The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

The holiday season is always a busy time, and it has not been any different in Korea! Last weekend, we had our performance of "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" with the kids at our church! It was a lot of fun! I had the part of the mother/director in the play, and Tim had the part of the Reverend. The performance weekend was a little stressful getting all the kids on the same page, but everything came together in the end! The kids were adorable! And I enjoyed the chance to be on stage again. :)

Yesterday, Tim and I went to see Handel's "Messiah" with a group of our friends! It was a phenomenal performance! The group that performed is called the Camarata Music Company, and it is made up of both Koreans and expatriates. The soloists were classically trained musicians who have had world-wide performance experience. It was wonderful to hear such beautifully performed music! Also, "Messiah" is special for Tim and me because we met on a choir trip to New York to sing "Messiah" in Carnegie Hall five years ago. I can't believe it's been five years! In some ways that seems like such a long time ago, but in other ways, it feels like time has flown. Similar to our experience in Korea thus far!

So during the Christmas seasons past, Tim and I have always had this big, seemingly impossible list of Christmas movies that we have wanted to watch before Christmas. We've never gotten through the whole list, but this year, we intend to! With our schedules here, we've had the most free time together we've ever had, which lately we've been filling up with Christmas movies! It's so nice to be able to enjoy the Christmas season this way. We still have "Home Alone," "The Santa Clause," "Joyeux Noel," "Miracle on 34th Street," and maybe a few others to go! But that, plus the decor in our apartment, classrooms, and around town, has definitely gotten us into the Christmas spirit!

Our new classes have been a lot of fun this month! We really love our students, and it has been fun doing Christmas activities with them lately! Our last day of school before break is Wednesday, and we are very excited about celebrating Christmas in Korea this year! We had planned on going to Thailand for 5 days, but then changed our minds a few weeks ago (and thankfully, were able to get our deposit back). Several reasons prompted this change. First, we have been feeling lately that there is so much of Korea that we haven't had a chance to experience yet. There are endless things to do in Seoul, let alone the rest of Korea. And even though we still have a good 7 months left until our contract is up, we feel like time is going so fast! We want to make sure that we savor everything that we can in our time here. Also, we have a "vacation home" in Seoul now because of our house-sitting situation. So, that makes it easy for us to be able to stay and explore in Seoul, spend time with friends, and also enjoy an amazing apartment! And on top of that, we are able to save money by not going to Thailand so that we can pay off our oh-so-lovely student loans more quickly! Win, win, win. :) We definitely want to experience Thailand, and SO many other countries, but this was the right decision for us for now. So we're calling our Christmas vacation, "Operation: Savor Korea!" We have a list of museums, cultural destinations, restaurants, and performances that we want to see, so every day will be something new. And one night we are staying at the Hyatt in Seoul! On Christmas Day, we're going to a big Christmas party with all of our friends from church, where supposedly there will be a gift exchange, a turkey dinner, board games, and Christmas karaoke! And we have plans to be in Seoul with friends for the countdown of the New Year too! We figure that if we have to be away from home for the holidays, we might as well surround ourselves with friends, and savor this season of life in this country that we are so in love with.

Merry Christmas from Korea!!

Christmas decorations around our town.

Shinsegae Department Store's Christmas theme this year is, "A Wonderful Christmas of Oz!"

Wonderful friends that we will be spending the holidays with!

The Christmas tree in my classroom that my kids decorated!

Our cute little tree in our apartment.

Thanksgiving Blessings

Thanksgiving has been one of most memorable times in Korea thus far! On actual Thanksgiving Day, Tim and I made a delicious Thanksgiving lunch for ourselves. We had chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, stuffing, hot apple cider, and a peanut butter dessert. We were pretty proud of ourselves, and it was a great meal! It was fun to have a Thanksgiving meal with just the two of us because we had never done that before. We also brought some pies into school that day to share with the kids while they made "hand turkeys," and wrote about what they were thankful for. The next day, we were able to "skype in" to both family Thanksgiving celebrations back home. This was really important and special to us because it made us feel like we were actually there. We miss family, especially at the holidays, so it was good to be able to see everybody!

