#uwecstudyabroad

[myuwec]

As I'm sitting here in the Shanghai international airport, alone with a 12 hour layover, I'm thinking of advice I could give fellow travelers. 1. Of course, the first thing that comes to mind is to tell you to check your flight itinerary before purchasing, so you don't end up with a miserable layover. But then again, after a three week trip with my classmates, I need this time alone to just think in my own my head, besides sleeping overnight in airports make for some cool memories with people just like you, trying to save a pretty penny. 2. I wouldn't waste room in my suitcase packing a bunch of hygiene products. You can find things like shampoo in your host country, plus this is part of being immersed into the culture, using host country products. 3. You're studying abroad, so you're already getting out of your comfort zone, but take those relationships you make seriously. Use this time to really learn from the source about different cultures. I've made some of my best friends in the world through my study abroad experiences! Thank you for following along with me on my journey in China! I hope my blog has sparked your interest to study abroad!

[myuwec]

Today was our last day in Hong Kong, which means tomorrow I will be headed back to the United States! We spent our last day at Ocean Park in Hong Kong which is a huge amusement park in the mountains mixed with a zoo! We saw animals like dolphins, pandas, monkeys, sea lions and so many more! It was kind of like a free day, so after arriving at the park we could go off in little groups and leave whenever you wanted. After spending three weeks in only large groups, it was nice to have a little freedom. I also felt super proud of myself because I made it back to the hotel via bus and subway with just one other friend! I find a sense of pride in independence. After the park, Amanda and I ordered fried rice for take out and enjoyed dinner on the roof top of our hotel! It is as luxurious as it sounds! :) I had yet to buy my mom a souvenir (I know, what have I've been doing these past three weeks?!), so i went to the ladies market one last time to bargain for a purse and wallet. I was worried because I literally only had a set amount of cash and once I was out I was out, so if they wouldn't accept my price then my mom wasn't going to get a souvenir. It was cut throat bargain time, and I got really great at playing "hard to get".

[myuwec]

The highlight of my day today in Zhuhai was the fishing girl statue! I have this saying while traveling. "I love my life" is something I repeatedly tell myself everyday. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world that I have these opportunities like traveling to China through my university! So once again, this was the best day yet; my trip just keeps getting better! Now back to discussing what made my day so great! Our professor gave us students a list of places we should visit during our free time in Zhuhai. This list included sites like the fishing girl statue along with museums and shopping centers worth visiting. The seven ladies, as we girls refer to ourselves on the trip, took a taxi to the pier, and that was beautiful in itself. We arrived at about 6pm and left around 9pm, so we saw the coast both in daylight and at night! My favorite part about this was renting bicycles! I rented a tandem bike with Amanda, and we could not wipe the smile off of our faces if we tried. The streets were very crowed, and the bikes were super hard to balance with different equilibriums! Our bike had bells attached to catch the attention of the people you were about to run over, but rarely did they move for you. I would say it was like a stare down competition. We lost every time.