[LAST POST of 2018 Exchange] One Last Time

Kelby

Alright. Last one. For our last full day in Shanghai we had a wonderful time.

Our day began with a nice continental breakfast in the lobby of our hotel. From there, the Sisterhood went upstairs, got dressed, and set out for the day. I was particularly excited because my father’s employee’s (Mingjia) parents (try saying that five times fast) said they would take us to some cool new sites.

The first place they took us to was Yu Yuan, an old garden with traditional Chinese architecture, multitudes of flowers, and ponds stocked with giant carp. From there we walked around the area surrounding the garden as it was filled with shops and markets. Mingjia’s parents bought us all Dairy Queen. We then went to lunch and feasted on fish, pork, green beans, tofu, and tea.

Once we finished our lunch, we were then taken to a shopping district with small gimmicks and local snacks. Liz, Iona, and I all bought shelled coconut, which was essentially a bubble with milk in it. Extremely filling, extremely worth it.

The Bund and Pearl Tower were next on our list. The Bund is a long walking strip which runs along the river that separates the business district from the rest of the city. Mingjia’s mother took lots of pictures of us on the Bund, and we even got a picture of the famous skyline Shanghai has. After pictures were taken, we crossed the river and headed up the Pearl Tower.

The view was unlike anything I had ever seen. The day turned into night, and the entire city was truly awake. The buildings meant for companies flashed with lights and further portrayed a presence of life. A sea of apartments covered every crack and crevice of the city’s floor, as you can barely make out the cars swimming through the streets. The city was not simply awake by then, but it was alive.

We were exhausted by the time we exited the elevator taking us down, so Mingjia’s parents bout us dumplings. We got in the car, went back to the hotel, ate our dumplings, and prepared for bed.

Seeing this is my last blog, these are the types of days I will miss. Days like this are filled with adventure, friends who become family, food flavored by love (as someone we met here once said), and a feeling of action.

China has not simply been a destination, nor a vacation, but opportunity for global education. Seeing that tomorrow is our last day, I hope to obtain as much knowledge as I can before returning home. Until our return, all I can say is, “One last time.”

[VLOG#33] Shanghai Day 2

Iona

(Video only)

Shanghai Day 1

Iona

Kelbs described our first day in Shanghai well in her quote “We took to the streets and started singing Shakira”. The energy and excitement the Sisterhood had to be in Shanghai was palpable all throughout the day. I loved my time in Hangzhou, but I felt so thrilled to be on my feet- out exploring a new city again! I hadn’t realised how much I had missed the hotel breakfasts and flexibility to plan our day how we’d like. Our mission for the morning was to get Kelbs to a restaurant which was forty five mins away from the hotel to meet one of Kelbs’ family friend. The walk was great to start off our morning in Shanghai, and Liz, Mrs. Waterman, and I continued walking around while Kelbs and her family friend ate brunch at the restaurant. After an hour and a half, we met up again and made our way along a street with tiny shops. So many times we were tempted to buy gifts but we quite actually have close to no space left in our suitcases... Liz’s checked bag is already 2 lbs over the weight limit so we have some repacking and shuffling to do before we leave.

After we visited the sculpture park and ventured through an architecturally interesting neighbourhood, we hopped on the metro and made our way to the Shanghai Museum. We had heard a lot about this destination, and it was a great time! Kelbs, Liz, and I split up from Mrs. Waterman to go see minority clothing, traditional furniture, jade jewellery, and old currency. After we finished, we had some time to spend so we walked back to near our hotel and walked into a small hairdresser shop for inexpensive haircuts! Liz got a much shorter do, Kelbs got a trim plus layers that frame her face, and I went much shorter :). After that journey, we all went out for some hotpot which was absolutely delicious and just what we were craving.

We met Mrs. Waterman back at the hotel at 6:15pm, and all headed out to go see an acrobat show! It was amazing to see the talent of the group, and all the craziness that was involved in their show. It was a rather comical experience, there was a lot of humour in some of the acts and their bodies were so flexible and strong! Refer to the vlog footage for an idea of the crazy things that were performed :).

We took a taxi back to the hotel and said goodnight for the day, ending the day on a satisfied and excited note.

From Hangzhou to Shanghai

Ms Waterman
(teacher)

Today was a bittersweet day as we left Hangzhou after one full month and traveled to Shanghai for the last leg of our two-month adventure. We traveled by fast train just after noon, so the girls spent the morning with their host families. When all of the host families met at HangGao to say goodbye, our friends Sunny (a member of the Exchange from 2016!) and Dana (the Exchange teacher from 2017) were there, too. We were thrilled to meet Dana’s son, Happy, because we have heard so much about him, but we were so sad to say goodbye to our wonderfully generous and fun-loving host families.

We arrived at the Hangzhou East train station with plenty of time before our train, and I can say confidently that our experience there was the smoothest thus far! We had no ticket problems, we knew exactly where to go to board our train (unlike Chengdu), we made it down the stairs/escalator without people pushing and shoving (unlike Xi’an and Kunming), and we boarded our train car without any problems. Even though everything was smooth, it must have been very funny to watch the four of us trying to wrangle our now-enormous suitcases through the train station. Liz, Iona, and Kelby all have a small rolling suitcase in addition to their large suitcases, and I have a small duffel bag which I had mostly balanced on top of my rolling suitcase. Kelby got some funny videos of us, so we were able to laugh at ourselves after we boarded the train and stowed our bags.