The March of the Herrons

Marvelling at the Ming Tombs

Mom hiding at the Great Wall

Tian An Men Square

Eating out with Aunty Nancy

My parents and sister arrived this Wednesday in Beijing, and it has been go, go, go ever since. In fact, it is only as my family is falling asleep, after another very full day, that I sit here writing this blog. I'll give just a brief replay of our time here so far.



Wednesday, the family arrived in Beijing right on time and I was waiting with a taxi ready. They were impressed not only by the size of Beijing, but also the incredible traffic. I gave them a little dinner and put them right to bed. Thursday, we wasted no time in taking in the sights. I arranged a private van and English-speaking tour guide to take us to the Ming Tombs and Great Wall. I think everybody thoroughly enjoyed our first day.



Friday, we started out early by walking from our hotel to Tian An Men square. It was quite hot, even though it was only nine in the morning. Dad, of course, was very happy to be in such an historically significant place. Next, we crossed the street and walked through the gates of Tian An Men into the Forbidden City. We spent more than several hours there, and besides the incredible heat it was very fun. In the afternoon we took a brief rest, and then we got ready to go see Beijing Opera courtesy of my good friend Nan Sheng (Aunty Nancy) and her husband. It was an eye and ear-opening experience...



Today we toned it down a little. In the morning we all went for massages. And in the early afternoon I showed the family around the embassy district and took them out for a good lunch at one of my favorite Italian restaurants in Beijing. In the evening, we met Aunty Nancy and her husband at a Peking Duck restaurant on Wangfujin Street. It was a wonderful dinner. However, my family can't speak any Chinese and Aunty Nancy and her husband have extremely limited English. So I spent most of dinnertime translating, but it was a successful outing. Everyone had fun, and I was able to convince my parents that sending me to Beijing was not a waste of energy ;)

4 Days Until Reunion

The Flag and I

Wang Hui taking the final...

Me with my beloved Jiao Laoshi; she reminds me of my Nana.

Slightly awkward class photo, but really we are all quite good looking.

As most of you already know, my parents and Josefina are coming to visit me in China! Woot. The countdown has officially begun! I am so excited to see them, I am hiring someone to videotape the teary and ridiculously dramatic reunion. But let me tell you what has been going on recently....



My first posted picture is from the morning flag raising at Tian An Men. Last Sunday a few of us decided it would be fun to roll out of bed at 3:50AM and make our way to Tian An Men to see the fabled raising of the red flag. Guess what? Even at 4AM there are hundreds of people in the square...Go figure. In any case, it was really cool, and I just started to get a little worried that I may actually miss China quite a bit.



This week of course was absolutely crazy owing to finals and graduation. Lots of studying got done, and I feel like I really have a good grip on what I learned here. The final wasn't bad and the day before the test two friends and I went for massages...we are in Asia after all. Graduation was tons of fun, and I will be the first to admit that I started crying when saying goodbye to my teachers. I wish I wasn't so darn emotional.



So my life here is rapidly coming to a close. Yesterday my roommate moved out, and today is laundry and readying things for the parent visit. We will of course be updating the blog with our tales of our journeys together so stay tuned.