Happy Qing Ming Jie from the Sisterhood!

Iona

The students at Hanggao get a 5 day break from school, so we had Thurs-Mon open to adventure. While it is tradition to get together with family members and honour the ancestors, the Sisterhood had no tombs to visit so we went shopping on Thursday. We all (plus Caroline) met up at the school gate early in the morning with Sunny (Hanggao’s exchange student from two years ago!) and she took us down Silk Street. It was so fun to catch up with her and get some insight into what her life is like after her trip to America. She has decided to devote a lot of her school career into studying for the SATs and is preparing to take the TOEFL (Test Of English as a Foreign Language) in order to make herself a serious candidate for American schools. All the best to her!

We spent a good portion of our morning on Silk St as it was a prime location for gift buying :). Sunny helped us to bargain and get great discounts so the Sisterhood spent quite a bit of money selecting silk scarves, handkerchiefs, and shawls for loved ones. After this, we walked further down the street to a silk outlet of sorts which sold silk items that were mass produced and consequently less unique, but it was here that we found matching silk pyjamas! We now are truly the Sisterhood of the Travelling Silk Pyjamas!! They are long sleeved shirts and pants dyed a nice deep red with white lace detailing on the sleeves and v neck. So fun. Then we crossed the street to find a local restaurant for lunch that was very inexpensive and very yummy; the set up was similar to a cafeteria, where the foods are laid out and there is a person serving you the dishes that you point out. 

After this, it was early afternoon and Mrs. Waterman, Liz, and Sunny went to go watch a movie at a cinema which was at the top floor of a mall, whereas Kelbs and I walked back to Peter’s house (so convenient!) to hang out and get some homework done. After the group was finished watching Ready Player One, Kelbs, Peter, and I took a taxi to meet them for dinner. At this point, the English teacher Derek was with the group and so we all had hot pot together. Actually, we all had hot pot individually, meaning we each had our own pot of boiling water in which we could cook our separate foods in. The main part of the restaurant was a buffet of raw foods (similar to the restaurant Fire & Ice), and you would choose the items to put onto your plate then take back to your seat and cook. Quite an inventive way of eating! We had loads of fun reminiscing about Derek's trip to America eight years ago, and talking about our highlights of our trip. 

Very fun day that would be followed by many more fun excursions during the Qing Ming Festival :). Stay tuned for updates!