The weekend!

Here we all are in Tianamen square...
Dear Chairman Mao,
Hi from America.
Me in the Forbidden City.
Me on the great wall!

A secret little park area right off of the great wall.. I found a great tree to sit and think about many things. I love this photo because it looks a bit fantasy-like.


pre.s. I wrote this before Katie. (Just decided to post it later)

What I and the majority of my group did/where we went this past weekend:

- Karaoke
- Tianemen Square
- Mao's Mausoleum
- Imperial Palace - aka The Forbidden City
- Summer Garden
- Beijing Opera - Jinju
- Great Wall of China

*SIDE COMMENT*
(Katie is right now trying to copyright the list. Unfortunately she has no proof as one can change the log times of this post. She actually copied this list because she couldn't think of anything better to write about, and as I am super kind I will not ask her for any money and will give her rights to publish on the Internet in her blog as well.)
*SIDE COMMENT OFF*

This list is quite insane! And I mean that in the best of ways. Unfortunately given the time span it really left us exhausted. I would have liked to see the Beijing trip stretch out, but no more complaints, just wonderful descriptions now!

Karaoke.

Alright, well our funny volunteer decided to hang out with us today after Katie called him up begging for a local tour and a local to help with bank issues. Almost everyone in the group and my language partner go to this restaurant that my language partner describes as an exhibition of stones. Well it was like that, and I have no idea of how to describe the place better. Afterwards as we walked back towards Nankai we saw a place called Harbor Club. We all became excited. We rushed back. We showered, we dressed, we went outside and we were soaked to the core. It was pouring, it was not looking good, and it was hard to find a taxi. After running around I find a cab and we take off, half complaining and wondering if we should turn around. When we arrive tons of people bow and welcome us. They take us to this shady elevator, stop at the wrong floor - stare at us and say, "wrong floor. please wait." We are perplexed, but we continue and get off at the proper floor and then are shown a Karaoke room!?!
Well it was expensive, but it was a lot of fun. We all got free fruit and free drinks and sang till the early morning when we forced ourselves to return and were off to Beijing at 6 AM!

- Tianamen Square

The first place we went. Didn't feel that special, but it was interesting to hear the story behind the square and when I knew a little bit of the background about the people that led protests there and all... Other than that, we saw a lot of Americans and foreigners. First time in a long time.

- Mao's Mausoleum
We saw a dead guy named Mao Zedong. He looked pretty well preserved, a little bit like plastic though. None of the guards smiled at me when I tried to give them a big grin. Eh, it was interesting though to see the first "President" of China and some people kowtowing to him.

- Imperial Palace - aka The Forbidden City
MASSIVE. The place was humongous. I was simply shocked at how big the palace / jail as Katie might put it was. However, it looks just like every other place... So I am glad I went, but it makes me wonder if anything is really different here or if tradition/standard convention just takes precedence.

- Summer Garden
There was a big lake there. It was pretty, reminded me of DC a bit. We learned how one of the rulers was supposed to use money to build a fleet, but instead built the palace, as such they lost a big battle.

- Beijing Opera - Jinju
Before going to the Opera I was able to see my friend Q, I will post pictures when the computer works better... But it was a short visit unfortunately, but nice nonetheless. I then went in to see the Jinju, which was fabulous, I wished I could have dressed up in a fancy tux though and treated it like a typical opera in America!

- Great Wall of China
MASSIVE wall. We joked around a lot about the Mongolians coming, and I tried to scare some children on the wall... didn't work too well...
Some guy tried to sucker me into buying a plaque for 200 Kuai saying that I climed 888 m of the great wall. I bought it though for 20. I never imagined the great wall would be so steep in some areas. In the end I also happened to find this resting place that was pretty neat.


Oh yeah, I forgot to mention my language partner's name, Tao Xiao Yue. It's hard for me to pronounce. :-( My name is just a little easier for her...