Fifteen Hours Away: The end of Golden Week

Me, Tuan, Jason, and Jake just posing

Me on the Great Wall

As I lay in bed this rainy Monday, the morning slowly drifting into afternoon, I feel now is an appropriate time to reflect on the events of something I had no prior knowledge of before coming to China, Golden Week. Golden week is the first week of October that is dubbed a national holiday, where for the most part, the people of China have no work, no classes, and no worries. The same applies to us international students as well. A group of 8 students in the IES program (myself, Jason, Melissa, Tuan, Juan, Yee, Liz, and Drew) decided to spend the week being tourists and take the high speed train up to Beijing. Easily, hands down, one of the best choices we could have made. Our vacation included everything we could have hoped for, a visit to The Great Wall, The Temple of Heaven, the Olympic Village, The Forbidden City, a Buddhist temple overlooking the Forbidden City, even the Beijing Zoo on a rather relaxed day. Coming back to Shanghai, seeing these spots on advertisements and being able to think, I've seen that is a great feeling. We truly had the Beijing experience, especially being a part of Chinese rush hour on the trains and subways. In a way I'm glad to say I was a part of the mob of people that you often see in funny videos of YouTube, the ones of people being pushed into trains and such. At that moment I felt less like a tourist or foreigner and just a person heading home. Regardless though, Golden Week, Beijing, this whole week has been amazing. If I can make one suggestion to anyone reading this blog, it is to go outside your comfort zone. I started to get comfortable in Shanghai in my room, I decided to push that boundary. I traveled to a new area, stayed in a hostel (a surprisingly pleasant experience) in a room with 8 people I've known for about a month. I left with great friends, great pictures, and memories and experiences that I would not be able to find anywhere else. I never though it could happen to me, but it has, so I know it can happen to anyone.