On a conference call to some folks back home this morning, they jokingly asked if I was ready to move to China, having spent the last three and some weeks here. I told them I wasn’t quite ready to go native, but I’ll admit that when I checked out of my hotel today, it did feel a little like I was moving out.

It turns out that (almost) four weeks is an awful long time! Surprisingly, two packs of gum and two travel-sized tubes of toothpaste were enough to last the whole trip. I was worried I’d run out. Unsurprisingly, four chocolate bars weren’t nearly enough. I was pretty sure I’d run out, but didn’t have room for any more.

Also not surprising: traveling to gorgeous places with my amazing friend Abe was much better than being alone (or with coworkers) and working in industrial cities. With that said, Suzhou is a big improvement (in my mind) over Dongguan. The gardens and temples are a little touristy and pretty busy on the weekend, but with good reason — they’re lovely.

It’s easy to take a ton of pictures, and I have a couple hundred from the past few weeks. Look for more soon. In the meantime, I’m excited to be heading home tomorrow!