What a day! We left the hotel at 8 am this morning and didn't get back until 9 pm. It has been a full day and it has been wonderful. I have a mixture of feelings---excitement to finally be home and see my family and a bit of melancholy to be leaving this place and finishing this experience. It really has been an incredible one that I have been looking forward to and preparing for for a long time. But I must admit that my excitement to see Kristine and the boys far outweighs my sadness at seeing this end. At this moment I am mostly dreading the next 36 or so hours of travel...

Today we started out early to go to the Temple of Heaven. We left early so that we could witness all of the retired folks of Beijing in action. It was like a giant senior citizen center of activity---Taiji, ballroom dancing, chinese chess, dominoes, card games, taiji rouli, chinese hacky sack, badmitton... it was impressive and fun to watch. The temples were also pretty incredible. Once again I am surprised to see the opulence and decadence of the Chinese mixed with the extreme poverty that you can see around the city. The most fun this morning was to learn some of the games that the old folks were playing and it was a pretty relaxing time.

We then went to the Pearl Market. It has some incredible jewelry stores with pearls that are pretty amazing. Then there are about three floors of anything that you could imagine...and it all works in a sort of negotiating arrangement. It is pretty fun to try to get the best deal. In the end, I got some incredible deals and then paid a bit more than my colleagues on a few things. It was definitely an experience.

We had another great lunch surrounding the round table and then headed off to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden Palace. It was a fairly long few hours touring the area. It was impressive and imposing...the square definitely conjured different images for us as Americans...I always just think of that bulldozer and the students revolting and then being beaten. It was packed with people and the palace seemed to continue on and on forever. The architecture was beautiful and so delicate and rich. It was hard to imagine the emperor actually doing any work in that large thing.

Then we went to the Hutong Village and had a ride given to us by a man on a bicycle. Poor guy. The Hutong is an old area of town and it was pretty interesting to see this ancient place tucked away in modern Beijing. They took us to this wonderful home of a woman and her daughter who made us a homemade dinner. It was wonderful and delicious and a great final meal.

We finished the trip by going to the see a show by the Beijing acrobats. It was incredible. People balancing on each other, a woman doing ballet on the shoulders and arms of a man, 10 girls in a pyramid of sorts on one bicycle, 8 motorcycle riders in one globe of iron...it was amazing and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time.

Greg and I took one last walk down the main walkway here by the hotel and now it is time to pack. The big question will be if I can fit everything in to my bags...wish me luck.

It has been an incredible experience. Once I have some time to digest, I will come back and reflect a bit more on the things that have really resonated with me both educationally and personally. I have deeply enjoyed the people that I have spent time with and will look forward to running in to them in different arenas. The Chinese people have welcomed me with open arms and have been incredibly kind, hospitable, and giving. I have enjoyed this experience much more than I ever could have imagined.