I will finish up with Ben's last few days in China. We spent the last week in Beijing, came back to HK on Saturday night, went to church on Sunday and he left on Monday morning.
The last week in Beijing, we took Sunday off of touring and found a church. The church was for expats (Beijing Baptist) and met in a hotel. Ben met a friend at church and we ended up staying for a fellowship lunch that they were having that day.
The next day, we went to the Great Wall. We took a chair lift up to the wall. Ben and the tour guide were in front of John Paul and me.
It was rather surreal to be walking on this wall that was built so many years ago! The "tourist" part was re-built 600 years ago, but we walked past the "do not go beyond this point" sign to explore a little bit of the older section that hadn't been re-built. Here are some pictures and a video that Ben took with my phone:
To go back down the mountain, we rode the alpine slide.
After the Great Wall, we stopped for lunch at a Chinese restaurant. It was delicious! We each ordered a dish and then shared them. Ben chose donkey! It was too spicy for me, but he liked it!
After lunch, we visited the Summer Palace. This is where the emperor would go to relax during the summer.
We rode on a dragon boat from one end of the palace to the other.
Yes, that is Ben picking the dragon's nose...
A rather strangely dressed man we saw at the palace!
On our way back to the hotel, we drove by the place where the olympics were held. Unfortunately, it was pretty foggy, so we didn't see it very well.
Our last day in Beijing, we went to a couple of museums.
Getting back to the hotel during rush hour was ridiculous! The picture below is walking from one train to another (we had to transfer trains to get home). The line moved so slowly that it barely moved! Eventually, though, we made it back!
From Beijing, we took the bullet train one hour south and then took a taxi for an hour and a half to a little village to visit some friends who teach english there. I have been friends/penpals with Ruth since we were about 14 years old, so it was so great to see her, her husband and their 6 kids! We stayed with them from Wednesday until Saturday. Some of our best memories from our trip came from our visit with them!
This is "little Ben" - so Benjamin became "Big Ben!" He was like the big brother to the four boys in the apartment!
This is Riah. She LOVED "Uncle John Paul!" One day, ater hanging on him and then playing with his ring, she said, "Can you take your ring off?" She was so cute!
And yes, she liked me too! :)
There were some pretty intense games of chess and ping pong!
We had a private room in a restaurant near their apartment and had Chinese "Hot Pot" together! It was delicious!
Of course, during the meal, Benjamin played some games with the boys and continued his Chinese lessons! He learned all his numbers and quite a few phrases! He was able to communicate with our taxi driver on the way home!
This is Ben's first time holding a baby (besides the one without a diaper that I put in his arms in Beijing). He wasn't too sure about it....but hopefully he'll be ready when his niece comes to see him in a few months!
We loved being able to go to school with Yusef and assist him in teaching a few of his english classes.
All of the kids in Yusef's class have english names that they've chosen which they use when they're in english class. (Some of them had to be reminded of what their names were!)
During one of the breaks between classes, the principle took us on a tour of the campus. When he found out I was a pianist, he brought us to a room and had three of his students who take piano come and perform for us while he served us tea! Most of the kids are society orphans and live at the school. They have parents, but most of the parents are working in the city to earn more money while the kids live in the village. Every two weeks, many of them go to their grandparent's house to visit during the weekend.
Ruth and Yusef don't have a car, so going out was quite a production! Wherever we went, we had quite a following! Even at the stop light, people would come up to ask questions to Ruth and Yusef (in Chinese), such as "Why are you here?" "How much do you make a month?" "Why do you have so many kids?" "Are you tired with so many kids?" HA! It was quite funny!
In China, families are limited to only one child. If they get pregnant with a second, they are either forced to have an abortion or to pay a huge fine. This is very sad. It also causes problems within the families because it develops spoiled children when there are two parents and four grandparents all doting on one child.
It was sad to say goodbye! When we left on Saturday morning, we went in the hour and a half taxi ride to the train station. This was one of the most scary rides of my life! The driving in China is rather frightening! You know those two yellow lines in the middle of the rode? Well, apparently they are just for a suggestion in China! Oh, and blinkers? You don't need them. Just use your horn. A LOT.
After missing the train (we didn't realize it was Buddha's birthday and traffic would be so bad in the city), we caught the next train and finally made it back to Beijing where we had another 2 hour taxi ride to the airport (again, because of the holiday). But, we made our flight on time!
I was reminded again that I was pregnant on the flight home. I got nauseous and asked for an air-sickness bag. Well, 20 minutes later, the flight attendant brought me a little, tiny bag with holes (it was a duty-free shopping bag!). Well, I had more than that bag could hold! Unfortunately, while running to the bathroom, I threw up on three people. I hid in the bathroom an extra long time, and when I came out, those people had been moved to different seats and there were newspapers laying all over the seats and floor. When the plane finally landed, I walked out with my head hanging very low!
After church on Sunday, we went out with some of our friends for lunch and had dim sum. Then, on Monday, it was time for Ben to leave. I cried and begged him to stay longer, but he was ready to be home with his family....and dog, Beau! It was hard to walk past his empty bedroom in our apartment for many days after that! We miss having him here and bring up little things that happened while he was here all the time.
Now we are looking forward to when Mom comes to visit us in August! Please pray that we can time her trip to be here when Baby Clough is born.
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