有山有水，pandas, weiduomei

With another blink of an eye, we are down to two weeks left! Today at lunch, we were discussing what we will miss most about China, and what we're most looking forward to. Generally, we're going to miss the Chinese prices, but we are also ready for clean air and ice water. Being in China makes you appreciate the simple things in life.

Yesterday, the program took us to Shidu, where we were all prepared to see 山 and 水 (mountains and water, the only two things mentioned when they told us about Shidu) but we also found out a few days ago that there is bungee jumping there. That was my incentive for going, as frightening as the thought of bungee jumping in China is, but unfortunately, the day did not go as planned. First, we hit traffic that turned a two-hour journey into a five hour journey. If I never see a Chinese coach bus again, I will be a happy child. We also did not go to the part of Shidu that had bungee jumping. Granted, it was a beautiful place. We got yelled at several times for failing to notice "no admittance" signs, but managed to find some fun trails to go on. There were a lot of stairs....definitely feeling it today. It's weird that there is such a scenic spot close to Beijing - but the change of scenery was very welcome.Near the end of the day, most of the other people in the programs went with the teachers to the river, where we commandeered a fleet of bamboo rafts. I was glad that I did not have to work the poles as it looked like hard work, but we kept the morale high by singing "I'm on a Boat."
There also was a zipline across the river, but I unfortunately did not get a chance to go across. So Shidu was less exciting than I had hoped, but I still had fun.

On Friday, we also went to the 动物园，the zoo. I love the zoo. At heart, I am a two year old and thus get very excited at the thought of lions and tigers and bears. And as an added bonus, there are pandas at the Beijing zoo. It was deathly hot that day, but a friend dumped ice water on my head which made things better for awhile.

We also went to the market across from the zoo, which was quite the experience. Unlike the Silk Market, which is entirely composed of foreigners, this place was all Chinese people. There was very little bargaining necessary which made shopping much less of a sport.

I also lost my phone...I think I left it in the cab coming back from the zoo. I'm still debating whether or not I should get a new one - surviving without a phone has been an interesting experience that I've grown rather fond of.

Since all of the actual UIBE students are gone for summer vacation now, the campus has slowly been shutting down, but also has gained a lot more foreign students on programs like ours. However the morning breakfast stand, and the East Gate (that we used to frequent to get to restaurants) are both closed. The nearby supermarket also has more empty shelves than stocked shelves. In lieu of the egg tortilla thing, I have been frequenting 味多美, a nearby bakery whose name means "taste more beautiful." The pain au chocolat and baguettes are too delicious - a good portion of my weekly food stipend goes towards this lovely place.

8 weeks goes by so quickly. My goal for the next two weeks is to study less and do more. Before, it was so easy to stay in my air conditioned room and study and say I'll go out and see things later, but we can't do that anymore. My grade can't suffer that much, and really, 经验比成绩重要 （experience is more important than grades).

One more gem of a picture from last night - at Wudaokou Solutions with the Yale 哥们人.
I still have yet to see a lot of the PIB and HBA students - our paths have just not crossed. Hopefully soon!

Datong, Buddhas, Buses and Spain!

It's hard to believe, but we're already done with our first semester! The midterm was not as bad as it could have been, especially considering I nearly fainted on Thursday and was unable to see straight for most of the day, much less study. I was afraid that Li Laoshi wouldn't let me go on the midterm trip to Datong, but luckily iron deficiency isn't a major thing in their books.

中文桌子was amazing on Friday. We went to a nearby 火锅 (hot pot) restaurant where each person had their own individual hot pot. They brought on plates of meats, vegetables, noodles, mushrooms etc but also let you go up to a self-service seasoning bar, that had everything from "salamander" to a very scientific looking "xyli......" (i don't remember exactly). I had my doubts about 火锅 in such hot weather - I usually only have it in the middle of a Minnesota winter - but sitting in front of the 空调 balanced it out nicely.

On Friday night, we were scheduled to leave for the Datong/Pingyao midterm trip at 10:00 and catch the 12:38am overnight hard sleeper train. At 10:00, I was showered and in my pajamas, ready to sleep on whatever bed they gave me, when the laoshi informed us that they bought the tickets for the wrong day....our tickets were for 12:38am on Friday, not Saturday. Instead, they chartered a coach bus to take us to the Shanxi province. We took this coach bus to 长城 a few weeks ago...they are made for people under 5 ft. There was a collective slump in the room, but what could we do?

Thus, we boarded a bus for an 8-hour bus ride on one of the busiest highways at night in Beijing. The Badaling 公路 is frequented by the giant freighter trucks, and thus we got stuck in the worst traffic I have ever seen at my life....at 3 in the morning. It actually got so bad that we turned off the bus. Apparently, it isn't uncommon for drivers to do this and then fall asleep, blocking off yet another lane of traffic.

The first site in Datong was worth the pain, however. We went to the Yungang Grottoes, a series of over 50 caves that house over 51,000 Buddha statues. In my favorite cave, there was a 17 meter high Buddha statue, surrounded by hundreds of smaller statues and carvings. It was really dark in the cave, so it took a while for my eyes to adjust but once they did, it seemed like every time I turned my head, I saw yet another statue or carving. The other caves were all similar, but I was stunned at how intricate and well-preserved most of the caves were. We were also blessed with amazing weather, making the day much more bearable.

The swastika camel at Yungang

The next sight we went to was the Hanging Monastery. In a nutshell, there is a monastery that juts out the side of the mountain. It did not feel safe, and when I slipped I thought that would be my end. But it was extremely cool.

Clearly, safty comes first.

After another 5 hours on the bus, making a total of about 16 hours on a bus in 24 hours, we arrived in Pingyao. This was representative of what I always imagined China to be before I ever came. There were no tall buildings; everything was a small alley and there were red balloon lanterns on most doors. Our hostel was very unique, with extremely Chinese decor. The bathroom was smaller than my closet, which made showering interesting. Also, there was no lack of hot water; rather, it was unbearably hot. I believe I now know what it feels like to pour boiling water on your head.


The sightseeing in Pingyao was less fun. I think a lot of my impressions of a place depend on the weather, and Pingyao was muggy and hot. We were also forced to walk about a mile on the 城墙，or city wall.
We did see an old bank, an old monastery, and an old government building. There was a little bit of time for self-exploration and shopping, then back to our beloved bus to go to Taiyuan and catch the 动车 (fast train) back to Beijing. The train was really nice, it was like the Metro North but much newer and cleaner.

One of the many stray dogs in Datong

I'm glad we got back around 11, because it meant we could go out and watch the 世界杯 final! The game was at 2:30am, but we went out to Sanlitur and fought until we saw the sunlight. I felt outnumbered in my red shirt, surrounded by a sea of orange, but we were the last ones standing!

Well that was the midterm trip!

My blog looks so much better with pictures...it took me way too long to figure out technology. I'll work this week to get past pictures up.