Lets go back to Beijing. We were there for 5 days. During those five days, I visited more temples and smelled more incense than I think I'll ever see or smell in the rest of my life. It was so amazing to see the way they do things there, though! During those five days, I saw the Forbidden City (does it really end?), the Temple of Heave (split pants in action!), Tiannamen Square (sp?), The Summer Palace (Forbidden City minus the lake), factories, Chinese architecture, tons of Chinese babies (which I want one btw), and countles people on bikes and motorbikes. It was so interesting.

After Beijing, we were headed to Dongguan. I thought the plane ride was long? Try doubling it. 24 hours on a train. Most people hated it, but I actually LOVED it. We had our own little bed in this tiny cramped room, but you could see the AMAZING country side fly by (cept at night...it was pitch!) I spent most the time with Nathaniel and Richard, which was way better than with the girls who sanitized everything every chance they got...they didn't get the full experience. We just sat on the beds and talked and told jokes and listened to music and slept. It was great! Our shower was non existent, so we got a little creative in the bathroom (you can fill that one in.) There were two toilets on each car...a squatty potty, and a Western toilet. Guess what I started to prefer over the course of the trip? The squatty hands down. You didn't have to touch anything, and it was way more comfy. I tell you, I want one those in my home. When in China, do as the Chinese do. Funny story about squatty potties to come.

The train ride ended the next morning, and we stepped off in sunny hot Dongguan. A long bus ride brought us to our apartment complex which also housed our school. The apartments were really nice! I even got my own room, and some peeps had to share. We had to wash our clothes in the washer and then line dry them, but that was a fun new experience. Of course, we wanted to explore the city, so we went in groups in taxis (I learned pretty quickly how to communicate with those peeps and it worked out nicely.) We journed to Carefour...a Walmart type shopping center, ate Chinese Mcd's, went to Sbux, and got icecream. It was really quite a great first bit. So far, China was in my favor!

Next time, starting school...