Pizza Hut and Pearl Milk Tea

(Cady)

Hello!

I can't believe that we're finally in Hangzhou! Now that we've officially experienced two full days here, not to mention it's Friday, I think I got a fairly good day to write about. The city is great, I'm not sure what Emily and Nick have written about it, but I will elaborate. It's very modern and clean, but not too fast-paced. Well, the roads are actually. Hangzhou may have the most people biking to school and work of any city we've visited so far. Our school is huge compared to Dover-Sherborn. There's over a thousand kids in each grade here! We're not ants though, that's for sure. We get stared at a lot since we're the only white kids walking around campus (save for Emily, but a lot of people know that she's Korean now). People are so friendly though, many students stop in the halls just to say hello. A woman on the street today shouted, "Hello! Welcome to China!!" So most people are very excited that we're here. It's strange getting so much attention, but naturally we make the most of it seeing as how two of us are spotlight loving theater kids anyways. I think we've all settled into our host families for the most part.

My sister is adorable and sweet- her english name is Eve. We live on the 17th and 18th floor (her family bought two apartments and knocked out the floor in between them is what my understanding is) of a big apartment building very close to the high school. The apartment has three floors and it's very nice. Eve has a little brother whose english name is Tony, which is very interesting considering the one child policy. She told me today that her mom and dad were able to have a second child because they lived in a different (smaller) city then where the policy was not as strictly enforced. They did have to pay a 20,000 RMB fine for it though. Her aunt also lives with them and does all of the laundry and the cooking. I have actually only met my host dad once, during Eve's birthday dinner at Pizza Hut the other night. Both of her parents are very fashinable, which is appropriate I guess since their company sells clothing (they're in the fashion merchandising area is what my understanding is). They usually work late, though the mom did show up half way through dinner tonight. It's alright that they're not extremely interested in me though since Eve more than makes up for it. She's very curious and always eager to practice her english with me. We've decided that I should learn at least one new phrase everyday. Yesterday's was "see you later!" (dai hui jian!) and today's is "good morning" (zao shang hao). I also learned how to say "nice to meet you" before coming here, which came in handy when I finally met Eve's parents. Oh, I mentioned Eve's birthday- it was yesterday. After school we picked up a green tea flavored cake from her favorite bakery called Free Mori (the bakery, not the cake). Yes, we had her birthday dinner at Pizza Hut. BUT the Pizza Huts here are very, very different from the pizza huts back home. They're actually pretty fancy. I was confused when Eve told me to pick a soup off of the menu even though she had already selected a type of pizza. Dinner came sort of in courses. We got our soup first, then sweet glazed chicken thighs, then little steaks, and then finally a small pizza, which was all had a piece of. Very ritzy compared to Pizza Hut back at home! Her parents didn't believe me then when I said I was full so I had a showdown with her father over the last slice. In the end I ate the front of it and he had the crust after it had sat on my plate long enough for him to be thuroughly convinced that I wasn't secretely still starving. I was a little intimidated by her parents in the beginning. For example, the first question her father asked me was, "what do your parents do?" Ella told me today though that that is actually a very traditional question for Chinese parents to ask children. Neither of Eve's parents speak english which makes communication fairly difficult, but when they are around they seem at amused at least by my attempts at Chinese. They told Eve that they should invite another foreigner to their home so that her brother can practice english all the time as well. I suppose I am the Wang family's walking, talking Rosetta Stone.

So last night I stayed up late putting together a powerpoint for our english class today. Eve's english teacher was very enthusiastic about me giving a presentation so, for his benefit, I deciphered powerpoint entirely in characters and pulled pictures of my family and friends off of facebook. This morning was typical of my new routine here. Get up at 6:30, downstairs by 6:50, eat some bread and milk from a juicebox, and off to school at 7:00. It's about a fifteen minute walk to the school from Eve's house, so her location is really very convenient. Emily, Nick, Drew, Terry, and I were supposed to have our two private morning classes today but our first teacher canceled. Helen (an english teacher and Terry's liason of sorts) told us we could go to our host siblings' classes for a while, but since we didn't want to come in and cause a distraction in the middle of lessons we went and saw Terry's apartment instead. It's actually very nice, but I'm sure she'll write about it the day after tomorrow, which is her day to blog. Then back to school where we worked in our cubicles in the language office for a while since we had fourty minutes before we needed to be at our second private morning lesson. I looked up the names of different animals in Chinese.

