Day 14 – Flight Home

by Plus3 China as experienced by Rosalyn

On the final day in China I spent the morning packing. It was a bit of a struggle trying to stuff all of my new treasures and gifts into two small suitcases.

Some people wanted to again visit Papa John’s, but I wanted my final meal in China to be something Chinese! So I went with Jonathan, another student from the group, to the U-Center. Once we sat down at the restaurant we had picked, we realized that it was actually Vietnamese. Oh well, better than pizza. I got mango spring rolls and spicy crawfish and he got a whole fish. It was good and by that meal we were experts at the art of communication through pointing.

We took one last stroll through the U-Center and stopped at the grocery store to buy a few last-minute items. I bought a package of lollipops solely because they looked strange. They’re a bizzare shape and have some kind of fruit or nut that’s visible in the center.

When we returned to the hotel, it was time to say goodbye to Ruby and Vivien. I already miss them! They both gave us all a gift and said their farewells. Then we had the long bus ride to the airport. Once there, Dr. Gao and Vanessa took us as far as they could and then said goodbye to us.

The flight was much less enjoyable on the way back because there was nothing exciting to look forward to. We finally arrived back in the U.S., exhausted, late on Saturday night. I’m going to miss our group, the Chinese student guides,  Dr. Gao, Vanessa and of course China. I really hope to go back one day.