Great Day - Great Wall - Day 5

Today was an easy day, at least compared to yesterday - "just" the Great Wall. Two hour drive each way, but we left late enough this morning to only have to deal with the end of rush hour and got home ahead of the evening rush hour. We even had time to squeeze in a quick stop for pictures by the Bird's Nest and Water Cube from the Beijing Olympics on our way home. Alice didn't want to dawdle though as she has a kids' program she likes to watch on the computer and yesterday we didn't leave any time for that, so she was looking forward to some "screen" time. She also asked Joy if she could call some of her school friends when we got home. She was given 20 minutes of phone time and was very careful to be finished under the limit.

We've been learning some interesting things with the help of our guide, Joy. For example at the Great Wall we rode the chair lift up and the guide rode with Alice to be sure she understood how to get on and off. (Alice sometimes is a little unsteady on her feet.) During the ride up they were chatting and Alice shared that classmates told her no one would ever want to marry her. Joy handled it beautifully, telling her that being happy, friendly, studying hard and doing her best were what people find attractive and that she is also a very pretty girl. There have been other revelations that she has been put down or had negative experiences from the kids around her because of her "differences."

Alice is very observant and not afraid to share her observations. Because of her instability and the steep and rough ground at the Great Wall we were all very attentive to her - ready to offer a supporting hand or to catch her if she stumbled coming down a steep section. She told Joy that she is the only one who needs help and it was clear that she saw that as a negative. Alice isn't hesitant to point out that her dad doesn't laugh or talk as much as mom and JJ, but I think in time as they open up to each other and learn each other's ways she will be Daddy's girl - even JJ thinks so!

While I only refer to her as Alice on the blog, we are still using her Chinese name most of the time. Joy did ask her yesterday which she would prefer and she said, "either", but Alice is less familiar. I think we will transition to it more once we are home, but if you meet her be prepared to hear and use her Chinese name, at least for a while.

And now the pictures. As I said, we were about 2 hours in the car each way. Alice has a PS2 that she plays with during the long drives. DH has been relegated to the "back of the bus."

Going up we rode the chair lift. We took the toboggan run coming down, but I don't have pictures of us on the toboggans. We looked a lot like these folks, except that Alice rode with JJ on a double sled.

 

Things got a little silly on the Wall. At one point Alice started measuring that she was taller than her big sister!

Then JJ needed to take pictures in her kung fu school shirt (a tradition at the school for students to bring pictures from places they travel to. She wouldn't give us peace until DH and I joined her in some tai chi poses.

 

The highest (furthest) tower you can see in this picture (the only one with a room on top with a peaked roof) is the one we walked to. Rather impressive if I say so myself. There were 2 more higher up, but we didn't have the time (or energy) to go all the way!

The day ended up surprisingly warm, so we started stripping off some of the extra layers. Alice really prefers the inner jacket of her hew coat anyway. The outer layer isn't very girly.

One of the more unusual sights we saw on the Wall -

This was the roughest section. Going up was a piece of cake compared to going down on the return trip!

Approaching the final stop!

There are no pictures from the return trip. They look a lot like the ones you've already seen. So on to the final stop of the day - Bird's Nest and Water Cube. (Now featured on the VRBO site.)

Then it was a rush back to the car. There was screen time waiting at home!!!

Finally! Screen time!

Our last activity for today - dumpling making lesson!

Notice the new pink watch in the photo above. Our little time keeper does a great job of keeping us on schedule. We learned at lunch today that she had a watch before that she purchased with money the children at the orphanage received as part of the New Year's celebration. She used some of hers one year for a new watch, but a boy (either at school or the orphanage, not sure which) broke it when he tried to take it apart.

And then eating our lesson, along with dumplings made by our chef, Michael, as well as several other dishes to round out the meal featuring a wonderfully prepared perch.

Joy wasn't excited about me taking a picture of the dinner table at the end of the meal. She didn't think it was very attractive, but I think it shows just how much food we are given each time - much more than we could possibly eat and we are eating a lot!