Tuesday, June 12, 2018
Today we finally got to sleep in a little bit; it was very nice to get some good rest after being constantly on the move for 34 days. However, today was officially the last day of the program, and it was relatively packed. We were up at 10 to listen to a man name John Pasden, a linguist based in Shanghai who specializes in the western education of the Chinese language. He offered us some great resources and tips for learning Mandarin, which are helpful after an intensive study of the language. He was very knowledgeable of the subject and even gave Dong Laoshi (董老师) a gift, a graded Chinese reader that they have recently published!
After Pasden spoke to us, we then heard from a panel of three business students who graduated from Northeastern and do business in Shanghai. While they also offered some great insight about learning Chinese, they also explained what it's like to be a foreigner living in such a culturally different city, which was helpful since most of us would like to return to China one day.
After the two presentations, we had a short break during which we ate some lunch. A group of us went to a local wonton restaurant after getting Bubble Tea from our favorite spot (Yi Dian Dian). After that, Leanne and I dipped into the Fish and Insect market with the five minutes we had left until our next dialogue to see what they had to offer; there we saw all kinds of fish, crickets, and kittens. We even saw a cage full of chipmunks and a turkey, which we thought was kind of odd, but we didn't question it.
The next dialogue was at an artist's home, and we had to take a Didi there ourselves; I was in a car with Leanne, Cedrick, and Gustaf, and we got lost for a short moment before we found out we entered the artist's neighborhood from the wrong gate. Once we were with the group, we went into the artist's home and listened to him talk about all his paintings. They were beautiful, and he gave us each a book full of copies of some of them, which will be an amazing souvenir to bring home to my family.
After the dialogue, we traveled to the Grand Hyatt in Didis; we didn't get lost again, which was fortunate because the view from the building's 54th floor was phenomenal. We were supposed to hold our final group discussion meeting there, but there wasn't enough room for us, so we just went straight to the location of our final group dinner. After we held the discussion, we enjoyed a delicious meal and were treated to an impromptu dance party, as pictured. It was a great way to officially end the program.
We split up after the meal to make plans for the night; we want to make the most of our final night in Shanghai and have a good time with each other. We've grown so close together during this 34-day program, and we're like a family now. As I type this and prepare to pack for my departure tomorrow, I know I am going to miss all the friends I've made until I can see them again in the fall. I'd rather spend the day tomorrow exploring Shanghai, but a fourteen-hour flight doesn't seem so bad when I get to spend it with a few amazing people.
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