After a wedding we went to this morning, we bought our train tickets to Beijing. Lai Si squealed all the way home with excitement. I am very excited to go to Beijing tomorrow, but if I attempted to squeal that high and loud, my brain would explode. I was able to withdrawal 1300 Kauai from the ATM machine at the bank, but I spent 300 in only one hour. I needed to pay Lai Si for buying my camera card so I could tape her friends wedding with my new awesome Olympus camera I got here in China. I don't want to leave China. I would actually rather stay for the rest of the time I thought I had, which was about 7 more months, but if I am going to go early, this would be the time to do it. It is going to get very cold in Jinan soon, and my clothes don't allow me to dress warm enough. I also didn't want to buy expensive new clothes. It's not my money, it's my mom's and dad's, and they have already spend hundreds of dollars to keep me comfortable here. My volleyball team has their fourth game on Thursday. When I return to America, the first place I will be going is our church gym, where I will surprise my team and play my favorite sport again. After the game, I will give my family their gifts and immediately start playing my cello. It will be like recuperating from all the energy I lost not playing for three months. One of my goals in life was to stand on the Great Wall of China. I am excited to pronounce to you that one out of hundreds of my goals will be accomplished in only a couple of days. This may not have even been me that accomplished it at all. I am only 16 and wasn't even able to buy my own supplies to pack when I left. My family and host family were the ones, and are the ones, that have gotten me here. I know they all did it out of love for me. Being here makes me feel so grateful for the things I have. Yesterday was the second to last night I would be in Jinan. It was the most beautiful day I have ever seen in my life. The sky was clear and blue in the evening when we went to the Da Min Hua lake and I was able to see such wonderful sculptures as the sun faded and beautified them even more. The stars came out early, and the city seemed more quiet than usual. We drove to a friends house after seeing the beautiful lake. Lai Si's friend lived how many of the Chinese people are forced to live, in broken down buildings that looked to be hundreds of years old. I had seen these buildings before, but didn't know people lived in them. We drove through the alley ways. The air was so clear, I could smell the home cooking coming from all the open windows. I waited outside as Lai Si's husband went in a large old building looking for their friend, which was where she had to live. He couldn't find her door because it was so dark inside. Lai Si and I went in while he stayed by the car. She knocked on her friends door. When she answered, I could here the television. We went inside. The first thing I saw was a little homemade sink. A very small cracked mirror hung by a nail on the brick wall. A large bowl of water was sitting on a tall stool under the mirror and I realized it was where they must have washed their face, brush their teeth and comb their hair, but they had no running water, and they must not of had a shower. Inside a room, I could see a bed crammed into the corner while the TV stood on some furniture on the other side of the room. The floors looked decently clean, and it seemed like they made it quite comfortable, but it was so small and dark inside. I felt like I was being surrounded by evil spirits. I walked out of their shelter and out to the largest room in the building. There were grape and melon vines hanging from the broken ceiling. The exit of the building had no door at all, and there were beautifully hand made pots lying on the floor. They looked very detailed but they were breaking from age. The moon beamed down through the large holes of the roof and the brick floor was crumbling under my feet as I walked back out to the car. The smells were amazing as we drove away. The buildings were old and breaking, but they had history and to me they were very beautiful and ancient. I told Lai Si I liked going through the alley ways and told her it was very beautiful. She just laughed at me and said something in Chinese to her husband as she giggled. That morning, when we went to the wedding, I dressed up nice. I was, of course the only foreigner there and many people who knew the word "hello" in English didn't hesitate to say it to me. I would say hello back, and then say something complicated in English afterwords to get them confused and feel embarrassed like I do sometimes.... Though it is cruel, it just makes me feel better. It was a wonderful week and in just three months, I feel like I have seen, experienced and done everything there is to do in a year! I have cried, laughed and growled. I have been peed on, thrown up on, stared and pointed at for hours at a time. I have been snapped at by thousands of different peoples cameras. I have been stolen from, spit on, begged, followed and even yelled at. I have experienced every feeling there is to feel here, even love, because when those kids at Star Fish smile at you, or give you a hug, that love bounces off them like the light bounces off the sun, and it lands in you heart immediately. Yes, I am going to miss China. I will moan for a couple weeks after I return home, but I love China. I love the people and the respect and attention they gave me. I love the sights, smells and sounds. I loved the challenges and blessings I received. I loved it all, andIi have a feeling, I'll be back again some day. So what's the last conclusion we will take from this adventure.... We came, We saw, We did and we did it! :) Mattie.
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