Found this great translation in a museum.Monday, May 28, 2007
Shang Hai and Suzhou
This past weekend we traveled to Suzhou, and then to Shang Hai. Suzhou was really nice, we went to the "humble administrator's garden". This garden was the prettiest place I have ever seen. Everything was perfectly manicured. Every tree, every flower, every blade of grass was perfectly placed. They had a huge display of "bonsai" trees, which were pretty crazy. I put bonsai in quotations because that is the Japanese word for what the Chinese created. The Chinese were the people to come up with this art, but the Japanese are known for it. Go figure. Anyway, I don't know the word for it in Chinese.
We also took a tour of the old part of Suzhou on a small gondola. Suzhou is named the Venice of china. Originally, the commerce of the city was centered around its canals, but these days the canals are just used for washing clothes, dumping garbage, and amusing tourists. It was cool to see, but the water was really gross. Our guide was a sweet old woman, who was so kind to sing a couple of songs to us. She was really beautiful. Her voice was mysterious to me, deep, full of secrets, unpredictable, like the ocean.
After Suzhou we took a bus to Shang Hai. Shang Hai was all right. It really is just a gigantic city. We went to "the bund" which is a very famous road in Shang Hai. It looks like it is right out of Europe. All the buildings are completely different than other buildings in China. It is kind of a weird site, but that's what you get when the British come in. They gotta put there stamp on stuff, right? We didn't do much to speak of in Shang Hai. We mostly walked around and explored.
Our last trip is coming up in two weeks, then after that we'll be home! We will probably do a couple more posts, so be on the look out.
-a.
We also took a tour of the old part of Suzhou on a small gondola. Suzhou is named the Venice of china. Originally, the commerce of the city was centered around its canals, but these days the canals are just used for washing clothes, dumping garbage, and amusing tourists. It was cool to see, but the water was really gross. Our guide was a sweet old woman, who was so kind to sing a couple of songs to us. She was really beautiful. Her voice was mysterious to me, deep, full of secrets, unpredictable, like the ocean.
After Suzhou we took a bus to Shang Hai. Shang Hai was all right. It really is just a gigantic city. We went to "the bund" which is a very famous road in Shang Hai. It looks like it is right out of Europe. All the buildings are completely different than other buildings in China. It is kind of a weird site, but that's what you get when the British come in. They gotta put there stamp on stuff, right? We didn't do much to speak of in Shang Hai. We mostly walked around and explored.
Our last trip is coming up in two weeks, then after that we'll be home! We will probably do a couple more posts, so be on the look out.
-a.
Monday, May 21, 2007
the every day ruckus
I guess its time to show everyone what our day to day play looks like. So far we have mainly posted pictures of when we travel, but here is the normal stuff. Don't be fooled by the cute little faces you see, they are rowdy lil' people. You may notice Ted and I are wearing matching shirts, oh how cute. They have entire stores dedicated to "couples shirts". I guess it is a big deal to match with your significant other here. We thought they were a cool design, so we had to get them. The funny thing is that our students didn't realize we were married until we wore the shirts together. I guess kissing in front of them, or pointing out my wedding ring wasn't as obvious as a T-shirt. Now they follow us around saying, "teacha, look!", and of course what they want us to look at is their cute little pointer fingers making out with each other.
Yes, that is a picture of Ronald Mcdonald. And yes, that old man is coolly sitting next to him reading the paper, like everyone reads the paper with good ole' Ron. I thought it was a splendid moment and had to capture it. The saddest part of that picture is that we were inside eating there. Mcdonalds, once my sworn enemy, now one of my closest allies. I no longer have a stomach for what they feed us here at school, so I am living off of plain rice, PBJ's, oreos, apples, and the occasional trip to the Golden Arches. Please don't judge us, we are desperate. We would rather eat tasty American flavored mystery meat on a sesame bun than to actually be eating what could very well be a greasy vegetable rat medley.
The last picture is our favorite new toy. It is a LASER TOP! We found some people selling them on the streets one night, and they are really cool. It's a tiny personal laser show. It came with a stick with a rope attached to it, which is used to whip the top to keep it moving. Great good ole' fashioned fun.
