So, this is my last entry for this blog! I hope it gave a good insight into Chinese culture. Tomorrow Tom and I will be packing our bags and getting ready to go home. I think I’m also going to do some last minute shopping…Our flight leaves at 9:00am on Sunday and we’ll arrive in Raleigh at 6:52pm. We lost a day coming to China, so when we return we will get it back.

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Click to view photo gallery from Lauren Viehbacher, a Cary Academy student interning in China.

Well, I had a very busy and fun weekend. On Friday night my coworker, Jason, took Tom and I out to dinner. We met with three friends of his, one of whom brought along her roommate. Her roommate was none other than a Dutch college student who has been living in China for three or four months now. Before the trip he basically only knew how to say hello in Chinese. As for now? He put Tom and I to shame.

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Everybody at work is in good spirits today because the end of the week has finally come. Actually, it has gone by extremely quickly for Tom and I. Now that we have work to do, the hours fly by.

Today is going to be very hot. I read my friend’s emails about the relatively cool conditions in North Carolina with jealousy, for the temperature here continues to rise. Out at NCR, the temperate is a little lower due to the lack of intense pollution.

Over the last two days I have come across more cultural experiences that I want to share. Yesterday we were driving home when all of a sudden, the car in front of us stopped. We were on the busy highway, in the middle lane, and two men stopped their car to look at the map. There is a wide shoulder on the highway but no, they decided to stop right where they were. I think I almost jumped out of my seat in surprise. Fujuan just laughed and drove around them. Apparently situations such as that one often crop up.

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The 12 hour time difference is far too confusing. I came to work this morning, fizzing with energy, because I thought the Canes’ run for the Cup was being played. However, I discovered it will be tomorrow at 8:00, (and in the morning for me.) I hope my NCR team doesn’t expect me to work then…It’s quite frustrating because the only thing I can really do is to continuously update the homepage and check the current score. A far cry from being in the RBC Centre, which is where my family will be. I cannot begin to express my jealousy!

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I am currently sitting at my office desk at NCR, listening to a murmur of Chinese and the tapping of keyboards. Everybody is very busy here because there remains only two weeks of the quarter. It is actually a little quieter than usual because everybody has gone to lunch. There is a two hour lunch break here, so I have about half an hour before I have to get back to work.

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I am currently enjoying my weekend after two days of being at NCR. On Monday work will officially start – I will be entering data into the computer. I am looking forward to being more involved with my team, because they are all very friendly people. On Friday night we all went out to dinner together, and they were very encouraging when I spoke Chinese. There was constant laughter and I felt very relaxed around them. In fact, we got to dinner earlier than we would have because they split up the work of a coworker to help her get it done faster. My host mother, Fujuan Wang, says this is a common occurrence and that they are very closely knit.

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First, I would like to thank Ms. Lee for staying up on the long nights, entrusting me with the key to her room, and yelling at me to write my article instead of watching her watching T.V. Next, I would like to thank my friends for emotional support; I couldn't have done it without you. Also, thank you to our readers with their uplifting and insightful comments. Finally, I would like to thank everyone on this trip for giving me a very interesting plot to write about.

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Out come the dress clothes and the uncomfortable shoes. Away go the shorts, trainers and brightly coloured baseball hats that denote us as tourists. My internship at NCR has begun. I am Lauren Viehbacher, and I will be taking over the blog. I am to write about my internship every few days over the next two weeks. Hopefully I can describe the real China for you, without the glossy pictures and information of tourist books.

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It is "The Beast" (as I like to call it). It is "The Monster" (another name I would like to dub it). It is the Really, Really Long Staircase (no joke). It is…The Great Wall. Yes, today I conquered part of The Great Wall ___

The trick for successfully getting to the highest point is to not think about the climb. Instead, talking (if not out of breath) or thinking about any subject works to help one get into a meditative climbing mood. When I first learned of this I tried to distract myself by reciting the multiplication table in my mind beginning with 1x1. Not long later I lost track.

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For the first time in my life I felt what it was like to be one of those shop-o-holics. We were set free in a mall at three-thirty, the most shopping time we've had on this whole trip.

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Beijing, China -- After arriving in Beijing, China Sunday evening, we find ourselves ready to face a full day of activities in this very cosmopolitan, international city. Modern skyscrapers thread the skies, the sounds of Monday morning bombard us as we step out of our hotel. Buses, taxis, cars, motorcycles and every imaginable kind of bicycle weave the six lane city streets. Crossing the streets in any city in China is a death defying adventure.

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The scenery passes in browns and greens (with the occasional nuclear power plant) as we listen to the rumbling of the train. Our world is constantly rocking, like a mother rocking her baby. Some people are sleeping, but not from our group. We are on the seven hour train ride to Beijing.

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Time went by much, much too fast. From the frantic, rushed meeting at Zhengzhou Train Station to the calm, sad, parting at Red Coral Hotel, it happened within a breath.

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We continue our travels today by gathering the students from their host families and traveling by bus. Our first destination will be the White Horse Temple in Luoyang City.

We leave Zheng Zhou in the midst of morning rush hour traffic. One is in constant amazement by the hub of activity that takes place on the city streets. A favorite scene is the hundreds of men and women riding bicycles. Many have a school aged child riding on the back of the bicycle. There is a little shelf on the back wheel for the rider to rest their feet. Many riders are little children, perches between the legs of their parents, never moving as the bicycle maneuvers in and out of other buses, cars, trucks, motorcycles, and bicycles. People carry large amounts of vegetables perched on their bicycles. They transport large amounts of packages, whatever it is they transport it with a delicate balance weaving in and out of traffic. Everyone has a set destination, school and work.

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