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Monday 1st June
This week was the start of my home straight in Yiyang. On Monday I had a goodbye class and some exams before meeting Rich for some back gate food.
On Tuesday I had an exam in the morning then did some work before meeting Ava, Vera, Naija and Mary for some very tasty ice cream in the "Student Union"
Wednesday was quiet, I had a goodbye class and did some work.
On Thursday I went to the bank with Lisa in the morning but realised I had lost my card. Again. I guessed I had probably left it in the machine on campus and after explaining this to Lisa she managed to work out that I could try to visit the bank the following day to see if it had been collected. I had a class in the afternoon then we had a goodbye meal that evening. Rich, Kev, Lisa, Mr Liu and his wife and I went to the restaurant we had been to with all the foreigners a few weeks before. It wasn't as nice and we were herded into the basement but the food was still good. After the meal we went to the fancy KTV and had a good time although Kev seemed a little horrified when we sang along to the Bad Touch….
On Friday I was up early for my class, then went to the old campus to say goodbye to Kev! I then went back to do some marking and met Lisa and Rich later in the afternoon to go to the bank and I managed to get my card back.
When I got back to my apartment, I got changed and me and Rich went to meet some students and go out for my last Friday in Yiyang. Since I no longer had any classes with these students I decided I could take them for some beers! Three of my Junior students cam along, Ava, Naija and Vera, rich brought along 3 Freshmen girls! We went for BBQ next to Xiufeng park, then went to Bar 77 for some more beer and watched the "dancers" (strippers). We then went to KTV and stayed until they kicked us out about 1am. By this time it was too late for the girls to get back into student dorms so we went for a walk by the river. At about 3am we gave up and decided to try to get back to campus. I looked after my three students and found them somewhere to sleep in my apartment, They were three of my best students and I had a really good night, I was only getting to socially know my students as I was about to leave!
The next morning I woke up late to an empty apartment and a note from the 3 girls thanking me for a good night which I thought was very sweet. I spent the rest of the day sorting myself out and not doing much.
On Sunday I caught an early bus to Changsha. I did some marking whilst I waited to meet everyone else and eventually found Mat, Keri and Steve. We went for lunch in a really small but good restaurant and Amy, Rich and David came to join us. After we had eaten we wondered around a little bit then went to Jonos for a drink and to meet Sam and Aggy. They then took us to an all you can eat restaurant called Golden Hans. It was a "German" restaurant complete with waiters in lederhosen, and a red phone box inside (?!). It did have good beer though and we drank our way through quite a few pitchers at only 12RMB a jug!
After we were full up on Golden Hans I said my final goodbyes to Amy and the rest of us moved to 4698 for a few more beers. Me and Mat had decided to stay the night and get up early the next morning. David took us back to the campus where we stayed when we first arrived in China and we even stayed in Mat's old room!
We woke up at 6am on Monday because Mat had to go back to teach, there was no sign of David and Rich. I caught the bus to Yiyang, went straight to meet Lisa to sort out my bank, then had a nap before my class in the afternoon.
That evening I was marking until 3am…
On Tuesday I was up at 6am to do more marking (gogo 3 hours sleep!), then I had a class periods 1-2. After class I went to the bank again with Lisa then did some more making and finally managed to finish about 6pm!! I then did some packing and had enough time to meet some students at 8:30pm for some milk tea. It was a nice evening and they gave me some really nice presents, it was a collection of Junior Chinese and English department students, I got on well with some of the older students.
Afterwards me and Rich went for our final BBQ! Then I went back to finish packing away my things.
On Wednesday I woke up really early, packed away my remaining things and went to meet Lisa to get my taxi to Changsha airport! I was sad to leave Yiyang but it had felt very rushed and I didn't really have time to take it in.
When I arrived at the airport I checked in and got told to take my guitar onto the plane as hand luggage. I went through to the departure lounge and found an English guy sitting by himself so we had a chat whilst waiting to board the plane to Shanghai. He had been living and working in Germany and had met his Chinese wife there. She was from Changsha and they had been visiting her family, now he was heading back by himself a little earlier. It was nice to talk to someone with a familiar accent and it distracted me away from the fact I was about to fly…
My flight to Shanghai went in a blur, as most of my terror filled flights do. When I landed and switched on my phone it started ringing, Peter was calling, I ignored it and heard nothing from him again :)
I caught the bus to People's Square in central Shanghai easily enough, but I started to struggle when I tried to work out how to get to the hostel. I wouldn't have had a problem if I wasn't carrying a 30kg bag with broken wheels. It took me about 30 minutes to cover what would usually be a 5 minute walk but luckily I didn't get lost so I wasn't doing unnecessary hauling. The hostel was really nice once I found it. A very kind guy from Birmingham helped me carry my bag up the 3 flights of stairs (I don't think he realised what he was letting himself in for). I sorted out my things and then went straight out for some cash and some food. Right outside the hostel was a Costa Coffee and I have never tasted a Panini and Latte like that before!
As I got back to the hostel, I realised with dread that I had lost my bank card. A bank card that I could only replace in Yiyang, that had about £200 on the account. But I was too tired to care and went to sleep…
EDIT:
I must have stopped writing a journal a this point, but I don't feel that that's a fair end to the adventure that I had!
I spent nearly a week in Shanghai at the end of my trip, a few days by myself when I also had a day trip to Suzhou, and then John came to join me for my last few days and we visited places in Shanghai. From what I remember, Shanghai was very Westernised and at this point a I was very ready to go home, I enjoyed a lot of shopping and drinking coffee!
When I finally boarded my flight to the UK I was exhausted (and excited to be bumped up to first class!) but looking forward to seeing my family and getting back on familiar territory.
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