Hu Zhuo trip

Well, Spring is here, and China is just as beautiful as America when it is in full bloom!
Here is a photo my friend Harry took. I borrowed it from his website.

A couple of weeks ago the students had a singing competition.
They really like this kind of stuff...No classes!


Each class took their turn and preformed a song that they have been practicing in their spare time for weeks.
Here they are waiting their turn to get up on the stage.


I was just helping the teachers keep them in line.


But that was impossible!



Then last week they had the finals. Everybody got to sit in on the final show.


I also took a trip to Shui Kuo last week.
This is the place that Jaer and I went to last summer.The lake in the country.
I was planning on going back sooner but the weather got cold and I had to wait.
My friend Claudia from Austria had a few days off and so she came along too.
We were planning on going to another place Sou Zhuo, but to tell the truth, I'm just getting tired of the big cities. That's one reason I like Changxing so much. It's not too big and not too small. Shui Kuo is about 30 mins. away by taxi.
Lots of bamboo and fresh air.



You may remember this view.
The little motorcycle thing in the picture is the fish and vegetable guy.
Free delivery!


Here are our hosts, preparing and cooking up dinner



This is an up close look at the goods inside the delivery cycle.


There were quite a few people from Shanghai staying there this weekend.
This couple spoke some English, so as usual, with my little bit of Chinese and their little bit of English, we managed just fine.


Our host and her mother.

There was another room next to ours full of Chinese people too.


I wasn't aware of it until this weekend, but they have a park at the end of the road that goes by the lake.
Claudia and myself took a walk and ended up there by chance.


Great place to take a break!



It took about 45 minutes to walk there from our lakeside retreat.


Last summer when I was there with Jaer, they were taking a lot of photo's. Even though we were just visiting for the day. They made some posters for advertising.


It was just nice to get out to the country instead of another crowded Chinese city.

So last weekend Eric, Owen and myself went to Hu Zhuo...another crowded Chinese city.
About 4 million people, about 30 minutes away.
I've been there a few times before.
Here is a shot of the pedal taxi's lined up at the bus station, waiting for new arrivals.
I took this while we waited for Owen to meet us.


We ended up taking a taxi there, and had him drop us off at peoples square.
Owen has studied Chinese for several years, and even spent a few months in Beijing a while back. So his Chinese was pretty good!
At the park there were lots of people flying kites and roller blading.


This little dude has all the latest gear!


I even saw my first live panda since I've been in China!


We headed over to McDonald's and waited for my friend Jaer to show up.
They had baskets of baby ducks (Easter season). When you bought one, they just put it in a plastic bag...like some oranges.


After we met up with Jaer, we made our way towards a temple.
We had to cut through a construction site to get there...you just don't do this in America.


The temple was small with all the usual stuff.




Eric checking out the statues.


Then we headed to this park with a pagoda.


The weather was great, and it was a beautiful day to get out!


At the park.


You could even rent a boat...we didn't.


We did climb to the top of the pagoda.
Great view of the city!


Eric and Jaer posing for a Kodak moment on the way up.


It was a very steep climb up the steps.
You don't wanna' fall down these steps!


At the top.

Climbing down was the hard part.


Owen opted for backing down the steps...


Later, I saw this old fella meditating in the park and snuck a picture of him.
Shortly after he came up and started talking to me. Owen helped translate. Before long there were probably a dozen people standing around, wandering what the heck we could be doing talking to the old guy. All we could really understand was that he was 87 years old and came from Beijing.


Stainless steel camels. This was a part of the silk road many years ago.



Sorry I haven't been posting much lately.
Not much going on.
Unless you want to see more pictures of the strange stuff I've become accustomed to eating?

By the way, I've been in China for almost 10 months now.
Last week I had my first bout of home sickness.
I think this is the longest I've ever gone without seeing my family.
I'll be home in late June. I think I'm going to continue with my plans to get a job as a tour director. Maybe specialize in China tours. That way I can still travel around China, but not be gone for such a long time.

Miss you guys!!

Here are a few quotes that I found.

"No matter where you go, there you are. Unless you made a wrong turn, then you are somewhere else."

"He who travels happily, must travel light, unless he has several porters and valets."

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." -- Helen Keller

"If you look like your passport photo, you are too ill to travel." -- Will Komme

Jim