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, we celebrated in Seoul with some people from our church who invited us over. The meal was wonderful. We enjoyed all of the Thanksgiving usuals, including turkey and pumpkin pie, which are rare here in Korea. But the time we had with the people there was the true blessing. Before the meal, we did some readings together that I want to share. First, a poem that left me almost in tears:

What We Need Is Here

Geese appear high over us,

pass, and the sky closes. Abandon,

as in love or sleep, holds

them to their way, clear

in the ancient faith: what we need

is here. And we pray, not

for new earth or heaven, but to be

quiet in heart, and in eye,

clear. What we need is here.

-Wendell Berry

Next, a reading of Matthew 5, from the Message Bible:

You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you, there is more of God and his rule.

You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

You're blessed when you're content with just who you are... no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.

You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.

You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for.

You're blessed when you get your inside world- your mind and heart- put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.

Then, a Prayer of Gratitude:

O God, when I have food,

help me to remember the hungry;

When I have work,

help me to remember the jobless;

When I have a home,

help me to remember those who have no home at all;

When I am without pain,

help me to remember those who suffer,

And remembering,

help me to destroy my complacency;

bestir my compassion,

and be concerned enough to help;

By word and deed, those who cry out for what we take for granted.

Amen.

-Samuel F. Pugh

Finally, a song sung together to the tune of Edelweiss:

Bless our friends

Bless our food

Come O Lord and sit down with us.

May our talk glow with peace

Come O Lord and surround us

Friendship and peace

May they bloom and grow

Bloom and grow forever.

Bless our friends

Bless our food

Come, O Lord,

And surround us.

Everything about the readings and song was so intentional and beautiful, and really helped to focus our attention on what was special about the day. After the meal, we had a time of sharing, where everyone got a chance to talk about what they were thankful for. It was so great to hear the different stories of the people there, and it was a really emotional time. I was just sitting there, feeling so blessed, and feeling so surrounded by God's presence. What we've found here in Korea is indescribably amazing. When it was my turn to share, I talked about just that. The fact that every day here brings more and more blessings. It's like God isn't even holding back, He's just pouring them out on us, and I feel so undeserving of that. We have amazing jobs that we love, students we adore, a generous and hospitable church, incredible friends, amazing family and friends back home, a new culture to learn, a chance to pay off student loans, travel opportunities, and the ability to learn more about ourselves and the world. And yet it seems, every day, there's a new blessing just waiting for us to discover.

Little did I know that there would be new blessings for us to find later that night. After the wonderful Thanksgiving get together, Tim and I had arranged to stay with a family from church for the night. It's a two-hour subway commute back to our apartment, and plus we had church in Seoul the next day, so it only made sense to stay the night in Seoul. This family had offered to let us stay before, but this was the first time it had worked out. Needless to say, we were really excited to hang out with them! They are from Indiana, so we have a lot in common! And they have three adorable boys, so that always makes things interesting. We had a blast eating dinner with them, and playing with the kids. After the kids went to bed, we stayed up playing Taboo with Crystal and Robert. We just had a genuinely, really good time with them. We love new friends! New blessing #1.

Unfortunately, we were really sad to find out that the family will be leaving Korea in a few weeks for Robert's job. They will be gone for 8 months, and then will come back to Korea, but by then, we will be gone! It's so sad, since we were just starting to get to know them! But we know that we will stay friends, and be able to visit them in the future, since we both have connections in Indiana. As we were talking about this, they mentioned how they needed to find someone to house-sit for them on the weekends, to check on things in the apartment while they are gone. Then they were like, "Wait. Do you guys want to do that?" We were blown away. Of course we did! Having a place to stay in Seoul means that our early Sunday morning commutes into Seoul are no more. It also means that we will be able to see our friends more, and just have more relaxing weekends, without feeling like we're constantly on the subway. Not to mention that the apartment is huge and beautiful. So now it's like we have this amazing "vacation home" in Seoul! New blessing #2.

We can't believe the things we've been blessed with these past four months. Thanksgiving is a good time to remember those blessings.

What we need is here.

25 in Korea!

