Fun Times in China

Well folks, almost a month has passed since we left the U.S., and we are all still alive and well. This has been my last week of freedom before I begin to teach classes on Monday, so I have behaved accordingly.

This past monday was a Chinese holiday called "mid-autumn festival". Although various sources have told me several different meanings for the holiday, the long and short of it is this. During the full moon, Chinese families have a reunion of sorts and when they gather they eat something called moon cakes. Sounds delicious, right??? WRONG! My first bite into a mooncake (which looks like it will be a sweet taste from the outside) resulted in a mixture of flavors including, but not limited to, peanuts and green peppers. Ick. Maybe its the Chinese variation of fruit cake. Everyone gets them, but no one (at least not Americans) likes them. Not wanting to shirk on any holidays, including those of our host country, we participated by bringing a box of mooncakes to our favorite restaurant owner, Happy Lady.

During the actual day, however, a large group of us gathered together and rented a large boat to take out on the reservoir that day. You know those Chinese postcards with the foggy lakes and the oddly pointy-yet-wooded-mountains? Yeah, I'm pretty sure I was in one of those. The scenery was breathtaking, and we had a lot of fun. We played Mahjong on the top deck of the boat and played cards below deck. We even docked briefly to toss an AMERICAN football! Good times.

The best part about this trip, however, was definitely the ride back. Now I don't know if you've ever heard stories about Chinese bus rides...but you're about to now. Since the lake is about a 45 minute bus drive from the city, there are few buses that travel the route, and the local country folk apparently have limited opportunities to hitch a ride into town. With this in mind, we boarded an already crowded bus, and a few of us managed to get some seats (I was seated next to the door). As we travelled down the country road, more and more people piled onto the bus, until it was beyond a shoulder-to-shoulder situation. It was beyond discomfort. It was RIDICULOUS. Apart from the driver, there is another lady who works on the bus to take money and seat people. At this point, her job was to disembark, gather newcomers and forcefully push them inside so that the door could shut behind her (and sometimes it didnt shut at all). I was haplessly seated below a handrail at just the appropiate height for 3 chinese boys to be able to stand in front of me and level their armpits right across from my nose. With a chinese boy practically in my lap the whole trip, I was especially grateful that I was seated next to a window for some much-needed ventilation. So if you're wondering how many people can fit in a bus...I know....exactly.

Luke and Kat have been doing well. This week, Kat hosted the weekly estrogen party that the American ladies have formed in the city. Our dude-fest is not quite as organized or tasty, but usually ends up with some wonderful rock band performances. Luke is doing well despite a rather heavy course load. We've been told that we should be done early enough to manage a return trip to the states in time for some important weddings (congrats Ryan!) and maybe even Christmas! The prospect of an early return is at least enough to keep us going when classes get rough.

Well, I'm off to research some way to catch Bama football on the internet, as we begin conference play this week. Any suggestions would be welcome! I hope all is well back in the states.

Peace and blessings,
Finn