DAY 12: Wednesday By Yianni Rowlands 

 I set my alarm last night for 6:30am, my usual waking time, just so I could have a shower, chuck on some "clean" clothes, watch an episode of the Simpsons, and still be in time for breakfast which is at 7:30. Well here's what happened I woke up, at 6:30, changed the alarm to 7:05, and went back to sleep. Next thing I knew Miles was yelling "Yianni! It's 7:20!" I tore off my sheets, jumped off my bed, chucked on some clothes, grabbed my room key, slammed the door and sprinted to the elevator. We got in. Got out. Ran to the restaurant to eat our breakfast. We ate breakfast, noodles, rice and other assortments of Traditional Chinese foods, and Chinese imitations of western foods, which the hotel has been making for us to make us feel at home. I sat on one of the couches in the restaurant and stared out of the window. The restaurant is on the 5th floor, which means I could get a good view of the city. it's amazing, such a large scale. The skyline is so much higher than Australia's. All the buildings are all modern, but somehow, all so old. The look of the city, well from my point of view, can be described with one Star Wars quote, "A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away" the Star Wars universe, is all very modern but very old, it is also very far away. That is how I see China, somehow everything's futuristic, but also very old. We left for school. School is fun. With so many lesson focussing on language development I've learnt so much while I've been here. My knowledge of China on arrival has given me a good base to build from. My brain is filling with new words and sayings and my character writing is improving too. It's so motivating to see other people speaking mandarin, it just makes you want to have a go at it, and makes you want to perfect it. After school we went back for lunch, which was pretty much the same as breakfast. After lunch we walked to the University gymnasium, and did Tai Chi. It was amazing to see the athletes, doing the Tai Chi movements so fluently. The way they move is like the way a Chinese calligrapher paints strokes with his, or her, brush. Every movement, and stroke on point, it is stunning. We all learnt a movement and had a go at leading the group. Dinner was amazing, we had red bean balls, my favourite Chinese food! If you don't know what a red bean ball is, it is a sesame ball, with mushy red bean inside, it is sweet and crunchy. It's amazing! After dinner we practiced the song, Peng You (this means friend in Chinese), which we will be performing on Friday at the closing ceremony. Mum, dad, Mira and Tjala, missing you heaps hope your having a good time in Australia!