Churros, Snow, and a Shot of Water

Sounds like the beginning of a joke no? No... Well sort-of.

I have begun to make friends in China. Many of which are my co-workers, which are some pretty amazing, courageous and forward-thinking individuals. However, for the first time in my professional life, I find that I am now among the eldest people in the office (thank you student affairs). Which is both exciting and terrifying. Suddenly, I have become the "expert." Me?!

I have spent a lot of time thinking about how much I've grown up in the last 10 years. I can't believe all that has happened in that time and the lengths I have gone to get to where I am now. Today, I am surrounded by people in their early twenties who still cling to their college lives and that need of order and "justice." They seem completely oblivious to reality of what life is like. Life is messy. Life doesn't keep a schedule. Life doesn't make or keep plans. Life doesn't care if you are in a good mood or a bad mood or no mood at all. And the truth is that life resembles jobs. I think of the jobs I've had over the years (crazy to think that by 30 I've already had 4 full time jobs!) and I realize that many of my "complaints" had more to do with me than they did with the job. Now I find myself on the other side. Listening to recent grads complain about how their job description doesn't adequately reflect what they are doing, or how things don't seem to follow their "plan." In some ways, I think they have it tougher than I did. Not only do they have to deal with the heartbreak that comes with joining the real world, but they have to do it in China. In other ways, I think they are only delaying the inevitable. They can still blame China for the inconsistencies of life and may fail to realize how many of their issues have more to do with being out of school as opposed to being out of the country.

So enter my "expertise." A couple of weeks ago I went to dinner with a couple of co-workers (it was somebody's birthday, she was turning 25). This time, I was not the eldest at the table, there was another person who is also in her early 30's. What was fascinating about the evening (besides my friend never having seen snow... there was a bit of a flurry that evening, then ordering churros for the first time, and finally "insulting" the waitress by turning down a shot of tequila and asking for a shot of water instead) was that there were two young 20-somethings and two not as young 30-somethings giving them advice. We talked about everything from wearing sunscreen and night lotion, to going to grad school and how to deal with a job you don't particularly like. It was amazing to see and hear the difference that 5-10 years can make. Many of the questions and concerns my friends' had were the same questions I had been unable to answer for myself not so long ago.

It was one of those moments when you start to realize how much you have actually accomplished already and that it's not quite THAT unfathomable that someone would want to come to you for advice and are actually interested in what you might say. 30 may be the new 25, but I have to say that those 5 years make a big difference in someone's life.