Well, let's catch up shall we? How are you? How's the family? Glad to hear you're well, and that everyone is doing fine... Or mostly. There are a few of you out there that I've heard from, and I pr@y for you all. It really is a blessing to know so many people have been keeping up with my travels.
On to the things you've missed in the last few days. I believe I left you with the update about Hong Kong and told you I was in Shanghai... Yes. Well, I was in Shaoxing last week Tuesday night, and then on Wednesday I took the train up to Shanghai to see the city and hang out some more with my friend Jen. I traveled with her in Cambodia and Thailand for a bit, and she encouraged me to visit. So, I went up wednesday afternoon/evening and we had dinner and hung out at her apartment. Then, one of my city mates, Seth, decided to come visit too. The goof didn't think to come with me. But luckily it's only about an hour or so train ride. Jen and I went for 'Sheun-Chien" (phonetic spelling) for breakfast. It's a sort of dumpling that is filled with meat, and a bit of soup and then fried on one side. It might be the best thing I've eaten in China. They are pretty delicious. And then we walked around this giant ten story mall for a bit, and I rode on the longest escalator I've ever been on; It stretched from the 7th to the 4th floor. Crazy!! (There was a video of it... look above for it) Once Seth arrived in town we all ventured to the Shanghai IKEA. And just like in the US, they have 1 kuai ice cream cones!!! So, of course we all got a cone and proceeded to the housewares section. We looked at lamps, and rugs, candles, and everything in between. Jen bought a rug for her apartment, Seth bought some pot holders, and I bought three candles for my room. I do love candles so...and they smell just lovely. Then, we headed back to Jen's apartment to drop off the rug, and chill for a little before dinner. We ate at a Shanghai-nese restaurant. Believe it or not, each city in China has a very unique way of making food. So the same dish can be drastically different in Shaoxing, Hangzhou and Shanghai even though the three cities are all really close together. Following dinner, Jen, Seth, another of our friends Tim, and I all headed down to the Bund. If you've never heard of it... google it. It's like the skyline of Shanghai. It's the most famous site in the city, and probably all of Zhejiang (Juh-gee-ang) province. It was a pretty awesome sight. Which is saying something considering what I've seen in the last month. The section of Shanghai where the Bund is located is very westernized. The city has a strong western influence because as business took over the city, and western business men, employment, and tourism grew the city adapted to what westerners wanted.
This picture show two things; the Bund and the opposite side of the river. The Bund is on the left side of the picture with the tall buildings. The bight light on the left is a street lamp... oh well. Then there's a dark space in the center, that's the river. and the right side of the picture is the skyline that faces the Bund. There's one building, just to the right of the bright street lamp, that's all dark. It's not finished yet, thus the reason it's dark. When it is finished it will be the tallest building in the world. (I think) Oh, and I should clarify. The whole area is called the Bund.... Not just one side of the river. I was differentiating for description purposes. =)
Right-eo... On to what happened after Shanghai. On Friday, Valentine's Day, Jen and I took the train down to Hangzhou to hang out for a bit. We met our friends Hannah and Nate and the four of us went to see the movie Frozen in the theaters, and then out for Mexican food before heading back to the apartment to snuggle up and watch another movie. Then, on Saturday after lunch I headed back to the Xing... (I say that as short for Shaoxing, so its pronounced 'shing'...like ring. In case there was confusion.)
Once at home, I rearranged my room (new year, new look!), did some laundry, lit one of my new candles!! And prepared myself for school on monday. Monday rolls around and I go to school and work out my new schedule and get teaching materials. Tuesday I start school! Classes go pretty well, but the weather is not very nice. It's raining. I biked to school with my bike poncho in the morning, but that wasn't entirely pleasant, so I took a taxi when I returned for afternoon sessions. By then it was full on snowing. Crazy! Well, even more crazy is after my classes I find out school has been canceled for the following two days due to weather. The snow quit later on Tuesday evening and we've had no precipitation since then. The 'storm' gave us about an inch and a half of slush everywhere, and maybe an inch of snow on grassy areas. It was a lot of rain/snow mix. Since we had two days, and our apartment is rather boring, we went over to the guys campus and hung out at Mr. Feeney's apartment. Mr. Feeney is the cat. Tony and Seth live there, but we never know who's house to call it, so we say it's Mr Feeney's. =) And that brings us to the present.
I have school in the morning tomorrow. I'm going to spell with my six year olds. We're learning the four seasons, and their temperatures. Summer is hot. Autumn is cool. Winter is cold. Spring is warm. It's cute.... But I teach the same thing four times. When the end of my session rolls around, I'm ready to be done. Haha.
Until next time.
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