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So here I am, travelling on my own. It definately feels wierd. Romy left on Monday, and it was stunningly hard to say goodbye. I've spent every day with her for over 4 months, and to wave her off at the airport was as bad as it was to say goodbye to everyone back home. Maybe even worse, because my future here is still so uncertain.
I spent another night in Shanghai with Michelle (another gapper from Australia) and we sat in a pub, with draught beers, and talked. I loved Shanghai, but it really wasn't the same China that I've been living in for 5 months. I know I'm going to have culture shock when I get back to Kunming. Little things like there being westerners on every street who weren't hardened travellers, western toilets in bars (with toilet paper provided!), big beers, english speaking shop owners.... It would be very easy to be happy in Shanghai as a westerner.
Then, on Tuesday, I went up to Taizhou to see Kat (a gapper from Durham). It was crazily difficult to get to- I spent 2 hours being given the wrong directions at the train station in Shanghai, 2 hours waiting for a bus, went on 2 different buses, was dropped off in the wrong town, was put on another bus by a random man, and then got in a tuk tuk which took me to a coffee shop where I waited for 10 minutes, and then finally found Kat! We went out with her friends and had a good catch up. Two things stunned me about her town- how many westerners and western things there were for such a small town, and how flat it all was. It really looks entirely different to what I've come to think of as 'my China'.
And now I'm in Hangzhou. It's supposedly one of the most beautiful cities in China, and yeah, from what I've seen in the dark, it's nice. There's a big lake and around its shore are bars and restaurants, and of course Starbucks. Starbucks has played a rather large role in our lives lately- a perfect place to hide from the cold, where there is no pressure to keep buying drinks, and most importantly for me now, somewhere I can sit on my own and read.
I spoke to Mark on the phone this afternoon and told him I was travelling on my own. He said that I was really independant. I don't know if that's fully true, I'm lonely already and I don't really relish the prospect of going wandering around the lake tomorrow. Maybe I'm just tired, and definately it's something to do with the fact that its so very cold here. Also, I keep falling over. (But that's largely to do with my shoes being broken.) Either way, I'm here now, there are islands and an art gallery for me to see and then I'll go to Ningbo.
Hope that everyone back home is well, and that you are all keeping warm. I wish I had thermals with me! Love you all, and miss you all too. Its been hard being with people who are all going home very soon and talking about what I miss about England... I keep forgetting that I'm staying.
Stay safe. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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