Hi Everyone!

The last few weeks have been wonderful. Last weekend we went hiking along the great wall, slept in a village along the wall, and woke up at four in the morning to hike (in the dark) to the highest guard post and watch the sunrise. It was one of the most breathtaking views I’ve ever seen. There were already two Chinese photographers that had slept the night on the wall and were taking pictures of the slow transition from red to orange then purple to blue. The sky was extremely clear and I could easily see hundreds of miles of the wall, the surrounding mountains, and the endless rolling hills below.

Unfortunately IES has some learning to do in terms of organizing trips. Besides for the scenery and the few moments I had on my own, the hike was quite miserable. I ended up carrying a girl’s duffel bag and fur jacket, and lent my shoes to a girl that had shown up in stylish flats. The program gave no list, warning, or any sort of preparation. Most of these kids had never hiked in their lives. I even pointed out to one of the “leaders” before we left campus that someone showed up with a duffel bag and fur coat and has never hiked before. He simply replied, “We’ll figure it out”. That’s the last I heard from him. I’ve never seen such incompetence in leaders and so much whining from kids. Grrr…

However this weekend I decided to do my own thing. Katherine, my good friend from California, and I went hiking on a different portion of the great wall. I found a hiking group called Beijing Hikers in my Lonely Planet that goes on hikes in the surrounding areas around Beijing. It’s mainly ex-pats from the ages of 30-60 on the hike, which meant an easy pace and interesting conversation. I met a really nice lady, Edie, who just moved to Beijing and works for the UN agriculture and food organization. Although she’s at least ten years older then me, I really can relate to her and enjoy her company. We’re having dinner in Nan Luo Gu Xiang-a nice local boutique area tomorrow. I also met a journalist who helped Katherine and I figure out our Tibet plans. We can’t go in, but she told us of surrounding areas that are equally as wild with zero tourists. The hike itself was fun with gorgeous scenery. I think I’ll be doing more hikes with these guys.

On a different note, life here is starting to shift from that of a long-term tourist, to short term resident. I’ve become less awkward at using my mandarin to communicate and I’m also starting to really get the hang of moving around this city. I have my (not so reliable) bike that I use to go to class, bike to the Chaoshifa (supermarket), and bike to different local places for meals. Of course I’m still scared to death of crossing the roads and try to avoid it at all cost.  I’ve also become dependent on the subway and bus system here, which is so convenient. I now feel confident getting around the city on my own-it only took two months!

I’ve also made some cool Chinese friends, which is actually very hard. On campus I have many “friends” but they are just people eager to learn English and are very pushy when it comes to our friendship-constantly calling me to meet because they have presents for me etc. I’ve learned my lesson and don’t meet with these people anymore. I do have a legitimate friend and her English name is Nikki. She is very open to talk about anything. Tibet, press freedom, propaganda, communism, lack of sexual education, and women’s rights are all topics that she doesn’t mind discussing. She is in fact very open-minded. I’m really enjoying her company, and she lets me speak in Chinese (when I can).

Classes here are good, but extremely challenging and take up all of my time. The first block (Chinese Media) just ended so I had a four-day weekend! Woohoo. Chinese class is still wonderful; my teacher is the cutest person in the world and really cares about us on a personal level. We are about to start our next block, which is Chinese History. It’s mobile learning so we have classes while traveling. We are gone for two weeks and visit Xian, Ya’nan, and Nanjing (which I have already briefly visited). I’m really excited to leave Beijing again and see some more of the country. We leave on Friday.

Last week we visited Sina.com and the People’s Daily (a huge newspaper, it was the main newspaper during the Cultural Revolution). As usual we got a tour of the place and an interview, but didn’t learn anything new. Most of the employees are Party members, the interview was basically him telling us how free Chinese media is (vomit) and how western newspapers have a lot to learn. There is so much Propaganda scattered throughout these visits.

I miss you all, you’re always crossing my mind, and I can’t wait to see you in December! Cheers!

Lots of Love,
Rachael