Taiwan: Chinatown Island

Remember how I wrote about Christmas in China last year? It’s a little déjà vu-ey to be writing about being back in China over my winter break again, especially when I didn’t think I would be. (More on that later.) A little bit of Chinese history, to get us started. Before the 17th century, it was mainly inhabited by Chinese aborigines, so it’s got a bit of history all its own. However, in the 20th century Taiwan changed: it was relatively unaffected by the political movements of the Communist Revolution, but it received a lot of the Chinese that decided to move out. In fact, it is actually free from communist rule. If you visit Taiwan today, you’ll find a lot of ‘traditional’ Chinese culture that was brought over and preserved. They were allowed freedom, in a sense, to do their thing without a government and rule in flux. Kinda like an island of Chinatown, minus the fortune cookies, and plus 100% authentic food… Chinatown Island? Well, it’s not that simple. There is still a tension between mainland China and the islands of Taiwan, and if you’re a history buff like me, go read more about it yourself! However, for my purposes right now, Taiwan will be very much like China and Taiwan is one island. My point is, Taiwan has preserved some traditions of China in different ways. This is fantastic for: the language, the sights, and (of course) the food. Disclaimer: while very Chinese, Taiwan also has a Japanese influence – see Taiwan history for why that is. Don’t worry: it’s not too much, just enough for you to get Japanese translations and eat good sushi at the Night Market. 😉

Now for a little geography! Taiwan is on the map for the Ring of Fire – that is, riding along the tectonic plates that continually rub against each other, creating mountains and valleys (depending on how they rub). For Taiwan, that has resulted in beautiful mountain ranges. Yesterday, I went and saw some. They are GORGEOUS. Yes, the water really is that color!

While I have been to mountainous areas of China, I could never seem to create in my mind the depictions of mountain ranges that Chinese paintings do. Going here helped me fill in the gaps.The pictures don’t do these views justice. I wish you could see these for yourself, they really are amazing!

You might be wondering: “What are you doing in Taiwan?” Well, you probably aren’t. But just in case you were, I’m here with my mom for 5 days as a part of her 50th birthday present. My dad flies a lot for his job, and as a result, he has a lot of air miles that he can use for other trips. He allowed my mom to choose one destination and one person to go on a trip with her, as a birthday present (husband goals!). My mom said she wanted to go to Taiwan, with me. Woo hoo! After I heard the news, I figured: if we’re going on a trip all the way out to Taiwan, why don’t we make a stop along the way and make a long layover? So with a little sweet talk, we’re also going to Rome for 5 days – which I’m sure will be amazing. Yup, I am traveling a LOT! Honestly, I’m pretty proud of myself for surviving more than 24 hours of travel, so I’ll write something about that eventually. Regardless, I still have 3 days in Taiwan (AKA Chinatown Island)! I feel very privileged and blessed to be here, and I can’t wait to see what the rest of my trip has in store. I’ll make sure to keep you posted!

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound and all that is in it -Psalm 96:11

Winter China 2: The tropical land of China

I left off last time at leaving the cold, freezing-my-butt-off mountains of Yunnan. We left there for… wait for it… XiShuangBanNa – A.K.A. the tropical land of China! A little about the area: it borders the country of Laos, it’s a big tourist attraction, and has palm trees and sun year-round. Pretty much the opposite of where we just came from!

Plenty of palm trees, and houses that are built on top of poles to allow animals to live underneath.

We moved into our hotel on the 22nd. We were definitely happy to be there! On the 24th (Christmas Eve and my dad’s birthday), we did whatever my dad decided he wanted to do – which was rent bikes, bike to a hot springs, and eat at his new favorite café, MeiMei Café. The rest of us were happy to oblige, as MeiMei’s suited everyone’s taste. Western food is not hard to find in China these days, but good coffee and Belgian chocolate is, and MeiMei had all of the above. Of course we had to have a birthday celebration, which we kept rather low-key: a candle on the cheesecake he ordered delivered to the tune of the ‘Happy Birthday’ song. After we got home, we gave a couple presents. Of course, the presents didn’t end there as tomorrow would be Christmas.

