Caroling to Chrysanthemums

Xiaolan is a city about a half hour bus ride North-ish of Guzhen. We head there occasionally to shop, visit the pagoda in the big park, visit some of the other teachers, and... well you get the general idea. We went there tonight for the Chrysanthemum festival. Sandy came with Anna, Emma, Megan and me, and we had a marvelous time. Especially when Anna suggested that we sing Bazooka Bubblegum (one of our students most recent favorites) while we wandered around the paths. Sandy was a sport and went along with our antics. And then after we had a marvelous time singing, doing the actions, and getting some odd stares while we were at it, we decided more singing was in order. 

Since it is, in fact, December. We opted for some nice Christmas carols. 

Caroling is one of, if not my favorite, Christmas tradition. And I found it splendid to be walking arm in arm with dear friends, marveling at the cascades of flowers everywhere as we bellowed 'We Wish You A Merry Christmas' and 'Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer.' One of the joys of getting stared at constantly is that your inhibitions for a lot of things disappear. 

Sort of a "I already feel like a freak, might as well do something to deserve it" kind of mentality.

It's quite liberating :)

So yes. I started off December right. Caroling with friends. It was lovely, even if we are the only ones who understood what we were doing. 

Happy December everybody!

Happy Thanksgiving!

In the very most Chinesey-ish way possible.

My Thanksgiving day started off with a lovely field trip. We all headed out to the aquarium. Want to see?

Yo-Yo

Linda

Aunt Mary and Megan 

Isn't Megan a babe?

They got really excited about the cactus

Chase and Blaze

Andrew and Xander

Me and Linda

Linda was my buddy. She held my hand most of the time.

Jump shot! Hooray for ILP!

Lucy

Mason

Random flowers that the girls picked and gave to us :)

Hooray ILP teachers!

Lucy and Chase

Aren't they cute?

Blaze, Noah, and Xander

Emma and Liam

James and Jackie

Snack time!

Free for all... but it actually worked. 

So yes. Hopefully you enjoyed those pictures. We had a fun time. Too bad we can't go on field-trips every week....

But now on to dinner!

Me, Megan, Apple, Hannah, Vivian, Sandy and Emma

The feast!

Mashed taters, KFC chicken, wontons, oranges, chicken feet, scone-like things, carrots, apples, cucumbers, watermelon, and way too much of all of it. We didn't even make it half way though the feast. But we had some good laughs, and we all got to say things we were thankful for, which is the point of the day anyways :)

Mud Caves

 Mud.

Doesn't the word inspire the child within you to jump up and down with glee?

I got to play in the mud. And it was so epic, I'm dedicating a whole post to it.

 During our time in Yangshuo we decided to go to some mud caves. Our guide through the caves was great. I think her name was Tao.

 First we started touring Paradise cave ---

 which was basically a wonderland of colorful stalagmites.

 Yes. I crawled into the tiny cave. It was only... uh... maybe 2 point something meters wide.... I think.

 We descended a mighty staircase.

Told you it was mighty.

And then.... oh... then we came upon the mud. And we changed into out bathing suits... and oh.... oh... what a time we had.

The mud was watery... but definitely still mud. And you could float in it with absolutely no effort at all. Which was awesome. Excuse the lack of fun pictures... if you'd like to see more you'll have to check out facebook. But rest assured, a mud fight is now checked off my 101 list. And we did go down the slides. And basically we acted like we were 6 again. So great. So so so great.

Next to the mud there is a less muddy pool where you go to get as much mud off you as you can manage. And then after that you head over to a little underground waterfall to get more mud off.

And then once you are pronounced sufficiently de-muddy-i-fied.... then you can jump in the hot springs. Which are right next to the waterfall.

Something I want to go back and do again?

Holy crap the answer is YES.

I love mud!

Teacher's Day Dinner

So apparently teacher's day is a big deal here. Because they give us the day off. And the government treats everyone to dinner at a fancy restaurant, and then we have a program to say thank you to all the teachers.

Well... a picture is worth a thousand words, and I took a LOT of pictures that night. So rather than try to describe everything, which would take a great deal of time... I will give you a visual tour of our dinner, with maybe an occasional explanation :)

We dressed up fancy. This is right before we left, standing in front of the school. 

Anna, Emma and Megan, almost ready to go!

Apple, Megan Elizabeth and Rachel once we got to the restaurant. 

 So Chinese people have this thing about the peace sign, they do it all the time in photos. We're gradually picking it up. Also. Apple is so funny. I love that girl. She is one of the Chinese teachers we work with, and she speaks very good English.

Emma, Sandy and Anna

 Yes. The whole meal was eaten with chopsticks. And those things they are holding were the first course... they tasted almost like dinner rolls. But they had this filling... super yummy.

This is how everything was eaten. Just take it out of the middle!

Emma and some shrimp. 

Yes. Eyeballs still intact. 

 I guess the good thing about getting food like this is that you always know exactly what you are getting before you eat it.

Duck Feet. 

 Kinda disappointing in their... non exotic flavor. But they weren't bad. Not something I'd ask for everyday though.

Anna ate a duck foot!

I dropped mine right as she took the picture.

But I picked it back up and ate it. Yum Yum!

Not sure what this is. Wasn't the best.

Fish anyone? This made me think of you Uncle Dave.

Elizabeth was working up the nerve.... 

Very yummy. And I mean it. 

 This salad thing was so good. It was warm, and had these fishball things in it. With water chestnuts and celery and carrots. I very much enjoyed it.

Soup.

 Soup here usually looks like dirty water. And is kinda bland. This one was good though. Made from coconut and ribs I think.... mostly you just drink the broth.

Jane passing the coconut juice. 

 The coconut juice wasn't really sweet. I didn't really like it. That brown stuff in my cup: is Apple Vinegar. It was heavy on the apple, and light on the vinegar... it burned as it went down, and I'm not entirely sure that it was good for me to drink. An experience I'd like to avoid in the future.

She did try it!

I think we decided that this was Lilly Root. Interesting texture. 

 One of my least favorite.

Chinese Cabbage. We eat this a LOT. I love it. 

I think this was... pork? With pineapple. Very good.

They just kept bringing more and piling it higher. 

Watermelon for dessert!

The watermelon was delicious and tasted just like home! Apple couldn't believe it when I told her that my family grows watermelon in our back yard. Sh thought that was crazy.

I tried at least one bite of everything. Most of it was delicious. And Dad, I'm happy to report that the Mandarin is almost authentic. It felt like eating at the Mandarin, only in Bountiful the flavors are all more intense. Food here isn't as... forceful? I don't want to call it bland, because it all is flavorful, but just in a different way. And things here aren't as sweet. They generally don't like foods as sweet as we do in America.

Eating in China is always an adventure. I hope you get to try it sometime :)

Oh. And can I just say that I'm getting pretty darn proficient with my chopsticks?