The last two days

 Hello!

 I am home from China, and I want to tell you about the last two days of my Chinese experience - one day completely in China and one travelling.

 Friday morning we sat our HSK level 1 paper. It isn't official, but it gives us a good idea of our level of Mandarin Chinese so that if we want to sit the official paper in the UK we can. 

 I certainly intend to do the official exam - the next one in Manchester seems to be in May. Conveniently for me it seems that the exam is held in the Confucius Institute, which is part of my University, so I can get there easily when the time comes.

 Anyway, we did the HSK paper in Beijing and then had a final practice for our Graduation Ceremony performance of Beijing Huanying Ni. Then Naomi, Abi and I went to buy bouquets for our Mandarin teachers and the student helpers from Beijing Normal University.

 On the way to the florist we found a bookshop - I think it belongs to the university  though I'm not completely sure of that - and I had an amazing time looking at a huge variety of Chinese books. 

 I bought some really beautifully illustrated children's books - the stories are in Mandarin but the pictures make them easy to follow.

 We then progressed to the florist's and had four beautiful bouquets made up, as modelled by Naomi and Abi below, for our wonderful teachers and student helpers.

 I then went to the BNU university shop, as I really wanted some kind of momento of this amazing place where I have spent the last three weeks. They have lots of cool things, but I finally settled on a pretty blue keyring and a mug with the Uni logo on it, so that I can drink Horlicks and remember Beijing.

 Then it was time for our Graduation Ceremony! We were in the same beautiful room in which we had our Opening Ceremony, and the same pretty music was playing, and it made me think of what we have all achieved since that day three weeks ago. It has been truly wonderful.

 Hai did a brilliant job of presenting the ceremony, and there were lovely speeches by Natalie, Ziggy and Dinesh as well as from senior figures from BNU. There was also a slideshow of photos and video footage from our Study China experience, which was really nice.

 We then found out that we had ALL graduated, which was brilliant! We were then called up to collect our certificates, which are not just on pieces of paper but in gorgeous little books with our photographs in them! Really special things to keep. Thank you, BNU! (By the way, I got 195 out of 200 on my HSK, which I am really chuffed with!)

 We then had our performances! They went really well and all three songs are now stuck in my head. See the videos on the blog post, "Graduation Ceremony performances."

Me and Hai ♥

 Sarah, Marvi, April and I then posed for "jumping photos" outside the magnificent main university building. 

 We bought bubble waffles - an amazing snack that I had never tried before. They are gorgeous - I am a bit sad that I only discovered them on the last day.

 I did some of my packing, then went to meet some of the others at Laker's, an amazing bar on campus, where we had a really brilliant last night and danced one last Gangnam Style. 

 Writing your name on the wall seems to be the norm in Laker's, so I wrote the address of this blog alongside my name. If you came here from the wall in Laker's, an extra warm welcome to you! I hope you enjoy my blog!

 April and I then walked back to our accomodation together, and we said goodnight, then I finished packing and went to bed, setting my alarm for five in the morning.

 I got up at five and got dressed and breakfasted, then Marvi helped me to carry my bags down to the lobby - Marvi, if you are reading this, you are an absolute gem, thank you so much for everything ♥

 The group of us who were catching the early drop-off to the airport got onto our coach, said goodbye to the student helpers who were with us to the very end, checking we got our coaches - you guys are amazing, thank you so much - and then we were off to the airport.

 I was there early - better safe than sorry - and I had a bit of a wait before they started checking-in for my flight. I went through check-in and security, which is perhaps the most comfortable and efficient I have been through: other airports can learn a lot from the Chinese. 

 I was then free to wander and eat some ice-cream - vanilla Häagen-Dazs if you are interested. I will always associate Beijing International Airport with vanilla ice-cream now. Silly but true.

 Finally I got on my plane and we flew out of Beijing. We had an entertainment system on the plane with films. I tried to be cultured and watch The Godfather but gave up out of sheer boredom about twenty minutes in - sorry, Godfather fans - and instead watched Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and then American Beauty. Both of which were very enjoyable.

 We touched down in Moscow and I bought a Russian stacking doll. I then had my flight from Moscow to Amsterdam - the food on that flight was so amazing, thank you KLM - then from Amsterdam to Manchester, then I was HOME!

 Then I slept.

 It's lovely to be home; little things surprise you like how quiet it is compared to Beijing; how wide-open everything seems without all the skyscrapers; and the rain: I don't think it rained once while we were in Beijing. 

 It is so beautiful to feel rain on my face again. Some people may not like rain but I think it has its own very special beauty, and I love the sparkle of light catching on raindrops on tree branches.

 I will post lots and lots of photos of China, and probably more videos, so watch this space! Thanks for following my travels; this has been an amazing experience that will stay with me for the rest of my life. 

 Thank you to Study China, Manchester University, Beijing Normal University, Natalie, Hai, Sally, all the student helpers, our teachers and lecturers, and all the participants for making the Study China experience truly fantastic and life-changing for me ♥

 Xiexie! Zaijian!

 Liz x