HBA at first glance

So I finally got internet connection in my room on my fourth day at HBA - yay!!!!!! This is going to be quite a long post since I have so much, oh so much to update! Starting with my time in Nanjing all the way to my time here in Beijing.

Nanjing

I stayed in Nanjing for around two weeks after leaving Shanghai and its wonderful shopping centers. Nanjing is where I grew up so I was really, really, super, super excited to see my grandparents again, my old elementary school, my childhood playmates, and little shops where I used buy useless things like stickers (but I still like them!). It was such a weird feeling going back to a place where I had spent half of my life but have not seen for almost nine years. I was quite disappointed when I was in the taxi on the way home (or my grandparents' house, which used to be my home....) and I could not recognize most of the places. Everything changed so much! I remember there used to be this gigantic slope that was the main road, which now is leveled because of subway construction. My grandparents' house still look the same, except for everything is so small! I feel like I was Alice in Wonderland, when she entered that little room in the beginning of the book and found herself getting bigger and bigger as she ate the mushroom, because that table I could not reach before is now the height of my stomach and I have to bent down to use things like the sink. My grandparents are still the same but a lot shorter. It made me really sad to see them so feeble when I remember I used to cling to them for care and guidance. My grandpa still remembers that I love shrimps and fish soup. And my grandma is still loud and bubbly! Our house is in a little gated community with its schools, research centers, and gardens, and such. So one day I walked around the community while listening to John Mayer, and it was so interesting seeing my old school, the places where I used to play, the trial I walked from and to school, and of course, this small tunnel tube that I rode my bike on to get across the lake (yes, we actually do have a lake in our community). It made me really happy to remember that my childhood was so wonderful and fun and rural and just amazing. Then I saw my four of my closest elementary school friends, and it just absolutely touched my heart that they all still remember me and the things we used to do (like chase each other around the schoolyard) and the games we used to play. They are all in college now, and when I was with them, it just felt so comfortable because they really have not changed at all. I had a terrific time hanging out with them! Unfortunately, my wonderful time in Nanjing had to end, and my mom and I went to Wuxi.

Wuxi

We were supposed to travel for a couple of days in Wuxi but they had a water shortage as a result of lake contamination, so we stayed for one night, and went to Beijing.

Beijing

Beijing is just lovely, not as lovely as Nanjing, but pretty good for the summer! I visited Summer Palace, The Great Wall, Tian An Men Square, and many other tourist places. I ate Beijing roasted ducks and drank bubble tea. I spent a week in Beijing, touring, eating, and shopping before HBA started.