May 23

Well, I thought I was tired enough to sleep for hours…but apparently only in 2 hour increments. Regardless, 7:00 am came, with an unrequested wake-call, and we got up for our first day of excursions. Breakfast was in the hotel, buffet style, and I had my fair share of orange juice, scrambled eggs, bacon, and croissants. A two hour bus ride brought us to that great wonder of the world, the Great Wall. I was one of only 7 people who opted for a 2-way ticket (ski-lift up, slide down). Most everyone else wanted to climb, but I really saw no reason to a) spend 30 minutes hiking up stairs, b) be miserable after doing so, c) miss the great photo opportunity of riding a ski lift up to the Great Wall. I personally think my choice was brilliant. The lift took maybe 5 minutes, I wasn’t a bit short of breath, and not nearly as soaked as all the people who walked it. Besides, we then proceeded to hike up to the highest point (visible to us) and that was hell on an incline. I think I got my cardio in for the year. Our legs were all shaking. Then the best part, the toboggan slide down. You ride a fun little wheeled thing, with a stick shift that goes forward to accelerate, and pulls back to brake. I took some video. It was a blast.

Back on the bus for a short ride down to lunch. I think they refer to it as “family style” where they just put plates of food on a table and you serve yourself some. I didn’t try everything (sorry, I don’t want to pick my fish off of its bone) but I tried most of it, and it was pretty good. I should probably go ahead and mention that my left ear at this point had not yet popped (from the plane ride). So I have spent the night and morning unable to really hear out of one ear, and feeling like I have a head cold (sinus pressure). And not having your ear pop basically feels like you’re holding your finger in your ear. Which means you can hear yourself chew. I was really conscious of this at lunch and it was disturbing. I made it through though, even drank a little beer. I was happy enough that I found things to eat.

Back on the bus for an hour or so ride back into town, to stop off at a huge market. It sold a variety of things, but was presented to us as the “knock off market” so there was an overwhelming supply of designer items…bags, shoes, clothes, watches, etc. Some were good fakes, some were not. I own one designer bag, and I paid half price for it, so needless to say, I am not about to pay much of anything for a fake one. And half the fun of this market is supposedly the price haggling, but I really just found it annoying. It didn’t help that Elizabeth got called a “sucker” after she bought at about half the original asking price. And they do everything with calculators, like, you ask the price, and they pull out this calculator and type it in for you to see. And so sometimes you’ll each type back and forth. Needless to say, I had out my little currency converter, so everytime they named a price, I would figure out the U.S. equivalent, and drop it some more. My strategy eventually became deciding what I would pay in the first place, and just sticking with that. They’d look at me like I was ridiculous, but still eventually bring the number pretty close. Then I would go to walk away and they would settle. Worked out pretty well. Got a $20 Gucci purse. One place said they would lose money at that price, so I was like “then don’t sell it to me” and went to a booth next door and got it from them. Also got some MAC pigments for $2 or $3. And helped Chad get a watch for $5 (although the first vendor we tried with called me “mean”). After securing two Cartiers and a Rolex for Elizabeth, we finally caught a cab back to the hotel (we could have taken the bus, but we would have had to leave about an hour earlier). The cab was only about 3 bucks.

Dinner was down the street at Pizza Hut. After such an exhausting day, I think we all wanted a little taste of home. I also realize that regardless of how good the Chinese food is here, I’m probably going to get sick of it, eating it every day. So it’s best to supplement with American franchises. And that “American Special” (pepperoni and cheese) really hit the spot. Then, walking back to the hotel, at 8:22 pm, my left ear FINALLY popped. I periodically ran through the possible cures for it (yawning, chewing gum, holding nose and breath and forcing air out ears, etc) and 24 hours after getting off the plane one finally worked. Hallelujah.