Day 41- 13th April (BACK TO SINGAPORE! :D)
The bed that has been with me for 6 weeks... :{
Without them, my life in Wuhan can never be good.
As mentioned, I didn’t catch a wink of sleep last night. So I went up to prepare early in the morning as we intended to meet the local students for breakfast. I was touched that they didn’t mind waking up so early in the morning at 6 just to eat with us. But by the time we were done with the moving of luggages downstairs, it is 7 plus already. All of us felt so guilty because they had to sacrifice their sleep and furthermore, they have class at 8am! :( As they know we’ll be hungry on the way, they went to buy a lot a lot of pau and soya bean for us. After loading our belongings up on the bus with the help of the students, it was time to say goodbye :’( Gave every student a hug before boarding the bus. Tears started rolling down from students’ faces. ♥

It was about an hour ride to the airport. As there were free counters, many of us put our check-in luggages on top to weigh to see if it is over the limit. And sadly, mine did :( So I took out heavy stuff and held it on hand. It was so troublesome and difficult to walk with 2 bulky hand carries and one back pack! ;@ Anyway, we managed to transit to Guangzhou safely. However, something happened. Ms Neo mentioned that our luggage can be sent from Wuhan straight to Singapore. All of us were overjoyed! But when we arrive at Guangzhou, this was not the case. So we had to collect our baggage and check them in again. GRR.. So this delayed our flight for about 2 hours! We arrived at Singapore only at 10 plus when our actual arrival timing was actually 2025! :[
But its okay, everyone was happy to see their family members and friends outside waving and putting on wide smiles. I gave my daddy, mummy, sisters and Pamela a big big hug the moment I walked out of the glass door. I was ecstatic to see them after a long 41 days! :{

Reflection
Today is the day that has been long awaited by all the 21 of us, including Ms Neo. Or not? :\ Well I guess it was, when we were in Wuhan for the first few days. But now as everyone is used to the environment, the lifestyle, the transport, the people, everything there is there, everyone wants to stay a little bit longer.

I remember it was awkward when we were left to spend time with our local students alone. I remember it took us awhile to bear in mind where our classroom block is. I remember we weren’t used to the food in the school canteen. I remember how we yearned for the hot weather in Singapore. I remember how we hated squeezing in the bus with people throughout the rollercoaster journey.

I remember our first try at the backstreet. I remember the games played together at the theme park. I remember how we couldn’t get used to the classroom and protractor flashing on the wall. I remember our first and last snow experience in Wuhan. I remember the first interaction with the local students where I had to be in Cheong Sam! I remember how much drawings we had to do during lesson. I remember the excursions we went for. I remember how much joy we had singing and dancing at the KTV. I remember the first run I had in the cold weather!

I remember the first time I presented in front of the class during Interim Presentation and treated ourselves to Pizza Hut after that. I remember the first stay I ever had on cruise. I remember the magnificent sight at the 3 Gorges. I remember the first time a dispute occur :( I remember how uncomfortable I felt when I was ill. I remember I did well for the first written test!! I remember I got to see beautiful blooming Cherry Blossoms. I remember the perseverance needed in order to climb the Wu Dang Mountain. I remember the crazy shopping sprees we had. I remember counting down day by day when we were left with 1 week….
The sight of the local students sending us off this morning depicted the friendship built over the 40 days. Anyone could see how attached each local student were to each of us. I appreciate the time they have put in for us, to arrange activities and help us in any way they can. Without their support and assistance, I believe I won’t have an easy life here in Wuhan. Although we met for only 41 days, but this friendship, time spent together, laughter shared, will be remembered and will follow me through my entire life.

This trip could never have been better, I swear! Especially with the rest of 20 friends and Ms Neo. I have gained a whole new experience and definitely have become more independent. This trip has allowed me to learn things that I’ll never get to learn in school or even in Singapore. The 41 days in Wuhan has left me with unforgettable and memorable memories and is the best learning experience I ever had. It is truly a valuable experience and I will highly encourage students of the next batch to sign and go for it! You will experience things you will never ever get to in your entire life! :D

Day 40- 12th April (Counting down… 1day :{)
I woke up with a heavy heart because I suddenly realized I’m left with only 1 day in Wuhan… I slept quite late last night because I was busy packing all my belongings! It was a must to complete packing by last night because Ms Neo set a time for every one of us to weigh our check in luggage. This has to be done so as to ensure that no error or delay will occur during the checking in process. All 21 of us were cooperative and it ended earlier than the expected time. We were free after that. Our group then decided to take some more extra photos for our project. Without realizing, we took pictures for as long as one and a half hours :\Finally manage to capture this! Along the road, you can see drivers push their cars like that. To save engine i guess? :\
Our fav backstreet.
My fav 汤包 stall :{
After that, we returned to our own rooms to rest. It was rather tired actually! Especially when it is actually freezing cold outside due to the strong wind. I only managed to rest until 15mins before 6 because the 7 of us were supposed to meet Ms Wong, our previous Math teacher! This visit to Ms Wong’s house was arranged by Sihao. A few of us were reluctant to go at first because we thought that it will be awkward. But I’m glad we didn’t back out in the end because it was fun catching up and chatting with the teachers! :) We saw these 2 small girls just outside the dorm. They are only 4/5 years old and they're so independent! The way the speak and all. I'm impressed!
We headed to where Ms Wong was staying, which is only a 5mins walk away from the school. It totally gave me the feel of home when I took my first step into the house. There are 2 bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room with TV!! It is quite big and spacious actually. The condition isn’t as bad too :} We took a seat and stayed at Ms Wong’s place for a short while before we left for dinner at a nearby restaurant.The building where Ms Wong is staying. Just like a flat. The condition is so much better righttttt! Haha but Ms Wong misses Singapore.
Tonight’s dinner was on Ms Wong!! :O We’re happy and honored. It was a sumptuous meal indeed! :D

