Wow. Getting to Beijing was quite the adventure. We were planning to be there for a week, booked our hostel, then went to book our train. Little did we know that it was the Chinese National Holiday and EVERYTHING was already booked. There were no sleeper trains, buses or light rails. NOTHING was available. We thought we were going to have to cancel our trip until miraculously one of the Chinese teachers found us a "sleeper bus" that was leaving from some obscure town about three hours away. So after a light rail trip to get to this town we get to the bus station... and then we see it. The bus. Lets just say... there is a REASON that there were 20 available tickets on this bus. It was most definitely not the "Taj Mahal" of sleeper buses. For example: One of the windows next to the bottom bunks was filled half way up with moldy water. As the bus would come to a stop it would slosh around. It was actually kind of calming after you got used to the smell. We sang a couple verses of, "We all live in a yellow submarine," and then let it lull us to sleep. Haha. Oh you gotta love China!
Twenty eight hours and many bug bites later we arrived in Beijing! There was so much to see and only very little time to see it in. Among the many places we visited were Tienaman Square, The Great Wall, The Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, The Olympic Stadium, Jade Palace, 798 Art District, the Antique Statue Market and Hao Hai Lake. The 798 art district was SO awesome! The whole neighborhood was just dedicated to art. They had both modern and traditional chinese art featured. A man asked if he could do a sketch of me on the street. It was one of the COOLEST memories of Beijing. I had never done anything like it before. I was sitting there. Staring at this old chinese man as he hurriedly sketches me. My favorite was his smile. I kept not knowing what to do with my face so I swear I moved a hundred times. He kept motioning for me to look him in the eyes. Normally looking straight into a strangers eyes would be slightly uncomfortable. But this man, he just had such warmth and sincerity in his eyes. He was the sweetest man ever! I love him! We listened to some good street music that night too. There is just always SO much going on in Beijing! If any of you ever visit in the future. You need to at least set aside a month. No less!
I could go on for hours about any ONE of the places we visited. They were all amazing experiences with great historical significance. I feel like I learned so much on this trip. But instead... I will just talk about my favorite place. It is called Jiangshan Park and it is right across the street from the Forbidden city. We showed up early in the morning and when we walked in we were surrounded by lush green trees and large pots filled with water lilies. As we walked throughout the park we found groups of old men and women doing Tai Chi or Chinese traditional dancing. We spent our time enjoying the scenery and walking throughout the park listening to people play the duxianqin. In the center of the park there was a beautiful temple that looked out over the city. We climbed up the steps to get to the top and spent our time up there taking pictures and whatnot. It was GORGEOUS! Those are my favorite moments. The simple ones. The moments where you look out, up, or around and realize... I have never seen anything like this in my life before. Wow. I hope I never forget the things I have seen here. 
To sum it all up... I had a fabulous time in Beijing. But I am happy to be back home in Changzhou. I am glad I had the opportunity to go see all these amazing things. But the longer I stay here, the more I realize the things that I love about China. I don't need to be at some tourist site to see the things I love about China. I love that they do Tai Chi in the streets and that the kids run around with slits in their pants. I love that chinese men are humming everywhere they go. I love the way they drive. I love the way they talk. I love their rotten teeth. I know I sound like a broken record but... I love everything about China! I just do. Its as simple as that. I am continually grateful for this opportunity. It is so humbling and exhilarating all at the same time. So I am happy to be back in Changzhou. Vacation is exhausting and it is nice to be back with my people. Back with my kids that I teach and the friends that I have made here.
I apologize for not writing so much lately. Things have been crazy busy. But know that I love you all and you are in my thoughts and prayers!
