Protip: Bring Gloves (because this is going to be a DOOZY)

(Brandon)

And we're back! The Bad Luck Bears are settled into their various dens with lovely host siblings, families, and school faculty members that all exemplify the epitome of hospitality. Today we woke up at 7:00 for one of our first expeditions around Hangzhou and its many offerings. We snatched up the low hanging fruits today and visited several key attractions. We were led by our tour guide, Peter, who spoke remarkable English, and also accompanied by Charlotte, a teacher of the high school (who will also be this year's ambassador to Dover-Sherborn in the following months).

First Official Day of School

(Michael)

Today, was our first official day of school in China and it could not have got better for me. I woke up with legs sore from my pitiful attempt at Tai-Chi the night before, ate breakfast, and walked to school with my host brother with a spring in my step and that feeling you get just before your last game or you type the last sentence of a paper worth half of everything you have worked for. It felt like exhilaration, pure fun, and blunt, throbbing terror that forces what looks like a cocky smile to your lips, a tightening in the chest, and an acute awareness of the depth of the lungs. Its like handing in a test that might be perfect or a complete failure in the eyes of the grader. It was intense and I loved every second of it. 

A Second Home

(Veronica)

After watching each of my cubs climb the threshold back to health, my body’s immune system finally succumbed to whatever sickness could grab the reins. Fortunately, this Mrs. Mallard allowed all of her “acks” to take care of her. Having been bedridden for two days, I was excited to explore Huangshan with what little time we had left. Thankfully, I was able to make the trek up to Mt. Huangshan, the highlight of this leg of the trip, with the group the other day.

Huangshan: Mountains, Coffee, Hearts, and Bakeries

(Deanna)

This morning we woke up at 07:15 and went to breakfast afterwards we all hopped into the van and went off to Huangshan Mountain an hour and a half ride away. We all seemed to fall asleep on the way but woke up as we neared the mountain. On the way up to the parking lot, we endured very windy, curvy roads with very little visibility which frightened us all. There was just fog, fog and more fog and we did not know what to expect that would come in our direction as we were in the van. In getting out of the van, I was slightly dizzy from all the fast twists and turns.

Almost like a Very Amped-Up 4th of July

(Patty)

We started our last day in Xi'an pretty early, so that we could do a bit more sight seeing before we had to board our plane to Huangshan. Although we were unenthused to be up so early, Richard made sure to make our last day in Xi'an a good one. He brought us to the remains of the Tang Dynasty palace, which was 6x as large as the Forbidden City in Beijing. We were all amazed to see how massive the palace was--only to learn that the mammoth structure we were seeing was only the foundation of what once used to be the biggest palace in China. Much of the palace has long since been destroyed, so the government uses the area that surrounds the remains as a park where locals get in their morning exercise, and attend performances by singers, dancers, comedians, etc.

Impact in 3,2,1...

(Brandon)

Today we woke up early to go on a bike ride along the city walls. Patty and Ms. Moy were feeling under the weather with some pretty nasty fevers so the Bad Luck Bears were down to three members. We met up with Cooio (pronounced as "Coolio" but we called him "Coo"), our local tour guide, in the hotel lobby after breakfast and walked a ways to the city's southern gate. We walked over and underground. The group had a minor scare when we had to cross one of the many busy roaderies (sp?). Mike braved the traffic and ran across. Coo, Deanna, and I played Frogger (and that's an understatement!) as we navigated our way across the endless flow of busses, taxis, vans, cars, mopeds, bicycles, and even pedicabs. Coo soon got us our bikes and off we went.

Big Changes in Pangliu Village

(Michael)

The ride to Pangliu followed the tend of most of our other travels in China, complete with picturesque fields and blood-churning traffic maneuvers, but with two exceptions; Patricia was not with us due to an unfortunate run-in with some rather suspect dumplings, and “Coo,” our most… unique guide thus far, was replaced temporarily by the infinitely more cordial and informative tour company owner, Richard. The remaining members of our group learned about the recent history of Pangliu, Richard’s life, and how the two were closely intertwined.