Bye, Bye, Beijing

I can’t believe my time in Beijing is already over. Up until this point, I’ve felt like things haven’t really gotten started. Being in Chengdu means that I’ll finally start to learn Chinese, and that thought is equal parts scary and exciting. 

In the morning, there was a feeling of tension in the air. We were all looking forward to meeting our host families, but we were also filled with doubt. After breakfast (which was actually on the fifth floor this time), Giselle and I hauled our luggage to the lobby, checked out, and waited for the bus to come and whisk us away. 

There’s not much to say about the actual orientation. We went over cultural learning, talked about expectations, and wrote a letter to our future selves. I was kinda freaked out during the entire orientation because I thought I lost my wallet (luckily I found it a bit late so no worries).

Also, we had Subway for lunch. I had a chicken sandwich with this weird sauce that tasted like baked beans. 

With that, we were off the airport. Checking our baggage took forever (partly because I ended up nerding out with some other kids about math). Security was kinda confusing, and apparently you aren’t allowed to have scissors in your carry on. Still, we made it through. 

Okay, so hear me out. Domestic flights in China are better than those in the US, just based on what I’ve seen. They have cute decals on the luggage compartments, and the safety video is just better. 

Anyways, we finally got to school, where our host families were waiting at the front. It was a bit confusing and awkward because I couldn’t understand them well. But, soon enough, we made it to their car and headed to their house. 

On the door of their house, they had those red calligraphy banners. Apparently, my host sister does calligraphy, so she invited me to go to classes with her. Once I was inside, I met the grandfather and grandmother, put my stuff in my room, and ate a dinner of spicy noodles. Before long, I took a shower and started prepping for bed. 

Everything seemed to happen in quick succession tonight. I didn’t really get time to give my gifts since my host sister went to bed early. I didn’t really know how to say anything in Chinese, so we ended up relying on translation software. Plus, the Sichuan dialect threw me off more than I had thought. 

I really hope I can do better tomorrow. 

WOTD: 梦想花园 (méng xiǎng huā yuán) – Dream Garden