As you can probably guess, Christmas spent abroad in a tropical place is a bit unorthodox, to say the least. (No chance for a white Christmas, for starters!) Don’t worry, the hotel had a massive Christmas tree with a ton of depictions of Santa Claus. To make sure that we had enough Christmas spirit, I brought a couple ‘spirited’ elements: a Santa hat, light-up necklace, and Santa bobble-headband, all from the Dollar Store. We put the presents on the bed, and opened them as we usually do: we go around in a circle, each person choosing then opening one present at a time. It was… different. But still good, because the entire family had been reunited after six months apart. We spent most of Christmas day at a botanical forest, seeing plants that are hard to believe even exist, and then at an highly-sexualized minority group performance that we decided we’d leave. So although location definitely helps with the nostalgia and traditional homey feelings, location doesn’t determine who the family is. You can’t chose your family, but you can chose to love and have fun with them. I’m just glad I have a family that’s easy (most of the time!) to have fun with. 🙂

After XiShuangBanNa, we knew we were headed to my mom’s hometown in the Jiangsu province (she is Chinese and originally from that area), but we didn’t know we were just rolling in without a plan. Definitely an experience and adventure. More to come!

“A happy family is but an earlier heaven.” -George Bernard Shaw

Winter China 1: Yunnan, or Real China

You may have heard that I went to China over my winter break (and I’m just now writing about it. Without the weekly update requirement like I had at NDFH, it’s easier for me to slack off! Plus, I didn’t have my computer with me half the time, which doesn’t help anything.) China isn’t a top winter destination – especially considering the big sights are absolutely freezing this time of year. My family and I went because my brother, Jon, is doing his senior year of high school abroad in Beijing (the big city outside of which I was at this summer), and we wanted to spend Christmas with him. So we did. Not everything went as planned, though…

After taking my last final exam at school on Thursday, 12/18, I finished packing and a lot of other last-minute things before I got on a plane – a direct flight headed to the Beijing airport. I flew Hainan Airlines there, which was alright except literally everyone was 100% Chinese… let’s leave it there and just say they don’t especially cater towards non-Chinese people. I arrived in the evening. From there, I took a taxi to the serviced apartment that my family was staying in. (A serviced apartment is half-hotel, half-apartment – you pay rent and then you can come whenever you want and they’ll clean for you if you like. Pretty sweet deal!) The rest of my family had gotten in a few days earlier, because my two younger brothers don’t have final exams. Anyways, a little after I arrived and found the apartment, the rest of my family came back from an event at Jon’s school. Lots of hugs ‘n stuff. Well, all I unpacked was my pajamas, because the whole family was hopping on a plane the next day.

The plane was headed to KunMing, the capital of YunNan province, which is in southwestern-most China. Don’t be deceived by the ‘south’, though – dependent on where you go, it can still be very cold. We were headed to Wenzong, my parents’ missionary friend’s, village. His village is in the remote mountains of YunNan. We hadn’t been to the village in some time, and since Wenzong is good friends with my family, we wanted to see how he was doing too. Some friends came with us, wanting to spend some time learning in a very different version of China.

Shanghai

One of the things that I’ve started learning about is that China has changed so fast. Not even 100 years ago, Chinese men were wearing the half-shaved head braid and being ruled by emperors. We went on a lot of walks – looking around, visiting homes in the village or going on hikes – and Jon and I got to talk a lot. We talked about all sorts of things, but we also talked about China’s strange-but-true history – the crazy Cultural Revolution, the changes, how Western cultures often overlook China’s history, and now everyone’s shocked that China’s economy is going to overtake America’s in just a few years. Quite honestly, I don’t know that much about Chinese history. Jon has been learning a lot of it in his classes, so he shared with me about the Long March, the Cultural Revolution, and how is was so, well, revolutionizing. I realized that it was not simply a cultural, but more like an Every-aspect-of-life Revolution. We later brainstormed up an idea – that one summer when we’re both in college, we should go on a two-month-long or so trip to China, taking the public transportation to just about everywhere, and exploring real China – finding China for what it really is. As we talked about this, we walked by mountains and small cement-if-you’re-lucky houses, on the main road that had just recently been paved, in a village that had just gotten running water. This was real China.

We spent a total of three days in Wenzong’s village. Meals were simple, and life wasn’t complicated. My parents had thought spending Christmas in the village would be nice, since it came very close to what the first Christmas had been like: in a barn, with animals, without the glamour that we put on it today. The one thing was that it was so. dang. cold. Every day we put on all the layers we could fit under the biggest jacket we brought. It was below freezing, all the time. Staying inside wasn’t any better, because there were no heating systems. Radiators weren’t great either, since you could only feel any of its warmth when you were right over it. My first night, I was shivering because I had thought my normal pajamas would be okay – I would have to put on socks, long sleeves, with three blankets covering even the top of my head, to be okay. The entire time was below freezing. People around me lived in these conditions, though, so it is humanly possible to live like this. Sometimes I appreciate being in places like this, because it makes me appreciate where the Chinese have been, and where they’re coming from. Sometimes I feel like I’m not getting the whole China experience when I’m staying at a Marriott and drinking apple juice with breakfast. I feel a bit cheated of my China experience, because I know my experiences don’t align with so many of the Chinese people’s. This time in the village, though, definitely came much closer to that experience.

