Road Trip

Kelby

Wow, three weeks left! Time really has flown by since we’ve gotten to Hangzhou. I guess that shows how much fun we’re having!

Speaking of fun, this past Sunday was a blast for me. My host mother and host brother took me to a beautiful scenic area two hours outside of Hangzhou. Our final destination was the “Thousand Islands”, which is a man made lake with a rich history. I’ll get to that in a minute. Any who, although we had a final destination the trip was quite spontaneous. On the way to the lake we pulled off the highway and drove into a small town to pick strawberries. After feathering three baskets of strawberries, we hopped back into the car and continued towards the lake.

When we arrived the lake was unlike anything I had ever seen: island upon island, mountain upon mountain, and all connected by a massive body of water. I asked Henry what the history of the lake was, and he brought me to a film which answered my question... well, sort of. The film was in Chinese. After seeing the animations and receiving an explanation from Henry, the lake was in fact made to provide electricity for the major cities and towns in the area. Unfortunately, creating the lake and building the dam entailed displacing a whole village of people (let alone a village that had been established for centuries). The village was located in a valley, so the dam flooded the valley and transformed mountain-tops into small islands. That explained so much. When kayaking, I was wondering why the “beach” of each island instantly turned into an abyss. Yet again, the Chinese have impressed me in such an extreme way.
We spent the rest of the day walking around and eating the local food, including an enormous fish that is a delicacy to the local people. Seeing that it’s a delicacy, we ate all of the fish. Yes. All of it. Interesting new food to add to my extensive list from this trip - fish intestine. Delicious. Once the sun went down, we decided to return to the city.

I loved Sunday because it showed me how Henry’s family has embraced me and accepted me into their small family. Henry’s parents were only allowed to have one child, so having me around, they said, has been a wonderful experience. I’m excited to see what’s in store for me and my host family this last stretch of the way, for this is when I get to experience the real life of a Chinese citizen.