Day 32, Nanjing - "Mystery Nanjing"!

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Sadly our last day in Nanjing is almost over and like all the others it was incredible! We all finished our finals for our Chinese class and realized how much we had learned in the past 4 weeks. Personally, I can now maintain small talk, explain my background, and explain what I am doing here in China. A great improvement from just knowing "ni hao."

Nanda later threw for us a goodbye lunch and the sense of leaving started to settle. It has been incredible how we not only have learned a lot but changed so much by the city and what we have been exposed to. The classes, the host family, the internship, and the university, they have all contributed in showing us more and more about China and the culture. I now understand more about the Nanking Massacre, Chinese corporate culture and, the quick development of second tier cities. This became even clearer when after a month the metro construction diagonal from where we live has not stopped day or night, a new construction is starting beside our building, and my favorite yogurt place disappeared overnight.

Before we could continue talking about what we are going to miss about Nanjing we had Mystery Nanjing! The scavenger hunt lasted for around 3 hours and it was awesome! We got to run around Nanjing and talking to people trying to find the answers and places that would give us points. Even though my team lost we had some great moments in the hunt like putting our hands in a tank full of huge frogs, trying to hold a baby (the mom got a bit mad), and taking a picture with a McDonalds delivery men. The best though was convincing a taxi driver to let me set in the driver's seat! We were all amazed we actually convinced him, since I could have totally driven off. Another of the many wai guo ren (foreigner) privileges we have discovered in Nanjing. By the end, seeing how competitive we all were to see who won the massages was great. It made me realize that we have not only grown individually but also as a group. From being an awkward group of strangers to becoming good friends and having already great stories to tell has been great.

Looking back at our entire time in Nanjing we arrived as a small group with no connections and each are leaving with friends, a Chinese family we will always be able to come back to, and even a work office we will always be received at. These things are priceless and will definitely be staying in our minds in our future endeavors, which will definitely once again blow our minds.

We are all extremely excited for Shanghai! J Reading the course pack about the city, its lights, and the non stopping movement has tripled my expectations and now I can't wait to be exposed to everything the city has to offer. J Shanghai here we come!!!

Pan Huan 潘欢
Also known as: Juan Peña Salas