Preparing to Fly Home to China

Holiday break is approaching. Campus life is slowing down. Everybody is discussing holiday plans, finals, and travel itineraries. For every student, there is one rule for the weeks before the break: we all must clean out our dorm rooms before leaving. The dorms will be closed during the winter break for international and domestic students alike, and will not reopen until January. Packing begins with cleaning. I open my drawers to collect old assignments, broken pens, and the snacks I forgot I had. We are asked to empty the community fridge, unplug our electronics, and take out the trash before leaving. I hesitate over this decision to put my life on pause in my little pod of space I call my own. The posters stay on the walls, but the desk is slowly stripped bare, and it feels like I’m losing a piece of my individuality in this space. As an international student anticipating a flight back to Beijing, China, packing out comes with more weight. I can’t return to this dorm and everything in it for weeks after locking my room up and handing back my keys to the staff. I unload my belongings onto the surface of my bed: gifts for my family and friends, a selection of winter clothes for the Beijing weather, even a few mementos of my school life to show my loved ones. The space in my luggage is a resource; I have to think carefully about what I bring home. Hoodies? Is it critical to pack them? Books? Can I postpone my reading until next I return? Placing neatly folded clothing into my suitcase makes me feel many things but I am mostly excited. I imagine landing in Beijing, hearing the language again, eating nostalgic snacks, chatting with friends whom I have only seen through Zoom since summer break. It may involve a long drive or short flight for some domestic students to get. For me, packing means getting ready to fly back to Asia, to move internationally. After zipping up my suitcase and taking a few last looks around my now barren room, it feels like the start of something new for everyone and a side quest for me, one that finishes my life as a student and begins my life back home.