Solo Athlete in Training (June 28th)

The day began at 8:08 (crazy when you read about numbers later) when I finally woke up to another rainy morning. Yuck! I really didn’t want to have to venture out on my own on a rainy day albeit a light rain but with several large puddles scattered around. I contemplated just staying at the hotel for about a minute when I said to myself, “You are in CHINA … get out there and do something!” It didn’t matter that my ankles feel like I was ice skating the day before. They were hurting this morning from the slop of the Great Wall yesterday. I got ready and decided to check out the web for how to take the subway to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.

First stop was breakfast and you could probably guess what I had to eat. Yep, McDonald’s again. Hey, it is familiar food and I know what I’m ordering. I walked outside and into the subway station and bought my ticket. These aren’t like the usual metro cards I’ve had in other cities. This looks like a thick paper card with a map of the subway, although it’s so tiny you can’t read it, printed on one side. There is no magnetic strip like some of the other cards I’ve had. You just place the card on this little pad thing and the gates open. Another difference here is that these aren’t those turn-style gates. This one has red flaps that open up when your ticket is scanned. You have to keep the card until you exit the subway and then the gate takes your card.

I rode the subway on the Line 10 route for roughly 40 minutes before transferring to the Line 1 train for four or five stops. Some of these stops have so many entrance/exits that who knows which one you are really supposed to leave from. Of course, I didn’t choose the right one when I exited this time. I could see Tiananmen Square, but it was on the other side of the road. That’s usually not a big deal but this was probably 10 lanes of traffic – five on each side and I didn’t see a pedestrian walkway. I ventured to my left and saw all these umbrellas disappearing which sparked my curiosity. There was a walkway under the roadway instead which was amazing! Now, I was on the other side of the road where I needed to be. I looked around for a gate to get into the square, but didn’t see one, so I guessed it was free. I like free! I walked in and looked around after being asked twice if I wanted a personal tour guide by these two random Chinese dudes and then I took some pictures before heading out. I wasn’t really interested in going into the Forbidden City since I had already seen Erin’s pictures.

Once outside the square, I started to take my own picture. Some people would look and just chuckle but I didn’t care – it’s not like I’m EVER going to see them again and if I do – that’s just plain crazy! The rain had slowed and was just a light mist as I was nearing the subway station. Before I started for the escalator, I saw a little boy just peeing along the sidewalk like it was normal – he was obviously Chinese! Since the day was still young, I thought I should go ahead and venture to Olympic Park in case Richard wasn’t going to be able to take me tomorrow.

Outside Tiananmen Square (sorry the dude's picture isn't in this one)

I think I have this subway system down already. I am amazing at navigating a subway but put me on the street and that’s a different story, right sis? I am directionally challenged to say the least; however, I have amazing ability at reading a map. I guess on the road I just get confused with landmarks maybe. I had to transfer trains twice on this journey. I went from the 1 to the 10 to the 8 when I entered into the Sunken Garden by the Olympic Park. From there, I had to walk up about 50 or so steps feeling like I was Rocky before I saw it … Olympic Park. I’m a fan of the Summer Games much more than the Winter ones. I don’t know why it was so exciting for me to see this area, perhaps because it is so famous and since the Summer Games are getting ready to start again soon and maybe since Sis, Gardner, and Chamberlin were security guards at the ’96 games in Atlanta. I don’t even understand myself sometimes! The rain had stopped but it was very overcast and didn’t make for the best of pictures today.

My hair is a "Bird's Nest" - ha ha ha 

I saw the torch area but kept walking to go toward the Birds Nest but found the Indoor Gym just across the way. I could see the Water Cube which looked awesome but I’m sure it looks better at night with the lights. I’ve always loved water and I love being in water. I used to be a swimmer way back in the day but got extremely bored with it and didn’t stick with it. The Water Cube is where Michael Phelps won 8 gold medals in swimming in 2008. I sure hope his lucky number is now 8. The 2008 games also started on 08.08.08. In case you didn’t know, I’m also fascinated with numbers for some strange reason.

By this point, I was hungry! There were no options except McDonald’s, so I ate there again. Don’t worry … I worked it off and didn’t even eat all my fries! After I indulged in some greasy calorie-laded fast food, I went out to the Park area again to traipse around some more. I walked closer to the Birds Nest and thought I was going to be a witness to a fight. There was one guy sitting on the ground with his shoe and sock off yelling at another guy, in Chinese so I have no idea what was going on but you could tell in the tone it wasn’t good. I continued to walk away from that but turned around to keep watching. The guy on the ground massaged his foot some and then put on his sock and shoe and stood up. The other guy looked like he was going to start throwing punches and the ground guy’s woman got in between them and tried to get her man going. This is how involved the Police are around here – there were two cars with at least two people in each car sitting within hearing distance of all this, yet they continued to sit in their cars and do nothing. Now that was over with, I began to walk around the Nest. I was between gates M and A so I walked toward the M gate and on around until I found the K. I took another picture of me and the Nest but this time with the letter K!

I found the torch area which has a wall to the side of it with all the winners from the Olympic Games and Paraolympic Games. There was also a set of Olympic rings in the center where I could not find anyone to take my picture of me standing there with them. I was getting disappointed because I didn’t think I could self-shot that one and make everything fit. I was right about that, but I could set the camera on the camera bag on top of one of the small birds nest like walkway lights and get a picture with the self-timer. Talk about finding a solution!

Those rings are heavy! Maybe I am a weightlifting athlete! 

Being at the Olympic Park was pretty awesome. Looking at the names of those people on the wall for winning a medal was crazy – they really did that for every event! I guess this is where I got the title for today. I was out venturing on my own and felt like an athlete (of tourism – haha) with the amount of steps, climbing, and walking I’ve been doing the last several days.

I left Olympic Park and started down the stairs each one more painstaking than the last. It was at this point, I realized I was done for the day! There were two Minnie Mouse dressed up characters at the bottom of the steps. I’ve noticed there is a lot of Mickey stuff all over China which I find odd. I walked into the shopping area thinking I might find something exciting but just went in the one door and out the other not finding anything too exciting without looking too hard.

Back to the subway station hoping that I might get lucky and actually have a seat and not have to stand since my feet were so tired. Today was not my lucky day for that. I only had two stops before my transfer and got onto another train that was more crowded. The whole time I was on that train, I was just hoping that people would get off and I would find a seat. It took until the last two stops before I could sit down and rest awhile.

When I got off the train, I went into the mall to get some water at the store since it’s so much cheaper there. I can get the 1.5 liter bottle for 1.6 RMB – that’s 25 cents! I went ahead and got two of them so I would have one for tomorrow. I sat in the food court area since it is conveniently right by the exit of the store. I gave myself a five minute break and then started back to the hotel. By the time I reached the hotel, I know I was walking at a snail’s pace. Slow and steady wins the race! I made slowly made it to the third floor, walked in my room, sat on my bed, took off my shoes, and rubbed my aching feet and ankles. I declared that this “athlete” was on the D.L. (disabled list) for the rest of the day.

