Spooky Song!

(Cassie) Hello from Hangzhou! This is my first blog with my host family, so before I give a rundown of today's activities, I'd like to tell a little bit about them. First of all, their family name is Tu. My host sister's name is Yin she is in year one (sophmore year in the U.S.) and is sixteen years old. She is adorable, and is very into a specific anime comic called "Reborn". In telling me about this, and everything else, she is very enthusiastic and earnest. I've had a lot of fun getting to know her so far. Her dad's name is Tu Yong and her mom's name is Tu Hu Yongcui. They speak some English, but what they lack in knowledge they make up for in humor. It's been really fun watching Yong attempt to mime whichever word he's trying to get me to figure out...my favorite so far was probably gorilla. Yin's waipo (mother's mother) also lives with her family. She immediately took to taking care of me...she is convinced I don't have nearly enough meat on my bones, and has taken to asking me "Ni yao chi ma?" (Do you want to eat?) nearly every time she sees me. She doesn't speak any English, so I've been attempting to learn more Chinese by talking to her. All in all, the Tu family has been wonderful to me and have given me the warmest possible welcome. Now onto today's activities! Yin and I planned to get up around eight this morning. I woke at five til eight to discover that she had already been up for over an hour doing homework! It turns out she had been hiding just how much homework she has in order to spare my feelings and to keep me entertained! That's how nice she is. After a delicious breakfast of baozi, which are steamed buns full of leeks and pork, as well as warm milk (my family doesn't seem to drink anything cold, including water) we got ready and got on the road for the half hour drive to Song Chen. The weather was absolutely beautiful! It wasn't raining and was warmer than the day before. We arrived and were met by Sandy, Alaina and her host sister Ling, and Lauren and her host sister Ning. Alex was feeling a bit under the weather so he and his host brother Charlie (who insists on being called by his English name) didn't come with us. Song Chen is a little hard to explain...the nearest thing I can compare it to is Plymouth Plantation and an amusement park combined. It is a replica of a Song Dynasty village, but made very touristy. There were shops everywhere, and there was also an area in which there were obstacles and dangerous ways to cross a small body of water (such as logs or wobbling platforms). Alaina wore her rain boots and was the only one brave enough to try it. We also all went into an area (which was definitely supposed to be for small children) with a swinging bridge made out of ropes. While all these things were fun, I had two other things that were my favorite. The first was a structure made to mimic a Buddhist grotto. It was a long, twisting, skinny cave with carvings of Buddha. It was a bit unrealistic at parts...especially in a tunnel which had dizzying, spinning colored lights and gyrating music. It reminded me of a Beatles song off of one of their stranger albums. My other favorite part was the park's "Ghost House." It was an American haunted house, but vamped up far beyond U.S. standards. It included, but wasn't limited to dripping water from the ceiling that felt like blood, a small street with grim reaper like tenants, creepy two headed vampire baby dolls, and a live actor who jumped out at you. At this point, the house took a turn for the hilarious. When the actor jumped out at Alaina, she grabbed him and said "are you a real person ?" to which he responded (in English, no less), "what's wrong with you?!" I was in back and missed this whole exchange, but had the same question in mind as Alaina did. When I passed him, I called out a tentative "ni hao." I think he'd given up on staying in character anymore, because he responded to me as well, saying (in English again) "Hello! It's nice to meet you." I told him it was nice to meet him as well, and we made our way out of the haunted house. After lunch in the park, we all went our seperate ways. Yin, her parents, and I got in the car and headed to a nearby pagoda called Liuhe Pagoda. On our way, the sun came out! The pagoda we went to visit was built in 1121. It was beautiful. At its foot stood a stone archway with delicate red paper lantern and a red poster on which people wrote their wishes. Mine was the only one in English among the hundred or so. Yin and I then went into the pagoda on our own. Her parents had spent the day hiking a local mountain and were a bit tired. We climbed all thirteen stories of stairs to the top of the pagoda. The view was stunning. Although we were still about a twenty mintue car drive from the city, we could see both it and West Lake. On the other side of the pagoda were rolling hills covered by trees made lush and green by the frequent rain. After enjoying the view, Yin and I climbed down the steep stairs to meet her parents again. On our way home, Yin took a small nap while Mr. and Mrs. Tu chatted with me about the sights we passed in the car on the way home such as the local Chinese Art University and the blooming magnolia blossoms. When we got home, everyone else napped while I caught up on some reading. After a rest, we all headed to a local restaurant called Zheweiguan. There we had noddles made out of sweet potato with cabbage and beef as well as smaller baozi and lotus root. Mrs. Tu had fried chicken feet as well. Everyone else passed on that dish. That's it for today! Tomorrow is our first day of school at Hangzhou. I'm nervous, but I also can't wait to finally see the inside of the school and experience going to Chinese high school. Til next time...