We are going to Shang Hai in two days, this is our last trip before teaching is done. We only have two more weeks of teaching! Yeee haw. I have fun with the kids, but it will be nice not to have to worry about lesson plans, or any of that stuff any more. I can check teacher off my list, and know for sure that I definitely don't want to be a teacher. Too noisy. I sound like a crotchety old woman, but it is the truth. A classroom of screaming kids is not what I call fun. Plus, I respect my eardrums far too much.
Hope ya'll enjoy, keep a smile on your faces.
-a.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
trash can
This trash can said at the bottom, "Protect the environment". Bush bin....coincidence? I think not. I guess this is what China thinks of our president.-a
Sunday, May 6, 2007
too much is never quite too much
Cormorant fisherman
Ted and his faithful steed on our countryside ride.
Sideways smile, and rosie cheeks.
"Under the Tree" cafe, they had good pizza, but horrible burritos.
A sideways glance of Moon Hill. (we climbed to the top!)
down at yang shou town
We have been on a great adventure this past week. The biggest adventure yet, and the hardest part was getting to where we were going. We left for Yang Shou last Saturday afternoon, only to find that our bus had already left us, along with our group. A cab driver stuck his head out of his window and into the rain and started shouting something to us in Chinese. Of course, my response was "wo bu dong" which means, " i don't get you man" (okay, that isn't an exact translation) We got out our plane tickets and pointed to "Nanjing", this is where our bus was supposed to take us to catch our plane. The cab driver's eyes got very wide, and he started pointing intermittently to some other location in the city and then to the backseat of his taxi. So like good little foreigners we hopped into his cab, and he sped away. He kept talking to himself and laughing nervously, which only made us more nervous. We were weaving in and out of traffic on a six lane road for about five minutes when our driver slammed on his brakes, rolled down his window, and stuck his head back out into the rain. He shouted over a cement divider and about four lanes at this bus. The bus stopped, and its driver stuck his head out into the rain and shouted back. The encounter was brief, and loud. Our driver then continued to drive, all the while muttering to himself. He flipped a u-turn at the next intersection, drove about two blocks and there was our bus waiting for us. We paid our driver, and hopped onto a bus that was pretty full. The bus manager kicked people out of their seats so that we could sit in the front, now that's what I call service. When we got to Nanjing we found out that the airport was about another 30 to 40 minutes away. So we hopped into another taxi, pointed to our plane tickets, and also pointed to the time that we were supposed to leave. Seeing that we were pressed for time our driver took off like a madman. We got to the airport just in time for boarding. We were really relieved, except for one thing, our group was not at the airport. We found out later that they took the original bus that was supposed to take us, and they arrived at the airport just as the plane was leaving. After all that, I think Ted and I are ready to be on the Amazing Race.
Yang Shou is absolutely gorgeous and is by far the highlight of our trip. This bustling little town is nestled in the middle of hundreds of karst mountains. Our hostel was tucked away in another obscure alleyway. Ted and I got a room on the top floor that was really cool. The skeleton of the roof was exposed along with the ceramic shingles. There wasn't much keeping the bugs out, and the only thing that kept the rain out was the plexi glass the lined the ceiling.
Our first day we took a boat tour up the Li River. It was a fun time. The scenery was breathtaking. A couple of times we had to dock our boats along the riverside and wait for the big bad government boats to pass. While we were parked we could get out and explore a little. Both places we stopped there were cormorant fisherman holding their birds on a bamboo stick balanced on their shoulders. For those of you who don't know, a cormorant is a bird that dives down into the water, sometimes for a very long time, and comes up with a fish. They are really cool birds, but really stinky.
The second day we decided to rent bikes and go for a ride out in the country. Ted got a pretty good bike, but I got a Giant from the underworld. It was a full suspension bike that seemed to have extra bounce in it. On top of that it didn't shift properly, basically it didn't shift at all. So, I rode an extra bouncy single speed bike all day. I was pretty sore and cranky by the end. It was really hot and humid that day, but the things we saw were really beautiful . I am glad I did it, even though my bum wasn't.
