Natalee's thoughts about China and the trip

Hello all! This is Natalee, but you already know that based on the title of this post. I've been told to voice my thoughts and opinions on how our trip has gone so far. It may be difficult to compact two weeks of new sights and experiences into a few paragraphs, but I shall do my best.

Before we arrived in Beijing, I feared that I would not be able to make any new friends on this trip, but I was most defiantly proven wrong. The group of families that joined us were all extremely kind, funny, and helpful when my family needed it. I got to spend time with an amazing group of girls that I hope to stay in contact with.

These past two weeks have been jam packed with sightseeing, plane and bus rides, and walking (SO MUCH WALKING). We were kept busy each day and got very little time to just rest and soak it all in. Now part of me was excited to keep moving forward and enjoying all that was being offered of China, another part of me needs sleep and time to relax.

The amounts of food that is offered to us was superfluous. We were given more than we could possibly eat in one sitting and I feel that large amounts of food we don't eat is being wasted. We would all eat until we were full (and with a group of teenagers, that is saying something), but there was just so much served, therefore so much was thrown away. It made me uncomfortable to leave so much food on a table, to then pass a begger or a hungry looking man on a street.

Visiting my birth city of Loudi, Hunan has been interesting, but I feel that I do not share the same sentiment and attachment to my birth history as my sister does. Overall, this trip has been wonderful. I have made new friends, experienced new things, and seen new places (all of which, were expected since I am in a new continent). I wish I had more time to go into detail, but I have just recently been kindly informed to hurry up. So I am ending this post now. Bye!