More details to come....

Today has been long and exhausting. We had two amazing meals with the principal of the school and after lesson prep all day I am not feeling too well. I have so much to share but it will have to come tomorrow as I am in desperate need of a rest. Sorry!

Chinese Takeout

Another busy day in Hangzhou. Being as though I haven't done much exercise and have a marathon to run in four months, I decided to go on a little run this morning. Close to the school, a nice path runs next to a canal that is off the street and usually pretty empty. My run felt so good but the humidity quickly made me too hot! There is no happy medium here between cold and hot and being from Montana, my tolerance of sticky weather is not so high, but the run did feel great.

We met up with her and a close friend of hers that came to the University of Montana from Hangzhou many years ago. It was fun to see Hangzhou from a local's perspective. We walked around a lot and then took the bus to have lunch on the other side of town. Driving here is just crazy and I got a little nauseous on the bus. We traveled to the higher end side of town that is very quiet compared to my neighborhood. For lunch I had rice wine soup and these wonderful pork dumplings. I am starting to become very fond of dumplings of all kinds!

With the impending threat of rain we bought an umbrella and decided to walk the mountain that looks down on the lake. By Montana standards, it is more of a hill, but still extremely lovely. It is covered with bamboo forests and tea bushes. The heavy rain and greenery reminded me so much of Glacier Park in spring. I became a little homesick but soon snapped out of it with some teenagers wanting to take my picture (being blonde here makes me a tourist attraction to the locals). I plan on returning to the area to explore.

Shop! Shop! Shop!

Our first Saturday in Hangzhou included a ton of shopping! I have been itching to get out and look around and spend a little of the money I saved up for the trip.

The day started with a stop at our favorite breakfast food cart, Starbucks, and watching the older ladies do Tai Chi. The city was very quiet this morning which was a nice break from the constant honking. We then took a walk over to Century Mart (the four story grocery store, but has pretty much everything you could ever need from Northface jackets to chicken feet). We grabbed some necessities like a big bath towel and some oatmeal, and some luxuries like a can of Bear Beer we just could't resist (the taste testing will come soon). We realized this week that our diet is missing some fiber so we grabbed prunes, apples, and nuts to get things going.

Just to show the diversity of Century Mart… here is one of the ordinary events that occur throughout the day… net your own fish for dinner!

They Have No Idea What I'm Saying

This is the latest I've done a blog post and the first time I've been awake past 9:00 pm since I got here.  But it is Friday night, after all, so staying up to 9:30 just seems like the thing to do. 

Today was my first official lessons with the class.  After something came up yesterday, I was asked to fill in second grade while Frances taught first grade.  We did a Brown Bear, Brown Bear lesson with colors and animals.  My first class went well (and thank goodness because I was being observed by the English teacher), but after that the classes got a little out of hand.  In all my teaching experience, a few redirection and students would be back not track.  This is not the case, however, when the students have no idea what I am saying!!! I tried the counting down trick from 5, but when I reached 1 a little boy shouted out "BLASTOFF!!" This was extremely clever but by the end of my four classes I was a little exhausted.  

After a short nap Frances and I ventured out for the afternoon.  I was in need of a curling iron as mine stopped working the moment I got here, so we headed to a "girl's store" which was actually a whole market of make-up, nail polish, hair accessories, and clothes.  I was so tempted to get some "chanel" earrings but maybe another day. 

We heard of a Hong Kong Cuisine restaurant a few blocks away that we wanted to try.  We looked and looked but could not find it.  In dismay, I looked up to the sky to search for guidance and there it was… on the fourth floor of the building!  It was a happening place and the wait was a little long but we happily endured.  Once again we had no idea how to order but our waitress was very helpful and we ended up getting steamed mussels and clams, leek dumplings, fish balls in curry, and some noodles.  All the food was delicious (aside from the fish balls) and we wanted dessert.  Ordering dessert is evidently done at the beginning of meals in China so it was a big event trying to tell our waitress what we wanted.  Finally, we got our amazing bread topped with mango and ice-cream.  It was so good and filled us up for the walk home.  

Just a Walk in the Park

Good evening from Hangzhou. Today was a less exciting day but successful day none the less.

After school lunch and some early morning lesson planning and observing, we decided to warm up with a walk to West Lake. West Lake is what makes this city such a tourist destination. It is surrounded by flowering trees and old pagodas and tea houses. It is only a 10 minute walk so we ventured out for the afternoon.

We stopped at our favorite street food vendors including this lady that sells what seems like to flatted fish burritos put together with some sauce and onions in the middle. At only 80 cents they are a wonderful little snack. We arrived at West Lake and were just stunned by the beauty. The trees are just about to bloom and the air is so much fresher than in the city. We grabbed some more street food of leaf wrapped rice and tofu on a stick and started our jaunt.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Unfortunately our plans to walk to West Lake are put on hold for the moment as it decided to rain all night and all day!  With only one observation before lunch we decided to make it a work day and start working on lesson planning for our teaching time.  Before we got to work we went out to get some street food from a vendor we saw the day before.  He made us an amazing breakfast of a crepe with a scrambled egg, onions, spices, all wrapped around a churro looking pastry.  It was pretty amazing and got us going for our cold day of work. 

Stinky Tofu and Other Adventures

What another fulfilling day in Hangzhou filled with new experiences and adventures.  After a long, hot shower and going to bed early last night, I woke up at about 5 this morning with no intention of going back to sleep.  I read a little and got moving for the day.  I only had one observation at 10 so Frances and I decided to go on a little walk before class.  I had a breakfast of a banana and some skippy peanut butter I picked up at the supermarket yesterday.  As much as I love all the different food here, I needed a little break.  Our morning jaunt started with some Starbucks.  We just walked around the neighborhood as we are still getting acclimated to the city.  

During our break we headed to our favorite meeting room on the fourth floor of the school.  It is a beautiful room with a balcony that looks out over the neighborhood.  Some packaged snacks were set out on the table such as seeds and nuts and a unusual package with an object inside.  At first I though it was a fish and thug, "why not try a fish!" But to my dismay, upon opening the package I realized it was a chicken foot.  Now my rule is to try everything once, and since I had yet to try chicken foot, I gave it a taste….. and yuck!!! I think it might be better in a soup but it was so tough and just not my cup of tea.