Anything Could Happen

May 27, 2013 - May 30, 2013

Senior Camp

Every year, as a tradition, the senior class of my high school goes to Yangshuo (in Guilin which is in China). Every grade has their camp trip (china studies is the name of camp at my school) at the beginning of the year except the senior class as they are in the middle of the IB programme at the beginning of grade 12 so it is not practical to leave school then. So after the exams we went on our china studies trip. And because everyone was still recovering from being exhausted for the entire previous 2 years the plane and bus rides were really quiet! That aside the scenery during this entire trip was simply GORGEOUS. This part of China is so beautiful and is mainly known (to me anyway before the trip and even now after the trip) for the mountains that can be seen everywhere you look when you are there. It is just beautiful. The first day was traveling so we had 2 days of activities and 2 days of travelling. All three nights we went to the west street (?)(I think that is what it was called), a very touristy yet sort of meant to be authentic shopping street with a lot of the same items being sold in the different shops. But there are also a lot of really nice shops in this street and some nice restaurants. On the 28th we had two activities. In the morning there was a hike. A long long long hike. I joined the slow group but it was still exhausting as it was up a mountain, down a mountain, more sketchy roads and walking in the wrong direction for 4,5 (!!) hours. Nonetheless it was fun and I hate to say this but I was proud that I was able to hike for that long. My family doesn't go on hiking holidays so I wasn't used to this sort of thing but it went well! I was exhausted at the end and because it had rained the day before it was slippery on the mountain and some of us were falling/slipping including myself. I fell once and slipped 5 times. The fall gave a beautiful big blue bruise on my butt that hurt very very badly.

After the morning hike we went to the mud caves! I had seen photos of this on facebook before so I was really excited but the part that they do not photograph or tell you about is the part where you have to walk into the cave for like 20 to 30 minutes in your bathing suit in flip flops... It was slippery inside and cold but the mud was fun. On the way back down all of a sudden the lights went out. Not so fun. Thankfully 2 of my friends and myself had just reached the hot springs and we were able to sit there and wait for the lights to go back on. Getting back to the hotel all of our clothes were wet and my bathing suit was filled with mud which seemed impossible to get out.

The next day we went rafting in the morning. Well not really, we had someone raft for us while we had a water fight! It was a lot of fun and a great morning shower... Anyway that afternoon we were meant to do three activities and we all did them in a different order. I started with biking because I am not a big fan of biking and thought that way I could get it over with. I had a terrible bike and at the end I was tired and no longer in the mood to do the next activity, mountain climbing. I did not go mountain climbing and even if I had wanted to I would not have been able to because a little after we got there it started raining. Pouring rain from the sky. It was insane. And our teachers could not decide on anything so we just stood there instead of leaving before the path made of dirt would become to muddy to walk over. In the end we ended up walking in the rain for more than 1 hour and were completely soaked when we got back to the bus. The third activity was crafting and looking back it would have been smarter to start with mountain climbing so I would have been inside when the rain started but I thought that crafting would be my last activity and I thought I was being smart. But nope.

And then the trip was over! It was a exhausting, wet and fun. That Friday we had a rehearsal for the graduation ceremony that would be happening that Saturday. I will write more about that later because now I need to get off my computer and read something from an actual book. Bye!

The view from the bus

The view from my hotel room.

At the beginning of the hike.

The view on the mountain during the hike.

The view that is on the 20 rmb note!!

After the cycling and before the mountain climbing.

The Sea Is Calling

May 21, 2013

After going through the majority of my possessions I had packed 8 boxes filled with items and clothing that I wanted to bring to my new dorm room. On May 21st the moving company came to my house to "repack" the boxes and what I had packed in 8 boxes was put into about 4,5 boxes! So I was able to bring 2 cupboards and more items! It was both exciting and frightening to have see these boxes in my room. Although I was super excited for a new adventure, at the same time I was also quite nervous. It took about 2 hours but then the moving company took my boxes in their van and they were gone. I was left in a half empty room. After living in a room for 3 years it is very strange to see that same room with empty walls and it brings back memories from the things that happened in the 3 years that I lived in Beijing.

