Summer is a time of R and R… relaxing and restoration.  However some times you can get tired of relaxing and wish you could actually explore the jungle and fight snakes instead of just controlling a digitized Indian Jones figure to, in a Wii game.   So, you can guess that I was very excited when I  was invited by a friend of Rachel's and mine to go horse back riding. ( To my surprise there is actually horse farms an hour drive from our house! )  Grace, our friend, invited Rachel, Maddie and myself to go riding at one of her dad's friend's horse farm.  I was thrilled!  So we left early the next morning so that we might ride a bit before it got hot.  When we arrived we got to look around at the horses, then a few were saddled up to ride.  The first horse I tried was, no doubt, the laziest horse I have ever ridden.  No joke, you could not get this horse to trot if you were wearing spurs!  So I traded to another horse named  McDonalds.  Let me tell you, it should have been named Bullet, Jet, or somthing else infering it's speed.   The minute I gave that horse some rein it was off!  It was cantering around the coral and I had no power over it.  I was hanging on to the saddle for dear life!  The horse raced around the coral and back so fast that when McDonalds stopped I fell forward on his neck… = embarrassing…  So I was eager to switch again.  Grace, generously let me try out her horse.  His name was 小黑: Little Black.  He was great!  He loved to trot or gallop if you gave him rein, but would also walk if directed.  I had an awesome time riding horses (something I would never imagine myself doing in China!)!  Even though I have been "saddle sore" for two days now, it was worth it!   

Summer is a time of R and R… relaxing and restoration.  However some times you can get tired of relaxing and wish you could actually explore the jungle and fight snakes instead of just controlling a digitized Indian Jones figure to, in a Wii game.   So, you can guess that I was very excited when I  was invited by a friend of Rachel's and mine to go horse back riding. ( To my surprise there is actually horse farms an hour drive from our house! )  Grace, our friend, invited Rachel, Maddie and myself to go riding at one of her dad's friend's horse farm.  I was thrilled!  So we left early the next morning so that we might ride a bit before it got hot.  When we arrived we got to look around at the horses, then a few were saddled up to ride.  The first horse I tried was, no doubt, the laziest horse I have ever ridden.  No joke, you could not get this horse to trot if you were wearing spurs!  So I traded to another horse named  McDonalds.  Let me tell you, it should have been named Bullet, Jet, or somthing else infering it's speed.   The minute I gave that horse some rein it was off!  It was cantering around the coral and I had no power over it.  I was hanging on to the saddle for dear life!  The horse raced around the coral and back so fast that when McDonalds stopped I fell forward on his neck… = embarrassing…  So I was eager to switch again.  Grace, generously let me try out her horse.  His name was 小黑: Little Black.  He was great!  He loved to trot or gallop if you gave him rein, but would also walk if directed.  I had an awesome time riding horses (something I would never imagine myself doing in China!)!  Even though I have been "saddle sore" for two days now, it was worth it!   

I was just looking through the pictures I took on my 9th grade Spring Trip and I found this photo (below).  I remeber how I spotted the mom and baby sitting on the side of the shopping street.  The mother was feeding her adorable baby a gram cracker and the baby was content to gnaw on it.  I couldn't resist a picture of the baby.  So when I asked if I could take a picture of the mother and her cute little girl, the mom got up and without a world handed me her baby and took the camera from me to take the picture of us!  The two things I was thinking were, 1) What trust to place your child in the arms of a stranger for a picture?!, and 2) This baby is SO CUTE!

I was just looking through the pictures I took on my 9th grade Spring Trip and I found this photo (below).  I remember how I spotted the mom and baby sitting on the side of the shopping street.  The mother was feeding her adorable baby a gram cracker and the baby was content to gnaw on it.  I couldn’t resist a picture of the baby.  So when I asked if I could take a picture of the mother and her cute little girl, the mom got up and without a world handed me her baby and took the camera from me to take the picture of us!  The two things I was thinking were, 1) What trust to place your child in the arms of a stranger for a picture?!, and 2) This baby is SO CUTE!

In China, if you want to get somewhere without paying for an airline ticket the next best mode of transportation is trains.  This is a very popular option for the Chinese because it is inexpensive.  One big downside is that it takes a long time, however for those who are looking for a truly Chinese experience, trains are the best choice!  Our friends who recently visited China, wanted a real Chinese experience, so we suggested a 27 hour sleeper train to get to Guilin.  Rachel and I accompanied them to Guilin and I personally had a great time on the long train ride with Alex and Madi, the Vander Ark girls.  In a sleeper train there are separate compartments with two sets of bunk beds, three beds high.  Rachel and Alex slept on the top, Madi and I slept in the middle beds ad the parents slept on the bottom.  A frustration on this particular trip was that there were electrical outlets on the train but there was no electricity turned on to them!  So when my computer went out of charge we had to, *gasp*, survive without technology!   So we napped, ate, drank tea, played board and card games, etc. etc.    I had a great time despite the battery loss and was really happy that I could have that experience with the Vander Arks. 

