Photos:
Update #3:
April 19- Michelle: Yesterday we went to the Great Wall of China. I asked our trip leader if it would be manageable, and she promised me it would be, but I wasn’t convinced. The idea of walking all the way up an enormous hill, lagging behind and struggling to keep up with the group… Stair after stair after stair left me panting, and I squinted up ahead to see the upright backs of my group mates disappearing up the hill into the distance. I followed, my breaths coming raggedly, but after a while, continuing any further was out of the question. I gripped the handrail with sweaty hands and doubled over, feeling for the first time the heavy weight of my camera bag slung across my body.
It was too much. I had to put down my bag and my water bottle and just breathe, taking shallow breaths and watching more and more of my group members pass me by. Finally, when I was sure that I was the last person left, four of the five adults on the trip were suddenly there.
They waited it out with me as they needed a break too. One teacher took my bag for me and told me to drink some water, then took my water bottle as well once I’d drunk almost half of it. He promised to stay in the back with me for as long as I needed, then waited until I was ready to continue.
So – okay, fine, it wasn’t easy, all the walking. But seeing the view of China from on top of the wall? It was the best feeling in the world.
Update#2:
Guadalupe Hernandez: My experience at the Hutong will definitely be one to remember. When arriving at the airport the entire group gathered around our two Global Works leaders to find out the plan for the day, we were told we would be going to the Hutong, which is were we would get to see an authentic way of living here in China. I was a bit nervous because I thought we would be staying at hotels, I knew they would not be fancy but hearing that we would stay at a hotel was comforting. I was really nervous about the place on the bus ride, and I was very nervous when I was standing at the entrance to the Hutong. There were many narrow passage ways filled with cars and bikes, and the houses seemed very small. All I could do was think, “How we are all going to fit here?” When entering city walls I began to feel much better because there were interesting images to look at, and once I walked in I was astonished. The place inside was so nicely decorated; there were plants, a samurai, a statue of a Buddha and many other decorations. There were also tables and computers which were exciting to see. When we got our rooms assigned I quickly went inside and I was astonished, the beds looked so comfortable especially after such a long trip. After a 12 hour flight, all I wanted to do was lay horizontally. There were also nice decorations in my room such as a butterfly kite and a fish as a decoration. The people there were also very kind and welcoming; the stay at the Hutong was amazing. It was sad to leave. On our way out, Rick—the manager handed us each a beautiful Chinese good luck charm. It will forever remind me of the room that gave me comfort for my first few days in China.
Stephanie Dobosz: This day was all round a breath taking day full of so many different sight seeing places and experiences. However one thing really struck me at the lama temple that we visited. When we first got to the temple I wasn’t sure what to expect because I had never visited one before. Then as we walked around and visited the many different temple areas that Buddhists would come and pray in, I began to really feel something. At one of the temples, I believe it was actually the first one I stepped foot into- I was in awe. It was so beautiful with all the red and gold and silk intertwined into different parts of the body of the Buddha, as there were plates that people had laid unlit incense as an offering to him. I was in there with both Dan and Willy the two Global Works leaders who we have become extremely close to. I saw Dan kneeling and bowing while praying and I felt I wanted to do the same but I was a bit skeptical at first that they would think I was being disrespectful since I am not a Buddhist. But then Willy reassured me that that was not the case, reassuring me that I don’t always have to pray as I was kneeling and bowing- she recommended that I do a small meditation instead. She told me that you always bow to the Buddha three times and then she shared with me something she had been taught before. What you do is you wish that all beings find peace (bow) may all beings find happiness (bow) and may all beings find true harmony (bow). We did it together there in that same temple and it really made me respect her a lot and Melinda and I spoke with her a lot that day especially within the temple about all these different meditation experiences she had had. I thought it was just really amazing to see the people come in and pray to the Buddha because I am a Christian and it was such a different atmosphere and I was truly glad to be able to be a part of it that day. I left the temple in a very calm and stress free mood which really made the rest of my day just that much more special. It was one of many events thus far- that has made me question the things of this world and aspects of myself.
Update # 1: April 16, 17, 18
Dylan- Our first bus ride took us to the Olympic Stadium. It’s located on a really large plaza and surrounded by vendors who want to flood Americans as soon as they make eye contact. In fact, one doesn’t even have to make eye contact. The locals will simply come up and motion that they want to take a picture with a few people from the group or just take out their phone and start snapping away. It’s a little unsettling but, it’s fine. It’s normal and one gets used to it rather quickly. Anyway, we split up into groups and started our scavenger hunt. We had to locate signs, flags, and for bonus points speak to the locals. My group which consisted of Emel, Sydney, and Kenverlyn decided to go after the locals.
We walked up to a lot of people trying to show them our sheet which said in Chinese characters “Do you speak English?” Sometimes we yelled the phonetics out of frustration. Despite all of the attention we got no one came up to us unless they were trying to sell us something. Eventually we did locate a family off to the far left of The Bird’s Nest. A girl about our age spoke English. She told us she learned at school in a province a little ways off. After taking about a dozen pictures with them and telling us about how handsome her brother is, we asked her to sing for us. Hesitatingly she sang the first verse of Beijing’s national anthem and then broke off into a song from a Chinese Opera. It was nice you know. It’s not that she was an amazing singer or anything like that. But, she did it with a lot of pride and her family looked proud of her. Connecting on a level other than eye contact for the first time was extremely satisfying. After the scavenger hunt we headed inside the Olympic stadium. Then came the big announcement. Our group won. We stood on chairs and they gave us Olympic gold medals. They cheered. We raised our arms in accomplishment and smiled. Yeah, life is good.
Melinda- What a day, this morning we woke up to an American meal of toast and eggs, which was a break from all the Chinese food that we’ve been eating. Then following that we walked out of the Hutong, that is basically like a series of alleyways (or in Ms.Stasavage words, old town China consisting of one story buildings) and walked to the bus stop. The bus rides here are always an experience. It is very local, so we see a ton of natives. Anyways, our first event of the day was Tai-Chi. We went to the park that surrounded the temple of heaven. It was beautiful, tons of purple flowers lay in the grass, fairies could have sprouted out of them! It made us want to frolic in them. Our Tai-Chi class was in the center of the large park, but it was sunny and warm so none of us minded. Once we arrived we met the shifu. He was a character. He had side burns stretching almost to the floor and had been practicing Tai-Chi for more than 50 years. The Tai-Chi class itself was physically slow but very fun. We got some awesome pic’s of our Tai-Chi practice too. Then we headed to the temple of heaven which is one of the most amazing structures I have ever seen in my life. It is definitely what I want my house to look like when I grow up. Here we took a group photo on the staircase bordering facing the east side. A small girl came to join the group. She was so cute!
Six hours later, we arrived in China’s form of Times Square. We did other things during the day that I did not mention, but the highlight of my day was definitely here. Sabina, Stephanie and I tried a fried scorpion! We were all hesitant to bite in at first. But with a little water and some courage, we were to choke it down! It didn’t taste like chicken. It was like a salty gusher. It was a proud moment. We have both pictures and video proof! Tai Chi in a field of purple… scorpions on the tip of our tongues—China has opened my eyes and taste buds to many things!
