The Category for Today is “Chances”

(Deanna)

We headed to school at the normal time and I arrived in room 209 (designated room) at around 07:15 and decided to take a nap before having to meet up with everyone at 08:30. Patty came into the room and later Brandon came in. They headed off to go read outside and read before we all had to be outside of the gate at 08:30. I accompanied them after about a 30 minute nap and we all met up with Veronica, Michael and our guide Peter (from our last Hangzhou tour) and headed off to Xixi Wetlands.

Wait, We Have Snow At Home?

(Brandon)

The past few days have been unusually warm and sunny. In other words, quite welcomed by the Bad Luck Bears (who might have to change the name if this weather persists). Today peaked in the mid-seventies, and the Bears made the most of it. We had another few things to check off on our to-do list.

Table Tennis: Leg Strength Required

(Patty)

It's already been a week that the Bears have been in Hangzhou, and time is absolutely flying by. This morning we were whisked off to the gym where we were given ping pong paddles, shown into a room of 10 tables, and were told to go at it. For the first twenty minutes or so, our gym teachers silently watched us playing and we thought we were doing reasonably well until one of the teachers came over and told us we were doing everything completely wrong. After that, we started learning how to really play table tennis (I for one never knew that it required both stamina and leg strength). After an hour, the slightly sweaty, slightly sore group of Bears made our way to our next task: dance lessons. The group walked into the room untalented and uncoordinated, but walked out an hour later masters of Gangam Style (we even have videos to prove it, ask for them later).

3 March 2013: That K-Pop Swag (Or Maybe Not...)

(Deanna)

The Bad Luck Bears and our host siblings all decided to voyage shopping today and spend time together. For me, my day started out meeting up with everyone and then we walked in a street full of shops and knickknacks. We went into a marketplace where kabobs of all sorts were sold such as assorted fruits, pork, chicken, squid, crab, shrimp and so on. You could see people eating noodles and kabobs throughout and it only made us want to try everything. We each tried different things that we enjoyed. After each getting our kabobs and pastries and such we continued browsing the street of shops that interested us.

Life in Hangzhou

(Patty)

It seems as if The Bears are finally getting settled into life here in Hangzhou. This morning, the five of us were sent to the head chef to learn some traditional Chinese cooking. We were accompanied by our two faithful interpreters, Apple and Tom, both of who are seniors in Hangzhou. The pair are able to spend time with us because of their senior status; Apple has already been admitted into her top choice university and no longer needs to attend high school classes, and Tom is in AP classes (not too different than the ones at DS) so his schedule is different than that of other students.

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.