Finally

So after 16 long hours of flying I have finally arrived safely to China and have been busy processing the events that have happened the last couple days. We arrived at the dorms Monday night around 10 o'clock, where we unpacked and had a late dinner of steamed buns, rice dumplings, and an interesting pastry/mini pie deal. I only ventured to try the steamed bun, which was pretty delicious.

Yesterday the real fun began with a beautiful wet snow that lasted most of the day until it slowly changed to rain. I would have rather left the snow at home, but so is life. We went through orientation and took a short tour of the campus with our trusty guide, George, who will be one of our professors and our Chinese guide through the semester. After getting lunch at the cafeteria, where George had to order our food because none of the cooks, or anyone for that matter, speaks English. Also the menus are all in Chinese so it is easier to go to a place you can just point to the food that you would like to eat. We have meal cards like we do in the U.S. and can use them at the hotel, kitty corner the dorms, and multiple places in the cafeteria.

After lunch we went back to the library building and met our host families / buddies. I have two students from the college and two faculty members as my host people. All four of them speak very little English and it has been a challenge trying to communicate with them. Hopefully it gets easier, but I am meeting up with them on Friday for lunch. 

Later in the day we took a bus to West Lake, which is a giant lake (if you feel compelled to know more look up West Lake in Hangzhou, China). It is very beautiful and I cannot wait to see what it looks like in the Spring with all of the flowers in bloom. There, we had a scavenger hunt, where we took pictures of items on a list and wandered around the lake. After our scavenger hunt we made our way to a famous restaurant chain here in China called Grandma's Home. It is a fancy restaurant where the food is brought out on platters and placed on a spinning center piece so everyone can get a taste of the food. I kind of tried duck tongue, but got as far as biting into it before I gave up. It was very tough and I actually couldn't bite through it all the way on one bite, so ended any adventurous eating for the rest of the meal. I tried some very delicious BBQ pork, which was basically bacon in a spicy BBQ rub, and other various dishes. After the meal we took a taxi back to the hotel and passed out for the night.

Now I come to today where the day was filled with fun and adventures. We started out with a breakfast of champions (picture on the left) then had more orientation, but had most of the day for exploring. First, we took a shuttle bus around the city to the old traditional part of town that has long streets of shops and vendors. A group of us found a cool tower and ended up seeing a 5D "movie" that made us feel like we were on a roller coaster. My stomach didn't like that very much and ended up feeling a little iffy afterwards. We spent a couple hours wandering around this area before heading back to West Lake. This time we explored the opposite side of the lake from where we were the day before.

The picture on the right shows the part of the street that had the shops and vendors. There is a cross street further up that has even more shops and leads to the nifty tower full of fun adventures. There was also a cool tree and giant bell where people had tied a red ribbon with gold Chinese characters with their wishes. It was pretty cool and of coarse I had to ring the giant bell. 



West Lake is so beautiful and it is still winter, with most of the trees without leaves and shrubs missing their flowers. Spring is going to be gorgeous and I cannot wait to go back and see the beauties that will be produced. We walked around the lake for a couple hours. In that time I tried my hand at an interesting slinky hula hoop an elderly Chinese women was rocking. I got it on the second try, but sadly I am not as talented as the elderly lady when it comes to hula hooping. Me and some others practiced our cart-wheel skills at one point, but again I lack the talent in this as well.

To end our very eventful outing we made a stop at a Walmart. I know why would one go to a Walmart when one is in China, weeel it was quite the experience. Not only was it huge it was stuffed full of so much random junk that I didn't know where to begin! When you walk back to the frozen food section they had live fish, bull frogs, turtles, and some weird slimy things. Also they had bins of chopped raw meat where people could go through and pick what they wanted. There was also a nice selection of octopus (I believe) and other cut sea food for the culinary geniuses shown in the picture above.  It was interesting and vomit-inducing at the same time. My stomach was doing flip flops the entire time I was wandering through the section.  

So, with that I will leave you with a few feelings and thoughts I am experiencing. The language barrier is currently a challenge for me. It would make getting around the city easier and I wouldn't feel as lost, but it is a learning experience that is still enjoyable even with its difficulty. As far as the scenery goes, it does not disappoint and can only get more beautiful since we will soon be entering the Spring season. The Chinese are very hospitable and put up with us goofy and confused Americans quite well. My experience thus far has been only positive and I cannot wait for what is in store. I am still waiting for the "Aha" moment that makes me feel like I am really in China. 

For now my friends I leave with love from China and a goodnight! I will see you when I see you :)