Over a month....

Well... as of last Thursday I have been officially living in China for one month. Wow, the time has passed by so quickly, I feel like I just got here! Before delving into my blog entry any further I thought I would included a picture of my room to show everyone how awesome my living conditions are - this is a picture of my own private room, which is then connected to a private suite/living room that includes a TV and a private bathroom.

I spent most of my week busily studying my Hanyu and Koyu homework (Written Chinese, Spoken Chinese) but I have certainly been enjoying Beijing to the fullest. Other than occasional afternoon games of ping pong with Kyle, Ben, and whatever locals happen to be at Bei Da's massive (and free) outdoor ping pong "park," we visited several new and exciting restraunts and shops, and even a few places that reminded us of home (did you know Pizza Huts in Beijing are high quality sit-down restaurants?). Check out this shot of Ben and Kyle (respectively) hanging out in our room.

I will provide a quick recap of a few exciting things that I've done over the last week or so. Last Thursday night we watched the Beijing Acrobatics show and, while I forgot my camera (sorry mom), it was still quite impressive. I must say on the whole I think that Shanghai definitely out-performs Beijing, but the Beijing act featured several unique feats that I did not see at the Shanghai show - including a different type of plate twirling, two people standing head-to-head (one balancing their entire body with their head on another person's head), and twelve people on one bicycle.

After the acrobatics show we visited Ho Hai for dinner. Ho Hai is a massive collection of bars and restaurants situated around a beautiful and rather large lake. Overall there are easily at least a hundred or more restaurants in the area. Most of them (including the one we ate at) featured comfortable and plush outdoor couches and tables where we could sit and watch the glimmering lights of small Chinese boats milling about the lake all evening. The atmosphere was fantastic. As per the recommendation of my friend Jackie who studied in Beijing last summer, I want to visit Ho Hai at sunset to see how truly gorgeous it can be.

Friday night we found a delicious western-style restaurant off of the western gate of Bei Da called the "Kro's Nest." Serving up killer pizza and mouth watering Philly cheese steaks, the Kro's nest also offers free poker chips to anyone who eats there. Needless to say, we spent a good portion of the evening engaged in a cut throat game of poker, with me being the ultimate victor.

Saturday was a very busy day! We left campus at 8am to venture to the Great Wall (this would be my second visit). After a bumpy and noisy bus ride we finally arrived at the Mutanyu section of the wall, which was the same place I had visited before. However, my experience was very different. For starters, we hiked up to the wall itself through a forest side trail, which was a much more intense experience than the quick gondola ride up I had previously taken. On the way, however, we stumbled upon a gorgeous mountain pagoda with a beautiful view.Not only did this new path take us to an entirely different section of the wall, but I also hiked much farther along the wall than I had on my previous visit. In fact, I even climbed up what my friends and I affectionately titled the "stairway to heaven" all the way to the end of the Mutanyu section of the wall. Here is a shot of me staring up to the top of the stairway, though it is shrouded in the thick mist that once again thwarted my attempts to take some quality pictures of the great wall.

After nearly 20 minutes of intense climbing up an increasingly steep staircase we finally reached the top - drenched in sweat we posed for our ultimate victory picture with our Chinese friend Jared.
After venturing home and recovering from our day long adventure we spent the evening at Lush, one of our favorite restaurant/bars in Beijing - I didn't take my camera out with me that night but I did manage to snap a picture of Kyle and myself at Lush when we ate there for lunch today. Lush has spectacular pitas, grilled flat breads, and breakfast foods - not to mention chili fries (Ben's personal favorite is the ranch dressing). Along with Lush, which is located in the Wu Dao Ko section of Beijing a mere 5 minute taxi ride from campus, some of our other favorite hot spots is a delicious coffee shop with a great atmosphere named Sculpting in Time, where Kyle and I spent a majority of last Sunday studying for our tests this week.

I know I said this in my last post but I will try to get more pictures and more updates! Don't fret if I don't manage to however, I am learning between twenty and forty new Chinese words a day and trying to experience as much of Beijing as I can!