Past the Halfway Mark

I can’t believe that a month has already passed and the interns who only signed up for the one month program have left. At the midway point, I’m feeling excited that I can look forward to July 27, yet a little nostalgic that my time to leave is also coming up. I’m not necessarily homesick because I love traveling and wasn’t planning to go home this summer, but I’m looking forward to having access to regular sitting toilets, lighter/non-spicy food, normal service, and access to websites that are blocked here. These two months have definitely taught me to not take all of the above for granted, and also to remind me of how sweet home is.

This Saturday, we visited Lama Temple, which was a really cool experience with the Tibetan Buddhist monks and the tallest Buddha statue in China. After strolling through the hutongs looking for a place for lunch, we ended up at KFC, which we noticed usually is located near more touristy areas, and the meal didn’t go wrong. If you’re ever doubtful about the food or restaurant you’re at, never hesitate to fall back on trustworthy KFC. Since I’ve been traveling since early May, my body hasn’t been doing well with the work schedule, heavy food, and inconsistent exercise routine, so I went to Song Lin Spa for their 2 hour foot and whole body massage for only 138 kuai. If anyone’s looking for a massage place that offers private and group rooms that has tons of local and foreign customers, Song Lin Spa is the place to go!

Sunday was a chill day and with our dwindling list of places we want to visit, we decided to go to World Park, or 世界公园, which unfortunately was at the southwest corner of Beijing and took a pretty long time to reach. The mini replicas of different wonders around the world were pretty cute, but when we came across a couple that we’ve personally visited before and seen in person (like the Golden Gate bridge, Grand Canyon, Lincoln memorial, and Statue of Liberty), the replicas came off as too fake to take seriously. In the afternoon, it suddenly began pouring, so during a twenty minute break when the rain stopped where we thought we could run to the subway stop for shelter, the rain started again halfway, and we got soaked. That’s definitely going to be a moment I’ll remember when I look back at Beijing-we were so in shock ourselves we couldn’t begin to process the looks on people’s faces when we walked into the subway station with dripping clothes and squishy shoes.

Overall, I wholeheartedly recommend taking a trip to the Lama Temple, but I’d recommend only visiting World Park if you’re aspiring to travel the world (and haven’t yet seen several of the places they built replicas of) or have young cousins or children who would find it fun.

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