Last Few Weeks!

thats right! i camped on the Great Wall of China, it was probably the coolest thing I have done in Beijing.  My program set up an overnight trip for us there.  First we had dinner and a campfire at a farmers house.  Then we trekked up the side of a mountain onto a deserted part of the Great Wall.  From there three of my friends and my (teacher) camped out in a tower.  We made a fire, listened to music and hung out.  We didn't any sleep because it was SOOO FREAKING COLD!! so we watched the sunrise!! It was so beautiful and peaceful.  

Before that I have just been enjoying my last few days in Beijing.  A week ago, I made dumplings at my coworkers house.  It was a great experience and I am going to perfect my dumpling making skills over the summer .  Another day my language partner took me to a hutong (old Beijing street) and we tried  snack foods.  Two weekends ago, it was my roomates birthday.  We went and saw a flying acrobat show.  It was amazing and a bit like Cirque du Soil.  Today I brought my friends to my internship.  All the kids loved them and the two headmasters took us out to a fancy dinner!  It was a great day.

I cannot believe I have less than a week in Beijing.  I have really enjoyed my time here and there is no question I will be back.  Beijing is full of culture and things to do and I have met so many great friends here, I am going to miss it SOO MUCH.  I am excited because soon I will embark  on a two week study trip in Central China.  I will be going to Xi'an (Terracotta Solidiers), Chengdu (Panda Reserve) and Guilin.  It should be a great trip and of course I am going to take tons of pictures!

在北京。

Happy Easter!

 So I will further explain my last post.  Apparently John McCain came to Beida to lead a roundtable discussion with faculty and students from an association.  Luckily the discussion was being hosted in the building next to my chinese class.  We somehow stumbled outside just about the time he was scheduled to arrive.  It was just so odd because he just arrived in a coach bus, walked out and greeted everyone from the association and then walked into the building.  There was no elaborate security scheme and there were only a dozen people waiting to see him.  My entire Chinese class was able to sneak up right near him with no trouble.  If this was in America, that would have never happened.  It was a really surreal thing.  But honestly, everyday in 中国 (China) is ridiculous.

Anyways, back to my everyday life in China.  Things have quieted down after the big birthday weekend.  I have been just hanging out, going to class and my internship.

Yesterday, I went to the Summer Palace.  It was absolutely beautiful but it was SO crowded!  I went with some of my Chinese friends, after we went out for pizza.  For one of them, it was the first time she had ever had pizza!  

Last weekend, a couple of my friends and I went to the Olympic Stadium.  It was really cool because they let you just walk right onto the turf.  

Other than that I have:

Gotten my hair cut

Went on an adventure to the Beijing International Post Office with my 老师 (teacher).

Had some decent mexican food

Done some shopping at local markets

It is spring time in 北京 (Beijing).  It is absolutely beautiful outside because all the flowers are blooming.  The only issue I have is that I am allergic to the majority of those flowers!  

Oh well, that is what is new for now.  I only have 3 weeks left in Beijing, and then we are going on our 2 week study trip and then 我回美国。(I return to the US)

 

OH CHINA!

a long update is on the way, but i just had to share this

today I was ten feet away from John McCain. 

no lie, he was here on campus at Beida

I have lived in DC for three years and have never ran into anyone famous, but here in China, I freaking almost meet John McCain.

weird isnt it

But no worries Mom, when I saw him I was wearing a t-shirt with a Donkey on it.

Birthday Weekend

I wanted to thank everyone for the birthday wishes, cards, emails and gifts.  I had a terrific birthday and now I am 21!

For the big weekend celebrations, a group of us did some kareoke, went out to a few bars, had an American brunch.  Oddly enough, a boy in my program has the same birthday as me, therefore we shared the festivities.

Also on Saturday my school organized a trip to Cuandixia, an ancient Ming village located 90 km from Beijing.  I got to see the village and hang out with some of my chinese friends that I have not seen in a while!

Then on my actual birthday, I went to my internship.  All the children were so excited and they gave me many presents (alot of oranges, apples and paper decorations).  They also sang me happy birthday in Chinese!  I gave out American candy (Skittles and Starburst) to them as my "party favors".  It was really funny because some of the kids loved it and some of the kids spit it out.  Then my coworker Judy took me out for lunch.  She told me that in China it is a tradition to eat noodles with egg on your birthday.  This signifies good luck and a long life.  I had some noodles and other delicious chinese food.  Then later on that night, a whole group of people went out to dinner, again Chinese food.  Then on Tuesday, my program had a cake for me, which was very sweet.  The rest of the week has been pretty uneventful and I am looking forward to relaxing on the weekend.  I am going to post Birthday/Internship/Cuandixia pictures along with some random pictures of my life in China: