Only 12 Days Left...

It feels like just yesterday that I last updated my blog - but so much has happened in these past few days. Let me recap:

Manchester United vs. Beijing Hyundai: On Tuesday I went with Nick (Australia), Sally (England) and Kim (US) to a soccer match at Workers Stadium. I pulled up to the stadium in a 1.2 cab and was absolutely surrounded by people outside the stadium holding China flags, yelling and screaming cheers, blowing horns and noisemakers...it was madness. After realizing the group meeting point was inside the gates and I didn't have a ticket, I met a couple random guys from Hong Kong and Minnesota, borrowed their cell phone to message Nick and only realize I had the wrong number. So what did I do? I didn't freak out...I bought a beer and chatted with them! After scrounging up the courage to walk through a line of 20 soldiers checking tickets (without mine of course)...I made it through easily to the other side because there were so many people rushing to get inside. The game was fantastic! My first ever official soccer match. ManU won 3-nil. The best part had to have been the ride home when Nick and I took a bicycle rickshaw all the way from the stadium to Guo Mao. It was so much fun! It definitely reminded me though never to be stupid enough to ride a bicycle on the streets of Beijing...it's chaos!

Dinner with a Reporter: China Daily was interested in writing a few articles on AIESEC, so we all went out to dinner last night to a Sichuan restaurant with a reporter who has already written two articles on returned SN's from China. She is looking to write a few more columns and a double page spread on the experiences of AIESECers coming and going from China. It was really interesting to sit around the table and just listen to all of the experiences of the other AIESECers on the MC team...so diverse! We went our seperate ways at the end of dinner, but it looks like AIESEC will definitely be in the news again here sometime soon.

Latino: Last night the whole MC team ventured out to do some salsa dancing. Yes...Salsa dancing in Beijing. You would have been amazed to see how talented the dancers were! They had a live band playing real latin music with the congos and maracas. They had a performer (professional salsa dancer) dance a couple songs on the dancefloor - he was amazing! Throughout one song, I think he switched up girls about 10 times - just spinning them all off the dancefloor and grabbing another one. I have to give the entire MC team a round of applause because none of them knew how to Salsa dance and they were willing to give it a try on the dancefloor. This definitely sparked my interest again though to take some more salsa dance lessons when I return to Edmonton.

My Plans: Put yourself in my shoes. You have 12 days left in a country that is so far from home and incredibly different than any other country you have experienced before...what do you do? Well - I have opted for the 'One Last Big Trip' option. I am heading to one of the most beautiful cities in China - Guilin. I depart Monday morning and return late Thursday night. Since Guilin is in southern China in the Guangxi province, I have opted for the 3 hour flight instead of the 30 hour train ride. I have a gracious AIESEC PKU member who is originally from Guilin that is helping me arrange my accomodations. Look forward to some AMAZING pictures!

Zia Jian - Signing off...

Newest Additions to the DVD Collection: Fantastic Four, Cold Mountain, Forrest Gump, Braveheart, Shrek 2, War of the Worlds, The Forgotten, Fahrenheit 9/11, Enemy at the Gates, Along Came Polly and The Motorcycle Diaries.