We thought our second class (which was actually our first today) was going to be kung fu, but when we got to the gym our teacher pulled out a bunch of badminton rackets. We all like badmiton well enough so we thought it would be fun to play. In reality, we spent about fourty minutes working on our badminton form and doing silly drills on how to properly hit the birdie. I think our teacher became frustrated with our lousy badminton form and eventually gave up and let us just volley it over the net, even if we did do it all wrong. Then, she led us to a different room where we brought out mats, took off our shoes, and began to do... yoga! We didn't actually figure out that it was yoga until the very end. Up until that point we thought we were doing some sort of strange Chinese strength building class (which I supose we were). It was actually very enjoyable, not to mention good for the core. Then, of course, came the time of day I was looking forward to. Lunch! I have decided that I like having only bread and milk for breakfast because it leaves me with a very big appetite for lunch, which is very delicious here since we get special meals. Today we had sweet riceball soup, sweet and sour pork, some sort of green veggie, diced ham, orange jello, watermelon, and two types of meat on toothpicks. I don't know if that sounds appetizing or not, but take my word for it- lunch here is very good. After that, Ella and her friend Patrick (who is basically the Chinese version of Nick) took us to get pearl milk tea which I LOVE. I have had it today and yesterday. Eve says it's the most popular drink in China and she was very surprised to learn that most people in America have never heard of it before. It's what it sounds like- a milk tea, usually with black rice balls in the bottom (or tapioca balls maybe?). Today I got mine with a black tea base, the balls, coffee flavored squares and pudding squares in it. Patrick said I was crazy because it would be way too sweet, but I thought it was excellent. I had a green tea one yesterday which was also delicious. I think I will be drinking milk tea every day from now on!

After lunch break was english class. I gave my presentation which went very well- I think everyone was impressed and a little bit scared by the fact that I talk very quickly in a loud voice. Up until then I hadn't gotten a change to formally introduce myself to the class. When I finally asked if there were any questions all they asked was "do you have a boyfriend?" Well, I explained the whole dating is okay in high school in America thing, and no I don't, all of that. Then they asked if I would sing for them since I like musicals so much. I said that I would make a deal and if one of them came up and sang for the class then I would. So a girl came up and sang a new Backstreet Boys song, so then I sang a song from Rent for them (our english teacher is a big Rent fan), and then a boy came up to sing a song by the famous Chinese rapper, Jay. It was all a lot of fun, so I think the presentation went very well. Our english teacher was pleased too- he came back to class later to give me an english magazine on Hangzhou and a book on Chinese speech and characters to help me improve my Chinese. He also put some of a movie on my flashdrive because apparenly there is a specific song that he wants me to learn and teach to the class next week since it's a very popular song here... I guess my singing went over well (even if my face was a little red afterwards!).

In the afternoon Eve got her hair cut. I thought about getting mine done too but Eve was so nervous that I might get a bad cut and be unhappy that she talked me out of it (I may be an impulsive buyer but I only get haircuts once in a blue moon, so it wasn't very hard to convince me not to). That's alright though because if I decide that I want to get one later, there are lots of salons around where we live. I finally got my laundry back, having clean clothing is amazing. Then dinner at Eve's after which we met up with Drew (not his host brother though- he stayed in to do homework) and then Penny and Emily too. The five of us went over to West Lake to see what it looks like at night. It's huge and very pretty with all the buildings around it all lit up. We walked a long ways, got the sugar-coated strawberries we love so much, and ended up at KFC eating frenchfries and ice cream. Then Penny and Emily took a taxi home and Drew, Eve and I walked on until we didn't know where we were and decided to take a taxi also. All in all, a day of much eating and much walking. Which in my book is a good day. Then my quick shower routine. As Emily and Nick have probably said, they don't really believe in heat here so it's very cold at night. I got an extra blanket for my bed last night though, which was a great improvement from my first night here. Speaking of which, I am going to go curl up under said blankets now.

