So here it is, my last blog entry.My bags are all packed and I'll be leaving for the airport in about 3 hours. It hasn't sunk in at all that I'm leaving, I'm incredibly used to living here at this point. There's no way I can put into words how fantastic these past six weeks have been. Despite the heat and the homework, I wouldn't have traded this experience for anything.

The hardest thing to leave behind will definitely be all the relationships I've built, not only with my host family, but also with all the close friends I've made with my classmates. I doubt we'll ever get the chance to all be together again, so that 13 (14?) hour plane ride is going to be some serious last minute bonding time; pretty pumped for that, whooo! But honestly, it's the people around me that made this trip as amazing as it was. 

On another note, I'm pretty proud of myself for actually sticking with the blog and updating it semi-regularly. I'm usually horrible about journaling, so hopefully when I read these posts later they'll be a good reminder of this trip. Anyways,since a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll stom writing for now and just upload some more pictures when I'm back in the Staes. I'm now off to enjoy my last three hours in Shanghai; see you guys back in America soon!

Week 5 is over, and I'm not ready to go home yet...I think. Shanghai is such a big city, even the people who live here say that haven't seen it all, and I haven't started to scratch the surface. Thinking about it, going home will definitely be a little weird for me. It's going to be an adjustment to get used to hearing everyone speak English again (I've been mostly using all Chinese here), eating American food, and just having nice trees and blue sky again. I'm not going to think about that until the end of this week when I have to. 

LIke I said in my last post, my family took me on vacation with them for the weekend. It was awesome; since it was a waterfront city, I got to go boating on one of those classic Chinese boats where you're propelled forward by someone rowing with a long pole. Minus the amazing scenery, there was also plenty of good food. I don't think I've ever eaten so much in my life as in the past 6 weeks. 

Before I leave, everyone is expected to give a presentation and write an essay in Chinese. Everyone is allowed to pick their own topic as long as it has to do with Chinese culture. My topic is on Mao Ze Dong. More specifically, it's on how different generations of Chinese people view him, and how those perspectives compare to each other. What I did was interview my host sister (19), my host parents (50s), and a Chinese Gate man (60s) about Mao. For the record, at almost every building and entrance in Shanghai, there are gate men who sit there with nothing to do. The gate man I talked to conversed with me for over a hour about Chinese history and how Mao impacted China. Usually, my Chinese listening skills are decent, but considering all the historical terms he was throwing around and his strong accent, I would say I understood 85% of what he was saying. Still,  I understood just about all of the main ideas he was trying to convey. Basically, what I found was that across the board, Mao is viewed in a very favorable light here. However, the people's adoration of him increases with age. The older the person was, the more strongly they felt about Mao. They also had a very personal conviction about it. In contrast, the yonger people also unananimously agree Mao was great, but more because they had been taught to do so rather than because they had formed their own views from experience. My presentation is on Thursday, so I should probably stop pocrastinating and finish my 1200 character essay...

It's very bittersweet to think I have one more week with my friends and host family here; I'll be sure to live it up while I can!