7.13.09- Day 56

*Arrived in Beijing early morning
*Stood in line for 45 minutes for taxi (=1 standing mile- pic 1)
*Went to hostel, but they didn't have our reservation
*Went to other hostel and unpacked
*Tienanmen Square (sorry no good ones of Mao- Sarah has them)
*Forbidden City (pics 2-5)
*Temple of Heaven (pics 6-9)
*Lots of rain
*Pearl Market
*Took Megs out to dinner at TGIF for her bday
*SLEEP!!!!

7.12.09- Day 55

Happy 25th Birthday Megan!!!! We celebrated Megan's bday today by going to a 3 Self Fellowship in the morning that Megan normally goes to, eating out for lunch (korean food), giving Megan her gifts, and packing up to take the night train to Beijing. The pic is us on our beds in on the night train. I think that Sarah has pics of Megs opening her presents and maybe of the church. (currently we only have about 1/2 of the pics from the trip because Sarah is still in China and Meg's camera got stolen on a bus- sad day).

Going to the 3 Self Fellowship was really interesting. Although I couldn't really understand the sermon, I recognized several songs- "Lord, I Lift Your Name on High" and "I Exalt Thee." It was so rich to worship with followers in another culture and language. The fellowship was totally packed. Many people were standing or sitting on plastic stools. Megs said that the sermon was about balance in life and the Father's creation of the Sabbath. I loved learning more about this aspect of life in China.

7.11.09- Day 54

Happy Early Birthday Megan! Today we went to an ELIC fellowship meeting, sang some good songs, and had a talk about the Father's book in the morning . We went out to lunch, then got ready to go Meg's bday party that some of her ELIC teammates threw for her. The theme was "double pretty." Neither Alan, Sarah, nor I understood what "double pretty" meant really until later in the trip. Meg's explained that the styles in China are somewhat different than the US and that many Chinese people come up with some nice clothing combinations. They put two pretty things together (but may not pay much attention to how well they go together). For example- a pink polkadot skirt with a flowered shirt. Or two different types of plaid for top and bottom. Or a dress that has flowers, glitter, sparkles, diamonds, and ruffles. So, in the pic is our feeble attempt at being double pretty. We didn't have many clothing options with our travel clothes. We went to the party and the hosts Bridget and Ben had made some awesome posters with Meg's picture. Different people brought food and we visited, ate, and played some games. It was fun. I enjoyed seeing and meeting the people that Megan hangs out with everyday.

(Notice even Buddy the badger dressed up for the party. His costume morphed half way through and now he is sporting the pirate look!)

7.10.09- Day 53

I decided very early on in the trip what I wanted for a souvenir: a Chinese masseuse!!! Meg's took us to her favorite place to get massages. We enjoyed some much needed pampering (after a couple very long traveling days) for about 28 yuan=about $4 for an hour long massage!!!! I'm sure Alan would want me to let everyone know that he did not get a massage (preserved his manhood- haha). The rest of the day was spend trying some of Meg's favorite restaurants, meeting her friend Lisa, going to some of the places she likes to shop, trying MZT (a popular tea stand), and of course playing hand and foot. We also got a tutoring lesson from one of the girls that tutors ELIC students. This is a big part of Megan's life during language school. We learned how to properly say the names of the towns we were visiting: Changchun (chang-chwin), Beijing (Bay-jing), Yangshou (yang-showa), Shanghai (shaung-high), and Suzhou (su-jo). We learned to count to 99 (actually just 1-10, but is it a base10 system). We learned how to say me, us, you, yall, him/her, and them. We also learned hello, goodbye, sorry, and probably some other things I have forgotten. It was so interesting to see what daily life looks like for Megs. It was similar and different than I thought it would be in so many ways. I will expound more later when I'm not quite so jet lagged.

7.09.09- Day 52

Arrived in Beijing around 2:30pm. Here are pics from the main lobby of Terminal 3. We stuck around the Beijing airport for a while to catch our 6:50pm flight to the Changchun airport (Megan's hometown right now). We arrived safely with no complications. It was so fun to see Megan's lovely face waiting for us at the Changchun airport. We went back to her apartment and talked for a while then went to bed early!