The Great Wall

Today my history soul was made happy. We visited the Great Wall! Mulan, as much as I love that movie, does not do justice to the Wall. It's funny, after having studied German for so long and always learning about the Berlin Wall, to have been at a very different wall built for a very different purpose very long ago. It was weird being a tourist. I think I've come to the conclusion that I love traveling, but I love meaningful travel, with cross-cultural experiences and good conversations, even more. I'm just not a good tourist. This all being said, it was awesome! We took a cable car (The Fray, anyone?) up to the top and walked around a huge portion of it. It was in the 90's today and I got sunburned as it was in the mountains about an hour from where we are in Beijing. I rarely miss home, but when I see such beautiful mountains, my heart aches. The funniest thing was taking an alpine slide down to the bottom. I don't think I've ever ridden a slide like that and to think that my first time was in China. Group dynamics are going to be interesting. Tomorrow starts our more official training where we learn about the company and maybe even about the school. I think part of our time tomorrow will be spent doing team building, so I'm excited to get to know the other members. Still no word on the teaching assignments yet. That's all folks!
Good night from Beijing,
rpm


This is the double rainbow we saw coming out of the airport. A great reminder of the OT promises and how they are still true today.



A view from our cable car going up the mountain. Check out the Wall on the right.



The beautiful mountains and a town tucked away in the valley.



The Great Wall (Most of what is visible is the section we walked today...I have never walked up and down so many stairs before!)



The Wall and I, we're friends now, even if I don't speak Chinese that well (really, I don't speak it at all)



This is my attempt at artsy photography. I think this is my favorite picture from the whole day. It was taken inside of the guardtowers looking out onto the wall.