Well the time had to come... after an amazing month in Shanghai, the program ended. We had a spiffy little graduation ceremony where everyone hooted and hollered for each other as we graduated from Shanghai Da Xue. There are some pics of my teachers and classmates at the graduation.
Jonas left on Friday after the graduation and we were all sad to see him go. After being gloomy for a while, we met Anthony, Sam and David who go to school in Liverpool. We invited them out for dinner and karaoke, which is always a silly time. (Pics of that too!)
On Saturday, we did... so much. Went back to Yu Yuan to pick up postcards and haggle for other random things. I even haggled for a stuffed panda for some Frenchies :] Then we picked up my coat, which is sooooo awesome and then went and got some fake purses and some Gucci stilettos. The rest of the night was spent sleeping and packing!
Sunday we packed because Lucas and I were leaving on Monday. Sunday night though, I got my nails done all silly Chinese style. I asked for white tips and got them... plus flowers with rhinestones! haha... Then we headed to the Pearl Tower to see Shanghai at night then headed to Park 97 for dinner and dancing with the Brits and Marina :]. It was a good end to the trip and I was really sad to leave. I've met so many wonderful people from all around the world, and it's so weird to think I wont ever see like 95% of them again. I missed saying goodbye to Marina in person but talked to her on the phone in the cab and we were both all teary eyed and saying how much we'll miss each other and... man! I wish the program were longer!
Coming to Kunming, I was excited about the weather, but that was pretty much it. I was still pretty upset about leaving my new friendsies when we landed. I read some of Catcher in the Rye in between plane naps and looking at the AMAZING view below. I can't even describe how awesome it was! LUSH green valleys with rivers winding through it, with as many trees and there are people in Shanghai... and that's a LOT! When I landed it was raining and my luggage was soaked, but by the time I got to the school, it had cleared up. Oh yeah, even though they SAID they'd pick me up... they didn't. So I took a cab who took me to the wrong school before the right one and then I had to wander around 'til I found someone who showed me where the international student office is. I put my bags in the holding room then turned around to see... CHRISTINA!!! I was like "KJSFHKKJGSHHJKGS!!!" and practically jumped on top of her. It was amazing luck. We then started the admissions process and were directed to where to go to get my housing. Then Jay came into the building and I was like "SHJLGJSD!!! yay!" and he slung my 30 kg luggage over his shoulder like it was nothing and walked with us to the international student hotel. Thank GOD he was there... I'm on the 5th floor, rooming with Christina, and there's no elevator. It would have taken about half an hour to get my luggage up there without him, so I am forever in his debt! After conking out for like 5 hours, Jay woke us up for dinner (haha). We went to a little place with him, an Irish guy named Eoin, and a French guy named David.
On Tuesday, we went to get Christina's passport pictures taken and ended up EATING DONUTS!!! Lucas knows how much I wanted donuts in Shanghai, so I was super glad to eat that sugary goodness. We did some more errands then met some of the guys in the Vermont group, Owen, Larry, and Justin. We went to a yummy Thai restaurant and Larry showed us a nifty skate shop with a cheap massage parlor above. They've been here for about 3 months, so we're counting on them to show us around! I have been too lazy to take pictures as of yet, but rest assured, there's plenty to come. In the meantime, look at a couple pics from the end of school... I'll post more once Lucas sends them to me!