This past weekend

I think I'm probably far enough removed from the situation to be able to laugh about it now, so I will tell you the story! This past weekend, Stan and I got invited to an overnight trip with some former students to a place called Lingshan. It's just outside of Hangzhou and some of Stan's former students at Shuren University asked us to come. We were told the cost would be 75 yuan. We didn't think that was too bad, and we wanted to see them, so we said yes!

In preparation for the two days we would be gone, we looked up the forecast for Saturday and Sunday. Both days had a 100% chance of rain all day. The trip consisted of hiking up and down a mountain and going into caves. Obviously, we would not be getting wet for the cave part, but for the rest, we would. So, Stan called Aileen (the one who invited us) and asked her if they were planning on going through with the trip if it rains. She said, "Rain or shine, we are going." So, here we go... since we live in Xiasha this year, we had an hour and a half commute to our old school, Shuren. So, we got up early and headed that way...pouring down rain. The thing about rain here is that you are always in it. You don't have a car you can get into and run away from the rain...you're just in it and that's that. So, I started off the trip with a good attitude, knowing I couldn't change anything about my circumstances, and just tried to have fun!

The first part of the trip went rather well, considering all the rain. We got on the bus and drove up to this area where a lot of people were cooking bar-b-q style. So, the students we were with pulled out all their food and began cooking as well. It was just hilarious because you could tell almost none of them had ever done this before. Some of them didn't even know how to open an aluminum foil box. I'm not making fun, it was just a funny situation to be in. They were having a blast whether the food caught on fire or not! And it did. They got the hang of it later on and it was pretty good, we were just concerned they weren't getting the mean cooked all the way...



Anyway, after we ate, I went to find the bathroom. It was around the corner and up some stairs. Keep in mind it's still raining. I got to the top of the stairs and there was a mossy patch I didn't see and I tripped and scraped up my leg. Bummer, but it wasn't that bad.

After everything was all cleaned up from lunch, we headed down the mountain (stairs- slippery from the rain and moss). We didn't get to see much on the way down, for fear of falling on my face, but we made it down, rain and all! This is where we went inside the cave. It was cool, but the one thing that is disappointing about natural things in China is that they always add something that isn't natural to the mix to make it more "beautiful". They added a walkway and some cement pools for the water to filter in. We got to the "end" of the cave and were told we were going to climb 36 flights of stairs up to the top. So we did, and it sure did feel like it too! Once we got to the top, we climbed down the mountain outside to get back to where we came from. Then it was time to go back to the hotel. We walked about 1/4 to 1/2 a mile to the hotel. Everyone found their rooms and got settled in. I pulled out my comfy clothes and they were all wet. :( So sad. So I laid them out to dry (which didn't do much good. Anyway, we were all milling about when one of the girls said, "Stan, there is nothing to eat. We didn't bring anything and there are no restaurants. What should we do?" As if we planned this thing? This is how the rest of the conversation went:

Stan: "Well, hmmmm. Can we cook something?"
Girl: "There is no supermarket."
Stan: "Hmmmm"
Girl: Blank Stare
Girl: "What will you do?"
Stan: "I don't know. What will you do?"
Girl: "I don't know, there is no food." Blank stare.
Stan: "Hmmm...."(Looks at me. Shrugs his shoulders.) "I guess I'll see if we can find some food."

So Stan, Aileen, a boy named Orange and I went to search for food. We walked for a bit and found some people cooking in what looked like their home. The students who were with us asked the people if there was a restaurant anywhere near. The people said, "I don't know, go that way." And pointed down the road. They live there and they don't know. Ok. So, we finally came upon what looked like another house and asked them and they said, "Yeah, this is a restaurant!" They led us back in through their house (or boarding house...not quite sure) to the restaurant. It was cracking me up because it was just such a funny experience. We got food in our bellies and Aileen called the other students, but they didn't seen interested. So they just snacked on stuff.

I feel like I'm leaving something out...oh yeah, the beds. I think I might have been in such shock over this experience that I didn't take any pictures of the room we slept in. So you're going to have to imagine what the bed felt like: Imagine a table with a comforter on top of it and a blanket to cover up with. That's it. Don't let your imagination run wild, because that's all there was! There was a dog that barked until 3 or 4 in the morning. I had my headphones in and I could still hear that dog! One time, as soon as the dog quick barking Stan started snoring. haha! It was like something off of a sitcom! I'm jealous of Stan because he can sleep just about anywhere! :)

All in all, it was just another story to add to the book we have of unusual Chinese experiences. I hope you enjoyed the story and I'm sorry I don't have many pictures. Thanks for reading! I love you all! Don't forget to think about me in China!