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.