Do you wake up in the morning and realize that it's just not going to be your day? I wish I would have had that feeling yesterday. It would have prepared me. But I will preface this with I did actually have a good day overall.
Jim and Barb Grimm and myself started the day off at 615am waiting for Jim's student. She was supposed to be there at 615 but didn't show up until 630am. We sat and chatted as we waited for her, and scared the front desk lady. The doors to the building are locked from 12am-6am and when she woke up to unlock them, the last thing she expected was to see people milling around the lobby.
We were leaving from the south Shanghai rail station and we live in the north, so it was a taxi/metro/walk combo. The 4 of us met up with 2 more of Jim's students and we headed for the train to Hanzhou. It takes about 2 hours by train and we had first class seats, which were nice.
We arrived in Hangzhou and our first stop was a pedestrian shopping street. There were the typical traditional Chinese crafts, but they looked less kitchier than in Shanghai. I enjoyed walking down the street (out of the wind) and talking with the students. When the street ended we went to a restaurant and had a nice lazy susan meal. Think large round table with a large glass circle in the middle that you can spin. Very convenient and you don't have to pass dishes, just take a spin Wheel of Fortune style. At the end of lunch, I went to grab my bag and it was completely wet. Turns out I had forgotten to tighten the cap on my bottle of water and it spilled all over. Luckily it didn't get anything wet besides a book and my wallet and camera survived the flood.
After lunch we went to the famous West Lake. This is where the hairy crabs come from, the ones that people pay hundreds of US dollars per pound for. The lake is beautiful, surrounded by small mountains and boardwalks. I think it would be fun in the summer but there was a cold wind going that day and we quickly walked along until we could get a cab and venture to the next spot.
Because I just can't get enough out of temples and such, we went to the most famous one. It was pretty standard as far as Buddhist temples go, but went up the side of a large hill. Being the graceful person that I am, I began running up the stairs to see the monks chanting. About halfway up, I tripped over my own feet. This wouldn't have been so bad if I had not had my hands shoved into my jacket pockets. I went down like a ton of bricks and the Chinese girls came to my rescue. They tried to clean the dust off of me with tissues, a gesture that I thought was sweet but not even close to effective. We milled around for a time and then headed back into the city to catch our train.
Jim and Barb Grimm and myself started the day off at 615am waiting for Jim's student. She was supposed to be there at 615 but didn't show up until 630am. We sat and chatted as we waited for her, and scared the front desk lady. The doors to the building are locked from 12am-6am and when she woke up to unlock them, the last thing she expected was to see people milling around the lobby.
We were leaving from the south Shanghai rail station and we live in the north, so it was a taxi/metro/walk combo. The 4 of us met up with 2 more of Jim's students and we headed for the train to Hanzhou. It takes about 2 hours by train and we had first class seats, which were nice.
We arrived in Hangzhou and our first stop was a pedestrian shopping street. There were the typical traditional Chinese crafts, but they looked less kitchier than in Shanghai. I enjoyed walking down the street (out of the wind) and talking with the students. When the street ended we went to a restaurant and had a nice lazy susan meal. Think large round table with a large glass circle in the middle that you can spin. Very convenient and you don't have to pass dishes, just take a spin Wheel of Fortune style. At the end of lunch, I went to grab my bag and it was completely wet. Turns out I had forgotten to tighten the cap on my bottle of water and it spilled all over. Luckily it didn't get anything wet besides a book and my wallet and camera survived the flood.
After lunch we went to the famous West Lake. This is where the hairy crabs come from, the ones that people pay hundreds of US dollars per pound for. The lake is beautiful, surrounded by small mountains and boardwalks. I think it would be fun in the summer but there was a cold wind going that day and we quickly walked along until we could get a cab and venture to the next spot.
Because I just can't get enough out of temples and such, we went to the most famous one. It was pretty standard as far as Buddhist temples go, but went up the side of a large hill. Being the graceful person that I am, I began running up the stairs to see the monks chanting. About halfway up, I tripped over my own feet. This wouldn't have been so bad if I had not had my hands shoved into my jacket pockets. I went down like a ton of bricks and the Chinese girls came to my rescue. They tried to clean the dust off of me with tissues, a gesture that I thought was sweet but not even close to effective. We milled around for a time and then headed back into the city to catch our train.
We needed a place to warm up, as it was very windy and cold. Where do you go when that is the case? Starbucks of course. I had a coupon for a free drink and after a little convincing, the counter lady realized that a hot chocolate was an ok substitute for a coffee. I splurged on a piece of chocolate cake to reward myself for surviving the day. Perhaps too soon. The cake was a bit on the hard side so when I went to dig my plastic fork into it, a large chunk landed right in my lap. Not to be defeated by food, I picked it up and ate it with my hands. Luckily no one saw me make another faux pax and what's left of my pride was still in tact.
We got on the train, made it back to the city and I was never so happy to be back in my own bed under the covers. I don't think I'm going to go outside tomorrow at all.
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