Flashback: Jennifer in Australia, a Work & Traveler's Experience

Stateside and definitely currently plotting my next escape...

August 19, 2010

How’s it goin’ Cultural Embracers?

I’ve officially been back home in The States for what feels like FOREVER… a month if we’re being literal. Having been used to thirty day fly-bys packed with explorations through a new city or country, trying to find a job that both rationalizes my overpriced education and will allow my passions to flourish is making time run extremely slowly, and me a bit frustrated.

It IS still maddening being in a less-adventurous routine again, trying to figure out my next moves, jobs, potential career paths, and generally attempting to get my footing back in the city I grew up in, but it’s also wonderful and exciting in that absolutely anything and everything is possible. One concept I’ve taken from traveling is there is so much to do, see and experience and it’s really just about choosing a direction and going for it. The trick now will be actually choosing that one direction to take off in.

I’ve been following my own advice to the extreme and have been in constant contact with my “found family” and others from my travels who keep me inspired and amused, and it’s definitely helping keep my mind and eyes open. The problem might be that all this rousing-connecting may be feeding my growing collection of must-follow passions instead of prompting me to choose and conquer. I swear I’ve been a lightening rod for bazaar and seemingly non-lucrative occupational ideas.

But back to my back-at-home situation… it is tough to keep up the excitement for life and all its possibilities when you’re experiencing déjà vu more often than you are rejuvenation. So I’ve been doing things everyday to remind myself that I’m writing my story, and I need to be constantly be making steps towards writing the one I want to live. Before I came home I knew I’d be crashing at my mom’s house for the most part until I got my footing again. (And as you can imagine or even relate, living at home after having your own place and space can be a bit draining on your enthusiasm for life.) So, while I’m home I’ve decided to tend my mother’s garden, and as cheesy as it sounds, watching it grow and bloom under my care has kept me motivated to continue building great things for myself and has kept me in touch with the daily and big picture I’m striving for. Quoting Aristotle, “The soul never thinks without a picture,” and honestly, holding my picture at the forefront of my every day has been an excellent recent life choice.

So I encourage those of you who are just returning from your travels to find something that stimulates the part of you that drives your passions and experience it everyday. I also encourage you to continue to recognize the changes in yourself you’re probably noticing having thrust yourself back into a familiar and probably unchanged environment. The same old familiar routine may not be as satisfying anymore- which is both a jolting and wonderful realization - so continue to explore your surroundings and find new outlets. I suppose The North Face says it best… just simply, “Never Stop Exploring.”

Thanks so much once again for reading my blog, and continue to feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments. I’ll be back on here shortly with my final blog- an all-encompassing representation of the Questions & Answers exchanged between you guys and myself from the last year about Cultural Embrace’s Work and Travel Australia program.

Live Fully,

Jennifer C Campbell

August 2, 2010

Hello Cultural Embracers, coming to you stateside and finally de-jet lagged.

Anyone who has ever traveled to a destination that truly speaks to him, or has tasted a particularly spectacular way of living can warn you that returning home or to a less-than-adventurous lifestyle can be a difficult transition. However, I’m finding out no amount of shared peer experiences or strategies for smoothly reacquainting yourself with the world you’ve temporarily left can fully prepare you for the reintroduction, for culture shock from your own home base, for the personal separations you’re enduring… but a few tips on readjusting certainly have helped. It sounds pretty dramatic but it’s a common reality, and I promise I’m not just “being a chick” as I’ve been rightly accused in the past. But as these struggles exist even as I write this, the lingering feeling of first hugs from family and friends I hadn’t seen in eight+ months helps me to remember where my heart has always been, even if I’ve invested pieces of it in places and people overseas.

So, as far as my goodbyes went…

The reality: My last thirty-six hours abroad were more emotional than I could have anticipated, and no amount of “its understandable” from family over the phone soothed my semi-panic state. Let’s be honest here, I cried my entire over-night flight from Bali to Melbourne, probably making everyone around me extremely uncomfortable, and picked up the tears again upon my connecting flight landing back in Sydney. I was a mess. I’d been scheduled for a few weeks by then to depart from my Aussie travels back to The States from Sydney the day after returning from Bali, and although the departure was expected and I predicted mixed emotions from saying bye to friends, heading back to “reality” and excitement in getting to hug my family for the first time in forever, I didn’t account for the major blow: leaving the actual life itself I’d built and lived behind! Missing my new friends, my found family- a reality shared by most backpackers who’ve stayed in one place for long enough to form strong bonds, however long that may be- was just part of what I was facing. These people, this family, were a part of the life I’d built for myself while abroad- a major part of the beautiful whole- and I was about to leave it, knowing it would never be the same perfect again. Devo.