The third day was the best day! We went "rafting". We took an hour bus ride out through rice paddies, and orange orchards and up into a small steep canyon. Once we got to the rafting area, they shoved us into a smaller bus with a bunch of speedo clad Chinese men. We rode that little bus for about fifteen minutes up a really steep windy road. Ted and I looked over the edge of the road to see a highly manicured but quite swift river. I was excited and a little bit nervous. When we got to the top the suited us up with life jackets, helmets, elbow pads, and knee pads, but no paddles. We then followed a line of people down to the rivers edge. We got in a small two person raft and waited with probably about 100 other people. We were all corralled into this small area of the river that they had dammed up. It was a deep calm pool and every boat was touching. We were all squeezed in tightly. As soon as our boat got into the water a huge water fight broke out. I think it started with a small friendly splash in our direction, and by the end everyone had their helmets off filling them with water and pouring them onto the nearest victim. The water was violent with splashing and laughter. It was a really beautiful moment for me. I felt so close to all these strangers that I have never seen before and I am sure I will never see again. We couldn't understand each other's words, but we understood each other's laughter.
It took forever to finally get out of our holding area, but it was so worth the wait. At the front of the dam there is a small opening just big enough for a raft to go through, followed by a cement chute. The first drop was about a 15 ft drop, and in Ted's words "about a 70% slope". It was wild. They had about 5 or 6 of these chutes along the river. Most of the river was manipulated to make as many rapids as possible. They had a guard watching at every bend, and for every guard there was at least 3 people taking pictures of you along the way. Ted and I laughed like little kids down the whole river. It was so fun!
We spent our nights hanging out on West street by our hostel. There were a million things to see and buy. Bright lights and colors in every direction. Ted and I love shopping here in China, not only because it is cheap, but we get a thrill (especially Ted) out of bartering. The more mad they get, the better price you are getting. Once Ted got a little cocky and low balled someone just a bit too much and the guy slid his finger across his throat, which I think meant :" get out of here or I'll kill ya".
Our last day we went to a place called Moon cave. It is a cave you enter by boat. You go up a very small river into a hole in the rock. You have to duck down pretty low in the boat, so you don't bonk your head. Once we got in we hiked around and looked at the many interesting rock formations. Near the end of the tour you get to the mud pools, which is the main attraction for the caves. Everyone strips down to their bathing suits, and gets completely covered with mud. There is even a mud slide. Ted and Steve frolicked and laughed like little boys. I got muddy, but not quite as muddy as they did. Ted had mud all over his face, crusted in his beard, everywhere. Luckily, there is a big pool outside the cave, and we were able to clean off.
We had a really great time this past week, and if anyone ever wants to visit China I recommend visiting Yang Shou. We would love to take both our families here one day! Thanks for reading!
-a.
Yang Shou is absolutely gorgeous and is by far the highlight of our trip. This bustling little town is nestled in the middle of hundreds of karst mountains. Our hostel was tucked away in another obscure alleyway. Ted and I got a room on the top floor that was really cool. The skeleton of the roof was exposed along with the ceramic shingles. There wasn't much keeping the bugs out, and the only thing that kept the rain out was the plexi glass the lined the ceiling.
Our first day we took a boat tour up the Li River. It was a fun time. The scenery was breathtaking. A couple of times we had to dock our boats along the riverside and wait for the big bad government boats to pass. While we were parked we could get out and explore a little. Both places we stopped there were cormorant fisherman holding their birds on a bamboo stick balanced on their shoulders. For those of you who don't know, a cormorant is a bird that dives down into the water, sometimes for a very long time, and comes up with a fish. They are really cool birds, but really stinky.
The second day we decided to rent bikes and go for a ride out in the country. Ted got a pretty good bike, but I got a Giant from the underworld. It was a full suspension bike that seemed to have extra bounce in it. On top of that it didn't shift properly, basically it didn't shift at all. So, I rode an extra bouncy single speed bike all day. I was pretty sore and cranky by the end. It was really hot and humid that day, but the things we saw were really beautiful . I am glad I did it, even though my bum wasn't.
