New Year, New Adventures!
Happy New Years everyone! I actually wrote this post a few days ago, but since then my internet connection had been too weak to post it, better late then never though, right?
My first New Years abroad, and I was so happy to celebrate with my dear friends in Yichang. It was a lovely evening, we ate some amazing food, drank hot chocolate, rang in the New Year in a warm cozy pub, and then finished the celebrations by setting a floating latter out over the Yangtze River with a wish for a the New Year.
The New Years celebration marked not only the end of 2014, but also the end of my time in Yichang. It was the perfect time to say goodbye, with everyone already gathered for the Holiday. Earlier in the day, my school had a going away celebration for me, I was glad for the chance to say a proper good by to all of my co-workers. I had already said my good byes to my students the week before, which was a lot harder then I thought it would be.
Goodbyes all said and done, I’m now on a bullet train headed for Shanghai. I’m starting out 2015 with 5 weeks of travelling about Asia, and I could not be more excited! When the train pulled away from the Yichang train station, I had a little cry, saying good bye to my home of the last four months, I never expected it to be this hard to leave. Yichang will forever have a little corner of my heart. Now, with goodbyes behind me and looking forward I’m absolutely bursting with excitement. It is the perfect way to start out this year. At the beginning of 2014, I never thought I would be spending the last four months of the year in Yichang, China, a place that I had never even heard of until four months ago. I wonder where 2015 will take me?
My next five weeks will be spent in Shanghai, Harbin, Beijing, Xian, Tibet, Nepal, Singapore and Malaysia. I’m still working out details of the last part of my trip, as far as exactly where I will be staying and what I will be doing. If any one has any tips or suggestions on what to do in Nepal, Singapore and Malaysia I would love to hear them!
So Happy New Year to you all! To my friends and family, I miss you all, and to those in San Diego, I will see you sometime in February!
