So the day after the Great Wall and stuff, I woke up and Kyra (my roommate for this part of the trip) let me know that she was really not feeling well. It seemed that she had food poisoning, so I let Jacob know, we got her some food and something to drink and then we left for the Summer Palace (颐和园). While we were there, I mostly just went around with Beth, Kirsten, and Alyssa. We hiked up over the 'mountain' part of the palace and then walked down a long path to the lake. After being by the lake for a bit, we decided it was probably time for us to head back so Alyssa could meet up with those that wanted someone to take them back.
We decided we didn't particularly want to hike back up all the stairs and the hill/mountain thing (Alyssa's knees are also bad, so between the two of us we often made decisions based on what would hurt knees less). So, we heard that there was a path around from the side of the mountain; thus we went off in search of this mysterious path. Instead, we ended up just deciding to go out the East gate then walk around to the North gate. It worked pretty well and we realized just how far we walked while inside the palace. By noon, we had already walked over 12,000 steps (maybe that can give you an indication of how much walking we have done in any given day). Oh and we climbed 37 floors (almost all in the palace).
Anyway, after we grabbed a bite to eat I went back to check in on Kyra. Apparently she basically just slept all day; she also had to throw up a lot, but luckily she was able to get it out. After lunch, we had some more training. I have to say (this coming from the end of everything rather than during this time), Brad is really an amazing teacher and it's really cool to see the love that emanates from him as he talks about China and the students. It's really clear that he loves his life here in China and I just really admire that love he has for the people and the culture.
So after more training, we had another group dinner (it was really good) and then a lot of them went to the 南锣鼓巷 (Shopping Street) where they bought some of the more "crazy" foods. Kirsten, Beth and I just hung out for awhile.
The next day was just all orientation stuff. It was a really long day of sitting; though they did have us mentors get up and talk about one of our students. I had a really hard time deciding, so I kinda just mentioned two people really quickly (Twinkle and Star).
Finally, Friday came. The morning was mostly just ESL training stuff and in the afternoon a bunch of people went back to the markets for shopping (we just had free time). I again just ended up hanging out with Kirsten and Beth for awhile and then it was (finally) time for the kungfu show. Now, Brad warned me that it was more just a story about some history of kungfu, so I was a bit more prepared. Basically it was a mixture of kungfu and dance, but we did get to see different animal and weapon forms. Those were probably some of my favorite parts of the show.
We decided we didn't particularly want to hike back up all the stairs and the hill/mountain thing (Alyssa's knees are also bad, so between the two of us we often made decisions based on what would hurt knees less). So, we heard that there was a path around from the side of the mountain; thus we went off in search of this mysterious path. Instead, we ended up just deciding to go out the East gate then walk around to the North gate. It worked pretty well and we realized just how far we walked while inside the palace. By noon, we had already walked over 12,000 steps (maybe that can give you an indication of how much walking we have done in any given day). Oh and we climbed 37 floors (almost all in the palace).
Anyway, after we grabbed a bite to eat I went back to check in on Kyra. Apparently she basically just slept all day; she also had to throw up a lot, but luckily she was able to get it out. After lunch, we had some more training. I have to say (this coming from the end of everything rather than during this time), Brad is really an amazing teacher and it's really cool to see the love that emanates from him as he talks about China and the students. It's really clear that he loves his life here in China and I just really admire that love he has for the people and the culture.
So after more training, we had another group dinner (it was really good) and then a lot of them went to the 南锣鼓巷 (Shopping Street) where they bought some of the more "crazy" foods. Kirsten, Beth and I just hung out for awhile.
The next day was just all orientation stuff. It was a really long day of sitting; though they did have us mentors get up and talk about one of our students. I had a really hard time deciding, so I kinda just mentioned two people really quickly (Twinkle and Star).
Finally, Friday came. The morning was mostly just ESL training stuff and in the afternoon a bunch of people went back to the markets for shopping (we just had free time). I again just ended up hanging out with Kirsten and Beth for awhile and then it was (finally) time for the kungfu show. Now, Brad warned me that it was more just a story about some history of kungfu, so I was a bit more prepared. Basically it was a mixture of kungfu and dance, but we did get to see different animal and weapon forms. Those were probably some of my favorite parts of the show.
Since this was really the last day of the tour, I just have to say that being a mentor is really interesting and fun.
Anyone who knows me knows that I often like to sit and just observe
people. In fact, many people just think I'm a quiet or shy person because
of this (though both of those adjectives can also be applied to me quite
often). So as a mentor, I've been able to watch the nerves and excitement
of all the other teachers. I've watched how they form groups of friends
and the way they begin to adjust to China, and I think to myself about how much
they'll be shocked when we're not in the big group anymore and it's time to
really live in China. Living in China is so different from just visiting
because we really get to understand what life is like. The heating in our
apartments may be poor, the hot water may not always work, the internet may be
in and out a lot, and food isn't quite what people in America are used to.
However, I find more joy in the simple things that too often go unnoticed
in the lifestyle I was used to in the States. I'm really excited to see how each of the new teachers adjust to life here and I'm excited for them to (hopefully) love China as much as I do.
Alrighty, until next time! 再见！
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