We are all sooooo sore (except Savannah who isn't sore at all, and Thomas and Rhea who have recovered by now!) after hiking for five hours a few days ago with our dear friends AJ, Charmhee, Toby and Bryce. This was a new section of the Wall that we haven't been to before. We started at a wild section (Dazhuangke) and ended at Huanghua Lakeside Great Wall. This was probably the last time to hike with them because they are leaving post in June. We are so sad to be saying goodbye to them! We've had so many adventures with them here and around China, in particular our trip last summer in Southern China, not to mention the regular daily interactions of friends. They're so easy to travel with. Charmhee speaks Mandarin so well and is so organized with arranging everything like itineraries, transportation, restaurants, etc. And she is so kind and thoughtful!
The Saturday that started spring break was a work day for the Chinese, so it's a perfect day for being a tourist and going to public places like the Wall. We had the whole thing to ourselves with our friends the Jays. We have explored other parts of the wall with them, with AJ as our "tour guide," usually in his bright neon orange shirt that you can't lose track of. AJ is almost 60 years old and he is hard to keep up with! He's in amazing shape. He always wants to start hiking early in the day and can go, go, go while the rest of us are exhausted! He definitely keeps us going when we feel tired, unmotivated, or discouraged by the length or difficulty of the hike! When they invited us to go again, for one last trip to the Wall with them before they left Beijing, we had to go!
The stairs kept going and going, thus causing shaky calves and thighs!
Charmee has been an awesome friend the last two years! She was one of the first people to reach out at Kingstone to introduce herself and offer to answer questions. She invited me over for "tea" at her apartment where I was able to visit and ask her about her ayi,where she goes grocery shopping, etc. I'll never forget her kindness. She also, on the first time meeting her, gave me a pair of pants that I'm actually wearing right now! She said they were too small but she couldn't return them to Old Navy since they went on OD adn the package arrived after they left. It had been sitting there for 6 months, so it had been too long since she ordered the pants. That was the beginning of our clothes sharing. Many more times after that, we shared clothess that arrived from PinDuoDuo too small or too large and it would end up fitting one of us. When she left Beijing, she gave me a whole closet full of hand-me-downs She also frequently stopped by with yummy salads and different Korean foods to try. We both shared a love for sweet potatoes, mangoes, organic strawberries, Korean clothing (really all Korean products), hairwashing (at a place called Armady), hiking at the Wall, sightseeing around China, and our kids. Her twin boy and girl, Bryce and Toby, were adorable. Rhea loved hanging out with Toby, and got along great on our trips. Such a good family, optimistic about life in Beijing despite the challenges, and always ready for an adventure! 
We hit an area where we could walk around or go down a steep, unrestored portion of the wall, and Charmhee, Bri, me, and Savvy chose to go around. The crazy kids and AJ went down the really steep part. Amazingly, all made it to the bottom without injury!
We got to hike to 4 or 5 guard towers before getting to a restored section of the wall with a wonderful view of a lake. We reached an area with a magnetic slide that we chose to take up to the top and then we walked down. AJ, Thomas, and Briant walked up from the slide to the wall first where AJ was approached by a 4 year old boy that asked him where he was from. When he answered "The United States," the child responded, "China should attack the United States. The United States is evil." When AJ relayed what the child had just said, we were all in shock for a few minutes, realizing that the child would only say such a thing if a parent or teacher had said it. Shocking. Sadly, I'm afraid that things like this are probably said and thought more than we know in homes and schools here.
I had to get a picture of this "forthcoming" sign after Savannah told me last week that when the principal of the school found out our kids were transferring to a different school next year, a mentioned that I was "forthcoming." Savvy said that he struggled to find "the right word" to describe me (for some reason I was brought into the conversation), and then he said slowly, "forthcoming." Hard to believe after a good laugh (he was referring to me as forthcoming because I suggested they use a digital sign up program for parent teacher conferences instead of making the parents email each teacher), that we happened to run into this sign. Not only is the translation funny, but the recent conversation with this word made us laugh!
The wall goes down into the lake water and then rises up out of the other side. Beautiful.
We had a wonderful, exhausting day! Yet again, we got to hike on the wall with minimal pollution, blue skies and perfect weather in good company! So grateful for Charmhee and AJ and the fun memories we've made with them before they move to Jordan! 
