Bright sun, broad streets, well laid transportation system, beautiful mountains bordering the city.. these are few of the things that i had gotten so used to for about 3 weeks in the beautiful city hangzhou. Eating at 7,11 and 5, the clickety click of the chopsticks, the extremely fulfilling shopping, the numerous yet each distinct from the other skyscrapers are among the hoards of things i miss most about China.

I stepped into China with lots of stereotypes about the food, the people and most importantly the language barrier. After about 2 days in hangzhou i realised i was being unreasonable and put all those predetermined thoughts behind me. The city is a delight, the people are uninterfering and the atmosphere is ont that'll make you fall in love with it.

The first week was the toughest, but then instead of brooding over the differences, i began basking in acceptance of them. That Made things so much easier.
time for lunch, suspend work and go eat:ok!
not hungry but still have to eat, cos dining halls will close:ok!
time for rest after that:ok!
there's a little meat with most vegetables:ok!
there are green beans in icecream:ok!
roads follow 'keep right' system:ok!
cars are lefthand driven:ok!
have porridge with chopsticks:ok!
work on chinese windows:ok!


I am not complaining about any of these, it was an absolute pleasure and i have no hangups about any of these.

Problem is, i miss all of that now! i miss it so much

Returned to india on 26sep!

With a heavy heart I left the beautiful country that I had gotten so used to.
Eating with chopsticks, finishing supper at 6 30pm, getting accustomed to the chinese transportation system, communicating with keywords that i learnt for survival, living on a budget, shopping with chinese symbols for numbers with one hand.... i could go on and on.....
Beginning my day with ni hao with the generous use of 'xiexie' during the rest of the day.

I am going to miss all of this and much much more....

some memories do not fade,
some faces are hard to forget,
some newly learnt habits refuse to leave,
I am glad that is the way it is, because I wish to keep every ounce of my trip to china in my heart forever.

I set out to china with a few apprehensions, a few stereotypes and a few misconceptions. It turned out that I had no clue about what was in store for me. It has been a life changing trip for me in ways that I find hard to express.
I can say that I am better person having gone through the one month in China.

I express my sincere gratitude to Dr Bill Melton for the wonderful positive change he has brought in so many lives and i count myself among them.
I thank the Proj.Culture granting commitee for making this possible me.
Also extending my heartfelt gratitude to Henry and his wonderful family with whom I stayed during my internship in China.
Thanks to my dear friends in ZU, Jerry(who i couldnt meet), jane, kevin,Rose and Benjamin who were of great assistance during my internship period.

Finally, I thank my parents for all their support and encouragement.