This June we have been hosting company here in China almost constantly.  At the beginning of the summer my grandparents came for Michael's graduation and to visit China, and the day they left we picked up our friends, the Vander Arks, from the airport!  So it has been a pretty busy, but fun, summer.   In this blog I'll summarize our visit with our special friends from Washington DC, the Vander Arks.  One of their goals was to see Tianjin, and get a picture of our lives here for a bit.  After almost two weeks together in Tianjin, we went to Beijing to sight see.  From there Rachel and I went to Guilin with their family to be "tour guides".  I was really excited to visit Guilin, this being my second time there.  The scenery in Gulin, a city in the south of China, is breathtaking and the activities are limitless.  While in Guilin an adventure education company named China Climb brought us rock climbing, biking, kayaking, cooking, caving, swimming, and hiking!  It was a ton of fun, but a bit difficult.  These were all great ways to experience the beauty of the south of China as well as the culture. 

My favorite activity was kayaking.  At the beginning I was having a hard time trying to paddle with my cast, but later I really enjoyed it because the water was moving so slowly that we could leisurely paddle along or just float down the river and take a dip when we're hot.  It was so relaxing and a lot of fun!  Over all I had a great time in Guilin and am very thankful for the opportunity to go with the Vander Arks!

As someone who's lived in China for almost three years now, I think you are getting a picture of how little I have seen tourist attractions in Beijing.  Of course I  have been to the Great Wall, if I hadn't that would really be cheeping myself out of China's long and interesting history.  So yesterday I saw the Summer Palace with our guests, the Vander Arks.  This has been the second visit I've had to the Summer Palace, but this time we hired a tour guide and I was able to get a deeper insight on what really happened hundreds of years ago.  The Summer Palace was a sort of resort form the royalty of China.  The emperor would use a canal that directly connects the Forbidden city, the emperor's home, and the Summer Palace to get there.  One of my favorite parts about this place is the "long corridor".  This is an open ait covered walk way that connects a long stretch between two buildings.  On this corridor's beams supporting the roof you can see Chinese paintings that have been preserved from years ago.  All the paintings that cover the inside of the corridor amount to over 8,000 in the whole length of it!  I found it very interesting because of my love for Chinese painting.  The Summer palace as a whole is a magnificent cluster of red gold and blue buildings scattered around a large lake who reflects the grandness of the tallest circular building built right into a small mountain.  It is truly a magnificent "resort, even for a king!      

As someone who's lived in China for almost three years now, I think you are getting a picture of how little I have seen tourist attractions in Beijing.  Of course I  have been to the Great Wall, if I hadn't that would really be cheeping myself out of China's long and interesting history.  So yesterday I saw the Summer Palace with our guests, the Vander Arks.  This has been the second visit I've had to the Summer Palace, but this time we hired a tour guide and I was able to get a deeper insight on what really happened hundreds of years ago.  The Summer Palace was a sort of resort form the royalty of China.  The emperor would use a canal that directly connects the Forbidden city, the emperor's home, and the Summer Palace to get there.  One of my favorite parts about this place is the "long corridor".  This is an open ait covered walk way that connects a long stretch between two buildings.  On this corridor's beams supporting the roof you can see Chinese paintings that have been preserved from years ago.  All the paintings that cover the inside of the corridor amount to over 8,000 in the whole length of it!  I found it very interesting because of my love for Chinese painting.  The Summer palace as a whole is a magnificent cluster of red gold and blue buildings scattered around a large lake who reflects the grandness of the tallest circular building built right into a small mountain.  It is truly a magnificent "resort, even for a king!      

This June we have been hosting company here in China almost constantly.  At the beginning of the summer my grandparents came for Michael’s graduation and to visit China, and the day they left we picked up our friends, the Vander Arks, from the airport!  So it has been a pretty busy, but fun, summer.   In this blog I’ll summarize our visit with our special friends from Washington DC, the Vander Arks.  One of their goals was to see Tianjin, and get a picture of our lives here for a bit.  After almost two weeks together in Tianjin, we went to Beijing to sight see.  From there Rachel and I went to Guilin with their family to be “tour guides”.  I was really excited to visit Guilin, this being my second time there.  The scenery in Gulin, a city in the south of China, is breathtaking and the activities are limitless.  While in Guilin an adventure education company named China Climb brought us rock climbing, biking, kayaking, cooking, caving, swimming, and hiking!  It was a ton of fun, but a bit difficult.  These were all great ways to experience the beauty of the south of China as well as the culture. 

My favorite activity was kayaking.  At the beginning I was having a hard time trying to paddle with my cast, but later I really enjoyed it because the water was moving so slowly that we could leisurely paddle along or just float down the river and take a dip when we’re hot.  It was so relaxing and a lot of fun!  Over all I had a great time in Guilin and am very thankful for the opportunity to go with the Vander Arks!

In China, if you want to get somewhere without paying for an airline ticket the next best mode of transportation is trains.  This is a very popular option for the Chinese because it is inexpensive.  One big downside is that it takes a long time, however for those who are looking for a truly Chinese experience, trains are the best choice!  Our friends who recently visited China, wanted a real Chinese experience, so we suggested a sleeper train to get to Guilin.  Rachel and I accompanied them to Guilin and I personally had a great time on the over night train with Alex and Madi, the Vander Ark girls.  In a sleeper train there are separate compartments with two sets of bunk beds, three beds high.  Rachel and Alex slept on the top, Madi and I slept in the middle beds ad the parents slept on the bottom.  A frustration on this particular trip was that there were electrical outlets on the train but there was no electricity turned on to them!  So when my computer went out of charge we had to, *gasp*, survive without technology!   So we napped, ate, drank tea, played board and card games, etc. etc.    I had a great time despite the battery loss and was really happy that I could have that experience with the Vander Arks.