OK, so I know the title is a bit clichéd, but it’s been a while since I last started a website, and the first post is always something special. The reason I started this blog was mainly to give my life some focus. To put things in perspective, it’s been over a month since high school has ended, one month since giving my valedictory to a much downsized Lawrenceville community (Swine ’09, need I say more?), one month since saying goodbye to friends whom I may not see for another year or so (though hopefully sooner). So how did I end up spending my June? Well, to sum it up: DotA, anime, online shopping, guitar, more DotA. I finally got so disgusted with my lifestyle that I ended up uninstalling Warcraft III for the sixth time in my life, although it probably won’t be the last. But in retrospect, my summer thus far has not been totally unproductive. I did keep a strict workout regimen for the first 3 weeks. Unfortunately, this ended abruptly because I had to get my wisdom teeth removed, a process I don’t feel like talking about at the moment. I have also made $300 + $750 from tutoring and building a website, respectively, and even with my impulsive spending, I still have around $2.5k in the bank, which isn’t terrible. Maybe I should start investing in stocks…

This Saturday, I head for Beijing. I cannot being to describe how excited I am. Although this is a trip I make almost every summer, this year is special for several reasons. First, the H1N1 breakout has significantly delayed my trip (I was supposed to leave in early June), so my usual excitement and anxiety has been building up continuously for a month now. This, coupled with the fact that I have not been able to exercise much for the past 10 days because of my wisdom teeth, has made me one jittery person. Second, I get to attend my cousin Fan Wei’s wedding. Being the youngest (by far) even in my extended family, I’m not very close to most of my cousins, except for Fan Wei, whom I hang out with every summer. She’s a teacher at a very prestigious elementary school in Beijing. I haven’t met her fiancé yet though…This is the first wedding I will have ever attended, so I am quite excited. Given that it is a Chinese wedding, everything is sure to be very grandiose, but there is something about that atmosphere that I find very appealing. Third, I’m interning for one of my father’s colleagues at CITIC, one of the largest state-owned banks in China. I will be working in the International Banking department. According to my dad, the work is boring, but I’m excited to pick up some experience in actual commercial banking. Depending on how things work out, I may have the opportunity to intern or at least take a look at an investment bank, which would be amazing. All in all, I hope my trip to China will be a good balance of work and play.

I will be sure to blog regularly while I’m in Beijing, although I don’t get internet at my grandparent’s house >.<. Until then, I’ll be spending the last few days of my time in the U.S. tweaking my new blog. Please leave a comment and drop by once in a while!