But as I should have expected, upon my arrival back into Sydney this amazing found family of mine refused to let me dwell on my leaving, and prompted a new brilliant light I remind myself of everyday: the next chapter I’m moving on to write has every potential to be just as beautiful in its own way, and although we’ll all be moving on soon, we can use this chapter as a leaping stone (way better than a stepping stone) for the next.

I spent my last day in Sydney tying loose ends with taxes and bank accounts and my last evening soaking in the good people I was saying my “see ya laters” to in a matter of hours. The farewell shenanigans were perfect, but I did burst into tears all over the place at least once, which a girlfriend immediately followed with “Jennifer, am I going to have to slap you?”…. Sometimes you just need it. Quite a balanced closure I’d say. J

But now I’m home, and thus I begin my next adventure. It’s a time of reminiscing, taking in family and other ties to home, following advice and continuing to live my “new self.”

I’ve only just made it home, but a few tips I can give so far to help better balance the arrival process:

1. Take advantage of every support source you have access to! 1. Your family and friends can be a wonderful comfort and a constant reminder of the best parts of the life you’re returning to 2. Cultural Embrace and its past participants who have been where you are, and 3. the people you’ve just said your see-ya-laters to, a number of them have probably endured this process before.

2. Gorge wisely. Common longings Americans in Australia share are for Mexican food, orange cheese, Goldfish and any other treat with fructose corn syrup (because fructose corn syrup is mostly absent in Australia and surrounding countries, making some foods a little less flavour-full to a pallet used to it), and home cooking. Having been away from all of these foods and eating mostly oatmeal, beans and rice for eight+ months, my stomach took a brutal beating to my initial face-stuffing. Incorporate slowly!

3. Remind yourself through photos, keeping in touch with people from your travels and other treasures from your journey of your amazing experience and the courage it took to step out of the ordinary and into something unpredictable. You’ve just experienced something most people only longingly consider. Bask in knowing that you did it, and you’re capable of accomplishing and overcoming anything, even culture shock in your own city.

4. Throw yourself out there, notice the changes in yourself and embrace them. Friends and family keep telling me nothing’s changed, but still, everything seems different. I’ve grown a lot in my travels, and am proud of the transformations it’s provoked in me. Explore these changes in yourself and in your interests and the doors it may open, and begin to shape your next moves from there. Maybe you’ll end up finding a whole other side of your city or sides of friends or family you didn’t know before- sides you can further grow from.

I’ll admit, I’m definitely currently plotting my next escape into uncharted territory, but being back home is proving to be quite a journey of it’s own. And I’m anxious to see where this one will lead me.

I’ll be in touch to fill you in on any useful tactics and how the life of a returned Australian Work and Traveler is faring. And please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments!

Live Fully, 

Jennifer C Campbell

Black sand, Brown rum

Kate and Katie's Excellent Adventure came to an end just in time to meet Cami at the airport.

Cami is one of the volunteachers who I met in Chile.  Coincidentally, while I was in Guatemala, Cami and her family planned to volunteer in Guatemala City with an organization called ProjectWalk.  With our stars aligned, Cami and I enjoyed a short reunion before she prepared for a challenging two weeks in Guatemala City.  We had one mission: Get Cami to the beach!   

Monterrico is the closest beach to Antigua, but it is not quite like the beaches in Costa Rica or Panama. The black sand from the volcanoes makes the beach unbearably hot during the day.  So hot, in fact, that you cannot walk on it comfortably until dusk.  

Monterrico's intense sunlight and body-crushing waves kept us off the beach almost the entire weekend.  Aside from a few evening strolls down the coast, we stuck to the hostel's hammocks and swimming pools, the latter of which were more like warm baths by noon.

 With no where to go to cool off, we sought shade in the cafe at Johnny's Place, an infamous Guatemalan hostel.  When we walked in, Cami and I were greeted by excitable Guatemalans who insisted on buying us welcome shots of Guatemala's best rum, Ron Zacapa.  The generosity didn't stop there, our new amigos insisted on buying rounds of sangria, cuba libres, and even dinner.  

We soon learned why the Guatemalans were eating and drinking so excessively (if not just for the fun of it).  It is impossible to sleep through a night in the Monterrico heat without a few shots of rum.  We learned this one night too late.  

