For expats living in China, every month feels like the last day of summer camp. Even though we know that many of our foreign friends are unlikely to stay around a long time, it is still tough to see people whisked out of our lives to different corners of the world. This is, of course, an inevitable and accepted drawback to living out here.

Today is a sad day for China Expat as our long-time, do-everything technical resident genius Phillip heads back to the States after three years over here. Apparently he was not willing to make the leap into the bizarre world of long-term China expat. And who can blame him?

His departure got me thinking about what it means to live here with a constantly re-shaping social life. For years those leaving China for less brown pastures were almost exclusively foreigners, but today many locals are trying their hands abroad too. When you work at a company where the employees are particularly gifted and speak excellent English you are bound to see more and more Chinese friends leave to pursue opportunities elsewhere as well.

It gives life a little bit of the feel of summer camp. As we make friends and form bonds, there is always a lingering sense of doubt about how long the relationships will last. In the back of your mind you know that China is not your real home, and only the very few who are willing to take the plunge will ever make it so. (Not sure who this person would be in the camp analogy. Maybe the crazy counselor who moved out of the cabins into the woods at the end of the summer. That was a universal phenomenon, right?)

So here I am, watching another expat become a repat, and I can’t really blame him. One day I will leave too, and hopefully someone will miss me as well. Modern life is always transient, but even more so in China. It is a tradeoff that we live with, even if we don’t like it.

And today I say goodbye to a coworker and friend. I hope to see you next summer.