Lions and Tigers and Acrobats, Oh My! - 12/16/17

Good morning! It’s Erin again, here for the final time to tell you all about our wonderful FREE DAY! Jam-packed full of different activities, studying, laundry, writing essays, coffee, and acrobat shows, today gave us some much-needed freedom that we all spent in our own ways. I can’t speak for what every person did given the breadth of activities, but I can provide a little glimpse into a day in the life of one Globie trying to wrap up the semester.

After getting the chance to sleep in, a group of us decided to check out the Beijing Zoo in the morning! It was bitterly cold and most of the zoo ended up being outside, but it was still an interesting opportunity to compare the conditions of zoos abroad to those back home. For one, we had heard this zoo had an exhibit of squirrels, but I guess we must have missed the turnoff for that enclosure. In fact, we didn’t end up seeing much wildlife at all because most of the animals were taking refuge from the cold. We did get to visit some giraffes and wooly llamas, however, and the highlight was definitely the giant pandas! After the zoo, most of us used the afternoon to work on our essays. With only a week left, we’ve been struggling to reflect on all this semester has taught us and I know I’m not the only one having a hard time putting it into words.

To finish the night on a slightly less academic note, most of the group got together again to see a Chinese acrobat show. To be completely honest, I have never seen anything so absolutely AMAZING in my entire life! There was a man riding a unicycle on a wire, girls folding themselves like they didn’t have any bones in their bodies, ten people piled on top of a bicycle, and acrobats dangling from the ceiling from only their feet. Mikkel even got pulled out of the crowd to do some audience participation! Like everyone else, my jaw was dropped the entire time, and I couldn’t stop admiring the acrobats’ amazing abilities. This was definitely a highlight of the day and a great way to come together again as a group. There is so much Beijing has to offer, and I am glad that we got the opportunity today to see a bit more of this incredible place and its rich culture.