The first few days have certainly been...interesting. I have been putting off writing this blog for ages as it seemed like an impossible task, how do I summarise some of the most amazing days of my life into a easy-read blog? Well, I'll finally attempt to give it a try.

The journey started off with 6 of us being upgraded to Emarites business class from Dubai to Beijing and I was fortune enough to be one of them! As the 6 of us who had been upgraded jumped up and down like children hyped on sugar, the 5 volunteers who were not upgraded were not happy to say the least. You could almost see the black cloud of rage behind them as they came down the escalator. I really did feel bad for them... while I was cuddled under a lovely blanket in my seat that could fully recline with a range of drinks...Sorry guys!

The hostel we stayed in for four days was nice enough, the private rooms and common area were decorated with beautiful nature displays. The dorms where most of us were staying had another form of nature display, mosquitoes. Everyone in the group has multiple bites, well everyone expect me. At first I was very happy about this but now I'm wondering if I have some form of mutant blood...

The first day we visited Tiananmen Square where we were promptly abandoned by our country rep Greg, this is apparently a Project Trust tradtiton. We all quickly figured out that none of us were able to read the simplest of maps.They say you don't know how much you love something until it is taken away...that is how I felt about data and Google maps that day. Technology has ruined us all.

We did manage to find our way to the square and got our first taste of celebrity. We took a group photo (where one of the other volunteers tripped over an old woman and was screamed at in Chinese, creating a great photo that is the main one for this blog.) when other people began taking pictures of us, we laughed it off and went on our way. Until one volunteer accepted a photo request from a friendly looking old lady and opened up the photo flood gates. All of a sudden all 13 of us were in a barge of photos, in all honesty, we were all having a great time pulling our best poses and peace signs until we noticed the huge circle that has formed around us. It looked like a mosh pit was about to open up with us at the centre, so we quickly pushed our way out and went on our way to The Forbidden City.

Here we used our first squat toilet. When I told people I was coming to China, One of the first things they would say would be "Oh my god, I could never use a squat toilet!" With a look of disgust and I honestly thought the same. In reality, they are super easy to use, especially when you have an aversion to wearing trousers like myself. Four of us girls went to use them and came out feeling like new, strong, liberated women. The Chinese must have sensed this as we were dragged out of the bathroom by a woman with pink eyebrows to take pictures, it was a grand celebration. We then tried to queue for the Forbidden City but all the tickets were sold out by 9am and we got there at 2pm...oops.

That night we tried our first proper Chinese meal. I have a severe gluten intolerance and was expecting to be sat with a bowl of plain rice at every meal. However, Greg had made sure that there were plenty of gluten free dishes at every restaurant we went to and though the first night it took me 20 minutes to build up the courage to eat, I picked up my chopsticks and shoved the food into my mouth and it was glorious. I didn't get ill once and I am so thankful for Greg for all the effort he put in to make sure I could enjoy with the others!

The second day we went to The Silk Market. We were pros at the subway by then, they are very packed but very efficient (and have lots of adverts with a Chinese singer called Kris that I love who the other vols got very tried of me pointing out). It turns out The Silk Market is not actually a market with tents as expected but an air conditioned shopping centre. You can still haggle for prices but that is a skill I have yet to aquire.

We then had a wonderful cooking class with a lovely teacher called Sofia who taught us how to cook with Chinese ingredients and without an oven, which we don't have at our projects (a fact that made me  actually consider bringing a table top oven instead of clothes).

The next day we climbed The Great Wall...well most of us. I seem to have an repulsion to tall monuments as about halfway up the stairs to the wall, I started to have a asthma attack. I was only with one other volunteer at the time and my inhaler wasn't kicking in. We weren't able to contact the others so what was plan B? Grab the nearest concerned looking Chinese people.

While the other volunteer was trying to explain asthma to the group, one of the old woman came up behind me, pulled my hair away and started massaging behind my ear with what I later found out was her elbow. It was one of the most painful experiences I've ever had as she elbowed me from my ears to lower back, however through some ancient Chinese magic or sheer confusion, my breathing started to return to normal and my neck and shoulders felt the least tense they has in years!

The two old woman then helped me walk down the stairs as I was still quite shaky, The massage lady whispered something in Chinese all the way down to me and though I didn't know what it was, It was very soothing. Though I am disappointed that I didn't get to see The Great Wall, I got a good story and a free massage from it so it was worth it.

We also went to a lovely little place called Mix...though those are tales for another day.

The first few days in Beijing have been fabulous, I have never laughed so much in my life before and all of the volunteers have bonded so well together. I never thought I would love China this much before I left, whether it be seeing old woman riding mopeds with oven gloves, old men walking round with their stomachs out or the amazing Chinglish everywhere, I really, really love China and I can't wait to see what else it has in store