Amazingly, Richard called me. I had almost forgotten who he was! Ok, not really – just being sarcastic since he never responded to emails. He told me that he would be able to take me to Olympic Park tomorrow and I told him I already went today! Instead, he will be taking me shopping for souvenirs. I’m sure that’s high on his list of fun things to do! Ha ha! I honestly have no idea what to buy for some folks, but hopefully I’ll find something tomorrow or else they are getting nothing!

I talked to Mom and Sis on Skype, took a shower, updated the blog (which seems to take forever to write sometimes), relaxed, and played some games. It is only 8:44 p.m. but I’m going to declare today’s posting as finished and update it to blogger because I will not be posting again until I’m home! I will be just taking off 22 hours from now and so excited to be getting close to the good ole U.S. of A.!

Wishing Sissy a "Great" Birthday (June 27th)

Wow! Where do I even begin for today? Hmm … how about I start at the beginning of the day when I woke up around 4:30 this morning to go back to sleep to wake up at 5:45 only to go back to sleep and wake up around 7:45. The sun definitely comes out earlier here than at home. They don’t do the whole daylight savings thing, so I’m assuming that’s part of the issue with my body sensing the light and waking up. Amazing how our bodies know how to do that!

I had taken my shower the night before and even had my outfit laid out for this morning. What has gotten into me? I dressed and got ready to leave and headed out the door around 8:15 this morning. Since the taxi driver showed me that way from the Subway to the hotel yesterday I felt certain I could give it a try this morning. I left the hotel and turned left this time. I got to the first road and didn’t think that was quite right and even tried to look for some street signs. Of course this intersection was just Chinese signs, so I knew I couldn’t possibly be at the right one and decided to walk one more street up. Thankfully, there was some English on those signs and Bagou Street was what I saw. Perfect! I need to go to the Bagou Subway station. This morning’s walk only took 15 minutes which was way better than yesterday morning at a whopping 30 minute walk.

I thought it would be in my best interest to grab some breakfast knowing that I was headed to the Great Wall and would need the energy. I opted for the McDonald’s which is very close to the station and had a ham, egg, and cheese McMuffin with a Coke. The breakfast cost me 10 RMB which is less than $2 – that’s so much better than the $1 menu! I sat in the corner of the restaurant closest to the drive-thru and ate my breakfast and just sat there taking everything in and thinking about what I’ve done and what I will be doing the next few days. It’s easy to get “lost” in this McDonald’s because it’s familiar food and they play American music so I was listening to some Kelly Clarkson this morning.

Beijing is so much different than Jinhua. Beijing has people bustling about early in the morning with their coffees and newspapers. I even saw a Starbucks cup at some point this morning. There are many different people here and I’m not the only blonde in this city. I’ve heard a lot of English speaking too!

I venture to the subway station and buy my 2 RMB card and make it to the platform. Since this is the first stop on Line 10 it’s empty and I have my choice of seat. I had to travel 14 stops with no transfers to the place I was to meet Doris. After about 7 stops, the trains are getting quite full and I can no longer see the screen that tells me where we are on the route since there are many people standing in front of me. Thankfully, I made my stop. Doris told me to exit from Gate B to meet her outside. When I exited the train, there was only a C and D exit. Uh oh! I decided on C because it was closer to B – ha, how about that thinking? There was a map outside that showed me the location of all four gates. I navigated my way to Gate B and waited outside looking for Doris. She pulled up in her gray Buick, her BMW is in the shop, and we headed toward the Great Wall at Badaling.

The drive took a little longer than an hour to get there. We were driving on something like the Turnpike. We went through two tunnels, over the mountain, saw the exit for the Ming Tombs, and then I saw the first sighting of the Great Wall. Holy cow is all I could think! I’m at the Great Wall of China! The parking area was full and we had to go to the overflow parking which meant we were in the dirt and rocks forever far away from where we needed to be. We had to walk 500 meters to the road to walk another 500 meters to the ticket counter. The second portion of the walk was slightly uphill and I thought goodness, this is a rough start!

At the ticket counter, Doris hands me the ticket and tells me that she’s not going to go with me because she has work to do and she is just going to go to the coffee shop to work on her laptop. She told me to take my time and don’t worry about her. I was to meet her at the coffee shop when I was finished. What?!?! I’m going to go it alone? So, I entered and had to decided if I wanted to go North or South. I chose to go North which apparently was what most people chose.

Oh my goodness! This wall is no joke! Of course the venture started with me climbing some stairs to get to the first “fort” type of thing. Then the fun really began. That is by far the steepest thing I’ve ever walked on. It seemed as though I was walking at a 45 degree angle. My ankles were feeling the pressure! There are stones that are not flat, uneven surfaces and then you get to the stairs and the railing is so much lower than I need and they are not even either. It was some rough walking terrain for this flat footed chick! I continue to climb looking back to see how far I’ve made it and looking at the towers ahead to see how far there was still to go. I stopped and sat down twice to give my ankles a rest of the slope of this thing. I was getting hot and had no water with me and even began to feel weak as in I felt the need to eat something. I looked ahead and continued on the journey.

Along the way, it seemed as though people were trying to get me into their pictures. I would quickly walk to the other side of the wall as it was only about 8-10 feet wide, I would guess. As I was continued walking, I was looking for someone to take my picture since Doris abandoned me. I stopped this guy who I thought might know English and he had a camera like mine but with a fancier lens. Sure enough he did speak English and he was happy to take my picture with this …

Hope you had a "Great" Birthday Sissy! Thinking of you - 7,000 miles away! <3 you! 

The woman he was with said to me, “Happy Birthday” and I told her it was my sister who was in the States. Turns out this family of five was from Texas! She is a nurse at Texas Children’s Hospital where Jen Arnold of TLC’s Little People, Big World works. I even said that and they laughed. The daughter is studying in the Philippines to be a nurse and there were two sons as well. The mom offered me a drink of her water which I took because at this point, I was in dire need (don’t worry germaphobs – I didn’t put my lips to it). After the Dad took my picture, they asked if I would take theirs. It was an interesting meeting of this family who is also heading back to the States on Friday on a straight 14 hour flight only to Texas.

After the photos, it was back to climbing. I actually didn’t go too much further because I just didn’t think I could do it. You really don’t understand how much of a slope it is and how stressful it is on your knees and ankles. I guess I made it halfway to the top which I was happy with that as I had to listen to what my body was telling me. Enough was enough! I turned around and headed back to the gate to go find Doris. Outside the entrance I went to a shop to buy a bottled water – it was 10 RMB which was crazy but I desperately needed it so I paid it. I then went to the hotel coffee shop thinking I would find Doris sitting in, but she wasn’t. I shopped around for a little bit and bought a pack of postcards. I left the store and walked down a little further to another place that had bottled water and bought a 1.5 liter bottle for the same price as that little 20 ounce (or less) bottle. I returned back to that coffee shop to see if Doris was there again and she wasn’t, so I used their phone and called her. We decided to meet at the Subway Restaurant since I needed to get something to eat. This sub was more delicious than the one I had on Monday. We walked back to the car and I could feel pains in my ankles with every step.

