It really is a pretty great wall

The reason I wanted to go to China was to see The Great Wall. I had no other 'points of interest' on my list. Needless to say, I was a little disappointed when Ko, our tour guide, said we would only be spending an hour there. However, Lauren and I managed to make the most of our time and took about a million (read: about a hundred) pictures between the both of us.
These are a few of my favorite ones:







Lauren and I got a lot of looks for wearing flip-flops. Asian people, in general, don't wear flip-flops to walk around though.



We couldn't possibly pass up a chance to get on a camel.

Shani-I don't know if you read my blog, but you should know that I definitely thought of you when I was on this camel.



When we were leaving, we overheard some guys speaking a language we didn't recognize. Sato-san, a guy with our group, asked me what language they were speaking. I decided to just ask the guys, because I had heard them speaking English earlier. We found out they were from Iraq and were on a government trip to China. Nice, huh? When I told them we were from the states, one of the guys said, "Oh, yeah--we're in a fight." It was, umm, funny. This picture represents the entire conversation pretty perfectly.


In one word: bizarre
I especially love the look on the guy's face that is on the far left.

Umm, what?

I'm convinced, now more than ever, that it's a requirement for Asian countries to post signs with horrible English.











And my favorite...

Apparently this bathroom is for a small man that wears a dress.


Don't worry--this is just my first of several posts with pictures from Peking, or Beijing, whichever you prefer to call it. They can only get better from here, right?

Yes, she is a teacher...

I can't make this stuff up...George does this all on her own.

Exhibit A:
George: our school nurse is from Ethiopia...she found out that I have a 2nd degree burn on my leg.... so she comes to me last week and says...and I quote "It is too late for this now, but next time you get a burn like this, cut yourself a tomato and rub it on your burn....it will make it not get an infection."
Me: My ear hurts...I don't want to go to a Japanese doctor again...blah
George: Do you want me to find out if you can squeeze tomato juice into your ears?

Exhibit B:
George: I want to learn sign language.
Me: Why?
George: So I can be a stand up comedian at a deaf comedy club.

Exhibit C:
George: How far is it from there to China?
Me: About a 3 hour plane ride. We can't drive there you know (Japan is an island)
George: it is? hmm...did not know that

The icebox tales

Out with the old...



In with the new...



Yes, it's true. The green monster is gone and has been replaced by a smaller version in silver. This one doesn't make huge blocks of ice in the freezer, so it's already better if you ask me. I am forever indebted to Ferdinand, who helped make this possible. I love Nigerians (especially him).

I did have to take down my not-so-great poetry.



I need a new hobby. Chelle-do you remember when we played with the magnetic poetry in Atlanta? That seems like forever ago...

It's 10:30 on Saturday morning. I woke up to the sound of weed eaters hungrily chopping down unwanted bits of foliage. I needed to get up anyway. I was having some dreams that seemed very real and I couldn't take much more of it. The strangest one: My grandma was there. She was just hanging out with me and my family. A pretty typical day. A few of my friends were there too. Why is it strange? My grandmother died 10 years ago, so for her to seem so real in a dream now is a little creepy. I woke up expecting her to be in the room with me. That's how real it felt. When I realized it was all a dream, I felt defeated. It's not fair that she gone, but that's life. I wonder if I'll ever stop missing her. If this longing to still see her will ever go away, or at least become dimmer. It hasn't in 10 years and I'm starting to think it never will...