Letter received January 17, 2005
Dear friends, family and everyone else,
Although we are all preparing for going home relatively soon, the global
itinerary still rages on with the same madness it has for the last four
months. Looking back at the last two weeks and what I have to tell you
about, it doesn't seem real that we could have accomplished so much. But
that's Global! Although my alloted time range includes Christmas, I think
Pastor Benson covered that enough in his letter. I will try to bring you
through the rest of China and the beginning of Korea as painlessly and
quickly as I can.
We left Shanghai on Boxing Day and took a 2.5 hr. train ride to Nanjing;
we arrived in the evening. Unfortunately the museum that we had intented
to see was closed the next day, so we filled our half-day with a temple
visit and a stop at the bridge tower overlooking the Yangzee river.
We took an 8 hr. train from Nanjing to Tai'an in the afternoon and evening
of the 27th. We all had four person sleeper compartments. When we got to
Tai'an we had to juggle late luggage, a missing person (who was later
recovered safely) and checking into our hotel. People finally crawled
into bed around 2 am. The next day in Tai'an we took a gondola to the top
of the mountain where we saw many temples and shrines. It was a beautiful
day and there were lots of places to explore. Many people agreed that it
was the best thing we'd seen in China to that point.
The next day we drove 1 hr. to Qufu, the birthplace on Confucious. We saw
the temple, mansion and cemetary of Confucious. Then, to fill extra time
and escape the bitter cold we found a hotel loby to spend a couple hours
before dinner and our train to Beijing. We left that night for our last
leg of the trip to Beijing: an 8 hr. overnight train ride.
When we arrived in Beijing at 5 am we found another random hotel loby to
kill time in and eat breakfast. When it got light enough we began our day
of touring on barely enough sleep. We started with the Temple of Heaven
where most people resorted to running around to stay warm and awake. We
then proceded to Tianamen Square where we saw Mao (literally) and the
Congress Great Hall. Although we got the afternoon off to rest, most of
us still went out to explore.
On New Years Eve we visited the Ming Tombs and the Great Wall. I think
the Great Wall was a highlight for everyone in China. It was particularly
cold and windy the day we went. However, everyone put on their game faces
and treked to the top of the wall. There was just enough snow to slide
down the steep path on the way back down. We came away with lots of
pictures (the ones we snapped before our cameras got too cold and wouldn't
work anymore) and shirts saying, "I climbed the Great Wall." That night
we all had Beijing Duck together before going out on the town to celebrate
the New Years.
Over the last two days in Beijing we saw the Forbiden City, the Summer
Palace, a Chinese Acrobatic show (we all have a new appreciation for what
the human body can do, and shouldn't be able to do), and saw the Hudong
village by pedi cab. On our own we also explored many markets and most of
us made a stop on 'Culture Street.' Many of us left China with colds, but
good memories.
We arrived in Seoul on January 3rd for the last leg of the trip. Our
first night we were invited to our professors house for hamburgers, hot
dogs and chips! We liked it so much we went back the next night to eat
all the leftovers. In our first couple days here we got a quick tour of
Seoul. We went to the Gyeongbok Palace, the Seoul Tower and the World Cup
soccer stadium from 2002.
In Seoul we are staying on the Yonsei University campus in the
International House. The dorm is divided into a 'gentlemens wing' and a
'ladies wing,' and the two can't intermix. We overcome group separation
by spending time in the common lounge in the basement that has a DVD
player and foose ball table. There is a great shopping and eating street
just off campus, but many of us are finding ourselves dorm-bound due to
cold weather and lots of homework.
The next few weeks will be full of anticipation of our homecoming and
making the best of our last few days together and in Seoul.
Love and best wishes,
Annelisa Steeber