Back in the city, Doris dropped me off at my hotel and told me that she would pick me up at 6:00 to take me and Lisa for some Peking duck. I had about 2 hours and 15 minutes until she would return. I got on the computer and sent sis her picture to her email so she would have it when she woke up and then took a shower before meeting her downstairs at 5:50. We had to stop to pick up Lisa and then we went to a restaurant not far from there and luckily were seated right away. Doris took care of ordering our food. The duck came out right away and Doris showed us how to eat it. We took a very thin tortilla like piece, dipped the duck in a sauce and smeared it over the tortilla, and then added cucumber strips or onion strips and wrapped it up and ate it. I will say it was quite good. We also had some sweet potato fries which were rolled in egg and something before being fried, a spicy chicken and peanut dish, and then out came the duck bones. I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t put that in my mouth! 

Duck on the right, sweet potato fries in the front, bones in the middle, and chicken/peanut in the back left. 

We left the restaurant and Doris dropped Lisa off and then dropped me off. Since I won’t be seeing her anymore while I’m here, I took her picture and told her I would see her in the States since she is supposed to be coming for a visit in October.

Doris has something else to do tomorrow and Richard is catching up from being out of the office for that conference, so I think I might be on my own for tomorrow! Yikes! I can do it – I’m going to venture out on my own. I have the card for the hotel so I can just give it to someone and they will get me to where I need to be!

I got to Skype with sis on her birthday and update the blog before calling it a night! 

Subway, Steps, and Summer (June 26th)

Honk! Honk! Beep! Beep! I woke up to the sound of horns this morning around 7:30ish. Thankfully, I have two panes of windows to try and block out some of the noise from the busy street, but not as busy as other streets in Beijing. I’m staying in the Education District or something like that. It’s supposed to be quieter than other parts of the city. It was raining slightly when I woke up which hasn’t been anything unusual for me.

I had to meet Doris at 1:00 at the subway station to go on our adventure today. I decided to leave the hotel around 11:15 so I could go to the mall (also the subway station) and get something to eat. It took me 35 minutes to walk to the mall. Now, I was walking slowly so that I didn’t get completely soaked in sweat so early into my day. I looked around at the options in the food court and walked into the grocery store instead to get two large bottles, a liter and a half, of water. I figured one I could drink during the day and then have an extra for later.

Back to the mission of figuring out what to have for lunch was next on the agenda. I remember seeing a Nathan’s hot dog yesterday while I was in the mall, so I headed there. I was quite impressed with myself for being able to find it in this five floor mall and not all the food places are in the same area. I looked at the menu on the board behind the cash registers and the one lady handed me a menu which was also in English. I decided on the chicken strips, fries, and a Coke. It was delicious and I’m sure it’s because it’s American! I didn’t realize I was going to be getting 5 chicken strips and thought I was only going to eat three of them but I went for the fourth and left the fifth.

I left the corner of the second floor of the mall and went down two escalators and up a flight of stairs to get to the Subway (or Metro) station. I arrived about 10 minutes earlier than I needed to but Doris was already there waiting for me. I purchased my one-time use card for 2 RMB and we went to the platform. I was quite surprised that it was air conditioned. If I remember correctly, the platforms in New York City are no air conditioned. The subway has really long cars, they are bigger than the ones I’ve ridden before and you don’t have the doors in between – you could walk through the whole thing. We went about five stops and then transferred trains from the 10 Line to the 4 Line where we got off to go to the Summer Palace. Once we walked out of the subway station, we turned left and walked about 10 minutes to the Summer Palace.

Doris bought our tickets and we entered. She also got me an audio guide thing as well. At first I was thinking, this is it?!?! Then we climbed stairs, and more stairs, hills, and more hills, stairs – ok, you get the idea here – until we got to this absolutely beautiful building. The Tower of Buddhist Incense where you typically climb 100 steps up to it to live 100 years. We came in from a different entrance so we didn’t climb the steps, but we did descend them which took a lot of concentration because they were large steps and some were not flat. From there, we walked down along the lake where there is a corridor that is the longest corridor in the world; at least I think I heard something on my audio guide about the Guinness World Records and the corridor. There are four pagodas along the way which represents the four seasons. I saw the famous marble boat and the seventeen-arch bridge and even got to take a boat ride where there was a guy wearing a "I Bleed Blue and White" Penn State shirt with Penn State shorts - I told Doris that's the state I live in. You better believe I took a picture of him!

The Tower of Buddhist Incense from the boat we were on (just like the ones in the picture)

The 17-arch bridge

You can see more about the Summer Palace here http://www.summerpalace-china.com/en/. At this point, I think I was exhausted. I was sweating like a crazy person who just ran a marathon. Come to think of it, some people don’t even sweat doing that. I know because I’ve been the volunteer at the end of the race giving their gear back to them. Ok, so anyways, I was sweating like crazy when we were climbing some of the stairs back to the gate we had come in. Doris was great and we stopped along the way for me to catch my breath and take a breather. We exited the Palace and walked back to the subway station which seemed like it was far away but it really wasn’t.

Doris rode with me to my stop and then told me that she will be taking me to the Great Wall tomorrow and I am to meet her at a certain stop (on the same Line from where I get on – my stop is the last one so I won’t be going the wrong way) at 10 a.m. Once I leave the subway area, I thought I should get something to eat since I knew I had already worked that lunch off. Seriously, this was more exhausted than a workout at the gym. By this time it was 4:30 so an early dinner was sound appetizing to me. I really didn’t know what to eat this time so I looked around and figured I would go to McDonald’s. I know, I know, I said I wasn’t going to eat there, but I did it! I had a Big Mac and it was absolutely delicious! I couldn’t tell you the last time I had eaten one of those but I enjoyed every bite of it today. *Note to self: It wasn’t really that good; you are just craving anything that isn’t Chinese! – I’ve got to tell myself that so I don’t eat them at home!*

I know Doris told me yesterday that from the Metro, I turn right and then turn right again at a bridge to get back to the hotel. I wasn’t exactly sure about that and my feet were tired, so I opted for a taxi ride back to the hotel. It was a quick trip but it was worth my 10 RMB because I didn’t have to walk it. I think my camera added 10 pounds since the last time I carried it around. Oh, and that water I thought I would save for later didn't make it to later - I drank 3 liters of water like I was out in a desert! 

Back at the hotel, I got a shower since I was so incredibly sweaty and then I talked to my sister for an hour on Skype. After that, I updated the blog and read some on the Kindle before calling it a night. I am looking forward to tomorrow although it’s going to be a rough climb to the top of the Great Wall.

