Sunday 4th December

I slept much better last night I had asked for softer pillows and I am feeling a bit better) and I got up at 7am to go have a look around. I went to the park round the corner at 7.30am and had a look around, I wanted to walk along the city wall but apparently that didn’t open until 9am. I then returned to the hostel for breakfast, pack my things and wait for Sam to say goodbye. I thought my flights were later than they actually were and because it’s an hour to get to the airport I had to leave at 9.15am to get my 12pm flight back to Beijing.

I got to the airport with no problems and it was only when I was about to board that I remembered the black terracotta warrior miniature statue and I realised just how naive I had been and how easy it could be to have been tricked into being a drugs mule! Mum, if you are reading this, I take it all back from that time that man gave you that green stuff that turned out to be seaweed in Rome as a present and you brought it home and we all thought you had been naive and it could have been weed you were smuggling into the country! Maybe it’s a family thing?! We just look (and are) gullible enough to fall for the “it’s a gift” routine! Luckily when I landed in Beijing there was no strange man at the baggage claim demanding his terracotta warrior statue back and no Chinese police ready to arrest me for drug trafficking, so I assume that after all my paranoia, the terracotta warrior miniature statue given to me by the tour guide was exactly as it seemed, a gift! Which is quite a relief really, as I don’t have time for a Chinese prison and the inconvenience of explaining my whole naivety to the Chinese police (through a translator I might add, which brings up the issue of things being lost in translation) and possibly a criminal record, what with my PGCE interview coming up and my graduation. That’s not to say that without those plans it would have been ok, but let’s face it, it would have made a funny story to tell the grand kids in years to come!

But anyway, none of this happened and I got through to the taxi rank and got a taxi back to my apartment where it felt good to be home again. I had a text off Jodie asking if her and Milzie could come and use my shower again as they still haven’t had their hot water fixed, and a text off Sam saying what a good weekend it had been.

Jodie and Milzie came round at 7.30pm with dumplings and fried rice from the dumpling restaurant round the corner and we caught up on each others weekends and they used the shower. Bit of an early night to catch up on sleep and so that I am in work bright and early tomorrow. It will be interesting to see what my secret Santa has left for me on my desk from Thursday and Friday.