DAY 2: Its pretty early in the morning, but I just cant sleep.

Day 2 has just started and yet my veins are already pumped with adrenaline, because were going to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square today! That place is so steeped in history at least four centuries old, and many modern developments (many censored) since 1989. But enough about today, lets talk about yesterday. Maybe I should start with Day 0, first. It sets up the background for Day 1 quite nicely, and explains despite my overflowing enthusiasm to go clubbing in Beijing, why I passed out tired at 10pm yesterday night. Yes, lets start with Day 0. Day 0 began at midnight for me, before we left for China. Chen and Eddie, two of our wonderful trip leaders, stopped by room to give me a final orientation before the trip, handed me a t-shirt, and with bright smiles checked that I had packed my passport. They left after 10 min and I proceed to try to stay awake for the rest of the night; I wasnt going to go to bed and miss the 8:30am departure time. After finishing the 7th season of Weeds, and the latest episode of House, my eyelids began to droop, and yet it was only 6:30am. Afraid that I would fall asleep and miss our flight to Beijing, I set two alarms for 7:30 and 8:15am. (The reason why I mention this is because it would cause much embarrassment later that day, though not to me). By 7:00am, I decided it would be best for me to wait outside next to Phelps Gate; the cold would keep me awake, I thought. Dumbest idea ever! Surprisingly (or unsurprisingly) Yalies never experience the bitter cold of the early morningeven the early birds wait until 8:00am before leaving their rooms for classbut for the few who have it is very unpleasant. The early morning wind chills your bones, and by 7:15am, I scrambled to find shelter, first in Phelps Hall, and later in Chens first floor room in Bingham. 7:28am. Walked towards Chens room. 7:29am. Entered Common Room. 7:30am Remember the two times I set an alarm earlier that day? Well one went off exactly as I peeked my head into the common room, embarrassing myself and the two people snuggling up against one another. Chen quickly went on damage control and shepherded me into his room, where I chilled with Brandon and him until 8:15am, when the second alarm went off. We were headed out of the suite, when the same couple was waking up and some more minor awkwardness ensued. Anyways, after that the rest of the day went without much incident. The train ride was pleasant, lunch at the airport was overpriced (but expected), and the flight into Beijing was a long 14 hours.

At the airport, Brandon was almost barred from passing immigration/customs because his passport photo didnt match his current head of hair. Hilarious. But that storys for another time. We met Chens parents at the exit of the airport. Such nice people: his dad, tall and jovial, his mom, friendly and motherly. They offered to take the 6 girls to the hotel, while the 6 boys had to find our own rides. We just called a taxi and for the price of 90 yuan (or ~15 dollars) arrived at the Debao hotel without further incident. There, I was assigned to room with Eddie, and we made it to room 411. I unpacked, showered, and slept (though not before eating late night congee with the group and later working out with Julian, Vivienne, and Semhal). That was Day 0. Day 1 started early, much like today. I woke up at 6:15am, thanks to another ill-set alarm. By 7:30am, I went downstairs for breakfast, picked a Tianjin truck drivers mind, and board the bus second to last. Our first stop was the Summer Palace, where we saw many interesting examples of Chinese architecture and artifacts. These included the imperial robes of Emperor Kangxi, the first telephone in China, and the romantic bridge (where I proposed to Aleksandra). The scene on the bridge brings me to a MAIN feature experience of our time in China: Chinese people REALLY like to take pictures of foreigners (preferentially blondes, i.e. Giuliana, Kim, and Isabelle, but also brunettes, i.e. Semhal and Aleksandra). SOin my fake proposal to Aleksandra, we were interrupted and photobombed by at least twenty tourists. Note to self: dont propose on the romantic bridge; its not romantic to have random others ruin that experience. We set off for Peking University shortly afterwards and ate in the cafeteria with other students. We ran into Chens high school friend who studied International Relations; Eddies high school classmate; and Viviennes friend, who studied medicine. The dish we had was called MaLaXiangGuo, which gave a whole-body numbing experience. Loaded up with food, we ventured to climb the Great Wall. So as my time runs short, I really want to emphasize that we conquered two objects of historical significance on our climb to the top of the Great Walls pagodas, the ancient Great Wall of China and the modern Firewall of China, which evidence can be seen on facebook (https://www.facebook.com/cwang1230). And afterwards we were richly rewarded with a meal of fine Peking duck. And so, I with this I justify my passing out for the night. Climbing hundreds of uneven stairs and reaching the summit can really do that to you. Aite, gotta go. Day 2 awaits

DAY 3: Went to Lama Temple in Beijing Attempted to enter Forbidden City Saw the Beijing Opera House Watched the lowering of the flag at Tiananmen Square Had a meal of hot pot, excellent service played Chinese checkers, practiced using chopsticks by picking up marbles, threw yellow tomato fruit at Julian with chopsticks and he caught them Went to a local convenience store and bought Qingdao Beer DAY 4: Woke up at 4am Took a taxi to the Beijing airport Noted the efficiency of the Chinese equivalent of the TSA Boarded the airplane to Xining, breakfast was either western omelet or rice porridge Greeted at airport by Frank, our tourguide Went to the Xining lama temple, got necklace blessed, smelled of Yak butter DAY 5: Woke up at 6:15am. Ate breakfast at the hotel and left for the elementary school in Xining Taught 3 classes and gave hometown stories (first grade, sixth grade, and second grade) and taught students how to play freeze tag Returned to the Communist restaurant and ate lunch while playing Mafia Were not invited back to school due to political reasons, liabilities Decided to go hiking (REALLY didnt understand how far we had to go), probably did 10 miles of walking up and down the mountain. There was a Roman style sculptures and a Daoist temple. Brandon and I decided that the snow was no big deal and took off our clothes and took a picture. Legs were completely sore afterwards and had no appetite, ate at a Hui restaurant with lots of meat and lamb DAY 6: Woke up at 6:15 and started journaling for the last couple of days (3-6). No warm water to shower and had to resort to the same shower procedures as in Honduras where I would first wash my head and then wash subsequent parts of my body at a time. SO COLD. Arrived at the high school and played twenty questions on the van ride here. Went to the first class and second class at the high school and the material was on robots. English was very interesting and there was a skit in the second class where

all the people were watching. Really interesting how differeneces in classes is determined by the teacher and the group dynamics are really different. Julian Taffa gives a lecture in a Chinese high school and he balls so hard!