The third day was the best day! We went "rafting". We took an hour bus ride out through rice paddies, and orange orchards and up into a small steep canyon. Once we got to the rafting area, they shoved us into a smaller bus with a bunch of speedo clad Chinese men. We rode that little bus for about fifteen minutes up a really steep windy road. Ted and I looked over the edge of the road to see a highly manicured but quite swift river. I was excited and a little bit nervous. When we got to the top the suited us up with life jackets, helmets, elbow pads, and knee pads, but no paddles. We then followed a line of people down to the rivers edge. We got in a small two person raft and waited with probably about 100 other people. We were all corralled into this small area of the river that they had dammed up. It was a deep calm pool and every boat was touching. We were all squeezed in tightly. As soon as our boat got into the water a huge water fight broke out. I think it started with a small friendly splash in our direction, and by the end everyone had their helmets off filling them with water and pouring them onto the nearest victim. The water was violent with splashing and laughter. It was a really beautiful moment for me. I felt so close to all these strangers that I have never seen before and I am sure I will never see again. We couldn't understand each other's words, but we understood each other's laughter.
It took forever to finally get out of our holding area, but it was so worth the wait. At the front of the dam there is a small opening just big enough for a raft to go through, followed by a cement chute. The first drop was about a 15 ft drop, and in Ted's words "about a 70% slope". It was wild. They had about 5 or 6 of these chutes along the river. Most of the river was manipulated to make as many rapids as possible. They had a guard watching at every bend, and for every guard there was at least 3 people taking pictures of you along the way. Ted and I laughed like little kids down the whole river. It was so fun!
We spent our nights hanging out on West street by our hostel. There were a million things to see and buy. Bright lights and colors in every direction. Ted and I love shopping here in China, not only because it is cheap, but we get a thrill (especially Ted) out of bartering. The more mad they get, the better price you are getting. Once Ted got a little cocky and low balled someone just a bit too much and the guy slid his finger across his throat, which I think meant :" get out of here or I'll kill ya".
Our last day we went to a place called Moon cave. It is a cave you enter by boat. You go up a very small river into a hole in the rock. You have to duck down pretty low in the boat, so you don't bonk your head. Once we got in we hiked around and looked at the many interesting rock formations. Near the end of the tour you get to the mud pools, which is the main attraction for the caves. Everyone strips down to their bathing suits, and gets completely covered with mud. There is even a mud slide. Ted and Steve frolicked and laughed like little boys. I got muddy, but not quite as muddy as they did. Ted had mud all over his face, crusted in his beard, everywhere. Luckily, there is a big pool outside the cave, and we were able to clean off.
We had a really great time this past week, and if anyone ever wants to visit China I recommend visiting Yang Shou. We would love to take both our families here one day! Thanks for reading!
-a.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
The Gloomy Monsoony
Hello all readers,
We went for a quick get-a-way this week end to Huangshan or also known as the Yellow Mountains. We figured it got that name from mountains being covered with bamboo forests that look fuzzy and yellowish. It was a six hour bus ride through some very winding roads to get there but there was some spectacular views along the way
Before we left we went to the 4Th anniversary of the Indian Kitchen, the only local Indian restaurant in Hefei, and had a scrupulous buffet there. They had belly dancers and Michel Jackson impersonators, sometime at the same time. They also had a give-a-way the we got a large jar of curry paste. It looks really good but we don't have a kitchen or anything to make it with.
Huangshan was extremely beautiful. It has very steep mountains covered in green except for some jagged rock faces and tall waterfalls. The hostel we stayed at was pretty junkie. It cost us 10 dollars a night. but it had a good location from the national park. Saturday we arrived in the afternoon and road on a rickshaw motorcycle contraption to See some beautiful pools and water falls. The pictures we took didn't do justice. It was also the place where Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon was filmed.
At night we just walked around town and got a bite to eat. The main delicacy is frog in Huangshan but me and Aundi wimped out and ate some cashew chicken and bamboo. The town was very gloomy and looked kinda sad even though it was surrounded by gorgeous mountains.