The teachers at the school that Wenzong had started were interim teachers – they would probably only stay for a couple years. We got to see class in session, and take a group photo. One girl had the same Chinese name as me! After three days, it still wasn’t Christmas, but we so cold that my parents decided they’d spent enough time in the village, and our friends agreed.  My youngest two brothers, Peter and James, got the chance to herd goats and ‘be farmers’ with some nice villagers for an entire afternoon. At dinner that night Peter told us about their day, adding that the goats would need them tomorrow. My dad told us about XiShuangBanNa – a county in the ‘state’ of YunNan, if you will. Oh, and it’s tropical and warm. “The goats really need me tomorrow – wait, good thing I brought my swimsuit!” – in the same sentence, Peter had totally changed gears. We were fine with that. We were going to XiShuangBanNa the next day, and we prepared ourselves for anything warmer than what we felt at the moment. Sometimes I’m glad that China’s westernized, but I’m thankful I got to experience ‘real China’, at least for a few days.

 

(Note: It is with great sadness that I write about the one tragedy of my China trip: my phone, forgotten in a taxi ride. Just so you know, the pictures that I have of China are not my own – they’re going to be from someone else. 😦 )

Margaret’s Grand Adventure

“Margaret’s Grand Adventure” – maybe that can be the title of my autobiography, the one that I’m not currently writing! What makes it grand, or an adventure? Well, let me give you some stories from recent memory to showcase it, and then give you some ‘bucket list’ ideas to make this fabulous adventure even more grand.

1. Margaret’s grand academic adventure: I have an exam tomorrow for my philosophy class (it’s a required course, or else I wouldn’t consider it!), which I am quite nervous for, but I’m hoping – and studying – for the best. I also had a writing assignment due and an exam to take for my math class within the last week, and an upcoming midterm exam. So academically speaking, I’m definitely keeping busy. I am also

2. Margaret’s grand baby-holding adventure: Ever since I left ND, I missed babies. Being around babies for several hours ever day was something that I loved, but that had to end. I looked for something that I could do to keep this going, because as an early childhood education major, it’s not impossible! I applied for and was offered a MOPS babysitter job: for several hours on specified Thursdays, you watch young kids (infant to preschool age) for their mothers, who meet for a mothers’ support group. You get paid, too! That’s only a cherry on the top to the fact that I am in the youngest age group, and I get to hold those babies – and they are just precious. I still miss the China ones, but these little guys are definitely worth my time.

3. Margaret’s grand social life adventure: Oh, Margaret. To sum it all up in two words: awkward and complicated. Some things I don’t think I’ll ever understand…

4. Margaret’s grand China adventure: Oh, I already went to China this summer, sure. But… did you know that I’m going back in December? Didn’t think so. December 18, after my last final exam, I’m headed for the motherland. The tickets have been booked! Not for kicks and giggles – not even babies – but for family. My brother is doing his senior year of high school abroad in Beijing, and instead of going home for Thanksgiving, my family and I are all going to China for Christmas. That should be interesting to write about! 🙂 I’ll have to keep you posted. But, on a more recent note, I learned so much in China that I had to continue it here in America. For instance, ASL (American Sign Language). I learned a good deal from Chloe, but I didn’t want to lose what I had learned and I definitely wanted to keep learning. So the natural thing to do would be, of course, to join the ASL club at my school! We get together for dinner on Mondays. It’s fun.

Margaret’s Grand Bucket List

On another note, did I ever mention I had a bucket list of sorts? Well, in China I made a ‘dreams list’, consisting of dreams I have for my future. Here’s a few of them:

• Get and stay married
• Go skydiving
• Travel to England
• Become a teacher in a US public school within one year of graduation (from university)
• Run a half-marathon (13.1 miles)
• Get my drivers’ license
• Swim with dolphins
• Keep in touch with Summer Staff after we leave (Summer Staff from this summer)
• Meet up with at least one China friend outside of China
• Name an incoming child to NDFH

I suppose one of these dreams have already come true – I have been keeping in pretty good touch with Chloe. In fact, we had a Skype call the other day! I’m also running a 5K race on Sunday. At present, 2.5 miles is still my comfort zone. …baby steps!

