That's right. Five weeks left before I go back to "Jia-Na-Da" (that's how you'd say Canada in Chinese) and I'm feeling pretty ambivalent about it. On the one hand, this inevitable change back to the norm has me going out far more than I was at the beginning of all this and spending time with the other Canadians and their Chinese friends. It's been a lot of fun, especially in the past two weeks. Yesterday we went out for lunch and ended up staying for six hours- well into the evening- just talking and telling stories and jokes. Then we went towards our favourite bar but not before stopping at a local pizza joint (they use a WOOD BURNING OVEN) and it was super delicious, flat crust, good tomato base, etc. I couldn't believe how good it tasted (that is, until I noticed the Hawaiian had cooked bananas on it, blah not my forte).
I bought a Samsung Galaxy S3 off of my friend Joey the other day. She was selling hers because she got the iPhone 5 instead and I got it for a pretty good price. I also got these new PRESCRIPTION glasses yesterday with some friends from a glasses store in their building for only $30 Canadian. The glasses I got in Canada cost 10 times that! I can't believe how inexpensive things here are. I even found those really nice smelling candles they sell at Anthropology which usually go for $50 in Canada here in China. They cost about $3.50 here in China. Now my apartment smells like a rich fruit basket-garden-orchard thing. Mmmm.
Aside from all the lovely things I've gotten here (not to mention the gifts-shhhh!) I really know I'm going to miss this place for all the amazing experiences I've had. My calligraphy, my first apartment (ever!), my Superkids class, early trips to Walmart, late night trips to the north gate for food when I'm starving, Ilya's disgusting trip to the food market with Mandy and bringing back DOG MEAT into the house which sent me to my room for a good several hours, the crazy company dinner we had where everyone had just a tad too much to drink, and, finally, all those times we would go get HuaChao from the place in our neighbourhood. Well I guess that just about summarizes my feelings about my trip to China- this time around. Chances are, I'll probably be back before I know it.
