The weather knows when people are leaving...

Aye, it rained on Friday, the day of our farewell party. Most of us were aghast and in awe to find everything had been wettened! It rained during the night, and there was evidence in the morning. It surprised most of us, but we were glad. I'm sure it would greenify everything, which would be a welcome change. We went to the office that morning and did some planning for the farewell party. It was a bit frustrating to find that there was a schedule already planned, which really could have helped earlier on in the week. But whatever. While we did that and sorted through photos to put onto a group CD, Maxime held meetings with the individual Canadians. These were to evaluate the program, what we learned through our personal experiences, rating the skills we were supposed to have and comparing them to what Maxime thought. It was an honest process. We felt similar on my subjects on my behalf. I had wished to have shown leadership in times, but he agreed it was hard to stand up when there were already many leaders. We met at the Kao Ya restaurant where we had lunch with Director Wang before Spring Festival. All our host families were there. Only the parents though, except mine because Li was out of the area for work reasons. Mavis, my host sister came in place. Our work leaders were there too. We were given gifts, one from Felix's Du Shushu, and from the government. We were given our plaques and certificates, prooving we had officially finished the program. Not like we need a piece of paper to say we went through all that! We did a few performances, including the worst rendition we've done of Hey Jude, a decent version of the Dr. skit, and many many toasts of gambe-ing, with our friend, baijiu. I myself, even without the baijiu, found I had a open attitude. I didn't feel like putting on a face. This included telling Gary things, with a bit of attitude, and even playing with deep fried scorpions. Seriously though! Don't cook those things if people aren't gonna eatthem! Or in this case, play with them. We finished the night fairly quickly, with hugs and goodbyes. Some of our counterparts would see us off at the airport while others had to work. I find it ironic that the ones who promised to see us off were actually the ones who really did work hard and had a tendency to be absent. The Canadians plan was to go partying now. Some went home, some dropped things off, but we all met up at Nanjie bar in our favorite area. We were so pumped and full of excitement (and booze) we were hopping and dancing right from the get-go. We settled in, and everyone went to do their own thing, picking up the opposite sex or chatting. I did all of the above, from rude beauties from Turkey to a computer program with a boss who apparently has a disease that makes you lie. Who knew. We were all over the place, but somehow managed to meet up with everyone from our group at other bars throughout the night. One friend was sick, so I watched over her most of the night. I didn't feel bad though. I can pick up girls any other time. I had a good run, didn't need to cram everything into one night. Our final stop was in front of our favorite Mexican bar, Luga's. With our supervisor full of mojito and burrito, he dawned his final knowledge on us. His inspiring words included his point of view from our program, struggles he had to go through, and just filled in a lot of the blanks that he couldn't have done during the program. He felt we all matured and was very proud of us. Thanks Maxime! He was even going to tell us about his secretive last days in Benign! But some people were missing, and he wanted to share with the entire group. Hopefully, we'll hear about them at the airport before we depart. The night ended with 7 Canadians crammed into a small two bedroom hotel room. I'm really going to miss those nights.

I didn't want to waste the following day too much though. I'm sure most of us had plans, but mine were supposed to include getting up early. But fuck it, it was a fun night. I left with Heather and Felix before noon. It was a big Devon day, one where I would spend it alone, walking long and hard, seeking answers or places to discover.
The places in this case included the Summer Palace and the Old Summer Palace ruins. I found the bus and took a long ride there. However, despite it even raining, the day was smoggy as hell. I decided to check out the Summer Palace anyway. I'm in China, might as well. I didn't stay long though. It was very pretty, the trees in bloom. The lake was covered in cloud though. I did like the gardens. I left the Summer Palace, after barely an hour, heading towards it's historical version. I stopped at Tsinghua University, the same one I went to with Lilly and Lynsday and friends one day. Part of my Devon Day was to find some geocaches in the northern side of Beijing. The university held one. But I couldn't find it. I didn't want to waste the whole day, so I moved on. I passed a pub called The Kro. The aroma of pizza was just too inviting, and I spoiled myself. Besides, I missed breakfast, had a quick street-food lunch and had been walking all afternoon. With 1/4 for leftovers, I continued on. I found the Old Summer Palace and explored. It was a very, very large park. I foudn the geocache there, which was a large European maze structure. It was fun to walk through, and then climbing up top and jumping over. I called it a day and walked for a long time back to the entrance. I took a bus to a subway station and went home. It had been an exhausting and long day, but I was happy to explore Beijing one last time. I settled in my tiny bed in the corner that night, reading old journal entries and cleaning up papers that cluttered the potted plant shelf. I fell asleep, readying myself for my last day in Beijing.

I was on my own again for most of my day here. I mainly needed to do some shopping. But that is never a simple thing here. I primarily had gifts to buy for family and friends back home. I have most of the things I need. I went from Panjiayuan in the morning to Tiannenmen Square in the afternoon. I had planned on seeing Mao's tomb. However, this is China. Nothing is simple. First, I got turned around. I had to deposit my bag, across the street, at a baggage check. After realizing the line I was in was likely for pick ups (unusually, I figured this out quickly) I went into the proper line. But like I said, this is China. I had to pay, and with my yuan running out quickly, I said screw it. Besides, the baggage claim closed at 12, it was 11, and I really, really did not want to argue with someone who didn't speak my language about getting my bag back, which I would absolutely need, because I was leaving the next day, and it wasn't my fault that their stupid process caused me to take over an hour to look at a dead Chinese leader. Yeah, I think it was best I let it go. I shopped at Hong Qiao, and returned to Panjiayuan, and then back up town again to pick up a cd with photos from it from Maxime. I was getting exhausted. I'm retiring here, at home, to finish my blog, charge my mp3 (12 hour flight remember!) and begin packing. So ends the exciting part of my journey to China. Sure, there are bits to wrap up, like the awkwardness of our last dinner we'll have, saying goodbye, etc. But not only has it yet to occur, I can imagine most of you can fill those portions in. If anything amazing happens, I'll fill you in on my post-CWY entries.

But I'm sure most of us go through this when travelling. How do you get ready to leave? And I think I can say from experience, 3 months is much harder then 3 days or even weeks. It's been a jumble for me. What should I buy before I leave, should I go see everyone I met, what gift should I get for my host family or counterpart, should we have a last dinner, should I waste my last bit of money while I'm here, what about those exhibits I really wanted to see? It's hard to find an answer for any, if not all of these questions. I think there's always going to be that ONE thing you didn't do, or say or see. Its a personal thing. You have to accept that your leaving, and you have to decided what holds priority. What are the important things you know you have to do or say or see. I remember feeling so bad at the end of Katimavik, because I wasn't crying like most of my friends. Granted, most of them were drunk. I felt like a monster, because I knew I'd miss them and the places I'd been. Only until after they left my sight did I begin to cry. I don't feel the same. I'm sure many of you can tell, I'm ready to leave. Beijing holds great stories for me, but it's time for me to leave, as I'm sure it is for all the Canadians. Some of us are spending time with our host families, some are shopping, others I'm sure may even be resting! There's just that empty and uncertain feeling that is very difficult to rid yourself of on your last day. And you can only be thankful there are 8 other Canadian brothers and sisters who feel the same way...