So I’ve been in Beijing for a week and it has been something. The immersion was definitely a big change in my life. It was hard to go from only speaking in English with my friends at school to speaking in Wenzhounese with my family and then completely doing a 180 and speaking primarily in Mandarin. However aside from that, I seriously cannot get enough of the food. Most of the food here are dishes I had growing up and ones my parents and grandma still cook at home. Although, it wasn’t my mom or dad’s cooking, it still felt very comforting. Additionally, there’s seriously so many options. I feel like two months might not be enough time to try everything here. Anyways, aside from the food and culture, China has some great sights to offer. We went to the Great Wall this past weekend and it was truly a once in a life experience. Prior to going, for some reason, I had imagined a very even bridge. However, it was beyond different from my expectations. It was truly a hard climb because the steps were so uneven. Certain parts of the climb were rather do-able however, there were huge stretches of just stairs. At a certain point, my friends and I stopped halfway through a long stair segment to just sit. Upon sitting, an elderly lady with her cane passed us. We immediately stood up and kept going after that. However, I must say as hard as the climb was up, the climb down was far more frightening. Although there were rails on the side, they were chains that were definitely not sturdy. After the three hours of climbing up and down, I felt rather accomplished. I can’t wait for the coming excursions. 
