A Familiar Face

The last 4 days here in China were very exciting!! Why? Jenny Schulz came to visit me! (And if you know Jenny Schulz, then you'll know why it was so fun. :) Jenny is a good friend who I met while working in Cedar Rapids - we went to the same church and learned all sorts of things about each other for 3 years through our small group. I was thrilled to hear that she was extending her trip to Thailand to include 4 days with me!

I picked Jenny up on Friday afternoon at the Beijing airport and we went straight to our hotel, then navigated the subway system to a "Flying Acrobatics" show! It was really amazing...one woman was bending her body like one of those stretch dolls, *cringe.* That night I began my first of many bargaining attempts for Jenny while she was here - she thought it was absolutely hilarious and dubbed me a "hardass." Hahaha...so true! :) The next day we made a mad dash around Beijing stopping at Tian 'anmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, and the Pearl Market (again, more bargaining.) At one stand in the Pearl Market I ended up bargaining for two "Prada" bags and by the end the woman at the stand was dramatically threatening me, "You make me want to cry! I want to kill you!" I'm pretty sure I still got ripped off but I sure did my best! Below is a picture of Jenny and I at the Temple of Heaven...this was after she walked around the 3rd tier of a circular altar to be sure that there were 81 squares like her Lonely Planet said. :)


The next photo is of Jenny at a hot pot restaurant. I always make my visitors try hot pot while they are in China but I think that Jenny was the first one who really liked it! In my opinion, it's to die for...love it! Hot pot is best likened to fondue. They bring a boiling, flavored soup and assorted meats and vegetables then you cook the food yourself in the pot. The best part of hot pot is the sesame dipping sauce...yum!


Back in Tianjin, Jenny and I enjoyed an antique market (more bargaining), a massage, lots of good food, and Ancient Culture Street (more bargaining.) At ACS I got kind of mad at some shop owners for not being more willing to bargain and I told them in Chinese that, "we're never returning here," when I left the store. I think that's my cue to not bargain for a while...I am in need of some cool-down time...it's hard work!

We also took a trip to the Great Wall and one of my former students, Jane, joined us. The wall was peaceful and beautiful as always but some snow and ice made this trip a little more difficult than others. The first picture below is of Jenny and I hugging the wall...we made it!


This next picture shows the amazing scenery from one of the highest spots on the wall.


And, finally, you can see Jenny and Jane attempting to make it down a very snowy, slippery slope without plummeting off the mountain...yikes!


Thanks for coming, Jenny - it was great to see you!