Last weekend, I celebrated my 25th birthday, Korean style! I love birthdays, and this one was especially exciting since I got to celebrate it in a foreign country! On Friday, I got to celebrate at school with a cake that our boss got me. On Saturday, we had our friends Matt and Jackie over to our apartment for a party. Matt's birthday is one day after mine, so it was double the fun! It was an all day celebration, including a slumber party! We arranged our apartment so that one extra bedroom was for the girls, and one was for the boys. To begin the festivities, we ate a Mexican lunch at our apartment, while watching a birthday episode of The Office. Then, we gave a tour of our town, played some Dutch Blitz, and opened presents! Tim gave me flowers, perfume, and homemade birthday cards from all of his students! Jackie gave me the cutest headband ever, and a delicious chocolate cupcake. I was not expecting presents because the present was the party! So it was a really nice surprise. After presents, we went to my favorite Korean restaurant here. It's a Korean BBQ place where you have to take off your shoes and sit on the floor. The food cooks on a grill right in front of you, and it is delicious! It's called dak galbi, or chicken BBQ. After dinner, we tried to go to karaoke, but for some reason, it was closed! So instead, we walked around and found the cutest coffee shop ever. It was decorated with sheep everywhere, and was really cozy. We hung out there drinking tea and coffee and hot chocolate, and reading random Korean magazines. Then, we headed back to the apartment for ice cream cake and more Office! We stayed up way too late talking, as you should at a slumber party! I don't think Jackie and I went to sleep until 4 am. :) The next day we went to church, and then celebrated again at a Mexican restaurant with a lot of our church friends. It was such an amazing birthday!

I don't really feel older, but I guess I am. It's funny... when I was younger, I always thought of what it would be like to be 25. I thought I would feel old. I thought I would understand life, and know exactly where my life was going. I didn't know that 25 still feels so young. I mean, I still watch and love Disney movies, and cut my sandwiches into triangles, and order kids meals at restaurants, and cry for stupid reasons, and jump on the bed when I'm excited, and so many "childish" things. :) And I do not at all have my life figured out. But I'm ok with that! When I was younger, I never would have thought that my 25th birthday would be spent in Korea! But here I am, and I am loving every minute of it!

Fun Day Off!

Tim and I had a day off on Tuesday, so we had a fun, relaxing day. We watched movies, played card games, went out to eat at an Italian restaurant, and went hiking on a mini-mountain near our apartment. We enjoyed being outside in the beautiful fall weather. We also had fun taking some pictures!

The Magic of Lotte World

This past weekend, Tim and I went to Lotte World, an amusement park in Seoul. It is a magical place. There is an indoor area with roller coasters, rides, an ice skating rink, restaurants, a bowling alley, and a stage for performances. Outside, there are more roller coasters, and a castle that looks like Cinderella's castle. The best part about it was that everything was decorated for Christmas already! There were trees and decorations everywhere, and everything said, "Happy Christmas!" We watched a Christmas parade that included costumed characters, Santa, and fake snow, watched a Cinderella Christmas revue show, and watched a cool laser/fireworks show. All to celebrate Christmas! It was fun to hear Christmas songs in English too! The combination of the fairy-tale vibe, with the Christmas celebration was unbearably amazing to me. We had fun watching the shows, riding the rides, and eating corn dogs and Dippin' Dots ice cream! It was a magical day. Happy (early) Christmas!

Reflections of October

I feel like the month of October went by so fast! But so much happened. We went to Beijing, climbed Baekundae Mountain, and celebrated Halloween, Korean style! But October has also brought an even greater feeling of settling and connectivity to our lives. First of all, we redecorated/reorganized our apartment, which is my favorite thing to do! It was starting to feel like a dorm room, with all of our mismatched things, so I had to fix that. :) We got some new chairs, a new bedspread, and some things for the walls, so now it feels even more cozy and homey. I think it's important for us to have that sense of "home" here, even though our home is thousands of miles away.

At church, we have gotten involved in the the worship team and the Christmas play. I am very thankful for these creative outlets, as they keep me connected to theatre and music in small ways. For the Christmas play, we are doing "The Best Christmas Pagaent Ever." We have a very talented group of kids involved, so I think it will be a great show. Tim is playing the Reverend, and I am playing the Mother, along with helping to stage manage and music direct. The lady who is the director of the play is the theatre director at Seoul Foreign School, an amazing international school. She is awesome, and I am very thankful to be working with her! So November and December will definitely keep us busy, as we prepare for this show. I love doing Christmas shows because it means you get to start celebrating Christmas early! And I love Christmas so so much.

