Well the weekend is over, and we've finally had a chance to act a little like tourists. After 6 days teaching, the trip to the centre of Beijing to visit the National Museum and the Forbidden City was a complete change of pace. Alas we didn't get to spend much time in the museum (about an hour and a half), and spent far too long in Tianamen square (nearly an hour). The Forbidden City was gorgeous, albeit busy. And as with most things we've done, there was a lot of waiting around. Thankfully the beauty and history seeped everywhere and helped to make the day an amazing one. Both Sammy and myself have determined that we'll have to come back and spend an entire day in the National Museum, as there was just so much we wanted to see and didn't have time for.

Saturday saw us head to the Great Wall, and typically with our luck, we had the first dismal day of our stay. Every day we've spent teaching has been gorgeous weather with clear skies. The day we visit the Wall; fog and cloud sufficient to reduce visibility so we could only rarely see one guardhouse from another. This didn't stop it being utterly breathtaking, and when we did see the wall and the guardhouses appearing out of the fog like the spine of a giant dragon arcing over the mountains it was just fantastic. We also managed to spot a cicada, and get a couple of good pictures. They are every bit as ugly as they are loud.

Today was spent finally having the remaining part of our TEFL training and session on Chinese Law. Suffice to say that I feel it would have been useful to have that before we went to teach at the schools, but nevermind. A couple of useful points have been picked up and will be put into practice when possible.

Time to go finish planning the lessons for the last 12 hours worth that we have this week. Bai-bai!