Goodnight everyone!
Cady

Food and Frappuccino

(Emily)

it's my day to blog today!!! the time here is flying by me (faster than you can say quidditch). so yesterday i met my two host sisters: penny and luna. they're both really nice and i definitely can see some of my personality traits in both of them. penny's really outgoing and talkative while luna is more reserved and loves fashion. penny is my first host sister so right now, and her parents are really nice and are always trying to make me feel at home. they both speak a little english. penny's mom has been taking english for 20 years and her father, while he knows less english, is very eager to learn about america. he also really likes korean bbq! their apartment is at the very top of the apartment building and is very comfortable and spacious. there's even a spiral staircase leading up to the rooftop, which has been made to be a garden! so beautiful, just like the rest of hangzhou! for some reason, hangzhou reminds me a lot of boston. it is quieter and less crowded than most of the cities in china that i have been to.

so today penny woke me up at 6:30 (almost like being back home... :D) and, after getting dressed and washing my face, we were out the door! penny's father's driver picked up penny, my host father, and me, and dropped penny and me off at school on the way to taking penny's father to work (he's the president of a construction development firm). team china had two classes by themselves first thing in the morning so at 8 am, penny led me to the classroom where i met my chinese teacher: gao li. he's extremely patient (our tones need a little brushing up) and works with each of us until we can say the correct pronunciation for the different cities and provinces that we visited. after chinese, we had calligraphy with mr. yang. he's an older man and sports a sort of deng xiaoping haircut (flat across the top). he's AMAZING at calligraphy. and by amazing i mean 'whoa he knows his stuff really well' amazing. he moves the brush (mao bi!) with grace and confidence, making each character a true work of art. we spent the entire 2 hour class writing our names in chinese over and over again, which isn't as boring as it sounds. in fact, it was rather soothing and we were so concentrated on improving our...brushmanship? that we didn't utter a sound. mr. yang's english is pretty nonexistent, but he knows "ok" and "no" which gets us through class. there's also the use of hand gestures and sounds. in an effort to show nick what a character in his name meant, mr. yang started going "baaaaahhhh" and making funny faces. after some moments of stunned silence, we started guessing what the animal was. since he didn't know the english word, he drew a picture of a goat on the board. and now we know: the yang in yang ni ke means goat (fyi the yang in mr. yang's name is not the same as in nick's name, so we cannot call him mr. goat).

after calligraphy we had lunch. and man oh man, the previous delegations weren't kidding when they said that they really put on a show. first we were ushered into our own private room that already had orange slices with artful toothpick decorations in them with chicken finger with fancy sweet orange mayo. after a few moments, we were brought individual trays of food, each with several different kinds of food. there was even one of my favorites: tomato and eggs! along with cady's fave vegetable broccoli and cady's and nick's collective fave veggie eggplant. drew fell in love with the dumpling soup and everyone loved the bacon wrapped cucumber. i feel like i'm forgetting a dish but needless to say, it was all scrumtrulescent. cady and i both ate our entire plate in no time and everyone was stuffed by the end of lunch. we were also served chrysanthemum tea with our meal with chrysanthemum flowers intact! so pretty! after lunch, we joined ella and her friends (aj, patrick, and sirus) and walked to the track, where it was sunny and kids from grade 1 were playing soccer (naturally, drew joined in). after lunch was over, i went with penny to her badminton class (today was more running and exercising than playing actual badminton), computer class (worked with photoshop), and geography class. at the end of the day, penny and her friend hammah (chinese for toad- it's a nickname that apparently everyone calls her.. i guess it's endearing?) and i went to a bookstore where penny bought a few manga. around the corner from the bookstore was a lady selling what appeared to be crepe-like things. penny wanted me to try the fried snack that she loves and i must say: it is soooo good. i love anything fried and this was no exception. it was basically a crepe that's crispy with some sweet paste put onto it and folded up so it looks like a small rectangle. kiiindda like phyllo dough.... exquisite. after that, we walked to the bus stop and bid hammah goodbye and boarded the bus to take us back to penny's.

