China installment 1
Well here I am in China, every time I look around I fall more in love. After staying up most of the night on tuesday with my lovely girls(insert shout out here) I made it through grand rapids security without a hitch, and I was off -- chatting up the former calvin professor sitting next to me on the 30 minute flight to Chicago we talked about such intreguing topics as Flannary O'connor and what sort of things Calvin needs to fix. I arrived at O'hare before any of my other 16 group members so I puttered around a couple book stores and read magazines I'm too cheap to buy. When the bmore group arrived it was good to see my father again afer such a long time. Everyone on the team seems great even though I hadn't much time to get to know them on tuesday because I popped a sleeping pill as soon as we got on the plane and slept 5 hours during the time that was night in China. After I woke up I meandered around in my pill induced hazed for a while, and watched Spanglish. The 13 hours seemed to go faster this time then august 2004. BEIJING- I got a new passport stamp and couldn't stop smiling, I was back in China, it feels like home or better then home. On the four hour bus ride to Quinghaun dao we zoomed our way through the big city with its crans and beeping cars and then through the country side with its sheep doted hills, rice, patties, and acres of farm land with only with a few tills. (I was listening to Sufjan on my ipod it seemed to fit nicely) Then to the college where there was a banner and 25 students or so waiting for us. Small chinese girls surronded me, refusing to let me carry even my jacket, and their smiles, their smiles - thats when you fall in love with China, the first time you see their smiles, more genuine then anything you've seen before. Dinner to serve a king was layed out for us by the college. Sleep came quickley.