After the Alumni reception, a few of us went to a pub for some drinks and snacks and just to chill out.

It was especially great to see LB again, and she seemed so happy because she didn’t know the others and had only recently moved to Beijing, so perhaps some new friendships might form.
This was, though, perhaps the first time since arriving in China that I really got a reminder of something of what it must be like to be an international student in a group of locals.  Not really knowing what’s going on or what people are talking about, start treating the conversation like “white noise” and get lost in your own thoughts.

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