once we got to penny's, we ate dinner with her father (her mom's still at work). her father's mei mei (younger sister) cooked the food that he brought home and it was delicious (i know, overused word). i had some of the best duck i've ever had. it was in a delicious clear sauce (more broth than anything) with scallions. there was also a cauliflower dish and beansprout dish and another duck dish and of course, white rice (sticky, just like the kind at home!). paired with oj, it was a fine feast. i left the table feeling very full. penny's father also presented me with a mocha frappuccino (my favorite kind of frappuccino- what a coincidence!), which i have since guzzled.

and now, it is almost time for my shower. i asked penny whether or not she turns off the water during her shower (because when in rome...) and she said that they don't because they are on the top floor and if they turned off the water every single time, it would take a while for the water to come up. also, since they don't boil their own water, they can use as much as they want to without running out. and so now my friends, i will bid you a goodnight and farewell!

Arrival in Hangzhou and First Day at School

(Nick)

Ni hao! We are finally in Hangzhou!!!!!! We had quite the busy day but I will try to recap as best as possible.

We spent all of last night on the train from Beijing to Hangzhou. We boarded the train expecting a 19 hour train ride that would go from 7 PM to 2 PM the next day but were told by our guide right before the train left that it was a fast train and would only take 12 hours to get to Hangzhou. This totally caught us off guard, as we had gone to the supermarket that day to buy 3 meals worth of snacks to keep us occupied for the long train ride. So as to be expected, we were a little bummed that we had bought so much food that we wouldn't need, and we were also not looking forward to waking up early the next day!

The alarm clock went off at 6:30 AM so we could get ready for our arrival in Hangzhou (I guess it takes SOME people 1.5 hours to get ready....haha). We all tried hard to look nice (we wanted to make a good first impression), so we all put on our best outfits and the girls put on makeup....we didn't want to look like a bunch of tired Americans who have spent the last 3 weeks traveling and who just spent the night on a cramped train! The train got to Hangzhou at around 8 AM and the first thing we saw was a bunch of Hangzhou High School students in their uniforms holding flowers and a couple teachers and school administrators. We managed to get our enormous bags off of the train (I don't know how) and we were immediately greeted by both of our host brothers and flowers. Naichuan (the Ms. Viz of Hangzhou High School...he is the Exchange program coordinator here) clumped us together so we could get our picture taken. Definitely an overwhelming arrival but very welcoming for sure. We walked to a bus of the schools that took us (and our luggage) to the school, where we were picked up by our host families.

My host father picked up me and my host brother, Raven, in a brand new Toyota Highlander. We drove 15 minutes on the highway to their home, which is in a new apartment complex right on the Qiantang River. Their apartment is one of two on the 17th floor. It is very modern and sleek-looking. I have my own room with a comfortable bed and a computer! My host father seems to be the "mom" of the household. At least today, he did all the driving, laundry, and cooking! Right when I got to the apartment he made me delicious eggs and bacon. He then asked if I had any laundry to do (which clearly I did after 3 weeks of traveling) but I only gave him about half of it because I felt bad making him wash my lifetime supply of clothes. My host brother and I watched the Cleveland vs. Milwaukee NBA game on TV (which is when I fully realized just how popular the NBA is here). My host father gave me a glass of coke, a glass of Lonjing cha (Dragon Well Tea), and apple slices...the food just never stopped! My host father and brother told me to take a short nap, which I probably could have used but I spent the time unpacking and getting settled in my room. My host father then cooked up a delicious (and what looked like gourmet) meal of yellow fish, potatoes, and fried bean curd. Now anyone who knows me at home is well aware of my hesitation with any seafood, but I ate the fish - a lot of it! I guess it wasn't so bad ;)