We feel blessed to have such a wonderful church family here in Korea, and back home. That is something that Tim and I have been seeking over the past few years. I had kind of become really jaded and bitter about church, in some ways. I saw the behind-the-scenes, inside view of things within the church, and did not like what I saw. I saw my family get hurt, and found it very hard to forgive. I know that no church is perfect. And while we love our church here in Korea, we know it has it's own set of challenges, as every church does. But it has been healing to be a part of such a wonderful, genuine, and loving community of believers. They have poured so much of themselves into us, and now we want to do the same. We already know that leaving our church will be the hardest part about leaving Korea.

All in all, things are feeling more like home here. Not that it replaces our home in the States, but our hearts feel settled, and we feel happy and connected. We are enjoying life, loving the change in seasons, and looking forward to birthday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas celebrations! October was amazing... here's to a spectacular November! :)

Halloween!

Celebrating Halloween was so much fun! Tim dressed up as a cowboy, and I dressed up as a cowgirl! They don't really celebrate Halloween here in Korea... they just humor the foreigners by putting up a few decorations and such. :) So it was lots of fun walking down the street to school with our costumes on! As if we don't stick out enough as foreigners! I didn't mind, but Tim kind of wanted to take the back way to school. Hehe. We were the only teachers who dressed up at our school, so naturally we were the cool ones getting all the attention! The kids loved our costumes! Some of them dressed up too! In one of my classes, almost all of the girls dressed up as witches. They were really cute! Tim spent the day lassoing students, which they found very amusing. We gave away candy all day, and set aside time in each class for making Halloween masks. Our last class of the day, Tim and I combined our classes for a doughnut, pumpkin-painting, mask-making party! It was a great time!

After school, Tim and I went to a Spanish restaurant that had advertised a Halloween party. We walked in, and there was a big table of westerners who were wearing costumes too! They cheered when we came in, and pulled up a table for us to join them. There were two couples, which was great because we don't meet a lot of couples in our town. We had fun talking and getting to know them. It was crazy because we ended up talking about religion, philosophy, church, Rob Bell... things you wouldn't expect to talk about on your Halloween night out. But it was so amazing! Tim and I left the restaurant that night feeling so blessed. The next night, we got together with one of the couples we met that night. We found out that we live on the same street as them, about a 2 minute walk away! We're excited for this new friendship! So all in all, one of the greatest Halloweens ever!

Elena and Michael

Below is a note that I got from Elena in class one day. I was going around checking homework, as I do every day at the beginning of class. This particular day, it was kind of stuffy in the classroom, and Elena was complaining about it. When I came around to check Elena's homework, I found her with her head on her desk, and this note on her back. I'm sorry, but it was one of the funniest things I have ever seen! These are the moments I live for as a teacher! She definitely made her message clear. I never have to wonder what she is thinking, or how she is feeling! She is so dramatic! I love her so much!

Along with Elena's funny, dramatic behavior sometimes comes personality clashes with other strong personalities in the class. Last Wednesday was one of those times. Elena and a boy named Michael got into a fight before class started. Right as the bell was ringing, I looked up to see Elena pushing Michael's head down onto the desk. Apparently, Michael had said something mean to her in Korean, and she was not going to stand for it. Michael's lip was bleeding a little, but he was mostly just mad. After Michael got a tissue for his lip, I made them apologize to each other, after explaining what the word, "apologize" meant. At first, they really didn't want to, but they finally did. Then I got on my soap box, and gave a big spiel about respect and what it meant. Elena and Michael moped and pouted for the first half of class, and then I talked to them separately in the hall during break time. Despite the language barrier, I feel like I got through to both of them. They told me their frustrations, too. I knew that Elena would be ok, but Michael was having a hard time. He's one of those students that likes to push the limits all the time to see how much he can get away with. It reminds me of the stories my dad has told me about what he was like as a young student. :) But he has a lot of potential, and has been improving so much over the past few months. He has become an active part of class, where as before, he didn't really care all too much. I was afraid that this incident was going to be a big set-back for him. He started crying as I was talking to him, and said that he wanted to switch to a lower class because he really didn't like Elena. I told him that I really wanted him to stick with this class because he had been improving so much in every area of English. He said that he would "maybe" try to get along with her, but was still really upset. It was a rough class, and kind of discouraging. I worked hard to restore normalcy, and resolve the conflict, but I didn't know if this was something that was going to be an ongoing struggle.

