It was a very mild two weeks. I'm back tracking here, because I haven't been on for awhile. I had quite a boring week after our big Great Wall/Party day. I no longer worked in the basement of the library, but moved up a floor, to the childrens section. The librarian acting as our supervisor was very nice. Although the work indeed sucked, I beared it and did it. I once again, organized books. Makes me wonder if the librarians ever have any free time. But this was the kids section, and I know those little bastards rarely put them back properly. I was working solo quite a bit, as Yuchan would have places to go, Gary would be late, and Nancy...well, she hasn't shown up once. I did a great job organizing the books and the librarian appreciated it. So much, that she took us out for lunch across the street. It was a great meal, and she really seemed to like us. She's even going to try to bring us to her house for a bbq! Like, a REAL bbq! So I'm looking forward to that. Otherwise, after work, I'd been going home and organizing my food workshop and environment EAD. It was a simple schedule, with a Nintendo DS break in between.
Friday came, and we participated in Felix and Anthonys EAD on the minorities in China. It was a well planned EAD. We visited a buddhist temple, then a mosque, and had some traditional minority food in a cafeteria. However, I think it blended with Chinese food too much, and we couldn't really tell a difference. The afternoon was ended with an excellent betting game for trying to learn about the minorities and interesting facts about their lives. That night, a few of us went to meet with another CWY alumni living in Beijing; Michelle, from Quebec. He was pretty cool. He told us some stories, we told him some stories, and we went for dinner at a Russian restaurant. There was a lot of meat on the menu. I'm getting a bit sick of meat. I need some fresh veggies when I get home! Anyway, there was also a Russian wedding going on. So it was a bit loud, but there were a few cute girls. Two of them named Natalie and Anya. A little friendly dancing, and your hot shit with the Russians! I was the only one who was friendly and danced, and played game where you pass an orange from under your chin to the next person. Although I wasn't so good at that, they brought me back for another game. I was a bit iffy about being blind folded, but not so much after I was told I had to find the bread off of Natalies body. I love those Russians. A phone number later, I'm getting Russian lessons by text. Not to mention, I had the most succulent steak, and possibly most disgusting green beer, ever!
The following morning, I went with Sadie, Heather, Felix and his host mother, Aunty Gwei, to go tea shopping in the tea district. We spent the whole morning looking at tea, tea pots, and drinking tea before we bought some. I won't say who, but some people are getting some tea when I come home! We caught up with the rest of the group after being 2 and a half hours late. Whoops. Bad bus! We walked around the Chaoyang district, looking at the architecture of some new buildings being constructed. We saw the soon-to-be tallest building in the world, the CCTV tower, that you have to see to believe, and another one that looked like it was stomped on. Those Beijing arcitects sure know how to dream.
But we didn't stop there. I went with Sadie, Lyndsay and Lilly on Sunday morning to check out Beijing universities. I will admit, it was a bit boring; I just mainly wanted to get out and sight see. But the universities were indeed very nice, and quite large. But my feet weren't up to it. Lately, my feet have been hurting real bad on account of walking, almost, ALL the time! And I think my new shoes don't fit quite so well. Damn skinny Chinese feet!
Mondays CAD was a trip to the Natural History Museum. Although I have indeed been to a few museums, I hadn't seen many dinosaurs. Or dead bodies in jars! The human body portion was quite neat. However, quite a few parts of the exhibits were either broken, unfinished, or innaccurate. I don't think Quebec gets too many cougars, and BC gets bears as well as Alaska. I don't know, I just found some parts funny, being a North American. We chilled in the Temple of Heaven park after lunch, sitting on the grass, reading, hacky sacking, or listening to music. It was a very peaceful time. We are trying to ready ourselves for the end. Yes, the end. It's coming very soon I must say. I will be home in about 3 weeks. I know most of you are excited, because I know I sure am. We're trying hard to put together our final workshops for debriefing, including reflection, what we've learned and how we've grown. I know we've all done that. This last week has allowed me to do that a lot. I'm finding myself thinking about my up and coming bike trip more then I do the program now. But it really ties into a workshop we plan on doing; what have I learned? You know, you have to show something for 6 months. China has lagged a lot according to the CWY program, but I still have learned a lot. It's hard to describe in text, but just maturing. I remember doing the same excercise at the end of Katimavik; who will I be in the next 5 years, and what will this/these programs have done to make it so? These are large chapters in my life, each a puzzle piece, connecting eachother more and more the further I go. With each new piece, they connect to the past ones more intricately, building the puzzle that is the person I will become. Thats the imagery I use anyway. It might explain my actions or what I say when I come home. 3 more weeks...as Andy says, "Wow...how time flies"
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