Well it has been over a month since John, Ashleigh and I arrived home. We hit the ground running and it was all go, sometimes it doesn't even feel like we spent three weeks in China!
I'll attempt to give you all a run down on our trip home and then finish with some thoughts I've had on China since arriving home. Thanks so much to all those that have stopped by to view this blog - over 1000!
Ash and I woke very early on Saturday 22nd October, it was like..right its time to go home! We jumped in the shower and washed our sheets and cleaned up for those tutors that would be arriving later that day. My cold was making me feel pretty terrible, I took the last of my drugs and finished packing our bags before saying goodbye to the apartment. Although we knew it would be many many hours until we got home it was still awesome to have started making the journey back.
We arrived at the domestic terminal in Hangzhou and waited for check in, which was interesting as I was worried my bag would be too heavy. It didn't seam to be a problem, they checked our bags through until Auckland. We got through customs and immigration and hung out in the airport until we boarded. Ash and I were able to be seated in the same row which was nice, we had chicken and potatoes for lunch and it was amazing! Before I knew it I had been asleep for an hour and we were preparing to land - this was one of the three hours sleep I got on the way home.
Our flight was delayed out of Hangzhou which was actually a blessing because it meant we had less time to hang out around in Hong Kong. By the time we had walked to the food court we were all craving McDonalds! Ha.. we hadnt seen or eaten Maccas for the whole time we had been away and I have never wanted to eat a Big Mac so bad in my life. We then went and found somewhere to sit and make the most of the free internet within the airport. Ash and I both attempted to do some school work however our batteries died and the 'charge stations' they have didnt fit our power cords.
Planes take off so often in Hong Kong, no doubt it is up there as one of the most busiest airports in the world.
We board our flight and waited to take off, I think we had missed our push back time so we had to wait for an additional 30-40 minutes. I was okay with that as I had choosen and scheduled my movies :)
We were served beef, veges and potatoes for dinner, with CHEESE and crackers and normal New Zealand bread rolls with butter! soooo good. We also had a few glasses of white wine. It was all you could ask for after spending three weeks away from the "food that we know". The bad thing about the flight was due to my cold and cough I got next to no sleep the whole way back to Auckland. So not cool. I almost resigned myself to the fact that I wasnt going to be able to sleep and that I should just suck it up.
I managed to get a few hours but heck I felt like crap and I'm sure that was reflected in what I looked like! The best part was that we got scrambled eggs for breaky which is what I had been craving!
We landed in Auckland and the pilot wished the All Blacks all the best in the World Cup Final. That was one of the things to look forward to and to be happy about despite all the sleepyness.
We pretty much had to run through Auckland International to get to our domestic flight. This was because our international flight had been delayed. We got there with enough time to load our bags and sit down for 10mins before boarding. If we had been walking any faster we would have been running!
The flight to Nelson seamed to go really fast - well compared to the others. I think I kept falling asleep much to the amusement of John and Ash. It was awesome to see the fam and come home to my bed. I gave our pressies and had a shower.. its the little things that make you appreciate home. Being able to drink the water out of the tap, not having to mop when your in the shower, having your own bed to sleep it! Amazing.
I went to Church and then came home and watched the rugby with a cool group of people. Most tense final I have ever watched.. gosh it was painful! But I didnt need much motivation to stay awake but the energy drinks did help. After a massive 48hours I jumped into my own bed and slept until 10am the next morning.. amazing!
It look me a few days to adjust back to the food here, man I love meat!
We hit the ground running and had to finish all our outstanding school work within a week and had to start preparing for exams which were three weeks away. It was a busy few weeks.
Since being back people have asked me how I would describe China. Its a very hard question. You can do your best to describe it but no one will ever truly understand until they have been there themselves. The contrasts are what strikes me. The rich and poor, the innovation and the tradition the different ways that they do stuff yet produce amazing products and infrastructure.
The people are amazing. It really has given me an insight into how to do business in China and their culture but also gives me a greater understanding of the challenges International students face in New Zealand. I think that the exchange is something that should continue for the knowledge that can be exchanged and learnt form both cultures.
I'll post some pictures and links to some pictures shortly.
Thanks for stopping by again.. Lucy xx
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