As I approach the end of my second week in China, I cannot believe how quickly time is passing by. It hasn’t quite been an easy transition, as I succumb to jet-lag and fall asleep promptly at 7:30pm, wake up at 1am, and contemplate my life until I have to go to class in the morning. My first few days were hard, and did not quite meet my expectations. Amongst the smog and the communist-era architecture, Beijing is not exactly the most picturesque city, not that I have been looking particularly photo-ready myself in this 90 degree, 70% humidity weather. But as we venture outside of the perimeter of the University during our weekly excursions, I find myself continually in awe at China’s rich history and discovered that, hey, there is no lack of breathtaking sights to see in China!
Today, I conquered the part of the trip that I had been the most apprehensive about: climbing the Great Wall. I assured myself that the amount of walking that I had to do while living in New York would be sufficient cardio for the Great Wall, but BOY was I WRONG. After the first bout of what I knew would be many flights of stairs, I was drenched in sweat, panting, and panicking about how I would make the rest of the climb. I resolved to a strategy of running up the steps quickly before I could feel the excruciating pain in my calves, and then having a sufficient enough time to gasp for air and gulp water before the rest of the group moseyed on up. I admit that it was not the best tactic, but it did the job and the scenery was absolutely worth the climb.
