Monday July 11th

Hello! This past weekend I ended up getting a few blisters on my feet from all the walking I did. On Saturday I met up with some guys from church that are studying here in Beijing. The trip there took about 50 minutes and I walked probably 30 minutes of the total time. I had to take the Subway to where I work first and then I took the light rail train north toward the university. I wrote in a previous blog about us meeting to swim and then go bowling, but it didn't go according to plan. The pool wasn't going to be open until 1:30 so we decided to play tennis. "Play" isn't the right word, but we had fun doing it. After tennis a few of us went on to the pool for a refreshing dip. The pool wasn't like back home. Not too much of a shocker because almost everything here is not like back home. The pool consisted of a huge looking cement planter box which is around 4 feet in depth. The water was dirty looking but it didn't hold any of us back. We arrived when there was only 15 minutes left for that session of swimming. The cost was 6 yuan per person. We thought we would wait a half an hour until the next session started to get the full time to enjoy our swim, but one of the guys mentioned that 6 yuan was only around 75 cents USD. We all kind of laughed and then speedily paid, changed and enjoyed the time remaining. Everyone continued to question us getting in with only 15 minutes left. The other guys kept explaining in Mandarine that we knew there was only so much time remaining. It was worth it. After a refreshing swim I decided to head back before it became too late. The way home was easier because I found a bus that would take me directly to the rail station. Upon arriving at my hotel I asked if there were any bikes available for me to rent. Ofcourse, they are free to hotel guests. I decided to get one and go to a tailor to have some pants hemmed. The trip was much faster then I remember doing it by foot weeks before. The only thing is you have to be even more careful when riding a bike around. People don't give you (the rider) the right away, they don't give anyone other then themselves the right away. So watch out! Another thing about riding a bike: all you have to do to lock it up is put a lock through one of the tires and then leave it there. I am certainly not used to doing that at home, where you have to take everything that can possibly be stolen and lock it to a tree or sign. Here you leave it. Even though I new this I caught myself looking outside to make sure the bike was safe.
Sunday was another day of riding my rental bike. I decided to ride to church. The trip is accross town but I was up for it. It took me less time then if I would have taken the subway and then walked, like I did last week. Also, this time the bike wasn't pinkish like Saturday's but still had a frame like a woman's bike. It doesn't matter here. Girls who are friends and not partners hold hands here as a sign of friendship. So the stereo type is non-exsistant. It was a good weekend of resting my feet and putting the rubber on the road. The experience brought me back to serving my mission, which is always a great time in my life to think about. Got to go...Check back again.