The Last Days

Why is it that we don’t fully appreciate what we have until its about to leave us?  My last days in Beijing were certainly ones for the books!  I made last outings with my friends from my program, spent some last time with my host family and just took in the city one last time.  I went back to several places that I went to at the beginning of the semester, and not only do the places look totally different now that spring has sprung, but I’m not the same nervous overwhelmed girl that I was when I saw them the first time.  I can sorta kinda speak Chinese.  I have an idea of where I’m going and what’s going on.

I also stayed an additional five days in Beijing after the end of my program which was a great choice.  Some friends stayed around before they left for a trip to Tibet, so I hung out with them and then had a final full day by myself, which was absolutely the perfect amount of time to process saying goodbye to the city and my semester.  One night, seven of us rented a little battery boat and just randomly went around one of the lakes in Beijing that is surrounded by walking paths and little restaurants with rooftop areas.  I had also been there at the beginning of the semester and watched people ice skate on the lake that we were now boating in, watching the sun go down in every shade of orange and pink.  On my last day, I walked across Tiananmen Square and thought about all of the things that have happened in China just in recent history.  I ate last plates of noodles and dumplings.  It was awesome.  By the end of the day I was a little more ready to head home and be with people again, which I’m thankful for.  I’m going to Colorado in a week to start my summer job, so I wanted to do the best I could for myself to ease through reverse culture shock in such a short amount of time, and staying extra time in Beijing was definitely the best thing I did.

The hardest part of leaving is always saying goodbye to friends you have made.  IES Beijing was 60 students from all over the country (and the world) from all different schools.  I’ve realized how much of my life I’ve spent around people who are very similar to me, and how awesome it was to meet so many different people.  I may have learned more from my classmates than just about anything else that I did.  The last night of the program was surreal, just like all goodbye nights are.  We had graduation, dinner, then China Night (performances) and then we all went to the Cafe, an on campus hang out.  ”Sweet Caroline” was sung.  Birthdays were celebrated.  Laughter was shared for one last time.  There was then the 1:30 exodus of a considerably smaller group to a Chinese fast food restaurant, and one final cab ride back to my homestay.  Beijing is so serene late at night.  Goodbyes are hard.  They always are.  ”How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” -Winnie the Pooh

I’m going to miss the busy street life of China a lot.

As a diehard Michael Phelps fan, this was above and beyond awesome!

Last stroll across Tiananmen captured by my broken camera

The Forbidden City

Sunset view from a boat! Blessed.

Tibet Overview Pt. 1

This is copied word for word from the Hope blog.  I'll hopefully do another one.  Maybe.  I'm home now anyways.

I got back from Tibet about a week ago, but its been whirlwind of finishing my program, packing, saying goodbyes, and doing last-moment-in-China activities.  A post on this past week to follow!  But, TIBET.

This trip was the bulk of my final area’s studies class about Tibet.  There were 13 of us total, ten students, one IES staffer, one RA and our professor.  We got to Lhasa (Tibet’s biggest city) by two trains with a stopover in Xining in between.  The first train was the same as my previous Chinese overnight train experiences, but the second train is quite something.  We saw some pretty incredible panoramic views of the lakes and mountains of the Tibetan plateau.  It is built partially on permafrost, making it a huge challenge of engineering.  At its highest point the train is at over 16,000 feet above sea level.  This brings me to the less stellar part of the trip- altitude sickness.  There just wasn’t enough oxygen for my sea level lungs up there!  Thankfully I didn’t have to be hooked up to the oxygen in the train (there is a plug in for every passenger).  Definitely not a pleasant day, but by the time we arrived in Lhasa in the afternoon more or less feeling better (and we came down. 

We started our touring regimen the next day- temples, monasteries, nunneries, and hiking! I learned more than I ever thought I would about Tibetan Buddhism.  I won’t go into all of the details, but it was interesting to see people of a different religion than me that I didn’t know much about before.  One highlight was at Sera Monastery, where the monks debate with each other every afternoon, teacher with student so that they can learn and defend their beliefs on Buddhist doctrines.  The teacher is standing while the student sits, and when the student makes a point the teacher does this sort of full body clap motion, palm down for “good point” palm up for “better luck next time.”  It was so entertaining to watch!

We also did six days of camping.  It wasn’t super hardcore as we had a team of cooks with us (thus alleviating the most time consuming chore of  camping with some of the best food I have ever eaten), but it was glorious to be outside!  We visited more sights of Tibetan Buddhism, drove through the Tibetan country side, stayed with a Tibetan family, and even went to some awesome hot springs.  By far my favorite part of the trip was all of the nature that we got to see.  There were mountains everywhere we looked all the time (I’m actually not kidding).  God’s creation at its finest!  The Tibetan people are also on the whole incredibly welcoming and kind.  I’ll let pictures do the rest of the talking!

Some kids we met at a village we camped at!

Classic Tibet tourist activity, yes the lake is still frozen.

Capturing memories at one of the monasteries we visited