On our first night in Monterrico, neither jungle-strength bug repellent nor cold showers helped us sleep. Instead, we laid awake cursing the humidity and hungry mosquitoes throughout the night.  By Saturday night, we got the memo, and by Sunday, we were ready to get the hell off the coast and back to the airy mountains.

Before we left though, Cami and I explored the Monterrico nightlife.  With four options for dinner in the one-road town,  we stopped at the first cafe with a friendly face.  No menu to be seen, an older Guatemalan woman greeted us at the door then cooked up the plato del dia before we could change our minds. 

Served with heads, scales, tales and a huge citranella candle, Cami and I forgot about the heat long enough to enjoy a wonderful meal. 

On our way back to the hostel, we heard an acoustic guitar and cheerful singing coming from a local bar.  Unable to pass up live music, Cami and I spent our last quetzales on cuba libres and sat in for a song.

Too soon, Cami and I parted ways.  She stayed on to volunteer at a hospital in Guatemala City while I made my way back to the US of A with my adventures on hold. For now.

Le Vesinet-Centre - by Stephanie Pratt

Today I'm going to meet another au pair who lives in Le Vesinet. Her name is Linsdey and she's from California too! We're meeting in half an hour at the market in downtown. I think we are going to take the metro to Paris too! David took me on his bike today to show me how to use the tickets and where the metro is. The only other time i've been on a motorcycle was with my friend matt, who told me I had a death grip. I was terrified! but it was amazing to drive throught the city on a motorcycle!!! Now I'm off to meet lindsey.

A domain!
Stephanie Pratt
European Adviser Abroad

il pleut - By Stephanie Pratt

Bonjour!

I arrived in Les Vesinet this morning! It's beautiful here, the house looks like something out of an old book. The flight was long and hard, I didn't sleep much so I'm really really tired. Its 1030pm here and my bed is calling me and inticing me to go to sleep. Je suis fatigue, Marguax taught me that today. Let me start from the begining. I woke up at my house CA time 6am. I got ready, some of my good friends came over to see me off and soon i was on my way to the airport. The car ride there was filled with anxiety ridden chat. My friend amanda was luckily there to help calm me down. My dad drove and my mother sat in the front, and she radiated sadness and worry. She would glance back reach for my hand and give me a couple tight squeezes every now and again. All i could think was how much i was going to miss her. But despite the sadness of leaving the excitment of starting a new journey was bubbling inside me. I arrived at the airport, and a million hours later (really only like 16 hours) I was in Paris! I grabbed my luggage and as soon as i stepped out of the terminal there was my host family waiting.

I had thought of this moment time and time again. How am I suppose to great them? Are they going to think I'm a dumb american girl? But these horrible thoughts slide out of my head as soon as Chloe ran up and hugged me. After a traditional french introduction kisses and all, we we're off to the house. The kids seemed very excited and really wanted to speak with me as much as they could. Margaux showed off her counting with Chole counting all the way to 13 in english. Romain asked me simple question, and most importantly about Harry Potter. He loves Harry Potter, and so do I! We pulled up to their beautiful house and i was greeted by mimi! The cutest cat I've ever seen. She literailly looks french. Soon I was being shown around the house and soon I was in my room getting ready to shower.

It was the most confusing yet refreshign shower ever! After unpacking and sharing some of my things with the children it was time for lunch. It was delicious, tomatoes in olive oil for starting, chicken for the meal and apple sauce for dessert. After a wonderful lunch outside on the patio, me and the children settled down to watch Harry Potter. Harry is even more magical when he speaks french! Soon after that a little nap and then it was time for dinner. I was still super full from lunch but ate a little anyway. I had a salad and a little pasta. And now I'm here reflecting on my exciting day and wonderful day. And now I'm off to get some much needed sleep.

Bonne nuit!
Stephanie Pratt
European Adviosr Abroad

Au Revoir! - by Stephanie Pratt

Its 12:33 am. I guess I should be asleep, but at least I'll be tired for my flight. Tonight is my last night in California for a year. Its very surreal and it still hasn't quit sunk in that in 24 hours I will be in Paris. I'm so exited to meet the family and the kids and start my experiences there. My body is very weak and emotionally drained. The anxiety has made me physically sick these past couple days but as the hours tick by, i find that those feelings are replaced with excitement. I'm really going to miss a lot of things: family, friends, California in general. But I know that just around the bend is something amazing waiting for me and I can't wait to start my journey tomorrow. Well... See you in Paris!