I was far more connected to that room than the one that I left behind 3 years ago so it was quite tough to leave. Right now my things have been on the boat for about 1 or 2 weeks so they should be arriving around the end of July or the beginning of August. I haven't checked the online tracking system even though I probably should... It is exciting to look for new furniture though! Because I was not able to bring all my furniture I need a new bed, desk, chairs, closets, bookcases etc. I have bought a lot of smaller items for the kitchen and bathroom but I have not yet bought the bigger items. I have found a bed I like, I had to leave my old bed in Beijing because it is far to big for my dorm room. From Ikea I found a table that I like, a closet and bookcase. The only thing I still need from the bigger items are chairs. I think I am only going to get 2 and then if I have more people coming for dinner they might need to bring their own chairs. If it ends up fitting in the room I might get 4 but we will see about that. I am also thinking of a color for one of the walls in the room so that it is not just white and I think I have an idea! On the 1st of August I am getting my key and then we will paint where necessary, clean and then buy my furniture!

I Love It

May 16, 2013 - May 18, 2013

As I will be leaving Beijing incredibly soon my parents wanted to take me on one last family trip somewhere in China! And seeing how I have been to Shanghai but not really seen anything (I went twice for softball tournaments) we went to SHANGHAI! It was a really fun trip despite that fact that it rained pretty much the ENTIRE trip. We stayed in a really nice hotel and took taxis as our form of transportation. My dad would meet my mom, sister and myself at the hotel as he was already in Shanghai for a business trip. We left on an early flight and the plane was really old. There were still ashtrays (!!) and in general it was just visible that the airplane had had to endure quite a number of flights before we entered it. Didn't really matter of course but worth mentioning that I think that that was probably the oldest airplane I have ever been on. Shanghai was really wonderful, we saw a bunch of things (beautiful streets, the bund, old parts of the city and we went to an aquarium) and I will post some photos here that I took throughout our three day trip in Shanghai.

The Bund

The Bund at Night

Little Talks

May 02 2013 - May 15, 2013

EXAM TIME

WWAAAHH

Okay surprisingly enough I was not as stressed as I had expected myself to be! I had 15 exams in total and I think they went well... Some better than others, a few that I expected to be easy were not and vice versa. So yeah overall it was alright. But I still have not gotten the results as they only come out in JULY!! Very frustrating but I'll get over it after July. I am really nervous about it daily for about 10 minutes in total. I'll have short panic moments but they don't last long thankfully. So I will let you (if anyone is reading this) know if I passed my exams when I find out!

Studying/Reviewing/Tanningatthesametime in the backyard

What You Wanted

April 25, 2013

The day after the last day of school my class had breakfast together before we all went to the Great Wall of China for a group photo. (so many traditions!) The breakfast was extremely emotional! After the actual eating we were allowed to go up in front of the group to say a few words. Stupidly enough I decided to do so even though I know that I am such a crier! So I started by saying: "I'm going to do this even though I am probably going to cry" And then I cried. But even though I cried I'm really glad I said thank you to everyone. Listening to everyone speak made me realize how much everyone cared about each other. After the breakfast we went to the Great Wall to take a class photo. It was such a beautiful day with very little pollution so the photo is beautiful!

Credits Geraldine Cuason/Western Academy of Beijing

Up In The Sky

April 24, 2013

My last day of high school! The night before a lot of people slept over at school but I just went to school early. Then as the teachers and students came into school we all went up to my school's ramp to sing and dance. The music wasn't played very loud though so that was a bit unfortunate. At the end of the day we had an assembly in which the academic awards were presented to the students in front of the rest of the high school and our parents. After that the parents and students left first to find a spot in the high school from which they could see the ramp as the seniors would be walking over this (one of the first traditions!) It was absolutely amazing to be the ones walking down the ramp in stead of watching others! We walked straight onto the bridge (connecting the high school to the middle and elementary school) to take a class photo. Here are some photos of that day!

Credits Geraldine Cuason

Credits Geraldine Cuason

Counting Stars

After my last post everything got incredibly busy with preparation for exams, then the actual exams and then going through all the traditions that my school has for the graduating seniors... It was one incredible experience! Now that I finally have some time I will be writing blog posts of these experiences ASAP.

First PROM

On April 13th 2013 I had my senior prom! It was held at the most beautiful location possible. It was in the Green Tea House in Beijing and when we walked in there was a string quartet playing in front of a the building and there were beautiful lights that lit the sidewalk on the short walk to the building. It was really great to see everyone dressed up! I wore incredibly high heels (see the photo :) ) And when I wore them I was taller than my teachers... It was truly a beautiful evening, it was a sit down dinner and after there was some dancing.

Credits Western Academy of Beijing

Credits Western Academy of Beijing