A trip to Beijing to discuss a potential future opportunity, a flurry of job interviews upon my return, the GrX retreat, and working on Jimmy and Inyoung's video for their wedding reception this weekend in Korea (uploading the final 300 MB file to Seoul as I write this), all in the space of 2 weeks. But yes, I'm still alive.
Beijing was fun as usual... stepping off the plane, I felt as if the ground was an old friend, welcoming me back. 欢迎光临！ I saw the first snowfall of the year as well, and that sort of put a new face, as my previous visits had always been during the spring or summer.
As far as future plans, while nothing has been resolved of course, in a way, things are moving forward... as if God is slowly telling me through small signs and nudges. It was the same way I felt my senior year when I was debating whether or not to go to China as well. And now this.
The retreat was a good chance to do some more reflection... I never really feel like doing much deep instrospection while abroad, anyhow. I realize that over the past 18 months, God's given me an abundance of time, and just like money, time is ultimately a resource not to be squandered away idly, but not to be abused either. For me specifically, it sort of gave me confidence that, despite my results-oriented need to feel "productive" somehow, spending all my time on the job front wasn't something that I needed to do. Not that I should be a totally lazy bum, but sitting and checking the Gamasutra jobs page every day isn't the best "stewardship", either.
God is definitely using this time delibrately to keep me on my toes -- that much is clear. Like a pendulum, I swing between contentment and anxiousness, waiting, wondering...
And of course, for those of you who'd rather look at pretty pictures, I've got them as well -- from both Beijing and the retreat...