The next day we woke up early to ride to the top of the mountain on a cable car. when we got to the bottom it was raining buckets and it stayed that way for the rest of the day. We weren't able to go to the top because of lightning but we really wouldn't want to. you can't see much of the beauty when it is raining anyways. We spent most of the day drying off and playing cards.
We will have to do the hike another weekend and we will check the weather before we go.
Now I writing a couple of days latter from the top section. I apologize for my slothfulness at updating our blog. Aundi is much better at this stuff than I am.
This weekend we are leaving for Guilin. It is our week long vacation and is going to be a blast. We are flying there and taking a train the way back. the train will take 26 hours and the flight is only 2. Aundi will do a fantastic job at telling you how much fun it was next week.
We had fun going to the market this week also. We bought some more junk to bring home and I'm amazed at how huge the market is. Its like 4 city blocks and 7 stories in some places of crammed together little shops. You can get almost anything you want and million of things you would never want. It is fun and you get to meet a lot of neat people. We also chilled at a park and played with pigeons for a while.
Thanks for reading and we'll write to you in the future.
With regards,
Ted & Aundi
We went for a quick get-a-way this week end to Huangshan or also known as the Yellow Mountains. We figured it got that name from mountains being covered with bamboo forests that look fuzzy and yellowish. It was a six hour bus ride through some very winding roads to get there but there was some spectacular views along the way
Before we left we went to the 4Th anniversary of the Indian Kitchen, the only local Indian restaurant in Hefei, and had a scrupulous buffet there. They had belly dancers and Michel Jackson impersonators, sometime at the same time. They also had a give-a-way the we got a large jar of curry paste. It looks really good but we don't have a kitchen or anything to make it with.
Huangshan was extremely beautiful. It has very steep mountains covered in green except for some jagged rock faces and tall waterfalls. The hostel we stayed at was pretty junkie. It cost us 10 dollars a night. but it had a good location from the national park. Saturday we arrived in the afternoon and road on a rickshaw motorcycle contraption to See some beautiful pools and water falls. The pictures we took didn't do justice. It was also the place where Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon was filmed.
At night we just walked around town and got a bite to eat. The main delicacy is frog in Huangshan but me and Aundi wimped out and ate some cashew chicken and bamboo. The town was very gloomy and looked kinda sad even though it was surrounded by gorgeous mountains.
The next day we woke up early to ride to the top of the mountain on a cable car. when we got to the bottom it was raining buckets and it stayed that way for the rest of the day. We weren't able to go to the top because of lightning but we really wouldn't want to. you can't see much of the beauty when it is raining anyways. We spent most of the day drying off and playing cards.
We will have to do the hike another weekend and we will check the weather before we go.
Now I writing a couple of days latter from the top section. I apologize for my slothfulness at updating our blog. Aundi is much better at this stuff than I am.
This weekend we are leaving for Guilin. It is our week long vacation and is going to be a blast. We are flying there and taking a train the way back. the train will take 26 hours and the flight is only 2. Aundi will do a fantastic job at telling you how much fun it was next week.
We had fun going to the market this week also. We bought some more junk to bring home and I'm amazed at how huge the market is. Its like 4 city blocks and 7 stories in some places of crammed together little shops. You can get almost anything you want and million of things you would never want. It is fun and you get to meet a lot of neat people. We also chilled at a park and played with pigeons for a while.
Thanks for reading and we'll write to you in the future.
With regards,
Ted & Aundi
Monday, April 16, 2007
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Back from Beijing
We went to Beijing last week. We left Wednesday night, and got back really early Monday morning. As most of you know, Beijing is ginormous. There are about 14 million people who live there. That is a whole lot bigger than New York. Soon after arriving there, we went to the hostel where we stayed. It was really hard to find a cab. It wasn't that there wasn't enough taxis, its just that they didn't want to take us. We basically had to get on our knees to get someone to let us in. The driver that took us had to stop and ask for directions three times. I really don't blame him, either. Our hostel was deep in a tangled web of obscure alleyways. We were relieved to get there, and even more relieved that they had small cards with directions to the hostel that we could give to the cab drivers.
