I guess it is a little funny that we are writing about all our experiences now considering it’s been almost 3 months living here in Beijing. Time has definitely gone by very fast! Stepping off of that plane back into China soil was such a great feeling. The only thing that wasn’t so great about stepping down the stairs leading to the planes landing field was getting on a packed bus and then driving to our terminal taking more than 30 minutes just to get there. By that time my body was ready to lie down and crash. We got our luggage and were so excited to finally see my family, and I’m sure they were too since they had been waiting at the airport for more then 3 hours to see us. We had a reservation to go eat at “the duck place” that everyone is taken to, when visiting from America, but because we got in so late we decided it was best to get home and just eat some of Mrs. Li’s delicious dumplings. Mrs. Li is our Ayi, which in Chinese means aunt. Most foreigners have Ayi’s and so do Chinese families; Ayi’s job consists of cooking, cleaning, and watching the kids. In America when people hear that my family has a maid, I always feel like it makes my family sound like we have tons of money but in China it is very common to have an Ayi. Most foreigners tell me how hard it is to go back after living for years with an Ayi ;). Mrs. Li has always felt apart of the family and I know when my parents return back to the states we will miss her.

 

The next morning we got ready for church, and then headed to the Great Wall. It did seem a little crazy heading up to go hiking after our 14-hour flight the day before. We drove to our favorite place the Zhao’s hostel one of the few places to stay closest to the rugged part of the wall. Ramon and I slept in a full bed that had about an inch of padding on the box spring. Our pillows were made out of some kind of straw and beads…good thing I knew to bring pillows. Of course there was a squatter and a lovely open shower head which I didn’t know you could switch to hot water so I was washing my face and hair with ice cold water. We ate dinner, which consisted of delicious trout caught in the pond thrown on ground and beaten with a brush, T.I.C. (this is China). We ate fried rice, tomato and egg, garlic stems that I had been craving, ever since we left last July. Ramon woke me up at four in the morning wanting to do something. I told him to go back to bed cause I was not ready to get up. He then presciently trying to get me up and go walk around the small village that sets back in the mountains at the very end of the road. We got up at 6am, walked around the village, which ended up being a 5-minute walk to the end of the village and a 5-minute walk back.

Walking back to our rooms through the open courtyard we were asked by a lady to take pictures with her and a group of photographers that were there as a weekend get away to climb on the great wall. She then insisted on sending us copies of the pictures so we gave her our address and received them a couple weeks later. We ate breakfast, which was boiled eggs and rice. Not my first choice of a breakfast felt more like lunch to me. By 8 am we were bored and Dad, Sofi, and Miles were still sleeping. We had planned to spend one more night but we all were in need of relaxing instead of hiking. We took some pictures up by the trail leading up to the Great Wall and then packed our things headed out around lunchtime. On our way home we ate at my favorite Din Tai Fung. I had been waiting to eat this and especially the beloved strawberry shaved ice dessert. Sometimes things that are waited for always taste better, but Din Tai Fung always taste good every time. That week we just relaxed and got over jet-lag. I knew that when we had gotten here, it was going to be such a wonderful and great adventure with my husband and of course being here with my family. It already has been such an amazing and great adventure, so far. I know when people hear that your getting married they tell you that you won’t get to do things like travel and see great places. But I love that Ramon and I are pushing the status quo. That we decided to take off school and come to Beijing for an adventure as newly weds. And to say that when we first got married we went and lived in China for 8 months is so awesome. I am so happy that we have come here, because we have grown so much together within these last 3 months and I know that the experiences that we’ve had here have truly brought us even closer. We feel so blessed to have this opportunity and thank the people who have supported us coming here.