Adventures in China

Its hard for me to fathom that I was in China only a month ago. It almost feels like a dream when I remember. I think about all the things I got to do and I remember how lucky I was to get to go and experience all of it.

So here is what my dream week in China was like

I left my house at 4 am Thursday June 2nd for the airport. I did not sleep that night so I could somewhat get adjusted to China time, which is 12 hours ahead of us. I got to the Atlanta airport and waited for my 8:30 flight to Seattle Washington. Once I got on that plane I passed out before it even took off and didn't wake up until the plane was getting ready land. I had an 8 hour layover in Seattle. I actually really enjoyed that time in the airport there. Seattle is such a beautiful city and there airport is pretty nice to! there was a huge window that framed snow capped mountains in the distance I sat there and watched the planes taking off and landing from that window all day.

Finally It was time for the flight to Beijing to start boarding.I fly stand by so I had been checking the flights throughout the day. All day there was 13 seats but I tell you as soon as the plane started boarding it was overbooked. They already told all of us were were trying to fly standby that we were not going to get on the plane. But during the boarding there was a man who didn't buy a return ticket back to America they sent him to get a ticket but 10 min before the plane took off he still didn't have a ticket and they would not let him board. Ever since I found out that I wasn't going to get on I was so upset I just kept praying God just one seat please please please. And just as they were getting ready to close the doors they called my name and I got to take that last seat. answered prayers!

I sat next to the sweetest lady going to China. her husband works in China and she was going there to stay for 3 months. She gave me their numbers for China just in case i needed anything while I was there. I slept most of flight to China. We got in to China at around 10 pm there time and 10 am our time. Even though I slept most of the way to China I was still super tired! I got there got my luggage and found Wei and her family after about 30 min my flight arrived earlier than they told us so there were not at the airport when I arrived. It was nearly midnight when we were driving to Wei's house and there was still so much traffic.

The first day we went to Tienanmen Square, Temple of Heaven, and Tienanmen Street. It was my first day in China so I was still taking in everything around me. It was such a different place than America. So many people and so much going on everywhere. there is so much history in China everything is so old there. Its so neat to walk places that even 2 thousand years ago people were roaming around. Tienanmen Square and street were really neat place. on the square the first president of China is buried, well not really buried but his body is there but no one is allowed to go and see it. The street is the big shopping area of china there is a lot of clothing, food and jewelry stores and a lot of the stores are foreign they had an H&M there, It was a lot more expensive than here in America. The Temple of Heaven is the place where the leader of China comes and worships. They do not believe in God but I don't really know what they are worshiping but this place is really big it has lots of gardens and different small temples around the one big one. It was a neat place to see

On the second day we went to a place called Forbidden City. It is a HUGE palace that a king built back in 1406 so its super old. The place has like 3000 rooms. They first king that lived there had lots of concubines so he probably needed that big old mansion. we only went saw half of the place and it took us about 4 hours to do that so i couldn't imagine how long it would have taken to see the entire place! after we left Forbidden City we took a bike tour through Beijing to another famous shopping street. I don't know the name of the street but its famous there. we shopped through there and went to another street like it and ended up at this little lake where people were out on paddle boats it was really neat there were so many people out on the boats and they kept running into each other it was kind of funny. Wei's parents picked us up from there and we went to the Birds nest and water Cube where the 2008 Olympics were being held and then went to eat famous Beijing Duck. It was really yummy! we also had the BEST sweet and sour chicken I have ever had in my entire life.

Every night almost we would watch American Movies. I would be sitting there and almost forget I was in a different country.