Stephanie Pratt
European Advisor Abroad

"Simon dice toca tu nariz...otra vez." - by Caroline McCurdy

Today is my 23rd birthday. Yes, it’s my first birthday away from the States, but I have a feeling that I won’t be feeling any homesickness because of it. My host family has decided to throw me a party tomorrow with tacos because they know how much I love Mexican food. On top of that, I might be making a little trip to the Casino tonight; it’s a proven fact that people are 47% more lucky on their birthdays :-) . Plus the Casino here is super inexpensive by US standards; last time I went, I only took out about $10 in coins and only lost about $2 after 3 hours of gambling… and that’s with a significant amount of losing.

This past weekend I went to a town about 2 hours away from Iquique called Pica. Overall it was a very relaxing weekend, save the presence of an inquisitive 8 year old (the granddaughter of my co-teacher) who didn’t understand the concept of “speak slowly for the Gringa because her Spanish isn’t the best”. It was interesting to go on a road trip in the desert; sure, I know that deserts are supposed to be dry, but good grief – there was nothing but sand, hills, and more sand. Also, this desert (the Atacama Desert to be precise) is the driest in the world – there are some places that have no recorded rainfall in history. Seriously.

So far school has been going well. Last week we worked on learning parts of the body. Of course, no Parts of the Body lesson would be complete without singing “Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes” and a game of “Simon Says”. Over the course of the week, I probably sang that song over 100 times; it will be years before I can bring myself to sing it again. Also, Simon is permanently retired; he gave out more orders last week than an army drill sergeant and has nothing more to say. Every week I am teaching the kids a new slang word so that they can keep up with the American vernacular like pros. Last week our word was “Sweet!” and this week it was “Dude!” I definitely made sure that they understood the diversity of the word “dude”, as it can be used in anger, confusion, excitement, and utter sorrow. They also enjoyed my impression of Keanu Reeves from “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” as I demonstrated the theatrical application of the word “dude”. I’m still debating over what the slang word next week should be; if any of you have suggestions, let me know.

Ok, well I’m off to go do some shopping and other frivolous activities because it’s my birthday and I’m allowed. So, until next time, here’s my philosophical question of the day:

Is there another word for synonym?

-Caroline

P.S. – My host family changed Mateo’s sweater this week. As shocked as I was and as much as I miss the plaid, he’s looking quite dapper in his new tan sweater, especially because it is accented with doggie footprints and stripes.

**Update** Last night my family and I went to an aunt's house because one of the cousins was having her birthday too. There was a huge (delicious) strawberry cake that they had made for her, and my family made sure that everyone knew it was my birthday too. After she blew out her candles, they added 1 more candled (because she turned 22) and lit them again. Amazingly, a room of about 20 Chileans started singing "Happy Birthday" to me in English. Absolutely delightful.

Also, I won $10 at the Casino... then I lost it all and had the best time doing it :-)

Final Entry - By Chris Schave

What are three months in China like? Well, it’s an assortment of feelings and experiences. I started my journey in the city of Guilin. The first weekend was spent there, and I met a few people that I plan on keeping in touch with for some time. Along with meeting people, I discovered Guilin Noodles, a simple noodle dish with rice noodle, a few vegetables, and some meat.

I also had the chance to see some caves. I was on the tour with only one other English speaker. We saw some amazing caves and also stopped at a waterfall. This is where I saw the kindness of Chinese people. I also got a chance to be in about 30 high school aged children’s pictures.

After that first weekend, I left with Brit Chris, Georgina, and Julie. We headed to an incredibly small village called Fengyang. This was an experience that I will not forget. When I say small, I mean around 200 people. We lived in a 100+ year old house that was once owned by the wealthiest family in the village.

While in Fengyang, we went on various tours and even taught English to the village children for a week. That was a far cry from the teaching that I would be doing at the end of my trip. The kids were a mix of crazy little hellions, star struck girls that looked at me with longing eyes, and children that actually were interested in learning English.

The things that I will take away from those first few weeks are my first encounters with Chinese people in their own country, the crazy party that the local government officials held for us, and it was complete with an absorbent amount of Bijou. It is the drink that I would later grow to despise. I also met Isabella, a very sweet Chinese lady that was in charge of the whole program that we were a part of.

Next in the adventure was Yangshou. This was a rough time because of the weather. It is a great town and I highly recommend that people visit and stay at Monkey Jane’s hostel. It rained almost the whole time. We got to do some rock climbing, bike riding in the rain, that looking back was a lot more fun than it was while riding. I have funny stories about a motorcycle taxi driver trying very adamantly to get me to buy a massage from a girl, only to drop me off at the whore house. I walked home in the rain from there.

