Today was a good day. It was a good day because we were
in China, for starters, but it was also a good day because we didn’t need to be
ready until 10:30. “Finally, the sleep in we’ve been waiting the whole trip
for!” (Sung by Brianna).
The plan for today was to sleep in, go to the city
wall, go to the Muslim part of Xi’an and then fly to Shanghai. After the
average breakfast in the buffet that advertised pancakes as waffles and century
egg slices, Deniz and I got to the lobby on time (surprise surprise). That’s
the first time that’s happened on this trip. Go us👏.
We drove to the city wall, where we all enjoyed the
strong smells and amazing views spoilt somewhat by the pollution at 11:30am.
We walked up a flight of 75 stairs that nobody over the
age of 60 should attempt to walk up, and finally got to the bikes. Everyone
went on the single person bikes, but Brianna and I being the super quirky and
unique people we were, decided to go on a tandem bike.
Tally of bike ride:
Broken bones: 0
Deaths: 0 (good effort from us)
People nearly hit: you don’t want to know
Photos taken with random old Chinese men: 7
Highlight of the wall was making it further than anyone
else and disobeying the signs saying we couldn’t ride down the ramps. (We did
that really fast). Obviously, this trip to the famous city wall of Xi’an
wouldn’t be complete without our group doing the Nutbush and having everyone
take videos of us doing it.
We went to lunch, and enjoyed the cold noodles and the
endless refills of sprite, coke, and I think our lovely teachers put the beer
dispenser to good use. Lunch was at the same place as last night, so everyone
enjoyed the free wifi and talking to our buddies from Jinan; Kevin, Todd,
Frank, Samuel, Samual and the ever so handsome Rambo.
Leaving the restaurant included running out of the
toilets after realising they don’t flush and the doors don’t lock after making
eye contact with the old lady in the bathroom trying to peacefully take a pee.
We got back in our bus to travel to the Calligraphy
lesson, when we had a minor..uh..accident. Our bus driver with 10 years of
experience (we were told this) decided to have a run in with a light pole and a
car using the back of the bus.
When we arrived and my oh-so lovely-friend Brianna
decided to wake me up from my “nap time” we had arrived at the calligraphy
lesson with the man who said everything I tried to write was “a mess”.
We left the pagoda and made our way to the Muslim
markets, which was very loud and colourful. Cuttlefish and squid on kebabs was
advised not to eat, however the nitrogen puffs that tasted like stale fruit
loops and the rolled ice cream was recommended.
Most of the stores were food or traditional Chinese
hair jewellery shops. The lottery was won by Alannah and Lauren, while Deniz,
Brianna, Molly and Daksh bought head massagers. While walking back, Daksh,
Deniz, Brianna and myself decided to get some more stale fruit loop nitrogen puffs
and the rolled ice cream.
After the markets, we headed to the airport for our
flight. We ate dinner at a restaurant close to the airport. All of us
collectively agreed that we were just craving some western food and did not
want to eat anymore rice or dumplings.
Checking into the airport was a bit of a catastrophe.
First, we realised that we had to choose our seats when we checked in, meaning
that we all wouldn’t be sitting near each other. Second, was that the check in
machines weren't working. Third was that Hannah and Holly’s boarding passes was
incorrect and had to be changed. Fourth was that all of our bags were
overweight. Fifth was that Molly, Deniz and myself got left behind by the group
as we had been caught in security for water bottles, then having a bit of a
meltdown in the airport because we had 20mins before our flight left. Sixth was
that Brianna kept crying next to me while watching Five Feet Apart with me
(10/10 would recommend to watch) .
Today was really good and we are all really looking
forward to looking around and shopping in Shanghai tomorrow.
Lucy Slater
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