The walk through the Summer Palace in the near 100 degree heat was exhausting, but the lovely air conditioning on the bus was refreshing as we drove though the Olympic Park and saw the Bird's Nest which can hold 100,000 people. The swimming arena looks like a box filled with bubbles from a bath!! :) It was a nice way to end our tour of Beijing.
Knowing that I would traveling home which was 12 hours behind my current location in China, I decided to stay up all night before the plane ride home. Since I had to meet the bus to the airport at 4:00 am on Tuesday, July 12th it made sense to sleep on the plane!
The time change thing can really mess with your mind if you think about it too much. When we traveled to Shanghai, we lost July 1st completely and on the way home traveled through two days of July 12th! Our plane took off from Beijing at 7:30 am on July 12th and we arrived almost 13 hours later to Detroit, Michigan at 7:37 am on July 12th!!
After another flight from Detroit to Dulles, a stop for a glass of sweet tea, the ride to St. Mary's County, a stop to reassure mom and dad that we were still in one piece, and picking up my car from Laura's house, I finally made in home just after 5:00 pm on July 12th. I immediately turned down the temperature on my air conditioning and fell asleep for hours in my own bed!!
Thinking back to everything that I saw and experienced, I have learned a lot and gained a few insights. I learned that people are a lot alike no matter what language they speak. I learned to appreciate the freedoms that we often take for granted in life. I learned to have a whole new appreciation for American air conditioning and the availability of chocolate. I learned to eat using chop sticks without wearing half of my food. I learned that even during a renovation, our school is a palace compared to those in rural areas of China. I learned that progress and growth can look like a rubble-covered war zone with construction cranes. (BTW - 70% of the construction cranes in use around the world are in China and I think I saw most of them!) I learned that political communism does not always translate to economic communism after seeing the disparity in the living conditions of the wealthy and poor in China. I learned that a pit in the ground can be a wonder and a wall can leave you in awe. I learned that opera does not always include singing and signs meant to inform can entertain. I also learned, that Dorothy was right, while it is nice to travel and have an adventure, in the end there's no place like home! Thanks for traveling with me!
I will go through the thousands of photos I took and post a few highlights later today. :)
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