All I can say is wow. I can't believe 18 days have passed since we landed in Japan, and are now hours away from flying back home. It truly flew by.
Our last day in Bejiing started with a trip to the zoo. We had tickets to see the giant pandas, and apparently so did everyone and their brother too. They were about as cute as you can imagine and after the panda exhibit we had free time to roam the zoo. It was basically the same as a zoo in the US just not quite as modernized.
After the zoo, we had our final Asian meal which was a hot pot. Hot pot is very similar to Japanese Shabu-Shabu in the fact that you cook meat and dumplings in boiling seasoned water. I enjoyed it, but there is some discrepancies about whether it was the cause of a few cases of food poisoning amongst us or not.
The next stop was some free time at a lake inside the city. It's supposed to resemble Old City Bejiing and it was quite quaint with boat rentals and a lot of little restaurants right by the lakefront. A few of the girls and I decided to take advantage of one of the restaurants happy hour during our free time, which was very relaxing and much needed.
Our final stop in Asia was to the Silk Market in Bejiing. It's the same concept as the Pearl Market in that it's all fake brand-name products that you bargain for to get really cheap. This market was nicer though because it had just been renovated so it was harder to get a good price. We were all also fairly exhausted from the bartering game so the purchases were a lot less excessive as they had been in the Pearl Market. We ended our shopping with a traditional McDonalds dinner.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time in both Japan and China, however I am ready to return home. I'm beyond blessed to have gotten this opportunity and have been humbled by what I've seen. I strongly encourage every young person to jump on any chance to get out of the US for a short while. Not only will it make you appreciate America more but it will also change your perspectives on what is happening globally. Now it's time to get ready to board a plane that has already been delayed so who knows what time we will be landing in Des Moines. I guess the adventure wants to keep us on our toes for as long as possible!
Our last day in Bejiing started with a trip to the zoo. We had tickets to see the giant pandas, and apparently so did everyone and their brother too. They were about as cute as you can imagine and after the panda exhibit we had free time to roam the zoo. It was basically the same as a zoo in the US just not quite as modernized.
After the zoo, we had our final Asian meal which was a hot pot. Hot pot is very similar to Japanese Shabu-Shabu in the fact that you cook meat and dumplings in boiling seasoned water. I enjoyed it, but there is some discrepancies about whether it was the cause of a few cases of food poisoning amongst us or not.
The next stop was some free time at a lake inside the city. It's supposed to resemble Old City Bejiing and it was quite quaint with boat rentals and a lot of little restaurants right by the lakefront. A few of the girls and I decided to take advantage of one of the restaurants happy hour during our free time, which was very relaxing and much needed.
Our final stop in Asia was to the Silk Market in Bejiing. It's the same concept as the Pearl Market in that it's all fake brand-name products that you bargain for to get really cheap. This market was nicer though because it had just been renovated so it was harder to get a good price. We were all also fairly exhausted from the bartering game so the purchases were a lot less excessive as they had been in the Pearl Market. We ended our shopping with a traditional McDonalds dinner.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time in both Japan and China, however I am ready to return home. I'm beyond blessed to have gotten this opportunity and have been humbled by what I've seen. I strongly encourage every young person to jump on any chance to get out of the US for a short while. Not only will it make you appreciate America more but it will also change your perspectives on what is happening globally. Now it's time to get ready to board a plane that has already been delayed so who knows what time we will be landing in Des Moines. I guess the adventure wants to keep us on our toes for as long as possible!