Let's try this ourselves...
This weekend can only be described as amazing mixed in with a little bit of exhaustion. Seven of us (Meghan, Morgan, John, Bryn, Wes, Shannon and Me) all ventured back to Beijing. We had spent the last week planning where we wanted to go, when we wanted to go and what we wanted to see when we got there. Shannon and Bryn went to buy the train tickets for us and I asked Tian to help us with booking the hostel. A couple others (Cass, Court and Jen) also came along with us to Beijing for Saturday.
We woke up early Saturday morning and took cabs to the train station. Rena, being the amazing girl she is, met us at the train station to ensure that we got on the right train. After she left, however, we were on our own until we met back up with Tian. We spent the majority of Saturday traveling around and seeing some more tourist stuff. We traveled to the zoo and also hung out by the square for a while. After a long of day of traveling by train, rickashaw, cab and subway we landed at our hostel. Tian met up with us at the hostel and then took us to a restaurant. The restaurant we went to had receipes that used to be served to the Emperors. On Sunday, before we went shopping, we had a chance to visit Mao's mausoleum. The girls and I went to the square early in the morning to ensure we had a chance to visit the mausoleum and also to make sure we had time to get some shopping in! We spent the majority of Sunday shopping and finalizing our souvenirs for home. Meghan and I had our lunch together and then used the subway system to get back to the railway station.
This weekend proved to be one of the most beneficial weekends to my cutlure experience gaining. I am happy that we had the assistance of Tian and Rena but I am also satisfied that our small group was able to travel around Beijing without any major problems. This type of situation allows me to view the trip on a whole. It becomes exhausting trying to explain various things to the people here that don't understand us. This program has allowed me to travel the country, learn about Chinese business and meet new people all with the assistance of various individuals. These individuals have devoted their time to ensuring that we are safe and able to get around! I appreciate each and every one of them and I am going to miss them dearly as we near our time of departure!
I still love and miss everyone from home!!