Next Stop ... Beijing (June 25th)

To my own amazement, I woke up before my alarm went off. That’s right, I was awake at 4:00 a.m. with no alarm! I guess I’m excited to be getting out of Jinhua and onto being a tourist.

I carried two suitcases, a messenger bag with my computer, my camera bag, and a bag of empty plastic water bottles down three flights of stairs all at one time. I’m sure that was a sight to see but nobody was around at this time of the morning to witness it. I went to the guard shack to turn in my key but there was nobody in there. I still had about twenty minutes before I thought Andy would arrive, so I wasn’t worried. I put the key on the desk and pushed my suitcases out the gate to wait.

Andy and his wife pulled up about ten minutes before 5 and blew the horn. As if there was someone else standing out there or traffic. These people and their horns – they are worse than New York City cab drivers, which aren’t supposed to honk anymore. Andy has a nice car. It’s a Ford Converse (I think it’s a Converse). It had this neat looking panel in the dash by the speedometer. Apparently the car is new because there was no license plate and there was still plastic on the gear shifter and a part near the sunroof.

As we were driving, his GPS would go off every thirty seconds, I swear. It was quite annoying that early in the morning! I think it warned of falling rock signs, red lights, over the speed limit, and who knows what else because it was going off all the time. That was until we went through a second tunnel and lost the satellite connection. We were driving on what reminded me of the Pennsylvania turnpike because we had to stop at a toll booth and get a hard thick blue card the size of a credit card. I found it incredibly odd that they were playing an Enya CD in the car. Amy’s always had Enya’s “Only Time” playing on repeat it seemed like. We got quite sick of the song and then I heard an entire CD nearly twice during the entire drive.

We got off the turnpike only to get back on it because they were confused! Also on the way to the airport off the turnpike again, we had to turn around because he went the wrong way. I thought these people lived in Hangzhou – how did they not know where the airport was? I made it to the airport around 7:15 but couldn’t check into my flight until 2 hours before departure, so 9 a.m. I had no idea which airline I was even on because I just had a flight number and a time. Turns out I was flying China United Airlines and I wasn’t going to the Capital Airport where I had flown into and out of before. We rode on a bus to the plane parked out in the middle of nowhere and I decided to take a picture of the plane and the steps to get onto the plane when a man standing beside me said, “Where are you from?” I looked and he was Chinese but knew English! I told him the United States and he asked where so I said Pennsylvania. He told me that he would be there next month. I said, “Pennsylvania?!?!” and he said no, Florida. Hahaha.

The flight was smooth with no issues or turbulence or bad landing. We had a meal on this two hour flight. A sandwich of some sort with a wheat-type bread and some sliced meat. It wasn’t that good. There was also peanuts, a roll with something in it, and a squeeze packet of something I was too scared to try! When the plane landed, people start getting up way before the fasten seatbelt sign is turned off and then they push their way out of the plane like they are going to get somewhere before you. We had to ride a bus to the terminal where we were at baggage claim. The man from before found me again and said that we were at the other airport which is used mainly for military and it much smaller. Smaller is right! This place was like being in Hagerstown! There was one baggage claim area with a small conveyor belt.

I found Doris waiting for me with a sign. We walked out to the very small parking lot and fit the suitcases in the trunk and back seat of this Buick. She told me that she had never been to this airport before and we had about 40 minutes until we would arrive at Lisa’s apartment.

I noticed there wasn’t near the amount of smog as the first time I had been to the city. It apparently had rained a lot yesterday and we drove through a huge, I mean huge amount of water at one place. I probably wouldn’t have driven through it because it was nearly to the bottom of the door. Thankfully, nothing happened and we were just fine.

We picked up Lisa and then headed to my hotel. It is a very small room but it seems nice and the air conditioner was cranked! I’m on the third floor and there are no elevators but thankfully the guys working the front desk took my bags up to my room for me. I had to pay up front but I didn’t have enough cash (RMBs), so Doris told them I would pay when I found an ATM.

Doris took us to the mall, I’m really not sure why. She was showing me where the metro was and then they showed me where to buy a card and I told them I wasn’t going anywhere by myself. I think they thought I was crazy, but I’m not going anywhere by myself when I don’t have a clue where I am or how to speak Chinese! Doris left us and I told Lisa I needed something to eat because it had been a long day and I was hungry. We were going up and down stairs and escalators from the metro station to get to the food court. This mall is five floors! At the food court, there was a SUBWAY!! You know I had to eat there!! Oh my goodness – a hoagie was such a delight! It tasted different, I think it was the tomatoes and pickles, but still it was my most favorite thing to eat and I was beyond excited!

One of the best things I saw today! 

Lisa went into the grocery store and bought me one very large water while I sat and ate. We talked about my experience in Jinhua and how things were crazy/messed up/hectic but how everything worked out. When I was finished, we went to a rotating sushi restaurant for Lisa to grab something to eat. The rotating part wasn’t working when we arrived, so we sat at a booth and Lisa ordered some stuff to eat. While we sat there for awhile talking some more, the rotating part started working. They know what you’ve eaten because the colors of the plates are different for different prices. That seems like one of the first smart things I’ve noticed!

When we left the mall, I knew I needed to go right and then another right at a bridge to my hotel. Thing is, we were walking a different direction and I was confused. Lisa drew me a map of where to go. I was not happy. I don’t like being in China on my own not knowing where I’m at! She told me to show someone the card from the hotel and almost always someone speaks English. I still wasn’t happy. I walked down the path she had drawn for me and thought I was never going to get where I needed to be! It’s quite a hike and I was soaked with sweat by the time I had finally arrived at my hotel! I paid the front desk and did a little charades thing about the WiFi on my Kindle and they wrote down the username and password. It’s the same set of numbers for both!

Finally, I was in my hotel room and I got my Internet set up and Skyped with sis and updated my Facebook status! I decided to get a shower and call it an early night since I had about 4 to 4 ½ hours sleep last night and I’m going to be in tourist mode this week so I better keep up the energy! 

Bites and Bags (June 24th)

I woke up to a ridiculous number of mosquito bites on both arms. I had little red dots all over my right arm as well as some near welt looking marks on both my right and left forearms. Obviously this little booger from last night, or the early hours of the morning, that I couldn’t find had a buffet on my arms and a few bites of my face as well. I look ridiculous!

Today was the last day I would spend in Jinhua. I tried to go back through the blog and update some pictures to go with the postings. I’ll give you a list of those when I finish them. Sometimes inserting the picture made the posting go crazy and it took quite awhile to upload some pictures because of my camera and the file size of the photo. Since I was getting frustrated, I decided to take a break and pack my bags (almost finished) before taking a shower.

