Thanks to all those that have stopped by to read my blogs. I know that are a
'Novel' (M. Laing, 2011) but I hope you are enjoying hearing about my
experiences.
Today we heading to the World Heritage site - The Wetlands. We were
escorted and shouted by the Water College and had a lovely translator and
guide in Elaine, a first year student doing business English.
We spend two hours walking around this site. Was beautiful and peaceful
which made a change from the craziness of the city. The wetlands are
beautiful in context but New Zealand kicks butt when it comes to landscapes
and beauty. However I am told that China also has these sites but just not
where we are.
The Wetlands was filled with lots of domestic Chinese tourists. The kids
over here are sooo cute and they love saying hello to you, some follow you
and others point you out to their parents. The people are so genuine,
hospitable and accepting. We got many photos of this ancient wetlands and
the buildings within it.
After finding our way out of the Wetlands (not as easy as it looks) we got
back in the van and next thing we knew we were at this Chinese Restaurant.
Ashleigh and I exchanged looks of panic as we walked in and had no idea what
was about to face us. John and our driver went and selected the food while
Ash and I scouted out how the rest of the people were eating and what they
were eating with and what plate belonged to what meal etc. We ate bamboo
shoots, mushrooms, cucumber (a saving grace), rice, octopus & spring onions
- which I thought was duck.. yeah nah it wasn't.
The food just kept coming, deep fried prawns (AMAZING), a whole fish, a bowl
with a soup filled with dumplings, ham and god knows what else! We also had
these crispy pumpkin thing. Even though our driver could not speak English
he was the most amazing host, always raising his glass to us, ensuring that
our glasses were never empty, showing us how to eat stuff, clapping when we
used the chopsticks for something that was hard to pick up. He was lovely.
It was an experience using chopsticks to eat the whole meal but It was good
practice and gives us an insight into what to expect for lunch at the Water
College tomorrow.
After we got back to the apartments we skyped and had a wee nana nap before
meeting up with Chris & Di and heading down to the local markets. Di is the
most amazing barterer, she has a PHD is shopping so we were keen for her to
show us around. We went back and I got one of the two jackets I liked. I am
a LARGE! Ha! The other one had sold in two days. We then went to the shoe
market and I brought a pair of try hard adidas running shoes for $14NZD. We
grabbed some food from the supermarket and headed back to the apartment.
Its 9pm and we are going to go over the course work as tomorrow is our first
day in the class room. It was great having Elaine today as it gave us a bit
of an insight into how to interact with the students that will be in our
class. Looking forward to it but not sure what to expect.. mind you that's
the theme of this whole trip!
I love how everything we have done is building upon itself to give us an
insight into what is coming next. The trips to the supermarket, the trips
on public transport, the shopping, eating out. As we take in each of these
things it starts to prepare us for the next day. Love that!
I have sore as feet.. all we do it walk all day and every day. Hoping these
new shoes will help with that.
We are still working on how we are going to view the All Blacks game this
weekend. Not so fussed about this one but really want to see the Semi Final.
John told me SBW is on the wing and Zac Gilford is injured? In some ways
it's nice to be removed from the pressure of the build up to these big
games.
Looking forward to sharing how tomorrow goes..
Does anyone have any questions they would like me to answer?
Much love always
Lucy xx
HIGHLIGHTS:
The amazing food at the restaurant
The awesome jacket I brought
The price of everything here!
LOWLIGHTS:
Sore feet.. guess that's the price to pay for good shopping
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