Wow!!! I haven't posted in a really long time, but no worries. The last 3 weeks have been really busy for me. I'll just give you a little overview of what I've been up to over the last 3 weeks.
Sunday, November 23rd Kate and Kels arrived in Beijing to visit me for a week!!! I was absolutely thrilled. The week proceeding their arrival had been tough, frustrating, and exhausting, so I was really happy to see them. I met them at the Beijing Capital Airport, and we all headed to their hotel. After arriving, the girls decided they were hungry, and we went out to find something to eat. Kate informed me that she wanted some food that was gonna fill her up and not make her sick. Guess where we ended up? Yes, McDonalds. Kate and Kels's first meal in Beijing was good ol' American McDonalds...Haha. The flight had exhausted them, and afterwards they went to bed.
On Monday, Kate and Kels went sightseeing while I was in class. They hit up the Forbidden City, Bell Tower, Summer Palace, and hutongs (ancient alleys of Beijing). After class, I met up with them, and we all had some time just hanging out, being sisters, and laughing a ton. It was a really nice change from the normal weekday evening agenda. Tuesday, the 25th, the girls went to the Great Wall. After already climbing it myself, I knew they would be exhausted, so I left them to their hard climbing and then rest.
The girls and I met up after my morning class on Wednesday. We went to Yashow Market, a smaller, less frightening version of the Silk Market. Then we went to a Kung Fu show. Kung Fu is a pivotal part of Chinese culture, and the show was really fun and interesting. It's really amazing to see small 5 year old children doing Kung Fu, as well as men in their 20s and 30s. Thursday was the 24th, Thanksgiving. The girls came to Beijing Language and Culture University, my school, that day to have a look around at where I lived. They quickly discovered that I hadn't been exagerating about my room, dorm, and classmates. We ate at my favorite cheap, dirty, little Chinese restaurant, went to a DVD store to buy the most recently released films, and visited a Super Market to compare and contrast with Western super markets. After all this, we returned to my dorm to waste 3 hours playing "Save the Kitties." If you want a good example of how lame the three of us are, you should ask about "Save the Kitties." Since it was Thanksgiving, my assistant director had arranged a Thanksgiving dinner for all of us. My classmates and teachers got all dolled up, and we went to a African themed restaurant to eat our American style Thanksgiving feast prepared by Chinese chefs. The food, actually, ended up being a lot better than I expected, and Kate and Kels got to meet my classmates and teachers.
Friday was the girls last whole day in China, so we had a lot to do. During the morning, we went to the 798 District, the new art district in Beijing. We spent some time looking at galleries and walking around. From there we headed to the Silk Market to bargain for a couple items the girls were looking for. We did quite well bargaining our scarves down to 1/3 of the original price. One of the my father's favorite places to talk about in Beijing is Wangfujing or as he calls it, the weird food street. I couldn't let the girls leave without taking them to Wangfujing to taste some of the "delicacies" that my city had to offer. So we made our way there for Kelsey to partake in a little tourist food tasting. Although I tried to convince her to taste everything, she wasn't exactly willing. Kelsey did, however, eat a scorpion, starfish, seahorse, honeybees, and centipede. It was disgusting, thrilling, and hilarious. I don't know who was having a harder time, Kelsey who was actually eating the food, or Kate as she filmed Kelsey eating these little creatures. On Saturday, December 29th, Kate and 
Kels were supposed to meet their guide at 1 to go back to the airport, so we just hung around the hotel for awhile, took a quick stroll around the block, and then said our goodbyes. It was a really, really, really fun trip for them and me. I was so glad to get to share my experience, my life here, and my city with someone so close to me. The week passed in a blink, and before I knew it, I was bidding my lovely sisters adieu.
