Teaching and Learning in Beijing : Our First Visitors!

The day we got back to Beijing from Thailand (post coming soon!), Tammy and Iris (Jacky's mom and her friend) came to visit! We waited in the airport for 7 hours (with the help of Starbucks, it went by quickly) and had a very exciting first airport greeting. The feeling waiting for someone you love at the airport is exciting and nerve-wracking and weirdly unexplainable. It was such a relief and so exciting to see them step out of the door and run to them with big hugs.

The first night we went to Katherine's family restaurant and ordered our favorite dishes. Unfortunately, the next 3 days we were all sick with a stomach bug we must have picked up in our 24 hours of traveling from Thailand... it was a bummer but we were all better by Friday. Tammy and Iris went to Xi'an - another city in China and returned to our apartment late Friday night.

Saturday we were invited to go with one of my students and her mom (Jaime and Nancy!) to the Summer Palace and for dinner afterward. Sunday we had to work in the morning but got out of working in the afternoon because we had tickets to watch tennis at the China Open. Although it was a pretty smoggy day, we enjoyed watching tennis in the Olympic stadium. Serena and Li Na were our favorites.

Monday we had to work so we invited Tammy and Iris to come see our school and watch us teach our lessons. We had a fun laid-back day and they got to see us in action. The kids liked having visitors and were able to practice some new phrases like "Nice to meet you!" We had lunch with our bosses at the tea institute that we love so much. That night we went to Sanlitun to our favorite restaurant that we went to in July with our friend Jay. The name translates to "Sit and Forget." We enjoyed a nice dimly-lit dinner (most Chinese restaurants are loud and bright so this was a nice change of pace for us). We got a drink at a Mexican restaurant afterward at a rooftop bar in Sanlitun Village.

Tuesday was National Day here in China - like our 4th of July. We decided to go to Tian'anmen square to see what was happening. We didn't see any parades but we saw a LOT of people. We walked to the Temple of Heaven - a beautiful temple that Charlotte and I hadn't gotten to see yet. It was surprising how big the whole garden area was and we were able to find some empty and quiet places which was different than the crowded Tian'anmen square. We walked on to find a market to get our bargaining on. We were overwhelmed for sure, but we were all successful in getting some good prices on scarves, cell phone cases, jewelry and wallets. We were happy to come back to our apartment and compare purchases and brag about how hard we bargained!

Wednesday we ventured to the Forbidden City with what seemed like every person in China. After seeing a few of the buildings and snapping some pictures, we quickly escaped the chaos and walked to Beihai Park to walk along the lake and see some of the people boating. It was a gorgeous day and we finally were able to breathe some smog-free air. We walked from Beihai to Houhai - another area near the lakes with many restaurants and shops. We went to another favorite restaurant called Hutong Pizza. After dinner we grabbed a drink at one of the outdoor bars along the water. We enjoyed a trio singing, playing guitar and keyboard and singing Chinese songs. Our table was also great for people-watching!

Thursday we went to the Capital Museum, an impressive building with much Chinese history and artifacts. We enjoyed the small cafe and then set off on our adventure of finding the Acrobatic Theater. We successfully found it but were unsuccessful getting tickets. The man who worked at the restaurant attached to the theater told us that the show was "off." We're still not quite sure what he meant, if it was sold out, or called off for some reason...I guess we'll never know. We found a restaurant close by and crossed our fingers for an English menu or pictures to be able to order. We lucked out and got both. But we didn't luck out so much in our table location. A party of about 10-12 Chinese people (3 women and the rest rowdy men) were celebrating something and taking shot after shot, chugging beers and smoking cigarettes inside. It was definitely entertaining but the smoke quickly got old. We started taking pictures of them since we decided it was only fair since so many Chinese people take picture of us foreigners!

Friday, our last full day all together, we went to the antique market that Charlotte and I went to before. It was fun to see so many people and things there but since we weren't quite in the shopping mood so we didn't stay too long. Charlotte suggested trying to find another acrobatic show which was in our tour book. We successfully found it and got tickets easily. Hooray! We enjoyed a very fun and impressive acrobatic show. We headed over a few subway stops after and found a dumpling restaurant suggested by Iris' friend which ended up being one of our favorite meals of the week! Saturday we had to say our goodbyes until December. It was sad to see them go but we had a great time having them here. It was really great being able to share our lives here in Beijing. I think they can confirm the fact that you really have to see it all to believe it. Beijing is like nothing you can imagine. Thanks for the wine, chocolate, laughs and good times you brought to Beijing! We love you!