Hey guys,
I’ve been home from China for a few weeks now, but it feels like I was there just yesterday. During the last two days I was in China, we visited the watertown “Wuzhen” and Shanghai. I am glad we got to experience both, but I most enjoyed being a tourist in Shanghai. During our first day there, we visited the Bund which had beautiful sights, but unfortunately we were not able to stay for long. We also saw another acrobatics show which I actually preferred to the one we saw in Beijing. During the second day, we explored some of the city on our own. We went to this really cool “Art Mall” called K11, which is like nothing I have ever seen in the US, and enjoyed some quality cupcakes and ice cream. We also did some shopping in Chinese markets and enjoyed our last dinner together in country.
The Bund!
Fancy fruit at K11 Mall
During my first week home, I took a week off from responsibilities and used that time to rest, recover, and visit family. Unsurprisingly, I found myself very jet-lagged and a little bored especially because I was used to having every day jam-packed with activities. During the second week and the rest of my time home, I am working at my old job at Pyxis Technologies where I am working on a few small engineering projects until I head back to school in September.
Being home from China is a bit weirder than I imagined. When I was in O’Hare International Airport waiting for my connection to Detroit, I found myself saying “thank you” in Chinese to the person who sold me my Gatorade. It was also a bit surprising to me that I no longer had to point at what I wanted and the cashier actually understood what I was saying. That being said, I kind of miss the adventure that came with trying to communicate with people using the very little Chinese that I knew.
I am looking forward to going back to campus and starting a new school year, but I will never forget the time I spent abroad. Coming home from this trip, I am feeling more confident and educated but most of all, happy that I went, especially because I debated going for a long time. I would recommend to almost anyone that if you get the chance, you should definitely study abroad. I know I certainly don’t regret it.
Well, this wraps up my last blog post. Thanks for reading!
-Mandy