I went to visit Jackie one last time before I leave this town. He was working on the back of his little place where the refrigerators/freezers are located under a tarp. Just in the past two weeks or so since we’ve known Jackie he has made quite a few improvements to his “store”. Instead of a shoebox, he has a cash register, he has a new menu, he is now offering combo meals with fries and a drink, and he has more drink options. He gave me bottled water and then made me a hot dog. Not our kind of hot dog, but it had the same shape. The inside of it was pink but it actually tasted ok. I really have no idea what I may have eaten! He told me that he would miss me and I told him that I will tell the next people who come to visit him. It was nice to have a Chinese friend who spoke English.

Then it was time to go with Allison and her husband to the “best hot pot restaurant” in Jinhua. There were seven of us and we had our own private room – this must be a big thing here. It was Allison, her husband, Wood (because he’s like a tree they say), Hank (I went to the village with him), Alice, Jong (the girl that I went to the village with), and me. A hot pot restaurant has a table with a heating element in the middle where a pot sits and boils a soup stock.

The first thing we did was looked at the menu. This thing looked like it should have been in a historical society archive or something. Not that I know what that looks like, but this thing was huge and thick! There were many types of seafood, some random meat things, vegetables, ice cream, and drinks. Allison had me pick out some items while we waited for the others to arrive – it as just me, Allison, her husband, and Hank at this point. I went for the potatoes and carrots (which they didn’t have) as my two top picks.

Some interesting items on the menu were: Ox stomach, duck tongue, pig brain, rooster balls, and ox penis. Yeah, you read that right! Oh my goodness – they really do eat everything here!

So the meal starts with getting the basic stock (there are several options to pick from) and we just had basically a chicken soup stock, although it’s not chicken. The waitresses put the pot in the middle and add the stock and then start bringing things one by one to put into the pot at random times. What I remember we had, keep in mind I didn’t eat all this stuff: sweet corn on the cob (cut in four to five rings), potatoes, long stemmed mushrooms, sliced fatty beef, lotus root, seaweed, fried bread-type things, pig brain, minced fish, Chinese baby cabbage, and some green leafy something (like cilantro or something). 

Pig brains in that dish on the far side of the silver pot! 

They also brought watermelon to the table which I learned is free and the direct translation of watermelon is “west melon”. I also learned the pumpkin is “south melon”. I think you can figure out what I ate from that list of food! I had some of the stock before anything else was added, mushrooms (not my favorite), the beef (although I tried to take some of the fat off and Hank laughed at that) dipped in soy sauce, potatoes and lots of them, a lotus root (not the best thing in the world), and watermelon and lots of it!

Allison and her husband dropped me off and Allison thanked me for being understanding and cooperative with everything while I thanked her for all her help. Honestly, she was a really good assistant especially compared to Erin’s. I gave her a hug and told her that she could come visit Pennsylvania anytime and I would take her around to some of the sights.

I headed up to my apartment for one last night. I skyped with sis for a few minutes and then decided to finish up the blog for now and to pack everything up except what I would need in the morning. I’m hoping to go to sleep early so I’m not as grumpy with the 4:15 alarm! 

Roll Out the Red Carpet (June 23rd)

I thought my assistant was going to take me to Hangzhou to see the Dragon Boat Festival, but I haven’t been able to get in touch with her for days! Needless to say, I’m in my apartment doing absolutely nothing because once again it is raining. I do have to go back to Century Mart one last time to pick up some more things. There is something for my dad that I want to get. I’m not sure he will use it or not, but I know I will regret if I don’t buy it for him. Shhh … don’t tell him but I want to get him one of those “raincoat” things for his scooter. Heehee. I think it will be funny and it’s pretty cheap. It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t use it; I just know I won’t regret not buying it!

So the fiasco of me getting to the Hangzhou airport on Monday started around 10 this morning. I heard my QQ go off – it has an annoying three beep sound when you receive a message. It was one of my students, Tracey wishing me a “Happy Dragon Boat Festival Day”. We talked briefly and she offered to text Allison and she didn’t answer. Then she told me she messaged a male teacher, which I figured to be Gary, and he said that he would make sure I would get to Hangzhou and my flight on Monday is at 11 am. This is where it gets fun (sarcastic, of course). He thought it would be best for me to go on the bus Sunday. I told him that worried me so much that I would have to get to a hotel and then to the airport the following day on my own. I told him there was no way I was ready for that! I have no issues with travel, but when it involves nobody being able to understand you and you not being able to understand anyone, I have issues!

In the midst of my breakdown, seriously, I was so frustrated I was crying like a baby, Gary comes up with a different plan. His brother, Andy, is here from Hangzhou and he will pick me up at the apartment on Monday morning at 5 am and drive me to the Hangzhou airport. Oh thank heavens!! I mean, 5 am is quite early, but if it means I am getting my own personal chauffer from my apartment to the airport, I’m all over that and so very thankful! Gary brought Andy over to the apartment just so we would know who each other was. He speaks English and spent 9 months working in Boston. This idea is even better! Ahhh!!! I think I can finally relax now that everything is worked out.

I finally decided to head toward Century Mart around 4:15ish. I was holding out for the rain to stop – haha – that’s not going to happen anytime soon. When I leave the apartment, I turn left and then turn left and cut through the parking lot of a new bank that has yet to open and then duck under a police caution tape three times before I make it to where Jackie has his little place and where I cross the road. I was amazed that he was there with his new employee just sitting in the trailer thing waiting for customers to arrive. I thought he didn’t even open until 6 – 6:30. Anyways, I was just going to walk on past until he yelled for me and offered me his umbrella. He seemed to think that mine was too small. It is quite small in comparison to others, but I’ve been managing just fine with my sometimes soaked back. I told him I was fine and I would stop on my way back through.

At Century Mart, you have to go down a moving walkway that is inclined. However, on rainy days, they roll out the red carpet! When I walked in the door, instead of the typical two rugs there were probably 12 that lined the way to the moving walkway which is turned off and a red carpet is placed on it. I suppose it is a safety precaution, but still it made me laugh that it’s a red carpet. They knew that “Princess Krystal” was coming! Who am I kidding?!?! I thought the place was going to be busy since the Dragon Boat Festival, but it wasn’t which is good because it gets so hot in there when the place is busy. Of course people still stop and stare at me like I’m from outer space. I’m a tall, “yellow haired” chick that obviously looks like she’s not from China! I think I’ve finally gotten used to the stares and today I just kept walking and paid no attention to anyone else. I got my goods, paid for them, up the moving walkway, and out the door. Adios --- err, Zàijiàn Century Mart! 

This doesn't have the red carpet, but it's the moving walkway from the  exit of the store. 

As I promised Jackie, I stopped on the way back through and told him that I was leaving at 5 am on Monday morning. He pulled out his phone to check when Monday was, I guess because he said about the day after tomorrow. Then he said, “5 in the a.m.?!?!” Yeah, my thoughts exactly since I haven’t been going to sleep until nearly 2 am lately, but so very thankful for not having to be in Hangzhou by myself! Jackie told me to come back tomorrow to visit him and he would cook for me – I’m sure it will be fried chicken.