Day 3 was a holiday in China called The Dragon Boat Festival. We spent the morning shopping (just because its a holiday in China doesn't mean that the stores close) at 3 or 4 different malls. There malls are completely different than our malls here. If you have ever been to Canal Street In New York City imagine that but in an 6 story building and you have where there malls are like. You can bargain with them and get anything a knock off. It was a really neat experience. We did go to one really nice mall that was similar to ours here. But everything is much more expensive there. After the mall shopping we went to like an antique flea market and I got to get some Chinese Paintings they are really pretty they represent the seasons of the year. after all the shopping we went over to Wei's grandparents house and ate dinner and I got to get to know some of her family. It was a fun day and they were really nice and even thought we couldn't speak the same language we were still able to communicate. One of her cousins did speak English thought and she and I ha

d a chance to talk for an hour or so it was really neat to hear some of her stories

Day 4 we went to a place called The Summer Palace. It is set on a beautiful lake and has some of the most beautiful views from the temples there. It is a huge garden basically that an empress from a long time of go built. She took money that was set aside for building a Chinese Nave with out asking and built this house to vacation to during the summer months. Its a beautiful place it has the longest covered walk way in China. Each beam has its own painting no one beam has the same painting. It also has lots of beautiful gardens through out it. After we went through the entire palace we caught a taxi and went and saw Pirates of the Caribbean 4. It was in English such a neat experience.

Day 5 was the day I looked forward to the most. We went to the Great Wall of China. We got up at 5:30am and left apartment at 6. The wall was about an hour and a half away without traffic. But even thought we got up so early we still sat in traffic for about 2 hours on the way up there. It was seriously like traffic you could get out of your car and walk around. By the time we got there it was like 9:30ish. we spent 2 hours walking the wall. Ah was a amazing experience. This is one place I read about in history books and just always imagined what it would be like to walk on that wall and having the opportunity to actually do that was so awesome. It will be something I will remember for the rest of my life for sure! On the way back I slept most of the way back we got back around 1 and we just rested and watched movies for the rest of the afternoon. That night we went to eat at a restaurant with her moms brother and sister. I ordered a side of rice and then asked for some butter and the people seriously thought I was crazy and actually told Wei that I was weird. It was all really funny to me.

day 6 was my last full day in China. we were originally going an amusement park but Wei called before we left and they told her that the 4 main rides were closed that day so we decided not to go and instead we went to the Zoo and Aquarium. I was really excited about this because I really love Zoo's. The zoo was very different than the ones here in America. The habitats are not kept up with at all I felt sorry for the animals there. Most people know that China is know for pandas so they had a really bid panda exhibit that was neat to see most of the bears were sleeping so we didn't see much. The Aquarium was really pretty it was fairly new and they had a lot of animals. It also had a dolphin show that was actually pretty good. After the zoo and aquarium we went to a store that was basically the equivalent to Walmart here. It was really big and I got lots of different cookies and candies to bring back and then we went out to dinner with her parents and they just hung out and watched movies.

I had such an amazing time. There were a few things that I want to remember from the trip. One thing that was really weird to me was the fact that I was like a celebrity there. Wei explained to me that they don't get to see very many Americans there so when they do it a rarity. I have lots of people wanting to take my picture and have their picture taken with me. Another thing I always want to remember is the time that I got to spend with Wei's cousin she and her husband are doing amazing work there! the last this is just how wonderful her mom and dad were to me. I never expected such wonderful hospitality and they couldn't even understand me!
I could never possible put into words everything I experience in China, But I will have memories that I will treasure forever!

Slacker

I have seriously been a real bad slacker with this here blog. I feel like the past 3 weeks have all been a blur. I have been on two vacations (China and Crusin) that have both been a mark off my list of things I have always wanted to do.

One thing I have seriously noticed lately is the consent tiredness ever since I got back from China I've just been so sleepy. hence the fact I have not put the time to write about my trip to China but I do promise that I will get around to it this week or more than likely next week. I have so much I want to share about my trip It was truly a dream come true. Its almost hard for me to put it into words how amazing and neat it was to be in China.

Well im off for the night have a early morning with two fun kids that I've missed the past few weeks!

I have Returned

It's 3 am here which means its 3 PM in China right now and yep I am wide awake thanks to an unplanned nap from about 4 this afternoon to 1 this morning needless to say tomorrows going to be rough!!

I will have lots and lots of pictures and posts to come from the past week!