8 January 2009

The day before my last.

Yesterday was my last day in the town of Zhen'an. When I was being driven to the airport I started to realise that this trip has been an emotional journey for me. I have had days where I would be happy and days where I would be sad. However I would say that there were more good days than bad.

I started to remember all the people, teachers and students who have made my time in China that more special. I came here knowing no one and having no friends but I am going back with many new friends. It was hard at first when I could not speak any Chinese and had no one to talk to but that all changed however when the four VSO teachers and their four translators came to Zhen'an. These eight people became my family during my time in China.

During the last meal I had with them on Tuesday we exchanged gifts with one another. It wasn't until I gave them my card that I started to feel sad mainly because I knew that I would never see them again or not at least for a long time. I had said in the card that I had appreciated what they had done for me, since this was my first time to go anywhere by myself and they made my time that more enjoyable and interesting.

So like I was saying as I was in the car with Mr. Chen I began to cry because I knew I would not see them again. But I tried not to think about this and only the happy times. I can honestly say that I will miss them.

The flight from Xi'An to Beijing only took one and a half hours. I was surprised it took such a short amount of time. When I got to Beijing I was told by VIP to meet at the office by myself. So I got the shuttle bus and when to the office. I was able to meet Ryan again which was nice. It was nice to have someone I knew in Beijing to talk and hang out with.


The next day Ryan, Jon (the person wo invited me to China) and I went to the Birds Nest Stadium. I was also able to meet their new Indian friend Sam (I forgot how to spell his Indian name), it turned out that he was a pretty cool guy and very friendly. Once we arrived at the Stadium I took many pictures, it was funny because just like when I went to Tiananmen Square some people wanted to take pictures with us.

While we were in the stadium the 6 Olympic Mascots came out and began to dance a strange choreographed routine. The music was slightly childish however the more I watched the more I thought to myself this is kinda cute. The performance went on for quite a while maybe 15 - 20 minutes.


Once the performance had finished the guys and I proceeded to the gift shop. I have to say I was slightly disappointed by what was on offer at the shop. I was expecting to see memorabilia representing each of the countries that took part in the games. I was interested in buying something related to Usain Bolt since he had performed so well and in turn made me feel proud to be Jamaican. All the shop had to offer was memorabilia of the stadium and some small nick-naks related to the 6 Olympic Mascots.

Later we went to a buffet where we ate pizza and other western food. It was nice to have something different to eat before I go back to England.

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