Tying Up Loose Ends

Hello again! Sorry about taking forever to post, I have been pretty busy with uninteresting things like school but I have had some amazing moments.  :) 

I did get a chance to visit Yuanmingyuan. It is a Chinese imperial garden I studied in class and it was absolutely everything I imagined it to be! It was huge and the views were unbelievable. Here are some pictures! 

But the most interesting part of the garden was the ruins. During the Opium war the British and French sacked the garden and now all that's left are the stone structures that were not burned down. It was a pretty big Chinese tourist attraction but not many foreign tourists were there. It was so weird to see people playing on these pieces of history so carelessly strewn about or haphazardly place back together. 

This is my favorite reconstruction haha

I also had graduation from the program this last Friday. Here I received my scholarship to return to receive my Master's which I am so excited about!!!

I also have some more big news as well. I have decided to teach English and live in China for at least the next 6 months! 

Here's some pictures of my apartment. 

My room! 

So I guess the last residents were pretty bad, as you can see from the pictures, but I went back again and it's much cleaner now so I'm not as freaked out. haha 

I am currently traveling back to the US to visit family and friends before returning to China. My travels home were as crazy as my time in China. 

Left my dorm 8/16 at 10:00pm 
Got to Philippines to transfer 8/17 7:00am 
Was told my flight was cancelled 8/17 11:00pm 
Put in a hotel in Manila over night 8/18 2:30am
Left the Philippines 8/18 12:00pm 
Flew home and went through US customs 8/19 5:00am 
Total travel time: 55 hours = TOTAL INSANITY 

I have never had that many problems traveling but I'm finally in good old 'merica.... for now. 

I am really excited to start this new part of my life with all the support of friends and family. I feel so proud to be where I am and sometimes I just can't believe it. Here's to the next 3-4 years of my life being the best/bravest I've ever had. 

再见，
罗玫瑰

Xi'an Travels

Last week one of my amazing teachers had to leave so we took her to Beijing's biggest pizza. It was delicious and the size is not an exaggeration! 

Beijing duck pizza! Beijing duck, onions, duck sauce, and cheese, amazing :) 

Elaine and my 2 amazing teachers! 

After this we took a 12 hour sleeper train from Beijing to the historic city of Xi'an. It was actually pretty comfortable. 

Roomies! 

Once into Xi'an we visited about 2 museums a day (all of which I LOVED), me and Chinese history museums all day was like being on a cloud :D 

And of course we got to see the famous Terra Cotta Warriors from the tomb of the Qin dynasty emperor, the first to unify China. 

Notice the little ant people off to the side. 

The last event was a trip to the city's wall, which we got to ride bikes on and was probably my favorite part of the trip! 

Hopefully I will have more exciting things to share soon! 

罗玫瑰