23: the usual trip to Zapata's for free booze with my sister in tow
Tuesday July 24: my birthday!
Wednesday July 25: finalizing my costume for Friday
Thursday July 26: arrival of my old friend Cheryl and preparations for Friday
Friday July 27: my last day at work, Michelle's birthday, our joint birthday party
Saturday July 28: one hell of a hangover followed by volleyball with the sister
Sunday July 29: Michelle's birthday brunch
Monday July 30: sister's departure, preparations for my new job, and Zapata's again
Tuesday July 31: transportation test run for my new job
Wednesday August 1: first day at the new job

It's a pretty well-booked calendar, if I do say so myself. For today's long-winded post, however, I will focus on just one thing: today is my last day at my current job.

This is the first full-time job that I've ever had, and I've been floating around in a surreal bubble of indifference ever since I turned in my resignation letter one month ago. Some that has to do with the fact that I can no longer stand this job, but most of it is to do with the fact that, for the last month up until today, this moment always seemed so far away.

Now it's hear, I've got a duffel bag in the corner of my cubicle, ready to pack up and leave for good.

This all hit me as I was walking up to my building and glanced up at it, realizing that, wow, this the last time I will ever make this trip to this office.

It's a bit of a sad thought, I know, particularly when you never know what will bring me back to these hallowed halls for whatever reason; if there's one thing my parents always reminded me, it was to never underestimate the power of your network of business contacts.

Still, I don't know if I will be coming back any time soon, if at all, so I must say that it is a bit overwhelming, and I'm not even sure if everything I have in the office with me will fit in the duffel bag!

Two years ago, I came to this office to help organize their Global Management Committee Meeting here in Shanghai, a meeting that is held every quarter and that brings the group's CEOs from around the globe to one city for a two-day meeting. It was following this two-week stint that I was offered a permanent position here at the company.

The company was new at the time, so they couldn't hire me right away because I'm not a Chinese national (being British by passport and Hong Kong ID by birth, I needed a work permit, which they couldn't apply for because they had not yet received their full operational license). As a result, I worked at the office's Asia Pacific counterpart Hong Kong for three months, working long-distance on a project for the China office.

November 19, 2005, I arrive in Shanghai, looking for an apartment with my mother and father helping me along. November 23, 2005, I come to the office to report for my first day at work.

What followed was 20 months of what can only be described as an experience I will never forget. From running translations to project management to sitting around being bored out of my mind, this job was quite the learning experience. When it comes to the inner workings of Chinese management and the Chinese market, I gained a lot of very unique insight that I am sure will be invaluable as I continue my foray into China's expatriate workforce.

Even if I'm eager to get out of here and not look back, my heart still finds itself heavy with the sense that I will miss this place and the people in it. The job was never all bad. Indeed, there were days where I came in and left with a smile on my face, enjoying the work I was doing. I do like that the internet's routed through Hong Kong, granting me access to Livejournal and other websites deemed "inappropriate" by the Chinese government. The ease of getting to work, which was a straight shot for me on the subway. The accessibility of cheap places to eat. The fact that, at a glance, no one has any clue that what I'm doing isn't actually work.

I know that, to most people, I'm blowing this way out of proportion, but I feel like a chapter of my life has ended. It was my first job, my first step into working for myself by myself, and I survived and came out on the other end a better person, ready for what comes next.

I'm both excited for and terrified about my new job, one that will eat up a considerably larger chunk of my time, but I think I'm ready for it. Nothing good ever came from wasting away in front of a computer for 8 hours a day. Plus, I'm a fast worker in general…I don't see free time as being too big a problem for me.

So, here's to my old company, with great thanks for everything that they have taught me and all the opportunities that they have afforded me. It has been an unforgettable experience.

I will recount my birthday week after the party tonight, which promises to be incredibly interesting. Cameras at the ready, because it will be a night that I will not likely remember.

Okay, no, that's a lie, I actually don't plan to get THAT trashed, if only to keep from making a total ass out of myself (again). All the same…it will be fun.

(Here's to the Irish!)