adventures around beijing

attention everyone -- i went snowboarding!!! there's always been something about snowboarding that has made me so genuinely satisfied, but getting the chance to board over here went above and behind to make me feel so at home. it's something i've done since 8th grade, and now i'm half way across the world and i can still get that same experience. well not the exact same -- chinese people are not so good at snowboarding (or skiing). i was in a much higher tier than back in the states, which did make me feel pretty cool. the slopes have ads lining them, with shaun white, columbia and oakley. chinese people wear ridiculous outfits, and as if it's not enough to match their boyfriend or best friend in the city, they take the extreme to the mountain, as well. i went with my chinese friend esther who is from texas and my chinese friend ionel who is from france. esther was learning for the first time and caught on so quickly! although it was still hilarious to watch :) made me think back to 8th grade when maggie and i tried to teach ourselves with no help, just trial and
error, and how we couldn't even reach for our hot chocolate later that night as every muscle in our body was revolting against us. so just like everything else in china, boarding is incredibly cheap. my lift ticket cost TWENTY dollars, which included all of my rentals. is this for real? yes. because in china, anything is possible. transportation back to/from the city cost a whopping two dollars, and then we had a
delicious taiwanese dinner. seriously, what a day.

the next day our school went to a hot spring, which was a big resort-like-area with natural hot tubs. some were the size of normal hot tubs, and some were the size of regulation size pools. there were temples and dragon faucets and even chinese herb baths. to top it off, there was a sonna and a lunch buffet. extremely relaxing and felt amazing with the cold beijing air (and note: no smog!). only drawback - being in a bathing suit. and no, not because i was worried about being fat or being cold or one of the typical worries by girls, but because i'm pale...and the chinese people LOVE it. why is this bad you may ask? well, i'd say i already draw enough attention to myself just by..existing. my chinese coworker dou dou actually tried to pull off my robe that was over my suit because she wanted to see my "beautiful body." aawwkkward. i hate having all of the attention on me! and being in a bathing suit in the middle of winter in front of a gazillion chinese people is not the way to avoid it.