There is a lot to do in Beijing, and we did a lot. There are a lot of cool things that we missed, but we got to see what the savvy travelers like to call "the big five". It consists of The Great Wall (of course), Tianmen square(I don't know why), The Forbidden City, Summer Palace, and Temple of Heaven.
Temple of Heaven was the first thing that we saw. It was really beautiful, and really big. We had a good look around, and took lots of pictures. After that we went to a pearl market, and I didn't see a single pearl. However I did see a lot of Chinese women looking at me and saying,"Hi Lady, you want cashmere scarf?" or "Looka, Looka, Looka, I have Rolex." Nah, no thanks. (However, if anyone wants ANY cheap knock offs of ANYTHING, I'm pretty sure I can help you out.) Ted and I have created a new language for such merchandise. Anything that is reproduced to look exactly like the name it is boasting is stripped of its first letter, and replaced with an "F". So if I were looking at some "Puma" shoes, we would call them "Fumas". Of course the "F" stands for fake. I'm sure you get the picture.
Friday morning we woke up at five in the morning to go to the flag raising ceremony at Tianmen square. A member of our party said that one of her friends did this, and said it was one of the coolest, most spiritual moments of his life. So, like sheep we followed. To those who might visit Beijing, and might think that this is something that they want to do: do not be fooled. Stay in your nice warm bed and sleep till nine. First of all, Tianmen square is nothing but a huge concrete square with a flag pole in the center. I know that a bunch (by a bunch I mean an unknown number in the thousands) of people were killed there in the 80's and that there are no pictures or documentation of this event, but that is not something that is significantly thrilling to me. Staying in my bed happens to be significantly thrilling. But, we got up for the flag ceremony, and we watched soldiers march and we watched the flag of China rise to their anthem. However, I did get a good sunrise picture out of it. Later that day we went to the Forbidden city. That was pretty cool, a little overpriced perhaps, but cool. A lot of the buildings were closed because they are renovating for the Olympics, hence the up in price. After that we caught a bus that took us to Summer Palace. I think this was the best part of that day. It was a really peaceful place. We spent the afternoon exploring beautiful ancient buildings built into a hillside. It was well worth the trip.
On Saturday we went to the Great Wall. We got up early in the morning, and got on a bus that we had arranged to take us the night before. It was a three hour ride to the section of the wall that we were going to, and it was an exciting one. The road there was a windy, hilly two lane highway. However, the Chinese turned it into a four lane river of madness. Cars weaved in and out of any lane they wanted. On numerous occasions our bus driver would floor the gas and try and pass people. One time was especially memorable. Our driver mashed down the pedal and began to pass a huge dump truck with an oncoming car in plain sight. By the way, the bus is gutless. No power at all. So we get up to about 55 mph in about 35 seconds, and this other car is still coming right at us, and picking up speed. I thought for sure that somebody would back down, but all trucks kept on truckin'. Horns blared and lights flashed, but everyone stuck to their guns. It wasn't until we could see the facial features of the driver of the oncoming car, that our driver decided he needed to slam on the brakes. Oh, what a rush. But, we got to the wall safe, thank goodness. We went to a section called Jing Shang Lin and hiked to another section called Simatai. It was about a six mile hike of steep stairs going up, and steep stairs going down.
It was so gorgeous. I always new that the Great Wall was huge, but I didn't realise that it went over such extreme terrain. From our hike we could see the wall for many miles, and it followed the ridge line of some very steep and jagged mountains. They almost looked like the Sawtooth Mountains. It was a pretty hard hike, but we managed just fine. We stopped a lot to take pictures. Along the wall we met this old Chinese woman. She and another sketchy looking guy followed us for about 45 minutes. They didn't talk to us for the first ten minutes, and I was a little worried that they might try to steal our stuff and throw us off the wall or something. But, she was actually quite friendly and knew pretty good English. It took me a while to figure out why she was following us, and my suspicions were confirmed after we met the halfway mark. She pointed out a small trail that led down into the valley. " I go home now." I said good bye, and she said, "Wait, you but book. Great Wall book." She had followed us up and down, and up and down, just to sell us a book. I wish she would have brought it up sooner to save her the trouble.