Thankfully, the next class, everything was back to normal. Elena and Michael were even talking and joking with each other, as if nothing had even happened! The reason I love this class so much is because of their unique, crazy, and passionate personalities, but that's also the reason I never really know what to expect with them! Their dramatic ways sometimes get them into trouble. But I am willing to take the good with the bad because I really have a heart for them. I wish all of you could meet them because they are such amazing kids.

Blessings from Home

Over the past few weeks, we've gotten two amazing packages in the mail! The first was from our church in Mishawaka, Coalbush United Methodist. They were so generous to send us a huge box of goodies for our students! Stickers, coloring books, notebooks, pencils, pens, crayons, prizes... And the kids have gone crazy! They love those kinds of things! So we want to send a big thank you to our church for their generosity!

Also, I got an early birthday package in the mail from my family! They didn't know how long it would take to get here, so they sent it with plenty of time to spare. Well, it took less than one week to get here! I was going to try to wait until my birthday to open it. Ok, not really. But I WAS going to try to wait until I got on Skype to open it, but I couldn't do that either. So I opened it at school, where we receive our packages. I was jumping around like a crazy person, I was so excited! I got a really cute outfit from my grandma, and a necklace and the series of "Anne of Green Gables" movies from my mom, dad, brother, and sister! I love everything! Getting clothes is great because I only have about a quarter of my clothes here with me! And as for "Anne of Green Gables"... I don't know how I could survive a whole year in a foreign country without it. It has been my favorite movie since I was little. Anne has seen me through good times and bad times. :) I always said that ice cream and Anne could help solve any problem! And I always watched my parent's copy, so I never had my own. But now it is mine for all time... :) And maybe I can even get Tim to watch it with me!! So thank you to my family for the wonderful gifts! We feel blessed to have family and friends who take care of us, even from thousands of miles away!

Climb Every Mountain

Before coming to Korea, I had never climbed a mountain in my life, let alone anything bigger than a sand dune at Lake Michigan. So this past weekend was an adventure for me! Some of our friends asked us if we wanted to go hiking with them at Bukhansan National Park in Seoul. Sure, hiking. I was not expecting mountain climbing, but that's exactly what it was! Baekundae Mountain, to be exact.

Tim and I were with our friends Jackie, Collin, and Matt. The hiking trail started as a slight incline, and we laughed as we walked past huge rest stop areas with restaurants full of people! As we kept climbing, it got more and more difficult. At one point, I remember Collin pointing to the peak of a mountain, and saying, "That's where we're going." It was far away. And very high. It was then I knew we were in for a challenging climb!

There was one point in the climb that just seemed impossible for me to get through. The boys were ahead, bounding over rocks, and my friend Jackie and I were behind, taking our time. I was tired, my legs hurt, and there was no end in sight. Just rock after rock, as far as we could see. Collin kept telling us we were "almost there," but we knew we weren't!

Finally, we made it through the physically demanding part of the climb, to a Fortress Wall that was originally built in 132 A.D. I have developed this love for old walls, so I was excited. Not only that, but this was the first time we could really start to see the beautiful view. It was breath-taking, and we weren't even at the top yet. With our renewed energy, we kept climbing. The part of the climb from the Fortress Wall to the top ended up being pure rock climbing. There were cables that we could hold on to to help us, but it was crazy! I felt like I needed to have climbing gear or something! This part of the climb was the most fun for me.