After returning to our dorms, we wrote a card each for our local friends. And you know what; they made something for us each too. It made us tear so badly :’{
After the local students left, Sihao Meowlin Charmaine and Noor went out to the back street to buy food! It’s not because we’re gluttons or whatsoever, but it’s because we wanted to have a last taste of all our favorite food at the backstreet. We wanted to eat them for the last time before we leave :( As I’m typing this post out, I’m reminiscing about what has happened the past 39 days. 1 more night and goodbye to Wuhan :[
Some nice food! ;}

It’s currently 2 plus in the morning. The group of us decided to stay awake since it’s our last night here. Today's been a really special day for me..

Day 39- 11th April (Rain is the ultimate spoiler :{)
The sky was dark when I woke up this morning. I knew it was going to be a rainy day because the sky was all gloomy. No one was really in the mood to go out at that point of time. Most of the groups were doing their group work also. So all I did was stay in the dorm and update my blog as much as possible and at the same time collate the pictures for the video presentation! I do not know how fast time pass until Sihao came knocking on my door and said it is coming 6 already. He wanted to go to 光谷 to redo his hair as it wasn’t acceptable :\ So Charmaine, Meowlin and I accompanied him since we had nothing much to do :) In the end, he just had a hair wash there :@ Before we left, we tried out the Starbucks there! Not bad, their cakes and deserts taste good too :} I got to see many Caucasians and foreigners in there. I believe it’s because it is an International company.
I’m troubling as I’m typing this post because my check in luggage is weighing more than 30kg! :( Now I got to think of ways to carry heavy stuff on my hand..

Day 38- 10th April (Last shoppinggggg! )
There’s nothing planned for us today, so it’s another free day! :D Ms Neo said that our luggages have to be packed by Monday noon or else things may happen when passing the customs. We most probably will not be going anywhere tomorrow, so today’s the last day we have for SHOPPING :{ We went out to meet the local students, with the intention of printing a class T-Shirt for our classmate. But we walked from place to place but there isn’t any that can have the shirts printed within 2 days :{ Such a pity. So we just walked around to shop for our own stuff. As usual, before we know it, it was time for dinner. As we wanted to continue to shop after dinner, we just settled our meal at Kfc since it is a fast food restaurant!
Continued our shopping session along 步行街. Bought so many so many things. Now I got to trouble and think how I’m going to have my thing packed :{

Day 37- 9th April (Basketball and farewell dinner :[ )
The long planned basketball match between the WUST students and MDE is finally being carried out! We were informed last minute 2 days ago, that there’s going to be a friendly match this morning :o Everyone was shocked. But not being a spoil sport, MDE guys agreed. So we woke up at about 9 plus, prepared and went over to the opposite basketball court to watch them play. We saw the WUST players and we were shocked. 2 of their players were close to 1.9m tall? And the rest were so agile! You could see that they all were well prepared. The game began and the opponents started scoring and scoring. Finally, our star player, Tan Sihao scored! :D The momentum was there and the guys’ coordination got better. However, the first accident happened! The 1.9m player hit knocked onto Wenjie and Wenjie fall flat on his back! “OUCH?” Thankfully he’s alright. Not long after, the second accident occurred! Sihao sprained his ankle :{ He lay on the ground and everyone could see how much pain he was in :[

The game paused and Sihao was sent to the hospital. A few accompanied him while the rest stayed on to watch as the game still had to go on. We gave the rest of the players our support and encouragement. 2 other WUST students were asked to join in our game so that the team will be strengthened. And it did help! Our Np representatives (without Sihao)!
This was the guy that kept knocking against them :{

The game ended at about 12. Sihao has not come back and we can’t return to the hostel because our keys are with Eline and Eline is with Sihao! :{ So Charmaine, Meowlin, Noor and I stayed at the court to watch more matches. I then decided to go for a run since I had my sport shoes on. Finally I’m exercising again!! ;} At about 1, we managed to contact Eline and realized that they were actually in the room already :@
Thankfully it wasn’t a serious fracture. Get well soon okay, Tan Si Hao? :)

We went back to our rooms respectively to have our lunch. Eline, Meowlin and I had the feeling of playing badminton. So we happily take our rackets, put our shoes on and went down to the court. It was only then we realized that it isn’t a fine day to play badminton because the wind was blowing from all directions. Spoil :(
Went back to the room and started to prepare for the dinner with our local buddies! This was planned by the teachers I think? We are going to treat the students to dinner at a hotel! ;]

Reflection
Before the dinner start, a representative from each division had to say a speech. And Sam, representing ECE, said something that touch me. “学生们对我们的热情与帮助，让新家坡的学生忘记了想念家的感觉。” I so agree to that statement. I believe not only me, but everyone present there feels the same. Suddenly, all the moments spent with the local students flashed past me. No words can ever describe the gratitude I have towards them. Time passed so quickly. I remember it was just not long ago that we met the local students and became friends. Now, we’re counting down to return to Singapore by single digits..