the great wall of china.

On October 21st (what seems like forever ago), I visited the Great Wall. My school organized a trip to the section known as Mutianyu for any teachers who wanted to go. Of course I did, even though it meant not being able to sleep in on a Sunday. (Obviously I would not miss visiting one of the Seven Wonders of the World for a couple hours of sleep!)

Gil, Alanna, and I opted to take the gondola up, even though we could have walked. I promise it's not because I was feeling lazy, but I had just never been in a gondola. The view was awesome and it's kinda cool that we ended up in the same car that Bill Clinton had rode in, right? (Plus, if Bill rode up, we don't have to feel guilty because presidents are not lazy, right??)

I gasped, as I tend to do, when I caught my first glimpse of the Wall. 

It was a bit cold and started raining a bit after we had been there for awhile. I didn't mind though. Better than sweating buckets, I suppose, and the mist added a bit more "magicness" to the experience. (Yes, it's a word!) Plus, the colourful umbrellas were pretty. 

I was also happy because the golden and red leaves you see were my first sign of Autumn similar to back home. 

The stairs were steep in most places, and uneven. I walked along just staring at everything. The surrounding mountains, buildings (homes? businesses?) below, the Fall colours. I kept looking down, at my feet, while I walked. Partly to make sure I didn't trip and partly because I was walking on the Great Wall of China. 

This section of the Wall had obviously been worked on for tourists. And along the Wall there were people selling snacks and souvenirs. I ended up buying a beer along with the people I was with. I told a friend afterwards, "Now, no matter what else happens in my life, I can say I drank a beer on the Great Wall."

I wrote this on a sticky note soon after we got back: "We were all concerned with continuing on, seeing how far we could go, but once in awhile I would think to look back and what I saw would literally take my breath away. The Great Wall is one of those things that lives up to your expectations -- and I only saw part of it."

And now for something semi-related, but not part of the "recap":

Sometimes I think my life is boring, that I'm not doing enough, or at least not enough that could be considered "cool" or "worthy." And these feelings often get worse when I compare myself to other people (never a good idea), especially if I'm looking at their Life Lists -- all the cool stuff they want to do and have done. But every once in awhile, I realize, Hey, I'm doing cool things, too. And once again, not that I should compare myself to others, but some of the stuff I've done is stuff that are on other people's Life Lists. And despite the comparing part, I like that realization because it reminds me that my life is good, better than good, and I should dream big because I can do cool things, too. Like walk on the Great Wall of China.