At last, we made it to the top! Altitude: 2700 ft! I have never experienced anything quite like that feeling of finally reaching the peak. Not only the feeling of accomplishment, but the reward of seeing such an incredible view! We could see the city of Seoul, nestled at the base of the gorgeous mountains, and it was stunning. We sat at the top for awhile, resting and admiring the view. We were surprised at how many people were at the top too! Apparently, Koreans are hard-core hikers! After resting for awhile, we started the trek back down the mountain. In some ways, going down was harder than climbing up. I felt like I was constantly losing my balance and almost falling. Plus, at that point, my legs were tired, and were not doing a good job of supporting me. But I am proud to say that I only fell once! :)

Of course, I couldn't climb a mountain, without thinking about the symbolism that was there. As I was climbing, I kept thinking about how mountains symbolize our walk through life. Sometimes life is rough and rocky, and so difficult, but then you see the beautiful view, and you realize why the climb was necessary. I love that I now have an experience to connect with that idea. Also, literal and symbolic mountain climbs are better when you have others there with you to laugh with you and encourage you. We have been lucky to find some good friends here, who we love hanging out with. After the climb, we all went to a Korean BBQ restaurant that was a little "hole in the wall" place. It was perfect. Sitting on the floor, with no shoes, eating Korean food with our friends, after conquering a mountain. Not much compares to that.

Beijing!

Tim and I spent this past weekend in Beijing! We had a couple of days off for Chusok, or Korean Thanksgiving, so we decided to make the trip. We went through a travel agency that offers trips and tours to foreigners in Korea. It was really nice because our tour group was made up of teachers living in Korea, so we had a lot in common. They all spoke English, but we were in the minority being from the United States. There were people from the UK, Ireland, South Africa, and Canada! It was a really fun group of people to hang out with for three days! We also had an amazing tour guide from China named Wade. He spoke great English, and explained the history of everything that we were seeing throughout the weekend. It was great to be on a tour because we got to see so much of Beijing, and we didn't have to think about anything but enjoying it. The stress of the transportation, language barrier, meals, time, and money was nonexistent, so we were able to just take in the beauty of the city. And it is one BEAUTIFUL city.

The Food

One way that we enjoyed the city was through the food! We ate at some great restaurants, and got a good sampling of all different kinds of Chinese foods. There was lots of chicken, beef, fish, shrimp, rice, watermelon, and tea! We ate well! And I now consider myself a seafood eater! I always tried to avoid it before, but it's kind of hard to avoid on this side of the world! And I actually liked all the fish and shrimp that I ate. Yes, I am trying to become more mature, and grow out of my picky-eating ways. :) It had to happen sometime! Our favorite meal in Beijing was Mongolian Hot Pot. We all got our own mini pots of broth that we could cook our food in. We could choose from all different kinds of meat, cabbage, vegetables, noodles, and dumplings. It was delicious, and fun to cook our own food! Funnily enough, there were no egg rolls or fortune cookies at any of our meals! Those are things I always thought of first when thinking about Chinese food. We did get french fries at almost every meal, though! I'm not sure if the Chinese eat a lot of french fries, or if they just brought them to us because we were foreigners! All in all, the food was great, and it was fun to get to know the other people in our tour group during the meals.

The People

Beijing was packed with people when we were there! There are already 21 million people who live in Beijing, and on top of that, there were even more people in the city celebrating the Chinese National Day! So it was crazy! But the Chinese people that we came in contact with were so warm and welcoming! I kind of thought it would be like Korea, where they are used to seeing foreigners, for the most part. But when we were out sightseeing, people would come up to us to get pictures with us, and to practice their English. When we were at Tianamen Square, I was getting swarmed with people wanting pictures with me! It was really funny! One mother wanted me to hold her baby for a picture. It made me feel famous! My favorite was a girl who came up to me, and said, "Hello, welcome to Beijing." Her english was really good, so we had a little conversation. It almost made me cry! She was so adorable. All of the people were so kind and amazing.

The Shopping

Of course, we couldn't enjoy the city without shopping! Our tour guide took us to several shopping areas, including a pearl store and a jade factory. Both were very affordable, so it was easy to succumb to the persuasive salespeople. I got a pearl ring and some jade earrings that I was very happy about. The craziest place that we went shopping, though, was the market. It was five floors of clothes, jewelry, souvenirs, crafts, purses... and hundreds of salespeople trying to entice you. You're supposed to barter for everything, so we did. I think we did pretty well too, because we were willing to just walk away if we didn't get a good price on something. But bartering is really stressful! And you can't just browse without someone coming up to you and saying, "How many do you want?" Not, "Do you want to buy this?" HOW MANY? So we tried not to touch or point at anything, unless we had intent to buy it. Tim said that their motto must be, "You touch it, you bought it." That's pretty much true!