We drove back to school where we went to classes with our host siblings. Raven had Chemistry, Geography, and Math. When we arrived in his classroom (in China the kids stay in one room and the teachers rotate), the whole class started clapping and I introduced myself rather awkwardly to the class as they giggled. We situated ourselves in the back of the room, where all of Raven's friends sit. The kids in the back didn't seem the most studious of young adults but I will not judge after just one day - I did see one of Raven's friends playing a portable game system throughout Chem class and another taking a nap during Geography. The class was very studious (as a whole) compared to my classes in the U.S., and it was quite evident that this school is very difficult and these kids are the cream of the crop. The 2.5 hours I spent in the classroom were rather boring because the classes were all in Chinese, and I forgot to bring anything that would occupy me. Raven offered me his mp3 player and his friend offered me his game system, but I felt that would be rude (not to mention a bad way to start my stay in Hangzhou), so I just sucked it up and tried to pay attention. Tomorrow I will definitely bring my Chinese book to class so I can start some vocabulary memorization.

After 2.5 hours of class, we left early to attend the welcoming ceremony in an administration conference room. We got into the room and were greeted by all the school administrators, English teachers, and the other host siblings of the DS kids. It was so great to see Rose, an English teacher who came to DS last spring, and she was very happy to see us again. We sat down at the conference table and were formally welcomed by the school. Terry gave a speech to Madame Miao (the Principal) that was translated by Helen, an English teacher who came to DS a couple years back, and we presented the gifts to the school administrators from our school. We (the kids) all said a couple sentences about our last 3 weeks of travel and our arrival in Hangzhou (I said that although it was great to see so much of China and learn a lot, I was looking forward to interacting with people and forming relationships in Hangzhou rather than simply seeing the sights and being typical tourists). Madame Miao gave a speech in Chinese, which was also translated so we could understand, about the importance of the relationship between Hangzhou High School and Dover-Sherborn High School. After her, the vice principal spoke, followed by all the English teachers. It was a great welcoming ceremony that definitely made us feel welcomed into the Hangzhou High School community.

After the opening ceremony, we had a tour of the school from the vice principal and the English teachers. Wow, what a school! I knew that Hangzhou High School was very prestigious and nice, but actually being here put us all in awe. First of all, there is a huge gate at the entrance of the school with security guards. The boulevard leading up to the school is gorgeous, with gardens and lots of trees. The facilities are really nice. Although the classrooms are a lot more cramped and not heated, the gym facilities put Dover-Sherborn's to shame. They've got a weight room, a ping pong room, a sports conference room, what seems to be a heart rate monitor room, and a huge gymnasium with a basketball court and badminton court. Hangzhou High School also has a museum, since it is over 100 years old! The museum is beautifully done, with models of what the school looked like during different time periods, as well as photos of famous alumni. Dover-Sherborn, why can't we have a museum? I think the idea of having a museum for a school is so fitting...it definitely gives students an idea of what the school was like before their generation and in a way probably increases school spirit.

After our tour, we walked to a restaurant near the school for dinner. Not just any dinner, however; this was our opening banquet! The restaurant was amazing...very traditional Chinese yet at the same time very modern. We had our own room with two tables, one for Terry and all the school administrators and teachers, and the other for DS kids, their host siblings, and one of the English teachers. The meal was delicious and we ate all sorts of things, including squid, shrimp, fish, duck, and frog....yes, frog (which turned out to be delicious by the way). Throughout the meal we had many toasts....Madame Miao came over to our table and toasted us, and we went over to Madame Miao to toast her (after an English teacher told us to). There was a TON of food, and just when I thought the meal was winding down and I was full, more food came out.