To end it on a completely different note, here is a beautiful picture of a tree on the campus of my university – in fact, right outside of my dorm! I love how it has all the colors of fall: brilliant red, orange, a bit of yellow, and still green too! A New England autumn is one of the most beautiful things I know.

China 9: Final Thoughts

Well, I’m not typing any of this in China. I arrived back in the US of A on Saturday evening, and now that it’s Wednesday I figured I should write something on concluding thoughts for my China trip.

It’s not my first trip to China, and it’s definitely not my last – same with the organization I worked with. But this trip was special in its own way: I met people, I did things, that all left an impression on me. For starters, the people: I have always visited ND with my family – not a bad thing, but if you’re with people you’ve been with your entire life, it isn’t a terribly new experience. Coming to ND by myself, on my own, was very different and I loved it. One of the things I really appreciated about ND was their emphasis on community. They really encouraged a community feel among the workers and staff there, which really enriched the experience. Have you ever enjoyed working with people you talked with on an as-needed basis? I loved being with really great people, and not Americans either – Ireland and England joined the party too. Secondly, the things I did there at ND were different than what I had done in previous years. I taught my own class (!!!), and assisted in teaching another class. Teaching both special needs kindergarten and middle schoolers both gave me confirmation: regular early childhood education is where I want to be. I loved both classes, but they were not something I would want to do long-term. Still, I have a lot more respect for middle school and special ed teachers.

I have been blessed by the opportunity to travel to China again, on my own, meet so many fantastic people, and grow in so many ways. I am encouraged to see so much of God’s work being done through this organization, and through the willing, faithful, dreaming people working there. They inspire you – the children and the staff – to search into the faith from which they draw so much strength from, the simple love that they share, the community bond – and above all, the joy despite the circumstances they were put in. Which goes into my next point: their circumstances have become testimonies to God’s power and work. God’s will has been done through these people, and the difficult times have only brought a bigger testament to what God can do.

China is more than just my heritage; it is a culture and a place I’ve had the privilege of growing up in, and now returning to. As I eat the food, experience the subway system, learn the language, I’m just getting a taste (sometimes literally!) of the God’s Kingdom that is so much bigger than I comprehend. I am excited for what’s ahead, not just for what I’m going to learn when school starts up again in a few weeks, but for God’s will in my life – wherever that will take me.

Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we ask or think. Glory to Him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations, forever and ever! Amen. -Ephesians 3:20-21, NLT

China 7: Friday!

IT’S FRIDAY! (finally!) yay 🙂

Sam left on Tuesday. We were all very sad. We took a few group selfies, though, which ended up being great – and my new background on my phone. It’s great, but our group isn’t the same without him – like when KK and Emily left, our group will carry on but it just isn’t the same! I’ll put the good selfie up, so that I won’t get scolded later.

 

Today is May’s birthday. We had a little celebration – May had brought cake mix, along with a lot of other American food, with her to China, so she gave us a box with other supplies (candles, icing, etc.) to make for her. We went out to eat at the nice restaurant without a kitchen (around here, we name restaurants and local places by some description, because who can read their Chinese name?) After the cake, I washed the dishes. Everyone else is watching a movie now, but I’m going to shower, watch an episode of Friends, and get to sleep early!

This week was really tiring. The backyard school has worn me out – the kids are generally wonderful, but it takes a tough kind of love to work with them: harsh enough to scold, but soft enough to praise, love and play. However, the assistant teachers have just been on the tough side, so it’s hard being the only one praising the kids. I still love it there, though! They always bring a smile to my face, ever day. Since I haven’t been getting enough sleep these past few days, I’ve just been wiped, and I’m incredibly glad it’s Friday. Also, we just wrapped up the second week of English Camp – a camp where selected middle schoolers come to improve their English. Us four teachers (Chloe, Abbie, Thomas, and me) divided into two classes of seven each. Thomas and I took the lower-level class, and they have a long way to go. Unfortunately, only about four of the seven kids show up every day. We joke that they have a plan going where people take turns coming to class so there are always four students there. It’s frustrating, but the small class size is good to work with. There are a few kids who come every day, and their English has improved tremendously. Those who pop in twice a week, we can now see the difference. As for myself, I can safely say that my English has really improved since I started English camp. (wait for sarcasm to set in…) I’m encouraged, however, that they said they would miss us on Monday when we will be gone. (Gone on a secret surprise-adventure, overnight excursion!)

Anyways, I’m glad it’s Friday. It’s funny, I haven’t gone to bed after 11PM. I usually go to sleep around or after that time at home/school! I would never dream of such a thing here; I need eight hours, at least. Speaking of which, I should get on that now. 🙂

China 5: Wait, already?

We just closed in on our fourth week. Fourth. There are only two weeks left, and those can’t be legitimate, since Sam, Emma, and Thomas (and Greta too, I think) are leaving throughout those two weeks. My time has been so incredible; I can’t believe we’re getting closer to the end.

An update on the haircut: after I took a shower, everything went flat. Shoot. The guy who did my hair volumized it, blew it up, and made it awesome. I don’t own a hairdryer or many fancy hair accessories, so I borrowed a straightener and made it look as good as I could. Darn. Well, when I get home, I’ll have to get some nice volumizing shampoo and cross my fingers it works.

The Backyard School has been going alright, but it sucks a lot of my energy. Sometimes I just go day-by-day, planning it out as I go, but I try to make a plan (unit, if you will) for the week and go by that. For example, last week we did body parts/recognition and sensory. This week, we’re going numbers. I’m trying to keep it relatively broad 🙂

Anyways, it’s going to be a sad day when people start leaving, but until then… I’m trying to make the most of my time!

China 4: The China Chop

Saturday was a pretty chill day – we had to run an ‘English corner’ – a community English learning class, geared mainly towards middle school students. Generally, though, Saturday was a lot of relaxing, talking, and doing whatever. Sunday, a couple of us went to church in Beijing and I met my dad there. After the service, we went out to lunch at an Italian place (the best western food I’ve had here!), and then I left my friends with pops… to get a facial and massage! I was in pain for half the massage because I had so many knots, but it was worth it. I feel great now!

Backyard School has been going pretty well. On Monday I had my best day ever. Caitlin absolutely loved me and was so cooperative all of today! Well, she was a bit fussy going inside at the end of the day. But besides that, she was fantastic. Susie was energetic and happy to be there. Lily was more her normal self, but still – one feeds off the high energy of everyone else.

Tuesday, the streak continued. We pulled out the shaving cream, too. One of the things I’m learning as an educator is you should never take yourself too seriously. If something goes wrong or doesn’t work out, it’s probably not your fault, and there will be other opportunities to try again. Also, making a mess is no big deal. It’s just cleaning up afterwards that will be a hassle – but enjoy the moment. And we loved those moments with the shaving cream. It’s a sensory activity. We also drew circles and traced our hands – I’m trying to build body awareness this week.

The China chop, you ask? Well, I just chopped off a TON of my hair. I was originally going to cut my hair right before I went back to school, back in America, and donate it to Locks of Love. However, it was getting crazy hot over here, so I figured, why wait? I asked others’ opinions on it and they said go for it. Sam went with me, and got a fade on the sides and a bit of a swoop – so now he fits right in with the rest of the hip Chinese guys. (…Never mind that he’s 6’3) We went to a place that charged 15kuai – that’s less than 3 US dollars – for an adult haircut. All my haircuts in recent memory have been far above $15! Chloe came with me and I held her hand. I was a little anxious, I admit. Hearing a huge snick-snack after years of growing that hair out makes me a little uneasy, for some reason. Now it looks just dandy. There’s not quite so much to run my fingers through… but a lot less maintenance, so that’s good. Plus, I’m hoping I’ll be a lot cooler now that all that hair is out of the way. If that’s possible, because the heat/humidity combination is outrageous, and a big snip probably won’t do the job.

You could say I’m Mulan.

PS: In my last post I totally forgot to mention that there are some people who we still miss dearly! Last I mentioned them, KK and Emily (part of the summer staff) had to go to the embassy because of visa issues. Well, it ended up being that they had to go back to America. Sad day! We carry on, but wish they were here! KK had this thing called ‘pillow talk’ – basically girl talk before bed, on pillows, and we joked recently that it would be funny if she had her own radio talk show.

 

China 3: this is an update

Over the past couple days, I haven’t been able to keep up my blogging very well. Crazy busy! That first full week (that week I could blog a lot), I didn’t work much – I hadn’t been assigned anything. Now that I have an assignment, I have much less free time. As much as I would like to have time to write, I have things to do that are worth writing about. Because this is an update with a whole bunch of random stuff and I finished it pretty late, I don’t have time or energy to come up with a quirky title. So hence the title.

