A little travel...

 So before I came to China, I was told I was going to be placed in Xiamen, which obviously did not happen. There is one other person from EC teaching in China through the same program as Brady and I. Her name is Sarah. She was placed in Xiamen. This week we had a national holiday. Sarah was traveling with her roommate, Ivy, to Ivy's hometown. We thought it would be fun to all meet up. So Brady and I decided to join them in Tiongxang, which is right next to the ancient city of Wuzhen. We really left everything until the last minute, and it really could not have gone smoother. One of the other teachers, Thistle, was going to the bus station, so she helped us get our ticket and on the bus. We got there, borrowed a phone from strangers, and met up with Sarah and Ivy. It was fun to be with another American.

We got to our hotel, which was super nice, and centrally located to Ivy's house, so that was great too. We set out to explore the town. In this city there were a lot more people that spoke english too, so that was fun.  We stopped, got some tea/lattes, went to walmart, experienced the coolest dinner. The dinner was fondue, but really fun. One broth was spicy, the other one was mild. Ivy's friend Sophia joined us. It was a good time. After we went to a tea place where we got some "jasmine pearl tea" very good. They also served snacks like dried pork and crab, that was a little much for me after dinner.

The next morning we got up to experience the great city of Wuzhen! It was really cool. They call it the Chinese Venice. It was really pretty. Ivy's parents bought us our tickets, which was incredibly nice. We went through a lot of museums, and my favorite one was the foot-binding museum. There was so much information and shoes that people would wear when they got their feet to only be 3 inches. Ow. We also saw an ancient chinese shadow puppet show. I really enjoyed that. Ivy's parents made us a delicious lunch to eat at her grandparents, and it was so great. It was also fun to be in a Chinese house. After that, back to the Ancient city, where we explored more, made our way through the herds of people, and just had a good time. There were fun snacks to try: goo stuff, sunflowers, among other things. It was a good cultural experience.

That night, Ivy's parents, who don't speak any english, took us to a family restaurant. It was so good. We finished it all. After that,  we went back to the hotel and I fell asleep pretty fast.

The next morning, we ate a great breakfast at the hotel, and then went to the train station to figure out our way home. Ivy helped us get a ticket, and then we said our goodbyes. We met some super nice people once we got on the train, Elaine and Jake (their english names) Jake is an engineer, and Elaine is studying law. Their english was super good, and they really helped us take a lot of time off of our traveling. It was great. They were fun to talk to as well. 

All in all, it was a fun trip. A good experience as well. Something that has been consistent since we have arrived in China is how nice everyone we have run into has been. Not only do people go out of their way to help us, but they also will pay for us to do things. Even if we don't know them. It is crazy to me. They will go so far our of their way.  I want to be like this. It has been such a blessing and so much fun. They also really love America. Whenever we say we are from America, people get really excited. It is nice.

This morning, back in Keqiao, I was doing my laundry. I was checking to see how it was drying on the rooftop and I locked myself out of my room. Not the first time, but my roommate had to fly back to the Philippines to get her visa, so I had no way to get back in. A man from the security office came up, kicked down my door, and just started working on a new lock. Whooops. I felt really bad. He just laughed. I think I may have increased the "stupid american" thought a little more here with that.  Oh well. I will try not to lock myself out in the next two weeks.