After the banquet, we all split our separate ways. Terry, to her own apartment which is basically on campus, and each of us to our respected host siblings homes. When my host brother's car pulled up, I was greeted by my host mother in the passenger seat, who had spent the day working and I hadn't met yet. She is very nice but like her husband, doesn't speak very much English, but it is okay since my host brother is able to translate for me. When we got home, I showed my host parents and brother a scrapbook I made before I left the states with photos from home. I showed them photos of me with my family, with friends, with my dog, on stage, and at camp. My parents are very hospitable and although it is hard for us to communicate, I've used my minimal Chinese skills and they've used their minimal English skills and its all worked out fine. My host brother, Raven, is in Grade 2, or the equivalent of a sophomore in the U.S. He is 16 years old and loves soccer and watching NBA. We share a common love of all things European, and we've both been lucky enough to go a couple times. He told me that he would be spending all of next year in Los Angeles as an exchange student at a high school there. My jaw literally dropped as I told him that I would be there the next 4 years for college. Maybe we can meet up! He told me he really wants to attend university in the states, preferably in California. I am very happy with my host family (and getting quite used to their modern style of living).

I'm sure in the next few days the others will share their stories from Hangzhou, but this is my experience from just 12 hours in Hangzhou! It has been great so far and I think I speak for everyone when I say that we are so happy to be in one place for 5 weeks, finally getting to totally connect with the people here. The travel part was amazing, but there is nothing like the feeling of having a home with familiar faces, and even with just 12 hours under our belts, its already starting to feel familiar to us! I am really looking forward to what the next 5 weeks has in store for us - it will be challenging at times, but it will be that much more rewarding in the end!

Peking Opera - like a kid in a candy store!

(Drew)

Ok well it seems that i get the blog on days that i sleep in and have to rush to breakfast and eat as much as i can as fast as i can, or maybe that's every morning so its not a coincidence at all.. oh well. So we started by going directly to the wall. The part of the wall that we were visiting was about 90 kilometers outside Beijing. We all bundled up because we knew it was going to be freezing, not only was the wall at a higher elevation than the already freezing Beijing but you are also exposed to the wind on top of the wall. When we got there it turned out to be not that bad, the hike up and down the wall (which is much more difficult than it looks) kept us warm. The wall was full of vendors that saw a large group of foreigners so of course they began to flock around us. Some of the hand done work by the vendors was actually quite good and our group could not resist. I bought two cheap pieces of hand done art on the wall, Terry bought a similar piece to me and Nick got a small gold Buddha. We spent about an hour up on the wall and with a quick stop at the Beijing 2008 Olympic store near the parking lot we were on our way to the Ming Dynasty Tomb.

The group got the munchies just before entering the tomb and sort of stopped on the side of the road for some PB&J sandwiches... SO good. After satisfying our stomachs we went through an exhibit and watched a short movie on the first exploration of the Ming Tomb. The entire tomb is built into a man made hill which a massive hole was dug, the tomb built and then recovered. The tomb was made by the first emperor of the Ming dynasty which took a massive amount of money equivalent to two years salary of all of China during that time. The Ming Tomb has thirteen emperors buried there but the government has only allowed a small portion to be excavated and opened to the public. The entire underground is built of marble with massive marble doors. The tomb was slightly eerie but very cool at the same time.

After the Tombs we headed to the government sanctioned enamel wear factory which is located only in beijing because enamel used to be only for emperors and not used by civilians. The factory was sort of a compound with different buildings for different purposes. The first part we entered our guide took us through what each step looked like and explained in a basic way each step of the process. We went on to see each process actually happening in the factory. The first process is the laying of the design in metal along the surface of the metal container with glue. Each person has to train for about a year before they are proficient enough to lay the metal. In the next step basic colors are added with the artistic eye of whoever happens to be doing that piece so each piece turns out a little different. The container is then fired in a kiln at 800 degrees celcius and once it cools is grinded with different rocks to give it that smooth and shiny look. They opened up thier gift shop for us and we browsed around. Again we couldnt resist the temptation..

