July 14 | In the clouds, Beijing

12:32 PM - Another farewell, another flight. Currently on the plane making our way from Beijing to our next destination – Anhui (Wuhu). Why don’t I ever learn my lesson to charge my devices!?!? Part of that blame should go towards the lack of working outlets – (this seems to be a reoccurring theme in Beijing, so those back in Canada, please appreciate electricity haha). Scratch the inkling of skepticism in the last post. Beijing is absolutely beautiful. Every goodbye seems to get harder and harder and I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult it will be to say farewell to Shanghai, our last destination. Last night, Rachel (she was pretty much our go-to, English speaking liason/tour guide/Chinese mother for the week) took us out for our last, (very authentic) meal in Beijing (peking duck and beers if you were wondering). We all went around the table to say what our impressions were of China thus far, and it really struck me hard that 1) holy shit, we are in China and 2) the second farewell means we only have one more conference to go. Last night was definitely the definition of bittersweet. When the driver dropped us off back at the school, this was our last chance to say goodbye to Rachel and I was definitely more emotional than I expected. Not going to lie, I shed some tears as I hugged her goodbye – it was a mix of saying farewell to someone who you may never, ever see again and realizing that this is the end of another incredible chapter of this trip.

I haven’t done this for either Shenzhen or Beijing, but I thought it would be kind of neat to write out what my expectations are for Wuhu before we actually land, and then compare what it is actually like at the end of the week. From what we are hearing, ACCSC’s campus is the newest of the three and from looking at photos and floor plans, we cannot be more excited to see this spectacle of a campus. I have a thing for modern architecture and design so I am hoping and praying that this will be a sight to the eyes!