All Grown-Up

"We're big girls now!" my teammate Hailey exclaimed when we made it to Beijing on Friday. 

That's right, we're big girls. Hailey, Chesney, Anna, and I successfully planned and carried out a trip to Beijing for Mid Autumn Festival vacation. WITHOUT OUR TEAM LEADERS!!!!!!

Y'all are probably reading this thinking what's the big deal? It's a big deal because we did it ALL BY OURSELVES!!! It was our first venture away from the nest and security of our team leaders. And we didn't get lost or die! I did lose my wallet on the trip which has been the butt of many jokes now, but other than that fiasco nothing significantly bad happened. 

So what did we do in Beijing? LOTS. I was exhausted after our trip, but it was so worth it. 

We got to Beijing Friday around lunch time and we met up with our dearest Joy, our adopted Beijing teammate. After dumping all our gear at the hostel, we went to the Bird's Nest, which was where they held the 2008 summer Olympics. 

IT WAS EPIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love the Olympics, particularly the summer Olympics. So getting to see the Bird's Nest was probably one of my favorite things we've done in China. And I'm a huge fan of Michael Phelps, and I got to see the Water Cube, where he made Olympic history in 2008. DAY MADE!

Me at the Bird's Nest!!!!

Me at the Water Cube!

We took lots of pictures, some serious, some silly. Actually mostly silly. So here's a few of them.

Me and Chesney trying to copy the statues

We asked this random foreign guy to take our pictures. He obviously was American, and he asked us where we were from. We responded, "America" and he said, in a "no duh" voice "I know that." Haha. We're so used to just saying America because most Chinese people have no idea where TN, AZ, or UT are. We felt a little stupid. 

Chinese people can sleep anywhere. And to prove my point:

Yeah. 

We found these sculptures of women running with torches, so we decided to take pictures in front of them. Hailey was the photographer. First we tried to copy the sculptures poses, which was an epic failure. Then we got a running start and Hailey tried to take pictures as we each got in front of our respective sculptures. Again, failure. But we got some hilarious pictures out of it.

Friday night we met up with Katie, Joy's team leader. We went to the fancy mall and ate dinner. And I had a salad. It was AMAZING! I hadn't had salad in forever. Then Katie took us to this little store that had a ton of imported food. 

I FOUND CHERRY COKE!!!!!!! IN CHINA!!!!! 

For those of you who don't know, I LOVE Cherry Coke. It's so bad for you, but it's so good. And I hadn't had any in a long time. 

And then Katie took us to Coldstone Creamery. That's right, you read that correctly. C-O-L-D-S-T-O-N-E C-R-E-A-M-E-R-Y. IN CHINA!!!! 

CHOCOLATE GOODNESS!!

So yeah, Friday was pretty awesome. 

On Saturday we met up with Joy again and went to Ikea. That's right, Ikea. I thought the Ikea's in America were huge and insane. The Chinese Ikea beats and American Ikea by a long shot. The insanity and hugeness of the place were almost overwhelming. After spending two hours in Ikea, I felt like I had run a marathon. The best part of Chinese Ikea is that people actually sleep in the beds. All of the beds looked very lived in. Remember how I said Chinese people can sleep anywhere? They do. 

I am so thankful for the amazing friends I have here in China, and I cannot imagine my life here without them. And I am so blessed that Father has provided these fantastic, encouraging women for such a time as this. It's astounding to me how so many different women with different personalities and interests can be such good friends. But that's the beauty of the bond we share as Father's daughters. There was so much laughter, silliness, and fun during our trip to Beijing-it will be one of my fondest memories of China. Thanks for Hailey, Anna, Chesney, Joy, and Katie for making it an awesome weekend!