Well, our China trip is wrapping up. It's 11:59pm Saturday night, and we leave sometime on Tuesday. This has been such an awesome, unforgettable experience so far. It's really good to get some perspective on America and our culture by learning about the Chinese and seeing how they live life everyday. Yesterday, we had our final coffee shop encounter/cultural exchange and two of the students turned up today to see Bei Hai Park. This place is close to our hotel, probably a 10 minute drive (in the intense Beijing traffic), really close to the Forbidden City.
The park was pretty sweet. It had a decent sized lake and a hill in the center with an odd shaped monument I believe some Buddhists erected. There were a ton of trees around the lake, mostly weeping willows. First, we climbed to the top of the hill to see the monument up close and personal. Seeing the stairs, the group had terrifying flashbacks of the Great Wall, but after sprinting up the menacing looking stairs, I decided they really didn't compare to the Great Wall's amount of stairs (but still very out of breath).
From their, we stumbled across some "ancient caves." They cost a whole 3 yuan (equivalent to $.44) to enter, and I'd say we got what we paid for (they weren't so ancient or awesome for that matter). After that, we loaded onto two different boats that were definitely the paddle boat's slightly older, but not much more impressive brother. They did not have paddles, but if a paddle boat was going full-steam, I think it would beat ours in a race. Don't get me wrong, it was still famous. Captain Parsons maneuvered our not so seaworthy vessel, and he did well. He almost outran some ducks swimming at a very casual pace. He did a fine job ramming random (and innocent) Chinese paddlers and collided with the other teams boat several times. My first thoughts upon boarding were "bumper boats," so I was very entertained (not like that's very hard).
As the end is nearing, I'm torn between being homesick and really missing people back home and loving Beijing and the people we've met here, not wanting it to be over so soon. It's been so awesome seeing just how far my dad's business stretches. It's really, really awesome to see people that are in the biz here in China and are in it to win it. I think business is booming, too. Another really great part about this trip is getting to know my brothers and sisters much better, seeing as we are almost always together. It's been so cool seeing such a diverse crowd really pull together, despite quite differing personalities. Trust me, it's not any special skill we have that makes this happen. I think comparing us to a body is a pretty strong analogy. I just want to thank everyone who has been thinking about us back in the States, we appreciate it! As things wrap up this weekend, I'm going to try and soak up as much as I can and savor every last bite of this delectable Chinese cuisine.
Signing off,
Phil
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