One-Eyed Panda’s Journal

I’m stealing a page from the Sinosplice blog with this post because today is my fifth Chinaversery. Five years ago today I moved to Shanghai. I know it sounds stupid but it is surprising that it has been five years it feels more like three. But so much has changed in the five years since I came here and not just the fact that the Beijing Olympics finally happened — I’ve changed.

I feel a lot more confident with who I am and what my goals are in life. When I came here five years ago I didn’t really have a clue what I was going to do. I had just been laid off from my job at a national Canadian business magazine and had been freelancing for three months. I knew a girl in Shanghai and I wanted a new start so I was going to come here and make a go of it for a year. But I wasn’t sure where things were going to lead. Five years later and I’ve got a good career in marketing, I’ve seen a lot of the country, learned the language and I’ve built a life — things didn’t workout with the girl but hey I found somebody much better.

I am not sure what the next five years will bring, but I do know that I am happy.

J.