Our Last Day in China

I thought this trip would last forever - it was so fun! We could live on tasty Chinese snacks and eat rabbit all day... Ah, but we have to return to reality; by which I mean the massive amount of homework and tests we weren't able to do during this time (but we did get some done, don't worry!). I think it's fun coming and going to and from Taiwan to home because it's like TIME TRAVELING! Haha - for us, it's like the Monday we left never happened, and then tomorrow it's Sunday here, but Saturday at home, so we sort of get to redo some of our Sunday when we get home!

Last night was Mr. Bob Trimble's birthday party at a nice Chinese restaurant. Once again, we ate a variety of delectable food. We also performed our hula and "Top of the World" for the last time. I hope it was the best run of all our performances. We also went shopping at Student Street - it is what comes to mind when one thinks of a Chinese market. There were food carts up and down the whole way, and there were shops crammed with cute clothes and accessories (and I mean CUTE).

Today, we went to Quanzhou, another neighboring town in the Fujian province. There, we went to a museum, a Shaolin temple, and another temple. I liked seeing the temples because they're so beautifully built. The intricacy of the carvings and the scent of incense does set the mood of a temple.  I'll have to post pictures later, because it's getting late now, maybe when we're home I can put up a whole bunch from the entire trip.

I've learned so much on this trip! I think my listening has gotten better, but there's a lot of vocabulary I don't know yet. I can sympathize with non-English speakers now, at least the smallest fraction there is. Everyone can imagine that's it's difficult to speak a different language, especially when people speak quickly, but I guess we can't understand it until we go out and do it. This trip has shown me a perspective that isn't from my own country. My opinions from before have changed and I feel like I've grown a little as a person. Many thanks to the Trimbles, our teachers, and our big sisters here in China!