Kels were supposed to meet their guide at 1 to go back to the airport, so we just hung around the hotel for awhile, took a quick stroll around the block, and then said our goodbyes. It was a really, really, really fun trip for them and me. I was so glad to get to share my experience, my life here, and my city with someone so close to me. The week passed in a blink, and before I knew it, I was bidding my lovely sisters adieu.At the same time my sisters were returning to the United States, I was supposed to be flying to Bangkok, Thailand with Xandra, a friend from University of Illinois who is currently studying in Hong Kong. However, the protests at the Bangkok airport kept us from doing so, and my plans quickly changed from Bangkok to Hong Kong. So on Tuesday, December 2nd, I left Beijing on my way to Hong Kong to hang out and relax for a couple days. Hong Kong was beautiful and SOO different from Beijing/mainland China; I almost couldn't believe I was still technically in China. Not only was the weather 40-50 degrees warmer, but everyone spoke and wrote English. It was really wild! Xandra had prepared a whole list of things we should do, and on Wednesday we set out to accomplish some of them. She showed me around the city, and we went to a little beach front area to eat and hang out. Wednesday night we went to a horse race with some of her friends from school. It was so fun. I'd never been to a horse race before. It wasn't nearly as sophisticated, but it was still a real experience.
On Friday, Xandra and I decided we would go to Disneyland in Hong Kong. There are only so many Disney's in the world; and I figured if we were only miles away from one, we should def go to it. We had SOOO much fun! After deciding to go to Disneyland, Xandra came up with the idea that we should wear costumes...and so we did. Xandra went as Snow White, and I was Belle. We took the subway from Xandra's dorm to Disney, which is a REALLLY long ride. It was amusing how people looked at us. But we didn't care. We're young. We were just living life. The costumes ended up being totally worth it, because the workers at Disneyland adored us. We totally got preferential treatment. At Disney, we got to meet/take pics with Mickey, see a parade, ride a bunch of rides, and eat theme park food...YUMMY! Our little day trip made me totally want to go back to DisneyWorld with my family...oh the memories. We left Disney and made our way to Kowloon, the main shopping street/area in Hong Kong. We spent some time looking around shops and such, wasting time until the Kowloon light show. Every night at 8:00pm in Kowloon on the river, there is this enormous and phenomenal light show...I think the biggest in the world or something like that. Anyway, all these huge skyscrapers and important buildings time their lights to music, and the lights kinda tell a story. It's kinda like those houses hung with Christmas lights that would flash to Christmas music a couple years ago that became really popular on the web....if you remember that...We watched the light show...AMAZING!
On Saturday, Xandra and I went to the main "downtown" area of Hong Kong, ate really good American breakfast (s0mething you can NOT find in Beijing), and hung around for awhile. Nothing big or too exciting. After our day at Disneyland, we were needing a chill day. My flight left on Sunday afternoon, so Xandra, a friend, and I got some tasty Italian food at a really nice little restaurant called Wagyu. It was a delicious end to a couple fun and relaxing days.
I got back to Beijing late on Sunday nite and have been super busy with school work since then. I have a big Chinese final and speech, a Sociology paper, and a film paper that I need to all have done in about week, along with daily Chinese homework. I know it doesn't sound like much compared to what students at many universities in the States are doing. But after having so little required of me during the rest of the semester, it's exhausting to suddenly be expected to actually work. Oh well, I'm sure I'll get thru it.
So this has been my life over the last 3 weeks...a whirlwind of sisters, friends, fun, and school. I leave Beijing in 12 days to return the to the States. It's really wild to think about! I simply can't believe I'm actually, really going home. The closer I get to the end, the more I find myself in a total heap of emotions. I'm so excited to return home and see all my loved ones. But I'm totally sad to leave this chapter of my life and the city that I've grown to love. I'm absolutely fed up with my classmates but frown at the thought that after this we won't talk daily. I long to give myself to a greater good but hate the idea of unfulfilled plans for myself. I find myself blurring the line between sorrow and joy, as one melds into the other. It's amazing how seemingless unimportant people, conversations, and events have ushered me into confusion yet hope at the same time. I cease to know anything, and yet I have somehow become ok with that...Oh China...
Regardless of everything, all my emotions and worries, I'm very excited to come home and see you all. I've missed you dearly.
Love,
Kendall
I have recently been quite unable to remove these phrases from my mind (I blame this partially on my father). I hope that they bring some of the inspiration and life to you, as they have to me. And if they don't, then I suggest you read/re-read Charles Dickens' "The Tale of Two Cities."
"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."