Hope that everyone is well and happy. Thanks for reading and keeping in touch!
-a.
Monday, April 2, 2007
the ole' april fools gag
Okay, okay. I'm not really pregnant. It was just a fools hoax. Gosh, just trying to have some fun.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
China is full of surprises
Ted, Steve and I on the roller coasters.
Ted and Steve are on the far right, screaming their heads off.Well, we had a fun week this week. We bought a bicycle to ride around on while we are here. Ted pedals, and I sit side saddle on the back rack. The bike ended up to be twenty dollars, but by the time we got all the kinks fixed, they should have paid us to take it off their hands. Let's just say we won't be bringing it back to the states with us. I think my dad would spit on it.
We didn't go on any excursions this weekend. We planned to go to the yellow mountains, but we had some big rain come our way. So, we just stayed in our city and explored. We were quite pleased with what we found. We went out to eat at the Holiday Inn here. There is a great Indian restaurant there on the third floor. They also have a Charlie Chaplin themed bar on the 4th floor, and a revolving restaurant on the very top floor.
Yesterday we found a small amusement park in the center of the city. It was pretty weak sauce, but it was fun. The most thrilling part about it was the fear of a mechanical malfunction. The rides were pretty old, and a bit jerky. The last ride we went on was a little roller coaster. We went around the track three times the first time. When we boarded the cars a man was running the ride. When we got back to the beginning there were three girls running it, and none of them looked to be older than ten. Ted and I were sitting in the front. They used a long bamboo stick to unlock our "safety" bar, and told us to move towards the back. We were on the ride for about twenty minutes. These little girls would move any passengers off besides us. We actually had to plead with them to let us off. It was a fun little coaster, but it was so jerky. Ted still has a headache from it. Also inside of the park was a zoo, an alligator exhibit/show (it looked awfully scary), a place to rent boats, and a paint ball course. The signs read "pautball", which confused us for a while. It was really cheap to play, so we might have to give that a try.
We leave for Beijing on Wednesday. I am really excited to see the Great wall, and all the other cool things this city has to offer. The vacations are such a lifesaver! Teaching is pretty challenging. The kids are very intelligent, but what they have in smarts, they also have in naughtiness. But, if I were them, I'm sure I would be a hellion too. They are very very good in their Chinese classes, or any time their Chinese teachers are looking. But as soon as the are in our hands, its helter skelter. They are in school from sun up to sun down. They get up at 6:00 am to march, and are in the classroom until about 7:00 at night. I'm sure they don't mind because that is all they know, but I know I'd be hating life if I had to do that.
Ted and I are doing really well. We miss chocolate chip cookies and Mexican food, but we are surviving. I have been kind of sick for the past couple weeks. I have been sick to my stomach, and smells have really been getting to me. I suspected that I might be pregnant, so I went about looking for a pregnancy test. That was quite the endeavor. Try and communicate that without speaking Chinese. I took the test last night and, I am pregnant. I don't really know how it happened, I've been taking the pill every day. I guess its just supposed to be. Like I said, China is full of surprises. So, life should be pretty different soon.
Until next time,
-a.
This is a really cool park they light up at night. I took this picture on a bridge that goes across the lake. Monday, March 26, 2007
Another week here in China
Hello again to whoever is reading this. It is another beautiful day here in China. The weather is a pristine as it could ever get. Slight overcast, 70 degrees, small breeze, and just the right amount of humidity. I hope it stays this way for a while but most likely it won't.
This past week we just stayed in Hefei. We got to know the place a lot better and explored the downtown area a little better. It is a huge city we found out, over 4 million people and it just keeps getting bigger. We went to a market the was giant to begin with then found out it also hand a huge underground labyrinth of little shops. We found some cool stuff for real cheap. China make Mexico look like an overpriced department store.
