As our last weekend in Hangzhou set in on Friday night, we sat down at a café with DiDi, Kay, and Cindy for a few drinks and some war stories. It almost felt like nothing was wrong and it was just another weekend on the streets of Hangzhou. Only now do I realize that this was the last gathering that the eight of us would have. DiDi, Kay, and Cindy were the students who came to our school last year and they have been immensely helpful in translating and planning our day to day activities and visits. A big thank you to them.
On Saturday we had another visit to a place called Shaoxing. One of the English teachers, Rose, accompanied us on this excursion. We visited a very old bridge and then went to an amazing place called East Lake. While we were walking along the lake there were these Chinese boats that were long, thin, had sectioned covers on them, and were rowed by foot. After walking for 15-20 minutes and photo bombing other tourists we got on the same boats I described before. As soon as we got on the boat Timmy decided that it was in our best interests to lie down in the boat. This made the boat dangerously unbalanced and the boatman and all the staff started throwing a slew of aggressive and irritated Chinese phrases at him. After the boat ride ended it was already 3:30 and I told my host family I would be back at 2:00 so we headed home. The van ride ended up taking three hours and all of us claimed an entire seat basically and fell asleep for the majority of it. As one might imagine, as soon as the three of us boys woke up, the inside of the van turned into a war zone. I think we might have scared Rose a little. When we finally returned to the school gate it was already 7:00 so Max and Ms. Lockrow and I decided to get dinner at Pizza Hut and go to the bookstore to buy some final gifts.
On Sunday Jimmy, my host brother, took me, Max, and Max’s host brother biking around West Lake. There were so many people it made it challenging to bike but it was fun nonetheless. At one point the sidewalk traffic was so bad that Max and I started doing the “bob and weave” between gridlocked oncoming cars. The only way to get back home in a timely manner was to break the rules of the road, not that anybody in China follows those rules anyways. After we returned home and had a final dinner with our host families, Max and I set out again to find Ms. Lockrow and have a final coffee at the café right below our apartments.
That brings us to today, our last day here at Hangzhou High School. My morning started no differently than it has the past two weeks. I woke up, showered, ate breakfast, and got ready to walk ten minutes to school. The only difference this time was that I was dragging my suitcase with me and I was never coming back. Handshakes and hugs were exchanged with my host parents and I set off with Jimmy for the last time to walk through the school gates. I sit here now, writing this blog post and waiting for the next break in class so I can go say goodbye to friends and thank the people who made this stay what it is.
On Sunday Jimmy, my host brother, took me, Max, and Max’s host brother biking around West Lake. There were so many people it made it challenging to bike but it was fun nonetheless. At one point the sidewalk traffic was so bad that Max and I started doing the “bob and weave” between gridlocked oncoming cars. The only way to get back home in a timely manner was to break the rules of the road, not that anybody in China follows those rules anyways. After we returned home and had a final dinner with our host families, Max and I set out again to find Ms. Lockrow and have a final coffee at the café right below our apartments.
That brings us to today, our last day here at Hangzhou High School. My morning started no differently than it has the past two weeks. I woke up, showered, ate breakfast, and got ready to walk ten minutes to school. The only difference this time was that I was dragging my suitcase with me and I was never coming back. Handshakes and hugs were exchanged with my host parents and I set off with Jimmy for the last time to walk through the school gates. I sit here now, writing this blog post and waiting for the next break in class so I can go say goodbye to friends and thank the people who made this stay what it is.
I will see you all in a few days.
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