my homeland.

China is where it's at. That's all I have to say. This place makes me so so happy. When my plane landed in Beijing, I literally could not stop smiling. The fact that I was back in a place I lived and taught and learned and loved made me feel great. I couldn't believe that I was back in just a few short months. I. Am. One. Lucky. Chinese. Loving. Gal. After all, I am the year of the Dragon.

Now, you're probably going, why would she be back in Beijing, China after just living there last semester? It all starts with this lovely lady. My Grandma Betty. She's 80 years old and still ROCKIN it. For this special birthday my mom and her sister took her on a tour of China. My mom invited me for the last week in Beijing. So Grams, thanks for being born. You are the greatest Grammy a girl could have.

We went on a tour with a bunch of other people. A lot of them were from Utah, and some of them were not. But I will say this, all of them were over 40. That's right, I was about the one only (a young married couple aside) that was under 40. By the end of the week I was good friends with all of these older people and loving it. Very entertaining.

There are good and bad aspects to being on a tour when you travel. Good: the air conditioned bus takes you everywhere so you don't have to worry about getting around, you don't have to wait in line to get tickets to get into touristy sites, and groups are fun. Bad: you are stuck going to tourist trap places that sell overpriced souvenirs, you have to eat where they take you, and the tour guide is constantly talking in the microphone on the bus. Great times.

We went to all the places that I saw last fall and it was so fun to see them all again. My Grams was a celeb on the Great Wall. Chinese, Indians, Americans- they all thought she was so cool for being able to climb those steep steps at her age. These four Indian men insisted on taking a picture with her and were kissing her feet as they left. I was loving it.

I am obsessed with this country. I love the people, the crazy smells, the shopping (!!!), the language that I can't understand, the bartering, the taxi drivers, asian kids, and the adventure of it all. Going to China is not a leisure vacation. You definitely have to work a little bit to have a good time, but it's so worth it. And you know we had a GREAT time. Here's proof.