5.04.08

"Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hardwork, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those that believe." - Gail Devers

China in itself was life changing. A growing experience.

HOWEVER...

There was one day.

One day that stood out more then the rest.

May 4, 2008

It was the day I climbed The Great Wall of China.

" ...When I found out I was going to China I would have dreams about being on the great wall. When I was actually there it felt as if I was standing on my dream. I had worked so hard to get there and I finally was. It was such an amazing feeling..one that brought tears to my eyes. I felt as if I could conquer the world. I could have stayed up on that wall forever. It really was the best day of my life. I will never forget my experience there..."

{part of an email I sent home}

There are several sections of The Great Wall. We decided on going to the Simatai portion. Before going I remember researching online about the Simatai section and a certain website said "Simatai is celebrated for its steepness, queerness and intactness..." (They weren't joking) My first thought after reading that was "celebrated? I don't know how much I am going to want to "celebrate" when my calves are on fire and I'm throwing up over the side of the wall." I don't know if ANY pictures can really portray how steep/scary some parts of this wall are, but it was ridiculous. I remember at one point being on all 4's climbing.

There are lots of websites that say different things, but The Great Wall is approximately 4,000 miles long. INSANE. They must have been REALLY scared. I am not a historian. To be honest, I hated history when I was in school, but In my head this is how the conversation went..

chinese leader: "think..what can we do to protect ourselves..?"

over-zealous man: "we could fight!!"

chinese leader: " don't be ridiculous. have you seen us? we are tiny."

*silence...thinking...silence*

same man--not so zealous: " a great big wall?"

chinese leader: "brilliant. go. "

(1400 years later)

enemies: "what the....a WALL?! No one said anything about climbing a wall. Im outtie"

Sorry, China. I don't mean to make light of something so sacred. I love you and your wall.It's nearly 2 years later and my memory of that day is still so vivid.

Even now I CANNOT believe that I was there.

surreal

I am one of the few that can say.." The Great Wall? been there. done that."

If I didn't have the pictures to prove it I don't even know if I would believe it myself.

This picture was taken from the top of the wall, where you zip line. :)

yes. I zip lined off The Great Wall of China.

Ok..so things you should know before watching my video:

1. I look beat. Don't judge me. I had just finished spending hours climbing the steepest wall EVER.
2. I am holding my camera myself (I was scared I was going to drop it, you will hear me say that in the video)
   So its all over the place. It gets noisier when I turn the camera toward the direction I am going in because of the wind.
3. I'm a girl and I scream like one in the video. Sorry.
4. ** Pay special attention to the end** As I am getting closer to the bottom I start talking to the person down below about how excited I am to be alive. They are yelling at me to stand up as I am insulting her by thinking she is a man.
5. enjoy :)
   
   

Best.Day.Ever.

I left my heart in China...

121 days.

That's how long I called China "home."

I'm sure many of you know this already, but if you don't, I had the wonderful opportunity to teach english in China for 4 months.

To this day it is STILL the best decision I ever made for myself.

[This is a horrible picture, it was taken from the plane. It's the FIRST time I saw China.]


If any of you have ever traveled out of the country you know that the culture can take some time getting used to. China was no exception. China feels like a different WORLD. It's crazy to me that a country can be so technologically advanced, but yet so far behind at the same time. There were MANY things in the beginning of my life there that took time to get used to, but after awhile I realized they were some of the things that I loved most about China.

For example:

China would not be China if you didn't fear for your life everytime you got into a taxi. It's as if the drivers had no regard for human life.

China would not be China if your food didn't sometimes have eyes staring back at you.

China would not be China if you couldn't eat a delicious sweet potato that was served off an upside down trash can.

China would not be China if you didn't have people stare at you in the most

non-discrete way possible.

China would not be China if the people didn't take pictures of you as if you were a celebrity.

China would not be China if you didn't go to the bathroom in a trench infront of everyone.

(I NEVER got used to this one).

These things took time to appreciate.

Something that took no time at all to appreciate?

The people.

I fell in love with them instantly.

The people of China are the kindest, most hardworking people I have ever met. So eager to help. So friendly. When you smile at them, they light up. Can you imagine how different our country would be if we were more like the people of China? After coming back to America that was the hardest part for me. Getting used to Americans again. For awhile, I felt anger towards Americans. They had no idea how lucky they were, they still don't.

I miss the people of China.

I miss them all.the.time.

ESPECIALLY my students. Isn't it amazing how much a child can change your life? Any mother or father I am sure can attest to that. I am so blessed to have met these children.

They will never know the impact they made on my life.

They made it better.

Thank you, China.

Wo Ai Ni. [ I love you]

Ps. this is the first of MANY posts about China.