It's Been Awhile...Hello China

Well, it's been just over four months since my last post. This is partly because nothing has been happening...and because a lot has been happening.

Since arriving back in Korea from my visa extension trip to Taiwan, not too much happened. Just lessons, hanging out, and not a lot else to report. But that all changed about two weeks before I was supposed to leave for China. Insert major drama, stress, fear, and uncertainty with one fail swoop of a wrong turn.

The ol scoot, at the "junk yard" after it all

Saturday, July 7th, on our way home from dinner with a friend, a car made a u-turn in front of us and Steve had to lay the scooter down in order to prevent us from hitting the car. This resulted in a broken left arm for me and a fractured L2 vertebra and two bulging discs for Steve, not to mention some road rash for each. This also resulted in a week and a half in the hospital for me and double that for Steve. Hospital time is bad enough at home, but in a foreign country? It's slightly terrifying. Not to mention the police reports. Insurance. Oh, and me over-staying/having to extend my visa. All with a massive language barrier. For the seven weeks between the accident and leaving Korea, the accident and all its after effects consumed our lives and didn't leave much time for anything else of interest or substance.

Despite all I could/can/might come up with as the negatives of the accident and how much it consumed our lives and every moment of our days up until we left Korea practically, we survived it. It could have been worse. And we are stronger (or getting stronger) from it. As a couple. And as people. Plus, we got even closer with a few key people in Korea who we couldn't have made it through the whole thing without. And we also met some really interesting and wonderful people because of it too. So when I stop to look back to eight weeks ago when we were laying in hospital beds, scared, alone, worried, and in pain, I can safely say that I can see the shock waves from the rock thrown in the pond finally fading, and I am trying to see myself come back into a balanced place.

Goodbye Korea:@the airport

That balanced place is life on the road. A life of travel. And that is where I am and have been for the past week. We did make it, out of Korea, and to China. First stop Beijing. A big, bustling city that should really be much dirtier than it is, given how many people are there. Though, truth be told, I didn't see much of the city because what I needed was rest when I arrived. My body had officially given up its defenses and had let an invader take me down. I arrived in China with a major head cold and feeling weak and incapable of much other than sleep. So that is what I did, for three days. Then a bit more for the fourth day, just for good measure. But after four days, it was time to get a move on a see some things and do some things. So I finally drug myself out of bed and onto the streets!

Our bed in the guesthouse

We had a difficult time getting taxis, getting to where we needed/wanted to go, and getting train tickets. This was terribly frustrating but when one door closes...well, the other one opened up for us to end up on a 4 hour train south and west of Beijing, directly followed by a 2+ bus ride to our ultimate destination of Pingyao: an ancient, walled city. We were taken to a lovely guesthouse with a lovely, cozy room for three nights. Though it rained yesterday, and the city is overly touristy at times and in some of its ways, it is a much needed respite for a couple of weary, yet fresh travelers.

The windows of our room. Beautiful.

We are coming up on our third night here and are intending to extend our stay at least a few more nights, just to soak it up and relax a bit more before we continue on (or possibly back, depending on how things go). I'm also hoping during the next few days to start our new joint blog about this new leg of our adventures. So keep an eye out for that in the coming days (hopefully!)!!

One of the many openings in the wall to lead to another compound

One of the main streets of the city

Outside a local bookstore

A park in the middle of the walled city

A back street along the wall of the city

Looking down one of the busy streets