My assignment is twofold: in the mornings, I teach in the ‘backyard school’. ND has a preschool, but for older kids who have graduated in age and ability, the backyard school caters to their needs. So, it’s basically the equivalent of a kindergarten. Except it has three students. For someone who is teaching for the first time (AKA me), this is a great learning opportunity! Then the ‘handing off of the baton’ transition period got expedited as the Chinese teacher who was supposed to be in the classroom the whole time turned out to be on vacation. Well, it is what it is… but I’ve found that I can plan lessons/activities much faster than I thought I could! Still, though… even though I have three kids, they suck out all my energy. I take naps, every day.

The second part of my assignment is something called Little Learners. It’s a community preschool – a lot more kids, all from the community. Some of the kids are the children of ND workers, others are just members of the community. Either way, they are enjoyable to be around and all are very cute.

In both backyard school and Little Learners, we have to use English and Chinese, the goal is getting everyone bilingual – but the good part about Little Learners is that I don’t have to plan anything! I just come in, play, help out with the lessons, break up any fights, and help with the clean-up time. Ha.

In other news, there was a lovely mom and son from New Zealand. The mom, Andrea, is – well, a jack of all trades, really – but mostly a doctor for ND’s purposes. The son, Jack, is 13 – both were really great to be around and the summer staff shared some good times with Andrea and Jack! Sadly they were only able to spend one week at ND, and left today. Naturally, we had to send them off in style! Andrea requested a musicale: Abbie and Chloe sang a duet (Wicked’s ‘For Good’), Sam gave us country on guitar and found his piano talents, Thomas worked up his piano genius (but not without a good deal of prompting), and I played a little of my own as well, to add to the festivities. It was a great night, and I can only look forward to more.

On Sunday I went into Beijing, went to BICF and saw my dad, promoted Gordon College, and had AWESOME Peking duck, among other delicacies. Not only that, I got to see my good friend Maggie, who is an international student from Beijing, who goes to Gordon! It was so great to see her. Speaking of Gordon College, you may have heard about the school in the news. It’s received a lot of media attention – I encourage you to look at the original letters sent to President Obama and what the signers of those letters have to say about it, instead of the editorials and the opinion pages – of which there are many. Although I have to respectfully disagree with what was signed, I believe in the importance of unity – not necessarily in thought of policy or politics, but in the body of Christ. As such, I believe we should represent that body as best we can, and there are times when people do not represent that body well. So today, I fasted and prayed today for my school: for unity, the leadership of the school, the students, and the media.

Well, enough with the serious talk. It’s late… I always try to go to sleep before 10:00 and I always go to sleep after then. This would never be the case during the school year, but I need to get more than eight hours of sleep to feel like I can go on these days!

China 2: Power of the scorpion

Today we went to Beijing. We were out by 8: the smog was out and so were we. Nine of us session two summer staff, plus a few old (AKA experienced) summer staff, prepared to take on China’s public transport. If you know anything about Chinese public transport – well, it’s almost the exact opposite of public transport in the US. Crowded, each-man-for-himself, and absolutely no personal bubble are a few defining characteristics. We first walked about a kilometer, and waited for our bus. Turns out, bus 49 that we had waited for so long on Sunday was, in fact, a left turn instead of a right. After about an hour-long ride, we transferred onto the subway and continued to ride and transfer from train to train on the subway.

We went to the Temple of Heaven Park, walked around, joined in on a dance-exercise class (Chinese Zumba?), then after walking around some more, at the subway we broke up. KK and Emily had to go to the Embassy to see if they could work out some visa issues, May and Greta weren’t feeling very well, so it was Chloe, Abbie, Thomas, Sam (who hadn’t been in China 24 hours yet), and me, taking on the back roads of BJ. We went to one touristy area, with small shops and food stands. There were a couple stands that sold scorpion. On Thomas’ list of things to do was to eat a scorpion. After looking high and low and finally finding a bathroom in the middle of a mall, Thomas finally got his wish. Except that these scorpions were smaller, so they were sold in 3’s. So we had three scorpions. Sam ate another with Thomas, for comradarie and support. One left, and I ate it. Turns out, they’re crunchy and a tad salty but otherwise very bland. I ate it half for bragging rights (how many people do you know have eaten a scorpion?), half because somebody needed to finish it off and nobody else was going to!

After the scorpion-eating, the rest of the day was a vague memory… I feel that if you walk the distances we walked, that tends to happen. The important part is that we got back, safe and sound. Empowered by scorpions. rawr.

 

This post was originally written around June 5, but I needed access to a VPN and free time, both of which I finally got today. Hope you enjoy it!