The time I spent at Monkey Jane’s will be some of the most memorable. I met quite a few good people there and had great times playing beer pong with people from around the world.

After the first week in Yangshou, we headed off to the rice fields. It was a long bus ride, but I was with my crew, so it wasn’t too bad. The one thing about traveling alone through China is that you have to be somewhat careful where you fall asleep. Not that everyone is out to steal your stuff, but I didn’t take out anything of value on a bus when I was alone. In the off chance I fell asleep. That takes me to this, while in China, for the most part, I felt incredibly safe. Many people I talked with viewed me as a guest in their country and therefore felt responsible for watching out for me.

Back to the rice fields. They were amazing and I really enjoyed myself the first and second day. That was despite that storms that kept rolling through. I still got some good pictures, but for some reason halfway through, I jacked my ISO up to 3200, and everything after that was really grainy. Not cool when you are excited to see what you shot and you get them on your computer to discover most of them are garbage.

On the third day, Brit Chris woke up with a swollen infected eye. I have no idea what happened, but it was pretty red, and he said it was painful. I went to the pharmacy and got him some medicated eye drops. Upon my return, I ran into Georgina, who had spent half the night vomiting. After talking it over with the group, we decided that it would be the best idea to head back to Guilin. Anyway, the World Cup was on and we didn’t want to miss it.

That was the group’s last weekend in Guilin, and we all parted our own ways. I met some new friends at our hostel that were headed to Yangshou, which is where I was headed for the following week. I got them set up at Monkey Jane’s and got a free shirt out of the deal. That week I did two days of rock climbing, though the first day was rough. I was a bit under the weather due to some overconsumption of spirits the night before. Regardless, it was fun

Halfway through the week, I took the British couple with me to Fengyang for a festival that we were invited to. I met Vicky and Lee in Guilin and they were the two that I took to Monkey Jane’s. This little festival was ridiculous! I was on some Chinese news station, and I saw Lee drink more bijou than I knew was humanly possible. He was also quite possibly the most hung over I had ever seen anyone. It was a great couple of days!

The next week was spent in Hunan Province at an orphanage. This part of the trip had the most impact on me. When I got there, I was sooo out of my element. I would say that there was about 60 kids there when I arrived, but some left throughout my time there. To clarify, this was not a normal orphanage; it was more of a boarding school for very poor children, that is subsidized by an American non profit. That being said, the conditions were still not very good.

Around the third day there, I had a little breakdown in my room. I couldn’t stop thinking about how unfair life is, and how these kids really had nothing. It wasn’t until after that little episode that I realized these kids had it much better here than at their homes. Even though to me the food was incredibly minimal, it was better than nothing. I started to feel better about the situation as time went on. I realized that I wasn’t sent there to feel bad for them, I was sent there to make their lives a little better for that one week. It was a little rough because of the heat. Most of them went to school during the day, and the rest kept retreat in their rooms to stay cool.

When we did play, it was all about basketball, and I had a great time with them. I will remember a few of the kids specifically. One came from a mother that had lost nine children before him. She couldn’t speak, or maybe she could, but I was told that no one could understand her. The boy, had a pretty bad mental handicap, but he loved hanging out with me. He never said one word to me. He would just smile and look up at me. Another kid was a girl that followed me a lot and always wanted to hold my hand. She was about 6 and just cute as a button. She knew that I didn’t speak Chinese, but that didn’t stop her from speaking it to me. She loved to talk. That was a great week looking back. My parents and I donated enough money to buy all the children a new pair of shoes, so hopefully they will enjoy them.

Once I left the orphanage, I headed to Changsha to catch a flight to Chengdu. I was informed a few days before my departure that Isabella would be joining the group. Georgina was also going to be there, so I had a few familiar faces to look forward to.

When I got to Chengdu, I had a chance to relax for a few days. I tried to buy a new camera, but failed when they didn’t take visa. This was actually a blessing because I wasn’t paid my GI Bill for that month and would have been in the hole a good amount.

