Last post in China!

Well......
This is weird............

So basically, tomorrow morning (Sunday 16th June) at 8:30am, I'll be leaving Kuitun. It sounds crazy to even say it.... I had times of being so excited to get home and times where I'm sooo sad to leave this place. But today, I have just been very emotionless. I think a big part of me doesn't really believe that I'll actually be going home because it seems like such an alien thing now!

I've practically finished packing. I still need to take down my wall of photos and memories which will take a long time. But apart from that, I'm done.

Goodbye-wise, I had my last day at school yesterday which was, again, very surreal. It was so nice to see the classes for one last time though and get a photo with each of them.

Also, last night my school treated me and Georgina to a farewell banquet! The food was great obviously and all of my favourite teachers were there. But because I was the guest of honour, I had to be the main toast-giver..... The first one was a general thank you to everybody. The second was a specific thank you to the secretary, then the vice-principal, then Mr Xu... I don't really know what exactly Mr Xu does but he is the happiest person I've met here. Every time I pass him in school, my day is just made a whole lot better! He's always smiling so much! Outside the front of the school, there's a board with photos of all of the teachers or heads of somethings on and they all have to look serious and professional, and he's just there grinning away. I just love him. Then I toasted Melanie and Kai because they may not be the big vice-principals or secretaries behind my year here but they have personally helped me a lot more. They've been helpers and taught me Chinese and just generally great friends. I found myself choking up a bit when I made that toast.......
Anyway, as you can guess... After all of these where you often have a full glass of wine per toast, we all got pretty cheerful! So after a few photos, some of us trundled over to Jasper's. Now if you've been reading these blogs since the beginning, you'll remember Jasper owns a bar/restaurant and speaks English and is very good at having a good time. So Kai, Charles, Georgina and I went there and it was just lovely! After quite a bit more alcohol, we decided at 4am that it was probably time to go home - also seeing as Georgina had to teach the next day!
It was very sad to say goodbye to Jasper but Kai especially. We hugged about 5 times and it just wasn't ever enough. When he was walking away it was torture!

I'll be going to Roxy's house very soon to say goodbye to her and her family. If you aren't aware of her, she's basically been my best friend here. She's a student of mine but is practically fluent in English and her and her family have treated me so nicely and basically taken me in while I've been here! So saying goodbye to them is going to be so hard...
Also obviously actually leaving tomorrow is going to be hard and saying goodbye to Georgina who I've lived with for a year. I guess that's a bit better though because the odds we'll be seeing each other again are higher than the Chinese folk!
I'm dreading saying goodbye to Daisy, my little dog. Completely dreading it.

Anyway! Back on track! I should pack away the rest of my things and then trundle off to Roxy's...
Weird.
I'm going home tomorrow.
Weird.

I hope you've all enjoyed reading my blogs through the year! I've had times where I really hated being here but overall, this has been such a good experience. And obviously now I know what I want to do with my future (studying Chinese) which helps a lot!
I don't know if I'll be blogging much after this, but if you want to stay in the loop then watch my videos on PrettyNiceStuff on youtube :) I'll be doing that a lot more than this!

Ok. I think that's that.....
Weird.

Last few weeks in China!

Hey everyone!

So, to pick up from last time....
If you remember correctly (and if you do, well done, top marks, gold star) then in my last blog post I said that my family were with me and we were going to a performance at my school.
Basically, it was amazing!
I do love my classes and seeing them all on the stage having fun was a treat! Especially since Chinese students work so hard. The arts are kind of frowned upon in China as parents prefer their children to be good at sciences or maths or something. So seeing them play instruments and singing and dancing was really really nice. Also, my family had a great time watching them!
Here are a few nice photos of the day.

The last few days with my family here was also really good.
Being apart from them for so long when I'm still pretty young was strange and I realised how much I've grown up. I felt awkward and rude when they were paying for things for me because I'm just used to sorting things out for myself now! But after the first few days I got used to it a bit more and by the end of their stay I was completely dependent on them! Having to say goodbye to them for the 2nd time was ok. It was a lot easier knowing that I'd see them again in just over a month instead of 10 months this time so it wasn't too emotional.
Talking about emotional - here is a video my mum took when we saw each other at the airport for the first time. You can't really hear anything apart from happy noises and sobs but I think it's really nice. We made quite a scene compared to the Chinese businessmen being greeted by other Chinese businessmen.
Click here and it'll appear in a new window.

They left about a month ago now though and since then the weather has really improved. Today, it's 35 degrees. Now, you'd think that's nice but when you aren't allowed to wear shorts or a vest to school because it's indecent, it's made a whole lot worse!

A weekend or two ago, I went to Fukang for one last time. It was great to be there again and to see the city in the summer again! The park is much better when it's sunny compared to when it's covered in ice in winter... But Jony treated me so much and took me to Tian Shan! Tian Shan is basically the best thing the whole of Xinjiang has got going for it and it was just beautiful.

His friend also made us cake so it was just a brilliant weekend really!

I think I'll write another blog about saying goodbye to everyone next week as I've only really just begun doing that.
I will upload a video on youtube soon about the things that I'll miss when I'm home, so do look that up on my channel! And you might as well have a gander around my other videos while you're there too ;)
Click this for a link to my channel to appear in another window.

Anyway, I'll talk to you again sooner or later!