In a flash, another thirty-six months.
2017.08.31
Today, in terms of time, my fifth year in Nanjing officially begins. Will there be a sixth? I don't know. The road ahead still forks so plainly, and whichever branch it is, I need to pull myself together and do everything I can
One month ago today: had mastered the essential skill of an operations job, split personality
Two months ago today: days and nights by the Qinhuai River; my present life began
Three months ago today: just back from my graduation trip, the scenery of western Zhejiang already left behind, because the final battle had begun, and I hoped to fight it beautifully
Four months ago today: certificates for a few MOOCs within reach, my graduation project taking shape, telling myself over and over that once I had the certificates I'd make no more excuses to put things off
Five months ago today: the open lawn by the new library in spring, breeze and sunshine; the mid-term review of my graduation project coming up, plenty of ideas already, but not yet believing I could pull it off on my own
Six months ago today: had just watched Kara no Kyoukai: Future Gospel, which I never thought I'd live to see (as I type these words, the Kara no Kyoukai soundtrack is still playing in my headphones); racking my brains over my project proposal; looking forward to the Kindle Paperwhite I'd just ordered
Seven months ago today: at home, having just decided to turn down the offer from CityU; the day of going back to Nanjing close at hand
Eight months ago today: the last New Year's Eve party, tormented by interview write-ups and big assignments, realizing the time to say goodbye was not far off
Nine months ago today: preparing all kinds of application materials, a mess
Ten months ago today: anxiously waiting for my IELTS result, due the next day
Eleven months ago today: shouting [Slaughtering the duck is a must; this Mark stands until the duck is made into Juewei] (the duck being student slang for IELTS, Juewei a chain famous for braised duck), my four months in Shanghai about to end, feeling like it had all been a dream
Twelve months ago today: finishing the first internship of my life, longing to escape endless dithering, resolved to do just one thing
Thirteen months ago today: sweat wrung out by the vicious sun and breakfast on the metro, half dead and back again in a huge sales promotion, looking forward to listening to Hiroyuki Sawano again in the odd downpour
Fourteen months ago today: two weeks into a new life on my own, loving Shanghai's clear sky at dusk
Fifteen months ago today: just back from Shanghai, realizing that only I would never leave me, falling for Hacken Lee's "Flying Flowers"
Sixteen months ago today: a week after spending seven hours setting up a WAMP stack by hand, the first MOOC I'd decided to take all the way through entering its final week, my internship hunt going somewhat badly, uneasy at heart
And so time runs backwards through memory, and finally returns to this moment. After this moment, where to go, what to follow: to some of it I already have a dim answer; some is still deep in fog.
2014.08.31