am in Zibo, China!!!!

Nihao! (hi)

The flight to Beijing was smooth but of course very long! The day after we arrived we went to the Great Wall. It was amazing but so tiring and hot. The next day we went to the forbidden city and Tiananmen Square. We could see Mao's remains because it was closed that day but still very cool to really be there. Also random Chinese people want to take a picture with you because we're such a curiosity.

I'm dealing with traveler's sickness a little, but at least I was OK during the 7 hour van ride from Beijing to Zibo. It's not ZEE-bo by the way it's ziBO. On the drive we went over the Yellow River which really is so Yellow!! So far the most interesting thing I've eaten is a pigeon egg. I'm also drinking lots of tea, which is great. It's hard to remember to brush my teeth with a bottle of water (since the tap water isn't safe). Class starts tomorrow and the kids are arriving today.

What else... I suck at haggling but some of the other people are so good at it...! The worst for me I think besides not being used to the food is how smoggy and dirty everything is. The sky is just grayish and very very rarely a pale blue.

Hope everything is going well on your side of the world!!