For lunch we went to KFC. I really don't know why but we did it to see what it was like. We had some falafel like wraps and pineapple shish-kabab but it all came to about 6 dollars. That is very expensive. Later on in the afternoon we ate at a street vendor wok type place and had some amazingly good spicy beef noodles for 3 yuan, about 35 cents. We will eat more of the small Chinese restaurant instead of the American fast food. Healthier, tastier, and a lot cheaper.
We hung out on walking street which is kind of like the Vegas strip but just stores instead of casinos. and then went back to our school. we walked to the local spa and all had massages for an hour. It is a nice fancy place and it cost around 5 dollars each time you go. It was my first time paying for a massage and it felt great but I like Aundi's massages a lot better. They really work your knots and sore muscles hard here and at times can be very painful.
Teaching at the school is still going great. the kids are learning and they are still completely crazy. They are quite the rowdy bunch of first and second graders. We teach them Monday through Friday for 2 hours in the afternoon and then the Elementary kids for 40 minutes a day sometime in the morning Monday through Friday. This gives us the weekends to ourselves which makes it very nice. We are going to do some more traveling with our weekends. Traveling is a little expensive here. Nothing compared to traveling in the states though. But we can't go everywhere that we would like to go to. But we will be able to see a lot of pretty things while we are here. we have already seen so many amazing things and look forward to our next big weekend in two weeks to go somewhere. It is still up in the air on where but we will know by next week.
We are doing great. we finally kicked that cold that we got in St.George before we left and We have been running on the track that is 50 yards from our door. I'm hoping that they fill the pool sometime soon. It is right next to our dorms and I hate looking at a nice 50 meter indoor pool that is completely empty. I would like to do some triathlons when I get back so I'm hoping to get some training here.
Here are a few pictures as of lately and we hope you enjoy. Thank you for your consideration and for reading our blog. Hope you have a wonderful week.
With regards,
Ted & Aundi
This past week we just stayed in Hefei. We got to know the place a lot better and explored the downtown area a little better. It is a huge city we found out, over 4 million people and it just keeps getting bigger. We went to a market the was giant to begin with then found out it also hand a huge underground labyrinth of little shops. We found some cool stuff for real cheap. China make Mexico look like an overpriced department store.
For lunch we went to KFC. I really don't know why but we did it to see what it was like. We had some falafel like wraps and pineapple shish-kabab but it all came to about 6 dollars. That is very expensive. Later on in the afternoon we ate at a street vendor wok type place and had some amazingly good spicy beef noodles for 3 yuan, about 35 cents. We will eat more of the small Chinese restaurant instead of the American fast food. Healthier, tastier, and a lot cheaper.
We hung out on walking street which is kind of like the Vegas strip but just stores instead of casinos. and then went back to our school. we walked to the local spa and all had massages for an hour. It is a nice fancy place and it cost around 5 dollars each time you go. It was my first time paying for a massage and it felt great but I like Aundi's massages a lot better. They really work your knots and sore muscles hard here and at times can be very painful.
Teaching at the school is still going great. the kids are learning and they are still completely crazy. They are quite the rowdy bunch of first and second graders. We teach them Monday through Friday for 2 hours in the afternoon and then the Elementary kids for 40 minutes a day sometime in the morning Monday through Friday. This gives us the weekends to ourselves which makes it very nice. We are going to do some more traveling with our weekends. Traveling is a little expensive here. Nothing compared to traveling in the states though. But we can't go everywhere that we would like to go to. But we will be able to see a lot of pretty things while we are here. we have already seen so many amazing things and look forward to our next big weekend in two weeks to go somewhere. It is still up in the air on where but we will know by next week.
We are doing great. we finally kicked that cold that we got in St.George before we left and We have been running on the track that is 50 yards from our door. I'm hoping that they fill the pool sometime soon. It is right next to our dorms and I hate looking at a nice 50 meter indoor pool that is completely empty. I would like to do some triathlons when I get back so I'm hoping to get some training here.
Here are a few pictures as of lately and we hope you enjoy. Thank you for your consideration and for reading our blog. Hope you have a wonderful week.
With regards,
Ted & Aundi
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