Today, unfortunately, was going to be our last day in China. That was such a bittersweet thing to think about while eating breakfast because I had so much fun in China, and I’ve made a lot of new friends that I would have to say goodbye to for the summer, and I learned so much; on the other hand, I can’t lie that I was also looking forward to going home just a bit. Day 12, or 13 depending on how you counted the days, was going to be a doozy. We started things out by going to the Yu Garden, which was built by a Chinese governor for his grandfather in the 16th century.
The garden was certainly the best garden I have ever walked through. From my experiences, Chinese gardens are already really beautiful, but the Yu Garden takes things to another level. It was very relaxing to walk through it on such a beautiful morning. The buildings, stones, trees, and ponds were all displayed beautifully. It was like everything had a reason for being there. It was perfect.
After taking a stroll through the garden, some of us went for a walk around the shops in the surrounding area. The shop area was also beautiful, and I decided to pick up some various teas to give to my parents once I got home. We also got some lunch at this area. I got myself some pork steamed buns which were delicious!
After we got back, my group and I practiced our presentation. We went through a few times and were feeling pretty good about it. All of us walked to the hotel where we would be presenting, and we got into some shenanigans along the way. Our presentation went really well I thought! In fact, everyone’s presentation was really good!
After our presentations, we got together for one last farewell dinner. It was delicious! My favorite part was the lamb because it was just cooked to perfection! In a few short hours it would be off to the airport.
Getting to the airport took us about an hour, and it was a bittersweet ride. Everyone was sad to be leaving China because we all loved it so much, and I’m sure we wish we could have stayed just a few more days to explore, but it was time for us to leave. We went through the baggage check and now it was time to say goodbye to everyone. That was sad, but Nancy said she might visit Pittsburgh so that would be cool!
The flight back to the states was uncomfortable as usual. Especially for me because I’m tall and I was in the middle seat. I took 2 Benadryl though and it knocked me out for basically the whole first flight which was 11 hours, so that was good. Fortunately for me, I didn’t run into any problems traveling which is always a concern for connecting flights. I can’t say the same for Joe, Jake, and Jack though.
While flying back on the second flight, I had a lot of time to reflect on what I’ve done in China the past two weeks since I couldn’t sleep at all. I am so grateful that I was given this once in a lifetime opportunity to travel abroad, see and learn new things, and make plenty of new friends! Thank you, Pitt’s study abroad office for allowing me this opportunity, and thank you to the Asia Institute for being terrific hosts! I will never forget this experience.