first 50 hours

so here we are in china. 10:00 p.m.

it's hard to believe that i left only about 48 hours ago and yet we've done so much! the 10-ish hour flight to beijing wasn't so bad, though i think i felt motion sickness for the first time in my life. after the 8th hour, i began to wonder if we were ever really going to land. and with little in my stomach (we weren't sure when you're supposed to eat - and really, air china does not carry good plane food - and i like plane food), i felt compelled to lay my head on the tray table in front of me, clutch my stomach and mumble instructions to myself: "you will not barf, you will not barf, you will not barf." i sat next to jessica, my favorite student on the trip, and she went through all of her teen people and teen vogue and cosmopolitan magazines to give me each and every quiz she had taken while i was sleeping. i'm glad now to know that my theme song is something by avril lavigne, when it comes to dessert, i'm an oatmeal cookie, and that i play it cool when it comes to revealing who i'm crushing on. all very good to know.

anyhow, i have really fallen for this city. i know it's not as "real" an experience as so many of my friends have had, but it's been wonderful. we went to the temple of heaven this morning and it helped me make my mind up to retire in beijing. seriously, where else do you see old women playing hackey sac (sp)? or the dancing or the tai chi? i loved it. it's been gorgeous all day, too, with the sun shining and the temps hovering around 50-55 degrees. we went to tiananmen square afterwards, and then to the forbidden city. i guess i never imagined beijing to feel so OPEN. our tour guides are wonderful - the one from beijing keeps saying beijing is so much better than shanghai, so much more open and green; the one from shanghai keeps saying beijing is so old school and shanghai offers so much more life and atmosphere. i'm sad that our time in beijing will end on wednesday morning so i am making a plan to come back here soon.

this afternoon, we visited with the school year abroad students studying at beijing normal university's affiliated high school. it was incredible. the program director there first came to china when he was 26 and stayed until '91. he came back to madison, wi for 8 years and then has been in beijing ever since. i think you get around people who love something so much and when you're there, you just start to take it all in, you know? and the people are so encouraging! i can't say thank you to save my life (but c'mon, they ALL say it differently), but everyime i try, they say, "yes, yes! you speak chinese so good! you will become fluent" and i think, "okay, yes! i will learn chinese! i can do this! i will do it for you!" they have a way of making you feel like you are very good at everything you do. i like these people :)

so tonight we went to lotus lane with the program director, jeff. the students went to host families' homes for dinner and so we had a quiet moment with just the chaperones and jeff. our meal was delicious - i am enjoying chinese food much more than i thought i would (although the tea does smell like band-aids. i'm trying to get over it by drinking lots and lots of it, but the initial smell is quite a bit to take in). all the kids are using "bu yao" (don't want any) which has come in quite handy. they've literally been chased through the streets by vendors offering dragon statues and postcard booklets, t-shirts and rolexes). they're bargaining pretty well and the tour guides are giving them tips on what they SHOULD be paying. i have yet to get anything (i've never been big on knick knacks), but plan to do some serious shopping in shanghai.

tomorrow is the great wall, the ming tombs, the peking roast duck dinner, the opera, and a karaoke bar to finish off the night. can't wait! this morning, miracle (our beijing-born tour guide) gave us a preview with her version of a backstreet boys song. i can't wait for our kids to get up there - ha!

okay, all for now. hope to write more later. in the meantime, someone look up ticket prices for a visit to china this summer ... who's in?