I went to the noodle place for one last time tonight. I think the woman was confused this time because I got my food spicy – which was ok, just not what I was used to. I sat at our usual table waiting for my food because I wanted it to go. While sitting there I just sat there taking it all in because I was sitting on the opposite side and could see so much more, not that the place is big. The delivery guy said “Hello” to me again when he saw me. I don’t think he was having the best day because as he went to go on a delivery, he dropped two containers of food on the street. I sat there watching him look at it and then decide to scoop it up and put it in the container. I sat there hoping he would bring it back into the store and not continue on his way. I guess I thought that because let’s just face it, if the US Health Dept. showed up in China to test some of these places, I’m sure they would be shut down immediately. Thankfully, he did bring in the containers and waited for the order to be ready again. This time, the woman took it though.

I finally heard from Allison around 9 tonight. It only took 35 hours for her to respond which really surprised me. She said that she wanted to invite me to dinner at 5:30 – 6:00. Uh oh! I already made plans with Jackie! I decided to tell Allison I could go at 6 and hope that I could visit with Jackie before that. Maybe he’ll be open early again tomorrow. Allison asked me what I wanted to eat – can you get me a hoagie? Nah, I didn’t say that. She suggested a hot pot which I’m thinking is like a crock pot type of stew thing. We talked about my love of chicken and she told me that the Chinese always cook the chicken with bones – she knows me! I think sliced beef and vegetables are on the menu for tomorrow night. 

I should have set up my camera in video mode tonight because I’m sure it would have been quite funny to watch my annoyance with the mosquitoes. I had the lights off ready for bed but reading when this stupid insect kept flying by my ear and buzzing. I would swat at it with no luck. I tried to kill it by slapping my hands together to no avail. I was incredibly annoyed by this thing. I turned on the lights and went on a hunt. I never did find that sucker. I finally fell asleep just after 2 in the morning. I hope tomorrow night I go to bed early since my alarm is set for 4:30 a.m. for Monday morning!

Seven Days (June 22nd)

I decided to spend some time looking back over the blog. Goodness, I’ve written a novel! This is something for me to look back on years down the road and she what crazy shenanigans happened while I randomly on a whim decided to go off to China to teach! It seems like longer than 6 weeks ago I was boarding that flight in Dulles nearly scared to death I was going to be stranded in the middle of China! I wasn’t even in the middle of China.

After rereading parts of the blog, I worked on some games on Pogo for me and Aunt Rita to pass the time. I’m sure there are other things I could be doing – but I just can’t think of what they might be right now. Well, I did do laundry for the last time while I’ll be here. I know, not much excitement, but it’s the last time because I’ll have enough clothes to wear home once these are finished drying. Who knows how long it will take for them to dry since it’s raining and there is no sun out to dry them. I hang my clothes up around the house at home to dry but at least I can get a good air flow or something – it can take two days sometimes around here, especially if it’s raining or extremely humid.

I did something tonight that I would never do at home. I went to a restaurant by myself and sat down and ate. I always feel bad for the people who are sitting alone eating at a restaurant. I guess I feel like they have no family or friends when in reality maybe they just want some time alone. I decided I wanted some American food and went to Pizza Hut. It was a charades game of course telling them what I wanted. The last time we were there, we did have a waiter who knew English but I was not fortunate enough to have him tonight. I ordered a small Hawaiian pizza but she told me that I had to get the medium (which in our standards is between a small and medium). I ordered a Sprite, since I know how to say that but she pointed at 7UP in the menu. Ok, I’ll take it since I enjoy having a carbonated beverage with my pizza. I ate half of it and asked to take it with me since I know how to say that. It sounds like “dow bow” (bow like on a present, not a bow like bending at the waist – isn’t English crazy?).

On my walk back to the apartment, I went a different route so I could stop by and tell Jackie I wasn’t sure when I was leaving this town but wanted to say bye to him. He told me if I was still around to stop back and see him. He did get a new worker girl. He said it’s his only employee and I was confused because his cousin, whom he calls his brother, was there the other night working by himself. He said that he just helps out sometimes.

I was able to Skype with Mom, Sis, and Waylon again tonight. They just put the computer pointed towards Waylon and it was like I was just sitting in the living room with them … just several thousand miles away! After talking to them, I listened to some music I was able to download and then read some before I finally fell asleep slightly after 2 am. Why oh why is my sleeping schedule confused again? I guess because I’m thinking of being home in SEVEN days. There is a lot to do and I will be busy but it will make it go so much faster! 

Baby Steps (June 21st)

I woke up to the sounds of construction on this first day of summer. Today must have been a concrete truck kind of day because I heard that annoying beeping and voice that must be saying something to warn people – it’s like a robot sounding Chinese woman. The place across the street has probably 10 buildings and some of them are very tall. The land used to be part of Jinhua Polytechnic but they sold it to these developers for the money. How convenient that would have been to be right across the street from the school!

I talked on QQ to Erin who is officially in Pennsylvania. How exciting for her – she was in China since July, so nearly a year away from home! Yikes! I know I lived in Tennessee for nine years, but I came home more than once a year. Heck, there was a time I was home every month for at least four months in a row.

I went to CenturyMart to pick up some Hershey Kisses for Erin that she forgot to buy while she was here. It’s hot here, but apparently it’s even hotter at home right now with the heat index up to 105 or something. Maybe I should stop complaining about the heat and humidity here. I guess it’s really not that hot but the humidity is killer and some of these people are dressed in long sleeves and long pants and even have on more than one shirt! I guess it’s just something you get used to. They mostly do it because they want to be white!

When I was climbing my way back to the third floor today, I realized that the stairs are not as horrible as they once were. I guess I’m finally getting used to them – of course, just as it’s time to leave. I will be anxious to come home and weigh my bag with my computer in it to see how much extra weight I was lugging around while climbing those stairs! When I have the heavy bag, I think I’m on The Biggest Loser and climbing the stairs of the Sears Tower (I know it’s called something else now but I forget what it is) in Chicago but with the extra weight added to them that they had lost. I know I haven’t lost that much weight, but those 28 pounds are definitely a start.

I guess if you stick with something long enough it becomes easier like learning an instrument, learning a language, eating more veggies, going to the gym, or climbing the stairs. At first, it is baby steps until you can move on and feel comfortable doing it. My baby steps of the stairs are going to lead me to something amazing … The Great Wall next week!

Single Digits (June 20th)

It’s June 20^th, so that means I am down to the single digits until my return home! When Erin started her countdown in the office, I think she was in the high 30s or low 40s and I knew that meant I had 9 more than she did. It seemed like I was never going to get to the single digits and here it is! What a wonderful feeling to know that my time here is nearly through. I’m not saying I’ve hated it. I don’t like the lack of planning, communication, sticky white bland boring rice, the Chinese philosophy of education, and not understanding what anyone is saying (except the very few English speakers I know … so I’m down to three).

