We started this week with a free day, one where a few of us hiked on an unrestored part of the Great Wall of China. The wind was absolutely insane, and there were moments where I thought Isaac Leer may truly have been blown off the side of the cliff. The wind simply added to the thrill of being out in nature and up in the mountains, something many of us have missed in the midst of big city Beijing.

The rest of the week has been full of paper writing. We were tasked with a final paper for our political economy class here in China, in which each student decided on a topic that piqued their personal interest. Topics ranged from the Belt and Road Initiative to the history of tea in China, and it has been fascinating to hear presentations on and talk about these topics with each other.

We have also been working away on a final reflection for our education class. These reflections may be small assignments, but they are also mighty, as there are many factors to weigh when reflecting on the education system of an entire country. The paper is a good exercise in making me question what I truly believe a quality education is and why I think so. The writing of this paper has reminded me part of why I am on Global — to be critical of the system I grew up in, and continue to recognize why I see things the way that I do.

China as a whole has really challenged the way I see and think about myself. The cultural systems within the country are so different from the ones I grew up in. Because of these stark contrasts, I have felt even more removed from the bustling life around me. Even though removal may sound negative, these experiences have actually given me space to reflect on how tied to my upbringing I am. We cannot be separated from our contexts, even when we are 6,248 miles from home. We do, though, have a duty to see the ways our homes shape the views we hold of the world, and challenge ourselves to fully validate completely different cultural systems, values, and routines in life.

Throughout all this reflection and paper writing, the dear Leer boys delivered popcorn to each door, making it a little bit easier to get through a week of hard work and weighty thoughts. We also had a martial arts class to break up the study time, which ended up being a blast. We even got to use sticks in our fight sequences and made some pretty fun videos to show off our new skills (email me for the link). Our final school visit also occurred this week, and was actually a morning spent with a class of older adults that are learning English. We were paired with an older buddy, and were able to exchange songs, stories, and words from our respective languages in order to connect across a multitude of divides.

We had the delicious privilege of a final banquet of both hot pot and personal grilling. We got to cook our own meats and vegetables which was a crazy adventure and did not come without small fires. We also had a final excursion with our CNU buddies to the Temple of Heaven, where we were able to appreciate the gorgeous architecture of China one more time. Last experiences with delicious Chinese food and beautiful structures were not our only goodbyes. Everyone spent the week soaking up the city in their own ways.

Four of us spent our final morning visiting the mausoleum of Mao Zedong. We arrived at Tian’anmen Square around 7:00 a.m. and waited in line for an hour to get inside the building. We saw people praising a large statue of Mao with bows and roses and got to see his actual body (although there is controversy over whether he’s made of wax or not — my vote is that the body is real). It was an incredibly odd experience, and ended up being the perfect way to spend our last morning in China.

We have made a home here in Beijing. This week we made time for final trips to Wu Mart and last runs to get milk tea at our favorite spots. We spent time in our rooms at Capital Normal University and looked out at our view of Beijing’s Haidian district as long as we could. We had final red bean buns and buckets of frozen grapes in the caf.

This little section of China is another corner of the world where space has been made for us. We have been welcomed into dorms and schools and restaurants and classrooms, and I could not be more grateful. China has been the perfect mix of fast and slow, with time to think, but also so many weekends of exploring and trips on my favorite subway in the world. Tian Lin and Lola have been our brave, kind, hilarious guides along this whole month, and there is no way we can thank them enough for both their help and friendship.

Saying goodbye to China is not just saying goodbye to China but also gearing up for our final stay, our final 30 days together. The plane rides are getting few and far between, and yet we still have a month. A month to grow this community a little more, and to make our group the best it can be. 

— Grace ‘PP’ Peacore ‘21