The Great Wall was Great!

Our last day of school was Friday, and Saturday morning at 4am we were up and ready for our flight to Beijing. We were SOOO excited!

After an hour and a half on the plane, Zac and I arrived in Beijing. The taxi driver outside the airport approached us and said the drive to my friend Jon’s apartment would be 500 RMB. I almost paid this but thought it steep, so I called Jon to double check and he laughed and told me it would be anywhere from 70-150 RMB. So I grabbed another taxi and we met Jon and promptly got McDonalds – Zac and I were starving!

The three of us then did something supremely exciting – we took the bus about 3 hours North East of Beijing to a tiny little village where we slept in an adorable hostel right next to the Wall. In fact, the hostel has a part of the Wall as part of the hostel itself, and after a 5 minute walk through this adorable village street, we were on the Wall itself!

We got there late Saturday night and seconds after our taxi dropped us off a couple of other guys arrived – Canadians from Ottawa on vacation. I decided I couldn’t wait until morning to set foot on the wall, and the five of us went to the “Small Wall” – a little part of the wall still intact. It was dark and at times dangerous and narrow, but we did it and I loved it. Jon brought out some moon cake and we all had some on the wall on the eve of Moon Festival. It was pretty awesome J

The next morning the five of us set out after breakfast (noodles, just like they do it here) and went on the longer trail – the Sleeping Dragon. It was AMAZING. We set out about 10 am and arrived after a day on the wall at 4 pm. Zac did great hiking for a full day! The views were absolutely spectacular – the most amazing I’ve ever seen in my life.

That night we had dinner and chatted with all the other travellers. There were men from Holland, a couple from France with their baby (living in Beijing), a woman from South Africa (living close to Beijing for the year) and a couple from Germany. The next day we met a couple from the UK and US, as well as a bunch of others. We really enjoyed meeting so many different people from so many different places!

The next day we got up at sunset to watch the sunrise from the Wall itself. It was incredibly beautiful and just such an amazing opportunity! After a delicious breakfast we had some time to hike up the Crouching Tiger (in the opposite direction) before leaving to go back to the city. It was a totally different hike and it was really amazing to get the experience of doing so many different hikes at so many different times of day, away from the tourist-packed areas of the wall. The nature was incredible, the scenery was amazing, the company was awesome, the walks were fantastic - we loved everything about it :) 

...And, We're Back!

As some of you may know, we have been having some truly annoying internet issues. Apparently, this is common in China. So awesome!

The two main points on my mind:

Butter. Do you really appreciate how good it tastes every single time you take a bite out of that toast? I bet you don't. Imagine if butter were taken from you. What a travesty! So much delicious bread from so many delicious bakeries, and no butter?! The horror.

But then imagine that after over a month of this reality, you discover butter, in the foreign aisle at a grocery store far far away. The cab costs? No matter. WE HAVE BUTTER!!! And it tastes soooo good.

Fish. Now I like fish as much of the next person, and have had fish on many occasions. I'm not a fan of fish that tastes like fish, but fish often doesn't and that works for me.

But now imagine yourself after a long day where lunch only allowed you to either eat or run to the bathroom, and you chose the latter and starved your way through the day. You're helping a student who is munching happily on her snack and, as so often happens here, offers you a "treat."

You see where this is going. It was dried fish. Salty, dried, fish. And I politely chewed and chewed and chewed (and chewed) until I swallowed every last delicious morsel. Apparently this is also common. It's the stuff in the plastic bags I always avoid at the store because it looks scary.

I swear they just have different taste buds over here. I asked some students in the cafeteria once to direct me to the most "delicious" drink. Do you know what it was? Not the coconut juice, the orange juice, or the milk tea. No, it was the lima bean juice. Yes, that's right. My students laughed at the expression on my face. I told them I prefer my lima beans on my dinner plate so I know what to expect! It's like the time Zac's babysitter spit out the jelly beans we brought over from Canada. Seriously?! I don't understand.

Anyways, I know I am suer behind with posts and I come back after ages and tell you about fish, lima beans and butter, but until you live in China, you don't understand how much the little things matter! :)

I'll be back soon to tell you about our amazing week in Beijing. For now, Zac and I are doing great. He attends a club after school every day (soccer, art, bingo and choir) and I am kindof working a ridiculous amount but I really do enjoy my students. I just discovered an amazing grocery store nearby and am getting more comfortable with what to buy, what to avoid, and how to cook (that was always a problem though!).

We celebrated Halloween at the high school today and Zac's school came by to trick or treat (their party is on the 31st). We dropped by the party and hung out with the other teachers and students for a bit, and I am now ready for bed! I don't care if Zac's bedtime is in another hour :P

Hope everyone is well! We hope to chat more now that the net is up and running. Cross your fingers that it lasts!