The Attractions

The best part about being on a tour was that we got to see so many places in such a short amount of time. Also, our tour guide told us a lot of the history, so that we knew the stories behind the beautiful things we were seeing. It's so interesting to me that, in the Chinese culture, everything means something. I loved learning about all the symbolism. They don't just take life at face value, they look for the deeper meaning in everything. And the culture is so artistic. Everywhere we went, I was in awe of the beautiful architecture. Everything seemed so intentionally beautiful because there was a reason for every single detail. We were able to see the Temple of Heaven, the Ming Tombs, the Summer Palace, the Forbidden City, and of course, THE GREAT WALL!

Temple of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven is a group of several buildings where the emperors would go to pray to the heavenly god for good weather for their crops and good harvests. They held elaborate ceremonies here twice a year. Above, is a picture of me in front of the Imperial Vault of Heaven. The use of circular and square shapes were very important here because Earth was represented by a square, and Heaven was represented by a circle. For instance, two of the halls are square-shaped, and the Imperial Vault of Heaven is circular. This represents the connection between Heaven and Earth. Just outside of the Temple of Heaven is a beautiful park where mostly senior citizens were playing chess, playing instruments, singing, dancing, exercising.... it was incredible! It is the cool hang-out for the retirees in Beijing!

There were many old trees at the Temple of Heaven. Above is a picture of a tree that is 500 years old! If only trees could talk!

Ming Tombs

The Ming Tombs is the site where the 13 emperors from the Ming Dynasty are buried. Here, we learned about Emperor Yongle, who chose the site for the Ming Tombs. He also was the emperor who moved the capital of China from Nanjing to Beijing. He is one of the most influential and revered emperors in China. He selected his burial site and created his own mausoleum on the site of the Ming Tombs.

Summer Palace

The Summer Palace is the place where the emperors would spend their summers. It is a gorgeous area with a man-made lake, a place called Longevity Hill, a marble boat, beautiful gardens, and beautiful architectural structures. We visited the Summer Palace at sunset, so it set the mood, and made it even more beautiful.

The Forbidden City

The Forbidden City was one of my favorite places that we visited. It is the place that the emperors lived during the Ming and Qin dynasties, nearly 500 years. It was built from 1406-1420, has 980 buildings, and almost 9,000 rooms! Walking around the Forbidden City, I could feel the grandeur, and the weight of history all around me. 500 years of stories were built into those walls. I thought about all of the emperors, empresses, and concubines, and servants who had lived there, and what amazing stories they must have had. We learned that the last emperor who lived there was only 3 years old when he became emperor. He grew up in the Forbidden City, and was different from all the other emperors before him. He was very interested in the western way of life, and took English lessons. Also, he and the Empress were actually in love. They didn't marry just for political reasons. They even wrote love letters to each other because they lived on opposite sides of the very large Forbidden City! Stunning stories, history, and architecture were everywhere in the Forbidden City.

THE GREAT WALL!

The Great Wall is an amazing symbol of history. Construction on the Wall began in the 5th Century B.C. and it is over 3,800 miles long! The main reason that we wanted to go to Beijing was to see the Great Wall! We wanted to be able to walk where millions before us had walked, and to witness history up close. So actually being at there was incredible! We walked on a section of the wall that went up a mountain. So it was quite a climb! The steps were made of stone and were irregular sizes, so it made the climb challenging. Every time I thought we were getting close to the top, there would be another peak around the corner. As I climbed, I thought of the millions of people it took to build that wall, and all of the incredible hard work that went into it. I thought of the many people who had died building the Wall. And I thought about what walls symbolize. I decided that they can symbolize protection and unity, but also insecurity and close-mindedness. Finally, we reached the top! The view was breath-taking, and it was an experience I will never forget!

Our three days in Beijing were full of history, beauty, and stories! We loved every second of it, and it is definitely a place that we want to visit again someday!