Beijing and Homecoming

We arrived in Beijing just two days after the “1 Year Before the Olympics” celebration, and it was an exciting place to be! On our first day, we explored Tiananmen Square and the Ancestral Palace. Our tuk-tuk drivers around Tiananmen tried to scam us into paying 300 Yuen for the little tour we had agreed to take for 3 Yuen – they didn’t get our money! But other than that, it was very fun afternoon. That evening we got our first taste of the Silk Market – a 6 floor, ginormous market with every knock off under the sun and some very intense bargaining. Needless to say, that was the first of many visits to the market.
On our second day, we made our way to church. After discovering that the international branch was meeting in the afternoon, we hopped in a cab and headed to the Summer Palace, along with another guy we met at the church. He had lived in China for a number of years with his family, and it was fascinating to hear about how much things had changed. Apparently when he first lived there in ’92, there were hardly any cars on the road. Today it’s a thriving city with skyscrapers everywhere, and tons of traffic. The Summer Palace was beautiful, and very extensive. We loved the ponds with lotus flowers, the lake, and the architecture. At the “Garden of Harmonious Pleasures”, we came upon a guy playing the harmonica while a few couples danced. We did join in the fun, just for one song! In the afternoon, we made our way back to church and really enjoyed the services there. We met some neat people, and Mike even bumped into an old friend. That evening, the enticements of the Silk Market drew us in again, and we started in on our gift purchases, and even splurged and bought a silk rug!
The next day we got up early to join our tour to the Great Wall. Our traveling companions for the day were two French guys who had been in Mongolia with a non-profit, working to establish fair, free trade in a village there. The tour dropped us off at one part of the wall, and we had a 4.5 hour hike along to another part. It was so beautiful to be up in the mountains and the wall is just incredible! Truly amazing! The views and the countryside were an absolute highlight of the trip. At the end of the hike, we slid down a zip-line, across a river, and then bought a (mint chocolate!) Magnum bar to celebrate! When we arrived back in Beijing, we had dinner with a couple we had met at church the previous day. It was a really fun evening with some neat people. And, we left with some prized knowledge – the price that the locals pay for everything at the Silk Market! That saved us hours of negotiating the next day!
Our final day of the Round the World Trip!!! We could hardly believe it! We headed off this day on a mission! Hit the framing stores to have our art framed (you can’t get customized framing done in the States for $10!). Visit the Forbidden City – take lots of photos. Visit the Temple of Heaven. Eat a quick lunch. Go to the Silk Market!!! And we did well! By about 1:30 in the afternoon, we split up to do all of our last shopping at the market, including buying a huge new suitcase to transport all of our new purchases. While we hadn’t done too badly before finding out the insiders’ scoop on prices, it saved us so much time when we could just walk in, tell them how much we were willing to pay, and walk out if they wouldn’t take it – they normally did! By the evening, we were exhausted and very happily settled down to our final meal – Peking Roast Duck. Delish!
It was certainly with mixed feelings that we settled down to sleep that night. We were very excited to get home to our new, little home and to our comfortable bed. And, we were definitely ready to be with family and friends again, and couldn’t wait to catch up with everyone. But, we couldn’t believe that after two months of traveling, every few days packing up for the next exciting city, that now we were packing up to go home, permanently.
And so that’s it! We’re back! We can’t wait to see each and every one of you, and to catch up on all the details of life at home. If any of you are bored over the next few months, we’d love to employ the services of any and all in painting our new home. Hopefully in just a few months, we’ll have things up and running, and we’ll be ready to have visits as often as possible!
Our new address is 5 Eglantine Ave. Pennington, NJ 08534. Phone numbers are the same, for now, although we’ll let you know when we change them.
Mike – 703-599-3072, Norah – 571-338-1941. And e-mails are the same: wasdenm@yahoo.com, norah.wasden@gmail.com. Mike will be starting at J&J on Aug. 27th, and Norah starts at Rutgers shortly thereafter. Please give us a call, or drop us an e-mail, or even better, come and visit! We’re having quite a hard time getting over the jet lag and sleep deficit, and we’re a little OCD about painting right now, but before too long, hopefully we’ll have caught up with everyone!
Lots and lots of love and hugs to you all!!!
Love,
Mike & Norah