A Cowboy In China

Sorry i haven't been able to update this over the last two days. Things have been positively amazing and crazy busy. Friday was our free day and my group went to a Tibetan Buddhist Lamasery in Beijing and then to a Confucian Temple right across the street. The Lamasery had some of the most beautiful art and statues I have ever seen in my life including a gold Buddha that was 60 feet tall! 60 freaking feet. I don't have many pictures of these statues because photographs are forbidden inside the halls where they are held. Yesterday, our whole class went to the Great Wall and on a Hutong rickshaw tour. We went to the Badaling section of the Great Wall and i damn near blew out a lung on some of the ascents. But the Great Wall was a beautiful and amazing experience. We also stopped in the Olympic Village for about 20 minutes. Along the way, our entire class has been making tons of friends in China, from a construction worker on the highway to shop owners and craftspeople. Everyone here is so nice and willing to help us. Today we are leaving for Xiamen to begin our studies at Huaqiao University. Here are some pictures of recent adventures as well as some funny English translation I have found.