OK wait somthing really crazy just happened as im writing my blog me and nick heard sirens coming towards the hotel really loud so we ran over to the window and just as we got there we saw a high speed chase go right by our hotel, wow...

back to the blog... we couldnt resist the temptation to buy some gifts for back home the enamel is quite gorgeous. Back on the bus we headed to our big peking duck dinner. Originally i had thought that the peking duck was not going to be a somthing i enjoyed but i was very wrong. The duck meal was very good especially dipped in the special sauce they put out for us, i even tried some of the head meat and brain, yum. Once out stomachs were full once again we headed off to the peking opera.

Yet again i had the misconception that the peking opera would not be to my liking, this was possibly the biggest misconception yet. I am not exagerating when i say that it was one of the most entertaining half hour segments of this trip. The segment of peking opera that we watched was an introduction the the story of the monkey king. The monkey king was mischevious and broke into the party that the jade emperor was throwing. The monkey ate the very rare and valuable peaches that make you live forever but can only be harvested once every 3000 years. The jade emperor was very mad and sent a group of supernatural warriors to engage the monkey king in combat. Whoever the actor was that played the monkey king along with the warriors he fought were very talented. They fought with amazing speed and coreography. The monkey king was by far the most skilled i have ever seen someone with a bow staff. He twirled the bow staff as he took on many enemies at once. In the end he stood undefeated. If you dont believe my enjoyment of the show you can ask the rest of team china what the expression on my face looked like as i watched. They described it afterwards as a kid going into a candy store for his first time.

I am quite tired and becoming slightly nervous about actually being in Hangzhou in several days. Until next time, Drew.

Wow it's Mao!

(Cady)

Hey!

So today it was a bit easier to rise at our normal hour. We stayed in last night making PB&Js and eating gummy worms, and watching CNN. Actually tonight it's pretty much the same thing, except it's Invincible we're watching and ice cream from McDonald's that we hunted down. Oh, we also painted Nick's toenails blue, but shh don't tell him that I told you. Also, in recent news, we've all emailed our host sisters/brothers, since we got the list of names from Viz yesterday. So far only Em has gotten a reply from her sister, Penny, who is very outgoing and pretty, according to Ella. We're all a little nervous and really excited to make contact with the kids we're going to be staying with for the next five weeks. We get to Hangzhou around two in the afternoon on Wednesday after 16 hours on a train. Hopefully we can clean up a little bit for our arrival....

Anyways, today was pretty eventful. Eventful and COLD. We started of with Tiananmen Square- it really is huge. The square fits half a million people, and it's amazing to imagine what it looks like all filled up. We asked our guide, in as safe a manner as we could, where the tanks were in 1989. He ended up going off on a short rant about how the Americans and Chinese have very different viewpoints, and that just because we may have heard one thing about what happened in Tiananmen Square, doesn't necessarily mean it's the truth. He had an interesting point, though we usually take a lot of what he says with a grain of salt. One point raised later was that the Chinese know that communism is not ideal, but neither is democracy, and to replace one imperfect system with another only brings instability. Well, it's interesting to think about at least. But, back to the square. We were actually really lucky- Chairman Mao's mausoleum was opened to the public a few days ago for the first time in years. Yes, it's actually where they keep Mao's preserved body. The security around the hall is pretty intense. There are guards and police men, some with pistols, and three whole groups of army officers in camouflage uniforms doing martial arts drills outside. We had to give our bags to Da Li (our guide) to keep outside for us, and go through a metal detector before entering the mausoleum. It's amazing to see the respect the Chinese still have for Mao. You have to take off your hat to enter the hall and move through in two lines. Although didn't get to see the body for long, but we were kind of excited and didn't know what to expect. His case was surrounded by another case which was heavily guarded, and we had to keep moving because there were a lot of people coming through. There was a yellow light shining over the body, which was covered halfway up with the Chinese flag. He looked sallow- like a wax statue of a sleeping man. It was strange though, because the face is so famous. We spent so much time this year learning about the effects that man had on China and its people. Afterwards, all we could really say was wow, I can't believe we just saw Mao himself. Afterwards we walked around the square a bit, saw the huge Mao portrait that hangs on the first gate of the Forbidden City. The whole area is so famous, with so much history, it was just kind of incredible to realize that we're finally in Beijing. Not to mention, we're so close to Hangzhou.

