Final reflections from Lauren

Blog Post

So I know I'm really late with this post but it's whatever I guess. 

I had a lot of fun on this trip. I met some really cool people, had some unexpected surprises, and learned to deal with things I never thought I would have to deal with. Having all this fun makes going home a little easier. I feel well rounded,two weeks well spent. But this raises a question. Life does not stop after this. It will continue for years and we have yet to stop learning. So what will happen to the memories we made on this trip? Will it disappear amongst the streams of traffic in our heads? Will we become people with only one story to tell? Maybe. I'm not sure how the brain works but I do know what I will remember. So much happened on this trip and I wish I could remember everything but that's not the way things work.

Years from now, when I am old and looking back on life I won't remember how many steps I climbed on Mount Tai, I'll remember dancing with the boy in the souvenir shop. I won't remember all the restaurants, I'll remember Ms.Fortuna paying people to eat strange things or the jokes about the Airport Buffet. I won't remember all the markets we went to, I'll remember Esmeralda getting 3/4 of the band ( I'm still salty about that).  I won't remember all the hotels, but I'll remember jamming with Sher, chilling with Robbie and laughing with Hunter. 

With all this in mind, I've come to realize why I actually came to China. Its not for the places we've seen like Forbidden City, the  Big Goose Pagoda, or Zibo. No, I came to get out of my comfort zone. I came to use squat toilets, take late night flights, sleep on rocks,adjust my eating schedule, and live among people who like to realese bodily air/fluids in public, have no sense of personal space, and disregard no smoking signs.

I'm going to miss China but it is time for me to go home. The stay was limited, but my memories of this time are not                        --Lauren Jones