This is an interesting looking fruit- here it is posing at the top of the Great Wall. After you peel it, it looks and tastes like a huge kiwi. This is dish called Hotpot- you order different meats and veggies....then you put them into this bubbling, boiling vat of broth to cook. Trying not to burn myself with...
Sleeper Train- this was so fun! We got a soft sleeper car for the 12 hour train ride. It had 4 beds but it was pretty fun to cram all our luggage- I had to sleep with my legs propped up to fit on the bed :)I got to see the Forbidden City and Tianammen Square. Forbidden City was...
This is one of the most exciting things I've ever done! We drove about 1 1/2 outside of Beijing to the Mutianyu section of the wall. The hiking was very hard work but I felt a sense of accomplishment when I made it all the way to the top of this section. We got to ride a cable...
We flew from Hangzhou to Guilin- the airport wasn’t too bad but trying to keep a group of 40 people together is not fun! Guilin is absolutely beautiful! I love looking out and seeing mountains everywhere. Living back in Texas really makes me appreciate scenic beauty when I get to see it! Guilin is a smaller town down south in China- it...
The next day in Hangzhou we started out the day going to a Buddist temple. It was so interesting to see people lighting incense and bowing down to a golden statue. It made me stop and worship God- so thankful that He is real and alive- not just a statue to bow before. I don’t know a whole lot about Buddha or...
Hangzhou is a beautiful city- the first blue sky we have seen since we’ve been in China! There is little smog here like the other cities. West Lake is so nice we took a trip to the top of a man made escalator/elevator “pagoda” to get a beautiful view of the city. It rained a bit but it...
We went Humble Administrators garden to look around. It was very pretty but it is sooooo hot and humid here!! To be honest, the gardens all start to look the same after a while- pond with lotus plants, pagodas, rocks, and bridges. You get the picture…. They are always very crowded too so it’s not very peaceful to be...
We went to a Silk Brocade factory in Nanjing. Nanjing is known for brocade, which is like pictures sewn onto fabrics. The work seems very tedious- one person sits up top on the machine to unravel and feed the silk to the person sitting below. That person weaves other colors into the main silk to make the design. ...
School is finally finished! These past two weeks have been a lot of hard work but it was a lot of fun. It was great to collaborate with other teachers and get ideas- sometimes in my normal job it can be hard to even talk to another adult at school. The children were so cute and most were...
