Shijiazhuang Days 5 and 6

Wednesday night and Thursday it rained here in Shijiazhuang, so it cooled off tremendously.  However, the Wi-Fi also went down!  Finally, it (and my VPN) came back up and I'm able to update you on what we've been doing.

 

First of all Debra and I did "Chinese laundry".  This required setting up and turning on a machine written entirely in Chinese and then air drying everything. For two days our room was covered in clothes in various states of drying!  We were able to air dry a few things on the line, but then the rain came.

 

On Wednesday night we ate from the bakery in the room and then walked to the park again. This time we walked around it's backside and then the mall underneath.  There was a Super Store below that made Wal Mart look tame.  It was LOUD, bright, crowded and very confusing.  We got in just fine, but couldn't find the exit!  The labeled exits were literally doors that just opened in the middle of a department.  Thursday night a group of us went back to the "Transformer" mall.  One of the ladies had gone earlier and had a very cute necklace made and, of course, we wanted one.  I did have one made, bought a few gifts and a pair of shoes.

 

In class we have studied American foods and received our Krispy Kreme hats courtesy of the Cayce KK.  We also learned about American holidays, made Valentine cards (which many students gave to me), designed Halloween masks and practiced inviting people to parties. They are finally talking more to each other and to me!

 

We had a meeting last night and found out that our "day of" will be Monday for the part of the group that I am in.  Not sure what we are doing, but it will be nice to take a break from teaching.  Also, we leave here next Wednesday night and head to Beijing for a few days before our next assignment.  I can't believe I have been here a week already.  I am 1/4th of the way through my trip. 

 

I do miss Glenn, Ben and the puppies as well as diversity in food.  They eat the same things for three meals a day every day.  Needless to say we are all tired of this!  Luckily, cashews are very inexpensive here. :)