Looking back, there were more photos that I wanted to get, but shooting stuff everyday kind of burned me out at the time. Like right now, I spent the weekend in Beijing and took around 600 photos. I guess I love taking them, but without a place to sit down and go through them, it gets to be a little much. I think when I get back I will be much more into it. I just need a break after getting these last pictures edited. I took around 10,000 pictures in 3 months, and have deleted about 7,000. Although, I’m on a plane right now from Vancouver to Portland, and I wish my camera weren’t packed away because some of these islands have amazing cloud formations around them…

Back to China… Working with pandas outside of Ya’an, near Chengdu, was absolutely amazing! These creatures had such funny personalities and I am still shocked at how they were all so different. I was very fortunate that I got to feed them, play with the little ones, and clean their cages. Well, maybe not the last part. I also had the chance to hang out with some really cool people. I took a lot of pictures there, and even got some great waterfall shots.

After Chengdu, I flew to Yantai, via Beijing. Yantai was also awesome. About 10 minutes walk from the dorm was the beach. We discovered a great little restaurant that looked sketchy, but was awesome. They had the best eggplant I have ever had.

On this adventure with me were Katherine and Catherine from Middlebury College in Vermont. It is a small private college in Vermont. I found the to be much less stuck up than I had imagined kids from small private schools. Also, there was Kristin from Seattle. Her parents are from Hong Kong, and everywhere we went, people thought she was our translator. Truth be told, her Chinese was about as good as the K/Catherine’s, which is about 20 times better than mine. Then again, I have never studied Chinese.

Our purpose was to teach kids from the ages of 5-25 English. Most were Chinese, but I had some Korean students as well. In the upper class were some Brazilians. My kids were awesome. I really think I had the best class. They were well behaved, but just a little shy. My star student was Tom. He really stepped it up and volunteered for everything I asked.

I am not a teacher, so everything was trial and error. Many times, I thought I had a good idea, only to take it to the classroom and have it fail miserably. One such example was teaching the kids about the 7 natural wonders of the world. I even had plans to take it to other natural wonders. They just didn’t care. I made them suffer through it and came up with something different for the next class. It was all part of the process.

During our first few weeks, there was a group of Russians that were staying at the hotel. They ended up being really nice and we all hung out from time to time. I even learned a few Russian words. I’m not sure how the girls felt about them, but I enjoyed going out with them.

Yantai was a great place to be for five weeks, but as the end of my trip grew near, the more I was ready to get back to my routine in the states. That is one thing in life I need to stay sane, routine.

After leaving Yantai, I went to Beijing for the weekend. While there, I went on a tour of the “ancient” part of the Great Wall, went to Tian Na Men Square, and the Forbidden City. The low point of this trip was forgetting to bring enough water to the Great Wall, and being severely dehydrated the next day. I had a headache that may have been the worst I have ever had.

The tour of the wall was great. I’m sooo happy that I went on that specific tour because there were no crowds or even other people to move through the tour in a herd-like fashion. Some of the views were just amazing.

The Forbidden City, honestly, wasn’t that cool. I had scene many temples, so it wasn’t that great to see more of the same types of buildings. It was cool to see Mao’s painting at the entrance. Walking through was just a barrage of harassment. People wanting to give me tours, or sell me crap didn’t want. I never blame people for trying to make money, but when they are sneaky about it, I despise them. For instance, the two girls that wanted to practice their English. If I would have gone to get tea with them, they would have scammed me into paying a ridiculous amount for a few cups of tea. This happens all over the world though, and I’m sure it’s nothing new.

Beijing is a cool city that I would love to go back to. I really saw very little, and since the Olympics, many renovations have happened throughout the city. The air even seemed clear and clean while I was there. I was a big fan of the modern architecture that has gone up all over the city too.

When I got back from the Forbidden City, I checked my flight itinerary. I noticed that the date was incorrect for my flight back to Yantai. It said the ticket was booked for the 19^th, and at the time, it was the 16^th. I hopped on the internet and looked at the flights for the day. The last flight to Yantai left two hours from that time. I was already packed, so I grabbed my bag, and headed to the airport. When I got there, I went to the ticket counter. She had told me that there was one ticket left, so I bought it. I even got a refund on my other ticket, jackpot!

When I got back to Yantai, I checked into the Ramada. I had booked a moderately priced room, and when I opened the door, I realized that when it said “king bed suite,” they meant a full on suite. The bed was in a loft area up a nice set of stairs. It even had a full living room and kitchen. Though the bed looked like it would be comfortable, it was pretty hard.

The next day I got up at 7AM and finished packing everything up. After that, I headed to the airport and went home.

That’s it. For more information and details, visit my blog atwww.cschave.blog.com and for pictures go towww.flickr.com/photos/cschave

Thanks for reading…

Chris Schave