The final month
On the 1st June, Caitlin, Cara, Claire, Heather (Caitlin’s friend) and I travelled through to Beijing for the weekend. On arrival, we went to do some shopping at the Pearl Market. The next day we were going to a pool party an hour from the centre of Beijing. There was a shuttle bus leaving from the Worker’s Stadium. On the bus, there was a mixture of Europeans, Africans, Asians but very few Chinese. It was a beautiful day, the food was amazing and the company was even better. The next day we went to the 798 Art district. I’d been before but it was with the trip 2 years ago and we didn’t get to see as much as I wanted to so it was good to get the chance to visit again.
The World Cup began on the 14th of June. Literally everywhere was showing the World Cup and I never expected that in China so it was great to experience. That said, however, the time difference made some of the games difficult to watch. Some nights we would watch the games in someone’s room and sometimes on a large outdoor screen with the locals. One night we went into a cool supermarket near the university. It had tables and chairs and TV’s so you can buy whatever you want and consume it there if you fancy it. So, Caitlin and I decided to stay and watch the rest of the Portugal vs Morocco game.
Some Ukrainian friends informed us that there was a ‘Spa’ nearby where you can go and spend the day and eat as much as you want for only 78 yuan. Sounded good to me so Caitlin and I decided to give it a go one Saturday. We had a very interesting spa experience that was quite different to spas in the UK. I then went to meet Caitlin to have some lunch and laugh about how different things can be in another country. After stuffing our faces, we went into the cinema room with reclining bed chairs and duvets and went for a nap. We then went back into the spa for another hour before calling it a day.
Throughout June, I was very busy getting everything ready to go home as well as planning after term travels and studying for finals. So, once finals were done and everything else was sorted it was a very nice feeling. I was both excited to be back in Glasgow but also didn’t want to leave Tianjin. It has been an amazing year and I’ve learned far more than I imagined I would. It has had its ups and downs but so many more ups and I’ve made memories I’ll remember for the rest of my life.
