Update - 2 months

Hi All,

Can you believe it, it's been two months since I left Canada for Beijing. I can't get over how fast time is passing me by. On one hand, it is great because that means I'm much closer to seeing Alex again (can't come soon enough). On the other hand, I've been here for two months and my Chinese is still terrible. But, I am definitely learning a lot and seeing amazing things.

I will start off by evaluating my goals from last month:

Great Wall Class Trip

On Wednesday, all A-level classes took a trip to the Great Wall. I was very excited to go because it was a gorgeous day to be outdoors. My classmates like to poke fun at my love for the outdoors (apparently this is very Canadian of me). My favorite line of the day: "Oh look, the Canadian is in her natural habitat.

Once we arrived we were told to meet in the parking lot at 12:40, which gave us about just under three hours to wander around. Most of the students from my class were able to attend, plus one extra :)

We thought that all fees were included in our tuition fees, but little did we know that this only included transportation. We walked through the souvenir filled streets and eventually made our way to the gondola lift. Surprise, it's 60 kuai for a 30 second ride! I wanted to climb to the top anyways, so this was a great excuse for others to join me.

Qing Ming Holiday: Shenzhen, Hong Kong & Hainan

The Qing Ming festival, or Tomb-sweeping Day as it is commonly referred to as, is a holiday where you honor and remember ancestors by visiting their grave sites. The holiday is also a seasonal symbol that welcomes new life to country after the winter season. It encourages people to go outside and enjoy being in 'nature'. This year, the festival fell on April 4th, which meant that I didn't have classes April 2-4. Unfortunately, to make up for those days, the weekend was a working weekend; no days off for anyone, not even students. Ahh, only in China. 

Because I value my weekends, I decided to take the Saturday afternoon, Sunday, and the following Thursday and Friday off from my classes. My personal vacation dates were March 31st -April 8th :) I left beijing in the late afternoon, after an hour delay, and landed in Shenzhen that Saturday night. The hotel was amazing, but not as incredible as seeing Emma Russell!!