The end

Boo, I forgot how slow my internet here is. Well. I'm back. After seven weeks of bliss, I'm back in Sydney. I'm not sad nor happy. Kind of neutral about the idea. After all, in my own house I can do anything I want. I can open the fridge for a drink without feeling awkward. I can walk around the house in a towel searching for a shirt without feeling awkward, too. But I'm sad because now that I'm back, I have to go back to all those responsibilities I temporarily left behind.

If you're wondering why I haven't posted in awhile, it's because I was so busy and tired in America. On the day I went back to China, I had several awful experiences in a row:

1. I didn't get a good seat on the plane. At all. Out of the row of four seats in the middle, I got the third one. Lucky me.
2. The plane ride turned out to be 14 and a half hours back compared to 12 hours on the way to America.
3. I didn't get someone to escort me because the guy at the luggage check in was lame, so I had to wait in line like everyone else.
4. I had $9 remaining US money, and I wanted to buy a book that cost exactly 9 dollars. When I went up to pay, I realised I'd forgotten about additional tax charges. So that was embarassing, the checkout lady looked at me a bit strangely when I had to leave it on the counter.
5. JULIET AND GEORGIA, just a warning. American security checks when you get on the plane are a pain. in. the. ass. I had to take off my shoes, my belt, my jacket. Everything was so rushed an hurried. It's even worse than the security screenings at Sydney airport. I love Shanghai airport's security screenings. There's lots of separate check areas so you get to go individually, and the line is nowhere near as long.
6. In the process of lining up for the lame-o security check, I cut the skin between my thumb and forefinger open on my bag zipper or something. Strangely enough, even though it looked really ugly and painful and there was quite a bit of blood on my hand and bag, I didn't even notice until a while later. So I had to go through a chaotic security screening and sit through an almost 15 hour flight with a bleeding hand that looked plain nasty. You could see the flesh inside the cut if you looked closely. Okay, I know, too much detail.
7. MY SEAT HAD A BROKEN DRINK HOLDER. So as I was taking out my laptop, I spilt water all over my laptop keyboard. Guess what happened? Yup, I was dumb enough to wipe off the spill and then turn it on (I found out only afterwards you're meant to let the water inside dry first). So now my old laptop is dead and it was $200 to get it fixed in China so I'm figuring out how to get it done cheaper in Australia. So that's why I didn't update this blog last week after I got back from America, because the only laptop I had in China was the broken one.
8.  I got scolded at in Shanghainese by an angry mother with a baby on the plane when I tried to cross over to the other side of the plane because she had to move her bags to let me pass. I mean, what on earth? Calm down, woman, it's not like I stepped on them.

There we go. Now I feel better. Eight crappy things about the worst day of the past two months.
In comparison, my flight today went relatively well. Sure, the plane arrived 2 hours late in Shanghai but I was first on the plane so at least that was good. I BROUGHT SO MUCH CRAP WITH ME back from Shanghai and California. I mean, I'm talking a small suitcase, 3 bags, an eeyore cushion I got at disneyland and a laptop bag as carry-on and 2 huge suitcases, almost 50kg, worth of check-in luggage. It's a wonder how I managed with carrying my carry-ons onto the plane, but it certainly wasn't easy. Luckily the girl didn't say anything about my luggage even though it was 2 kg over the limit. And as for all my carry-ons, it was about 20kg when the limit was 7kg but I hid the suitcase and some of the bags with my great-aunt while I was checking in, then grabbed it later after I checked in. I'm sure some of the flight attendants knew there was something shifty (I mean you're not even allowed that much in first class) but no one said anything. When I got to Sydney, I didn't declare any of my food. Which was awesome, because there were no dogs (and it would take a super-dog to sniff out sealed candy buried 50kg deep in my luggage). They let me in right through without suspicion, so that was cool. I got to avoid like a 30 min line. Damn, I should've brought those split-flavour fruit oreos from China after all. To be honest, even if I declared my food, I would be able to take it through. I mean, they don't confiscate Tootsie Rolls and Hershey's Kisses, do they? I just couldn't be bothered to wait in line, and surely they wouldn't fine a 15 year old? I would've pretended I didn't know sealed candy counted as food.

Now that I'm back, I've realised this trip has given me so much more than just some fun before year 11. I've become much, much more independent. I mean, if travelling on a 6-hour journey by myself to Disneyland, going alone to Hollywood and trying to navigate my way alone with only the help of google maps beforehand at home (I didn't even have a GPS) hasn't made me more independent, I don't know what else will. I didn't go anywhere with my family in America except San Diego and a few shopping trips (went everywhere else alone). I got lost countless times in LA, and on many occasions had to run until I was wheezing to catch the train on time, and cursed google maps, and felt sick of the 1 hour train ride from Moorpark to LA,  but in the end it was all worth it. I've become familiar with Shanghai, and grew brave enough to actually cross roads and walk to destinations instead of taking the subway. I think I've said this before, but I'm unbelievably grateful that I've been allowed to travel alone. I didn't realise this until lots of people in Shanghai said I was lucky because they wouldn't let their teenagers travel alone (they thought it was a cultural difference thing). Shanghai this time round was completely different to when my mum came along, and when my Uncle took me everywhere.

I really want this blog to be all about something I can look back on, say, a year later, and relive all those amazing memories and experiences. So the momentos of all my travels in the past two months are recorded online, and I can read everything whenever I want to.

So I'm procrastinating again. I have several things I need to do today: figure out how to get my laptop fixed, call up kids and confirm piano times, figure out a goal this year and what I want to save my money for, call up my own piano teacher who was already crazily nagging my mum yesterday, do some theory, revise some French, unpack, practise piano, make sure my uniform length is right and that I have all my books for school. I guess I'll get started. I don't want this year to be full of failures due to procrastination.