I debated about going to Amy’s this morning for an egg sandwich and then remembered that I had the peach Jackie gave me last night. I don’t have a knife, so I had to eat the thing with the fuzzy part still on. I’m not a fan of the fuzziness. For instance, I don’t like to eat fresh green beans because I think they are fuzzy. When I ate this white peach, I bit into the fuzz and then tried to eat off of that. It was actually ok but I’ll be happy to have utensils again soon. It’s the little things in life!

Honestly, I spent most of the day lying in bed either reading or doing something on the computer until a knock on the door around 2:00 p.m. I knew it wasn’t Erin or Tom but thought maybe it could be Kareem or Jeannie. Nope, it was the maintenance couple. They came to put some more caulking around the bathtub. I didn’t even ask for that! It was a fun charades experience. The woman was trying to ask me for something at least I think so when she pointed to my Excel book (which I never used by the way). I just shook my head no. The man went about his merry business and the woman left. He said something to me as he left and I said thank you because it’s one of the few things I know how to say.

I started toward the noodle place for dinner but realized when I walked past that the workers were just getting there and they weren’t ready for business yet. Instead of turning around and walking the other way, I continued down the street to see what was past the noodle place. On my way, I saw the “noodle place delivery guy” on his scooter heading toward my restaurant of choice. He waved and said “Hello” (not in Chinese – in English which surprised me). After several buildings, I crossed the street and walked on the opposite side of the road while deciding where I wanted to go get some food since I was hungry and didn’t want to wait. I started down towards Amy’s where the sidewalk was being ripped up to put in a different type of brick instead of the red, green, and yellow bricks currently there. I thought about going to Pizza Hut and then thought about Kentucky Fried Chicken but turned around at Pizza Hut and went to Amy’s. I think they were surprised to see me since they thought we were all leaving on Sunday. I had the usual – egg sandwich and NO coffee and enjoyed every minute of it! I sat there for awhile in the nice plush brown velvet couch because it’s the most comfortable thing I’ve sat on since I’ve been here.

I went back to the quiet apartment and read or played on the computer. Thank goodness for my Kindle Fire and my computer or else I really would be completely bored out of my mind! 

And Then There Was One (June 19th)

I’m the only one left. Erin is in Shanghai for the night and will be flying out tomorrow early afternoon while Tom is on a flight heading towards British Columbia, Canada. It really is going to be quite lonely around here. I’m so thankful they were here though. Could you imagine being a foreign country that speaks a foreign language and you have no idea what’s going on? Thank goodness for Erin! Honestly, if she wasn’t here, I’m not really sure what I would have done. Let’s just not even think about that! I would have been eating at the KFC everyday and would have had no idea of how to get to or from the university.

I went into the office at 10 this morning because of that student who was to be here at 10. I specifically told Allison yesterday that the boy had to do the work in the office. He came at 10:25 with a laptop but also with a USB. I opened the files and he magically had all of them completed and only missed 11.5 points out of 501. Now, any moron could tell you that this boy who came to class maybe four times the entire time I’ve been here didn’t do this work. Since I said he had to do the work here, I made it easy for him. I gave him all the spreadsheets so he didn’t have to type everything into them. He just had to put the formulas in the correct cells. He didn’t have a clue! He probably started on this work at 11:00 and his friend was here to help him. I told John that he was either going to have to have a seat or he was going to have to leave because this was work for Tom to do. John decided to leave. This didn’t stop Tom from trying to call or text someone to ask them what to do. I didn’t say anything because quite honestly, Tom doesn’t understand much of what I’m saying. Probably because he skipped Erin’s class all the time too (that’s his English class). Needless to say, at 11:46, Tom stood up and said, “I give up. I do not know how to do this.” Hmmmm … now, given the fact that he came in with it finished, wouldn’t you think he’d know how to do it? He finished one of the ten activities and earned himself 49 of 501 points.

I had to wait around the office to talk to Gary and Allison again. While I was waiting I had three students come to visit. One girl, Tracey, brought me candy from her and Claire and Sharon and Angelina brought me a card from my 113 class. I left my office key in Tina’s office, she’s a head teacher for one of the classes and left the office for the last time. It was a wonderful feeling as I walked to the west gate for the last time. I will not miss that walk and especially in the rain!

Back at the apartment, I played some games and decided to take a nap. I love naptime. The Chinese have their “rest” every afternoon after lunch and I would love to adopt that program. Well, only if that meant I still worked the same hours, just with a longer lunch break. Hahahaha – that would never work in the States!

I went to visit Jackie tonight for dinner. He wanted to know how he could keep in touch so I gave him my email address, which he thought was rather long, and he proceeded to tell me that he has Skype. I found that incredibly odd that he wanted to be a Skype friend. Anyways, the guy has been so nice to us. He asked me if I wanted some fruit as he held up a peach. I said, “Oh, a peach!” He gave me the peach, which I decided to keep for breakfast tomorrow morning. I headed back to the apartment and talked with Mom and Sis before they went to bed. I wonder how people did this whole living abroad thing before the days of technology and Skype?!?!? It’s been fabulous! 

Do What? (June 18th)

It was a drizzly kind of morning when Erin, Tom, and I went outside to get a taxi to school. Erin’s final was today, Tom needed to get a haircut, and I had to do some paperwork. I called Allison to ask her where she was around 10:30 since she knew I would be in around 8. She told me she was “too busy” and she would be at the office around 1:30. Erin was to get her finals as soon as they were finished (she wasn’t allowed to proctor them) but the lady who had them locked them in her office when she went to lunch and to have a rest. Here’s something I’m not sure if I’ve told you or not, but the Chinese take 2.5 to 3 hour lunch breaks and they still work 8-5. How does that work?!?! They would never make it in the States. So, we had an early lunch while waiting for her finals which didn’t arrive until nearly 12.

We spent the afternoon and early evening grading like crazy people! I helped her grade a lot of them. I was good with the true/false, multiple choice, matching, and even tackled the fill in the blank while I left the short answer and essay questions for her. I also entered the grades on her computer. It was a team effort and I’m sure at 11:00 p.m. she would still be grading if I hadn’t helped her. We left the office close to 7:00 loaded down with the things we asked our students to go out and buy for souvenirs for our family/friends. I still have things to find, but I’m holding out for Beijing.

