Greetings from Beijing

Ni Hao!
I am sitting in an Internet Cafe/Tea House in Beijing, just down the road from Wal-Mart... yes, some things really don't change no matter where you are!
We have had a full, full week of orientation and sightseeing so far. One of my team members said that she feels like she has lived a month in the last week, and I fully agree! There are 5 groups heading to various other parts of China which have been here with us over the last 5 days and it has been really fun to spend time with them and learn more about China, Chinese culture and my teammates as well. Tomorrow we take the train out to Xining (a day later than planned because we couldn't get tickets for today) - 25 hours to Xining.
This week has been an amazing week. We arrived late into Beijing because our flight was late leaving Shanghai (we got in around 1:30 am). Monday, our first full day, was spent at the Great Wall. Wow! Seeing it was an "Oh my goodness, I am really in China!!" moment. One of our team members, Nicole, is in a wheelchair, so we took turns carrying her up the stairs so she could also experience the wall. Tuesday was spent in Culture training and then the afternoon at the Forbidden City. Wednesday and Thursday were entirely Culture and Commissioning lessons. They have been incredibly helpful and a bit scary at the same time. The possiblity of making a cultural faux pas hangs over my head and I really don't want to do anything to get my relationship with my partner off on the wrong foot. You can be thinking of me in that way over the next week or so!
I would be remiss if I did not mention the food... we have been joking about renaming our Global Project to Global Eating Project. All I can say is Chinese food in Canada is nothing compared to what we have been eating here. I was afraid of loosing weight before I left, now I am afraid of gaining weight!
One last thing before my time runs out, if you email me back, please keep your language vague about what exactly we are doing here. I don't want to endanger our program or any of the M's who are helping us on the ground here. That is why I ask for you to think about me instead asking for something more specific.
Thank you for your thoughts and I hope that you will continue to be thinking of us as we continue on in the next phase of our trip tomorrow!
Gillian