My trip to China came to an end yesterday. I feel like it ended all too abruptly, I don't feel as if I gave China the proper goodbye. I truly enjoyed my time there and wish I had more time to travel around to difference provinces: there is just so much to see and explore, but as is always the case- not enough time. I would definitely go back and visit if I was able to. During my time there I feel as if I learned enough Chinese to get around. I learned common phrases and learning the numbers 1-10 allows you know any number 1-99. This was extremely helpful when haggling for souvenirs because they definitely over price things for foreigners. I bought a coin for my dad which originally was selling for 200 yuan.. and I got it for 10. Haggling was a very very helpful thing, and you have to walk away and then come back, it's like a game and you have to be persistent in getting the price that you want!
A few things I took away from China were:
1) The history such as the Great Wall and all the temples that I saw
2) The food- the staple noodle dishes and finally getting used to a bit of spice in my life!
and
3) most importantly the sense of community
The major differences I noticed were little things such as the bathrooms, the garbage on the streets, a lot of home style restaurants on every street, and the vast difference of style of life within China in itself (country life vs. city life). But overall, these differences are small variances in culture between nations. I guess I like to generalize and I feel as if the purpose of life everywhere is the same- to do what makes you happy while cultivating relationships with people. Now, I am finally in Thailand and ready to begin a new adventure during these upcoming three weeks :)
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