Sometime throughout the grading frenzy, Allison came to talk to me about this one student, Tom, whom I had seen maybe three times the entire time I’ve been here. She said that he is failing the course. You think?!?! You really think that he’s going to pass when he hasn’t been there? I think not! So, she says something to me about him brining in the work from practice week so that he has a chance at passing. I immediately say no. I have no problems helping students who actually attempt to try! So then I tell her that if he wants to do the work, he has to come to the office with a laptop and do the work in front of me because I know if he shows up with a flash drive, he would just have gotten it from someone and he wouldn’t have done anything. That is not how this is going to work. I told her he wouldn’t show up. So, she has a student call Tom and he says no, he’s not going to come in. Apparently, Allison went and told Gary because she came back to the office saying, “I have good news”. Here I am thinking that I don’t have to go in tomorrow. Nope, she said that Tom has decided that he will come in now because Gary called him and talked to him. I am so not happy about this. Allison also told me that she changed some of the grades on participation to help the student grades. The grades were not bad at all. Then she proceeds to tell me that we don’t have a bell curve. Well, maybe if you wouldn’t change the grades, we might have more of a distribution! I cannot stand the way the Chinese do things!

I almost forgot to mention that I had a message my QQ when I got home. It was from Allison. She asked me to make a supplementary exam. I thought I had already completed that. She tells me it is for Corporate Finance and the guy who was here before me. I flat out told her “No, I will not make a test for Corporate Finance”. I proceeded to tell her that I didn’t feel comfortable with that because I have no idea what they did and did not cover. She told me that she understood. Good thing because this girl is not going to make one!

I swear, I am not going into that office on Wednesday on my own free will. The only way I will get there is if they come and personally pick me up and take me back to the apartment at the end of the day. They don’t understand that it is not convenient to just go into school. I have to get a taxi, carry my ridiculously heavy bag since I have to take a computer with me, and then walk to the office only to turn around and walk back to get the bus to come home.

Dinner tonight seemed to take forever. Maybe it was because we were so hungry and Jackie was so busy making food for the security guards or something. There was a guy who walked up and ordered and then came and sat with Erin and me. Jackie asked if he was our friend because he knew English. Nope, this guy is not our friend. We find out he is doing business in Jinhua and has lived in China for 6 years but he’s from Greece and his family is still in Greece. It was quite odd. Erin told Jackie she was leaving tomorrow and I told him that I would still see him for a few more days (before I head out to either Hangzhou or Beijing).

Back at the apartments, Tom wants to weigh his bags one more time. I swear he has weighed his suitcases more than anyone I know! I could swear he said the last time he weighed them the heaviest was 33 pounds. When Erin went to help him she said the bag was 58 pounds! He’s got to figure out how to take some of that weight out or else he will be paying some more money! Apparently when he was weighing his bags he put them on the scale rather than weighing himself and then him and the bag. He gave me the rest of the water from his water tank – I know I’ll have plenty to get me through! Tom and I exchanged emails since he is heading out at 8:30 tomorrow morning. He is getting to ride to Shanghai by private car for his flight back to Canada tomorrow afternoon. Erin is heading out tomorrow afternoon to head to Shanghai by train to spend the night before her flight out on Wednesday. It’s going to be lonely around here for the next couple days! 

Winding Down (June 17th)

I woke up this morning to Phillip Phillip’s song, “Home”. I’ve been able to download some music on QQ (the Chinese version of instant messenger). I haven’t listened to that song in days. Maybe I’m just singing it because Erin and Tom are leaving in a few days to go back home. I have less than two weeks and I hope that it is going to fly by!

It’s the final coffee Sunday for us. It was raining just slightly this morning on the walk there. Two coffees (Erin and Tom) and two egg sandwiches (Erin and me) were ordered for our table. We were the only ones in there at first. There were three couples each with a daughter who staggered in after we did. The men sat outside to smoke while the ladies and children stayed inside. Those women could talk … and when I say talk, I should say yell! They were so loud! I had taken my Kindle with me so that I could download some more books while we were there, so I used the Internet to get on Google translate to be able to tell the staff at Amy’s that we appreciated their outstanding service. They smiled and said thank you. Erin asked for a coffee mug for Tom and they gave him one as well. Later, our waitress came out with another mug so I took that one. We thought it was so nice that they gave us all a mug. The owner then brought over his business card for each of us. His name is Eric and now we have his email address and we plan to send him some pictures of us enjoying our Amy’s Coffee. Maybe I should wait to go back home to send him a picture of his mug in Pennsylvania!

We were still sitting at Amy’s when I saw this guy walking towards the front door and I thought it looked like Jackie. Surely, our friend Jackie wouldn’t be at Amy’s! Sure enough, he walked in and looked over at our table and came and said hi to us. He was meeting his friend there for coffee. When we left and were standing outside, we looked up to the second floor and saw him, so we said bye to him.

The afternoon was spent again doing nothing exciting! I am actually quite bored. I looked at some of the pictures from our student group pictures and tried to name all 96 of them. I think I only screwed up or didn’t remember 6-8 of them, so that was really good! It’s not like I can remember someone because of their hair color – they all have the same hair color! There are fewer boys, so I can remember all of them. It’s the girls who sit in the back of the classrooms that gave me trouble when it came time to remembering their names!

Dinner tonight was the noodle place. We wanted to continue the picture frenzy yet again. Hey, we want to make sure that we don’t forget anything. No lie, we have a list. The only thing left on that list is to get a good picture of a split pants baby and maybe the park area close to the mall. I might venture there on my own after Tom and Erin leave. I’m sure I can find my way, it’s just a couple of turns and it’s fairly close to here.

Oh, back to dinner. Goodness, I can get on a tangent sometimes. There were no unoccupied tables when we had arrived at the noodle place, so we stood and waited for a moment while we ordered our food. The lady motioned for us to sit with this one guy who looked as though he might be finishing up his meal. When Erin and Tom went to sit down, the dude just got up and left out of there! He looked like he was in a hurry! I guess we may have scared him off. Oh well – the woman told us to sit there. We asked to take a picture of the lady and she didn’t want to until we walked outside to take a picture of the front of the store when she came out and jumped into the picture. She was so nice!

I was able to Skype with my Dad since it is Father’s Day. Skype is amazing! I was actually able to see the whole family. Funny how it’s nearly 9 p.m. and it’s just 9 a.m. there. I know I’ve been here for 5 weeks and it still seems crazy to me. I don’t however walk around and say, “I’m in CHINA!” as much as I used to. I guess you could say I’m finally into the groove of things here – just as the time is winding down.

I went down to Erin’s tonight to hang out and drink the adult beverages so I can take the cans home to Shawn and Ryan. Apparently Shawn is super excited about his Chinese Budweiser can with “Year of the Dragon” on it and he’s been telling quite a few people. A dear friend’s husband wanted a can as well. So, I had two Budweisers that we just calling our names. I did tell them that there would not be beer in the cans – I don’t want to have to worry about them exploding or claiming them at customs or anything else by bringing the beer home. I figure the can will just have to do. I am going to try to protect them for the flight. I took a tissue box, cut it around the middle to make one side slide into the other side to give the cans a protective little box. Hopefully they arrive home without looking too disheveled.

Tomorrow is the last day that I am going to have to go into the school. I apparently have to sign off on the grades and write a little comment about the final results and what I tested them on. Who knows, really! I guess I will find out tomorrow when I go into the office!