Here are a few photos from my last week in Beijing. The first two are of my students, ATAP1 then ATAP2. And the third is of some colleagues; TAs, teachers, and staff. Digging through these photos makes me miss everyone very much. The batch of photos below were taken at a bar during my last weekend in Beijing.

Last weekend a small group of us from work went to the Shandong province, which is home to our friend and collegue Xiao Yuan. We stayed with her family in the small town she grew up in. It seems that the major produce of the area is wheat. Down every steet was an endless pile of wheat that was being processed by the people living there. It seemed that everyone had their own allotment that they were responsible for. Groups of different families would be working together, racking the wheat and separating the seeds from the straw. To say the least, it was a surreal sight to see.

The most challenging part of the trip was getting there. We took and 14 hour overnight bus that was packed with people and had not enough beds. Two very fat and drunk Chinese men fell asleep ontop of me, as did others ontop of Chris. Normally I am very tolerant of the large crowds here, but on this bus ride I discovered my limit. In the middle of the night, one of the fat dudes sleeping ontop of me starting banging on my leg to get my attention. For whatever reason he found it necessary that I witness his friend rubbing his bare, enormous, and sweaty stomach. That’s when I cracked. For the first time I yelled at a stranger while being here in China. The top photo is of us on the bus, but it doesn’t do it justice. A friend took some photos herself, once I get them from her I’ll see if I can find a photograph that better illustrates the insanity.

Despite the frustrations of getting there, the trip was wonderful. Again, the food was great and the people warm and comforting.

View the entire album here

This weekend was IDD’s one year anniversary. To celebrate, the entire company and ATAP1 graduates went on a weekend excursion to a small mountain village 4 hours outside Beijing. The best trip yet. Our days were filled with horseback riding, boating, drinking Bái Jiǔ, and endlessly indulging in fantastic food. We also saw a traditional dance by a variety of Chinese minority groups.

Here a just a few of the many photos. The entire album can be viewed here.

Last weekend we visited a University in the southeastern tip of China to give a presentation on our school. The people wonderful, the food was delicious, and the tropical landscapes were a nice break from Beijing’s industrial spread. Here are a few photos from the weekend, wish we could have stayed longer!

The entire album can be found here.

Last weekend Chris and I went to our friend Ge Beilu’s hometown (top-right in the first photo) in the south of China. Her family was warm and generous, the food was amazing, and the countryside was so relaxing. I wish we could have stayed longer. Here are a few highlights from the trip.

Our pilgrimage to the world’s largest Buddha. It was a haunting and magical sight. These photos don’t really do it justice. When I first saw it from the distance, a chill ran down my spine. I kept expecting to see the Buddha run around throwing large boulders onto the small villages below.

An awesome day of ridiculous fun. First we rode a zipline to a small island about a mile away. Flew over thickets and sharp rocks, and crashed into a pile of mattresses probably a lot faster than we were suppose to. If knew how sketchy the rig would be, I probably wouldn’t have gone. Afterwards, we got into large plastic balls filled with air and unsuccessfully ran across water. All the Chinese spectators had a good laugh at Bishop. I have to admit, watching him tumble around in the over-sized hamster ball was unbearable.

For our last day in Cheng Zhou, we went to a small village outside the city and had a marvelous day of fishing and eating local food. Actually some of the best food I’ve had since arriving to China. I have to tell you, fishing without a reel is very difficult. It’s particularly awkward to cast. Beilu’s uncles just made fun of us most of the time, especially after telling them that we’ve done plenty of fishing growing up. They must have thought we were full of it.

The trip was wonderful and I can’t wait until the next one. Hopefully next we’ll be headed to the far northeast.