By the time we got into the Forbidden City, the cold had begun to set in. It was about -2 degrees Celsius, and none of us were dressed very appropriately. The area itself is beautiful- the buildings are so ornate. Since a lot of them are restored the colors pop right out at you. Bright red columns and all sorts of golds, blues, and yellows decorate the outsides. Back in the day, only the emperor and high ranking officials could live inside the Forbidden City. We saw the Emperor's bedroom, assorted displays of weapons and armor, the Emperor's chair, and all sorts of other exciting things. We were slowly dying of frostbite, which took away from the beauty just a tiny bit. I really did enjoy the buildings, even though my fingers and toes were literally about to fall off. The garden in the back, where the Emperor's concubines stayed, was particularly nice. It was full of gnarled old trees and potted rocks (yes, like plants are potted...) that were supposedly shaped like animals. Oh, also, the Forbidden City has 9,999 rooms according to Da Li. That's a LOT of rooms.

Next, lunch. Much better than yesterday's. The room was almost completely yellow because way back when only the Emperor could use the color. When the last Dynasty ended, all of the eunuchs (sterile men) who served the Emperor either killed themselves or opened restaurants where they served the people as if they were serving the Emperor. Apparently one of those is where we ate, though there are no longer any eunuchs working there. We were able to thaw out, which was wonderful, and naturally the food was good. After, we were all a bit more happy and willing to walk back to the van. Emily and I kept warm by weaving in and out of the group and Drew did sprints to and from the van. We made a stop at the nine dragon wall, which is given to an emperor who is able to keep peace for over a certain amount of time. We also stopped at another shrine known as the little western paradise. Since we had been so cold in the Forbidden City, we were skeptical about seeing the Summer Palace in the afternoon, especially since Da Li had informed us that it is four times as big as the Forbidden City. The palace turned out to be a great deal of fun, mostly because we're all pretty good at amusing each other. The buildings themselves are gorgeous- bright and colorful. The Summer Palace actually holds a Guinness book of world records record for longest sheltered walkway in the world. There were more potted rocks, bronze statues of dragons, cranes, and an animal with a dragon's head, scaley body, ox feet, horses tail, and eagle's beak, because apparently those are all of the strongest features of each animal. The other thing the Summer Palace has is a lot of stairs. You all know how much we like stairs. Actually we had a good time with it- running up, running down, and even running sideways. I think it's safe to say we worked off a bit of our lunch. Even Terry did well with the stairs, and we ended up with a fantastic view of the lake. The lake that the Summer palace is built around is man made and based on West Lake in Hangzhou because the Emperor liked it so much when he visited. Let's see, what else? The only copper pavilion in China is built way up high at the summer palace- very heavy. Also, once you climb nearer to the top, you can go through some rock tunnels that are very Lord of the Rings. So, of course, we had to hum the theme song as we went through. All in all, summer palace was a good time- beautiful and we were all a bit goofy. OK.

So, on the way back we got a glimpse of the bird's nest, which has the Olympic track in it, and the swimming arena, which looks like it's made out of bubble wrap. Beijing clearly has Olympic fever, though it's not as prevalent as I thought it would be. Back to the hotel, nap time for an hour, off to dinner. YUM. Best dishes were the eggplant and the pork which resembled our mushi pork. After, we walked back through the "snack market," and Em and I had more of the sugar coated strawberries that we love. Except that this time she got strawberries and kiwi, and I got strawberries and bananas. Anything sugar-coated is good. Back in the hotel is when the snacking and movie watching began, and is still going on. We have been eating plenty of dabaitus, our Chinese class will be delighted (or jealous) to know. Then we found ice cream. of course. And now here we are. This is very long now, Pirates of the Caribbean number 2 is on, and I am eating peanut butter out of the jar.

Bye everyone!
Cady