I'm back!

Back in China! I got in to my apartment at 11:45pm. Just in time to celebrate the new year in bed! I was so tired! But I'm so thankful there were no delays or missed flights this time:) The landing in Beijing was a major one though! It must have been terribly windy because I'm pretty sure about 50% of the Chinese people on the plane were throwing up and using all the little throw-up bags the airline gives you! I was passing around extra bags and gum for afterwards! I felt so bad for them!

I slept very well and got up at 7:30 rarin' to go!

Pics of my trip later.

Stateside

I'm in the States and lovin' it! I arrived late into RDU but my parents were there to greet me. I ran to them wanting a hug from them so badly! That's what I've been wanting these five months-a big hug! And I got so many that night. And I've gotten too many to count each day that I've been here!

It's been two fun-filled days. Yesterday was Christmas shopping and lunch with my mom. We had some friends over for dinner and dessert and some exchanging of gifts. And today we baked all day and went for Mexican food. Oh my goodness was it delicious! We also went to some friend's house for dessert and coffee.

I told everyone in China that I'd be eating dessert every night and what do you know! I'm eating dessert every night! It's a southern thing I tell ya!

My goodness did my southern accent come back on quickly! It's here and it's strong! I kind of missed it!

Merry Christmas and I hope I get to see as many of you as I can!

That Jet Plane

Oh yeah, leavin' on THAT jet plane TODAY! I'm going home to the States to the fam for Christmas! I am soooo excited! I leave Yinchuan at 10:00am and arrive in Beijing at 11:45. I leave Beijing at 5:25 and arrive into Raleigh/Durham at 9:00pm on Thursday, December 20th. This will definitely be a VERY long Thursday!

Merry Christmas!

Dusk in Yinchuan

Yesterday was such a clear day that I could see the mountains, which is a rarity. This is the main intersection in the part of town that I live in with a great view of the mountains!

Heater

I rode on a "mini-bus" today for the first time. I had lunch with my friend, Lily, in Old City. On the way home she suggested that we ride the "mini bus". There's a bench on the bus that sits on top of the heater. That bench is considered to be two seats. So there we sat. My goodness was it hot! I was sitting there with my legs in my lap as I'm being heated from the bottom up and thinking "only in China"!

Red Velvet Cake

Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the masterpiece but it was beautiful and delicious! A three-layered red cake of glory with fabulous cream cheese frosting. I wanted to take a picture but it was consumed before I even remembered that I needed one! It was an experience for my friends here as only one other person out of eight had ever heard of a red velvet cake, much less eaten one! Always trying to bring southern culture to China! Thanks to all the care packages from the States-it was able to be made and eaten. We came, we saw, we conquered! Eat cake! Merry Christmas!

Oh, two days and I'll be in the States!

Morning

This is my English student, Morning. We meet in my home and talk English the whole time. It's great because she ends up sharing all about her life! She always brings me little gifts. She brings me chocolate, canned tofu, dried dates, decorative masks in a box, a decoration for my window, etc. She's also brought me a number of books. She's brought me a Chinese cookbook, a Chinese dictionary and her little cousin's first grade school book to help me learn how to read! Too cute! She's becoming a wonderful friend!

Me and my friend

This is my friend, Hediah, from Iran. I met her at school here. This is her second year studying Chinese and we're classmates. Wish you could meet her. She's hilarious and such a good friend!

Winter Wonderland

Okay so it's not snow. But it looked like it! All my friends thought it was. Even though it was only on the trees and it only "snowed" when the wind blew! :) But it's pretty and makes the cold a bit more nice!

Fun with the Aussies

We had some Aussie friends come visit and oh my goodness were they a huge encouragement! We had a blast! We hated to see them go and already miss them. But here are some pics from out last night with them. I arm-wrestled Erin and that one was tough. I think text-messaging on my cell phone helped! Tried to arm-wrestle a guy (not my idea-I knew I'd lose). But I put a fight. That's my trying my hardest while he's just sitting there acting like he's relaxing. He beat me in the end. It was another late night in the end. You'd think I'd be super exhausted after 6-7 nights of getting to bed by 1:00am or later every night and then waking up so early. But no, with all the excitement and encouragement, it didn't really matter!

First time for everything

Yesterday was the first day I went running in 20 degree weather! And actually, it wasn't that bad once I started going! It definitely motivated me to run faster so I could get home! I was really bundled up though!

And yesterday afternoon a foreign friend and myself baked ALL day as much of you are probably doing in prep for the Christmas season! My friend is having a Christmas party this Saturday night and I'm having one next Sunday night! So we are baking all sorts of Christmas cookies and desserts for our local friends to try for the first time!

I've got the Christmas candles burning, the Christmas music playing and my stocking up in my apartment! And hot chocolate and apple cider is in plenty between all of us foreigners!

Coldness

I just have to report that this morning was 16 degrees F. That's something like -8 degrees C and I could feel it! I went for a walk before class and had to turn around much quicker than I wanted to because my hands were literally in pain from the cold. And yes, I had on gloves-wool ones! It is bitterly cold and supposed to only get colder. Had to share it:)

On the bus

Sorry, I found out the last post didn't put the picture up! Here's the picture of a typical bus ride in China!

Thanksgiving Again!

Today we had a traditional Thanksgiving meal! It was fully loaded with two turkeys and all the fixin's! It was my first Thanksgiving not with family. My first Thanksgiving in China. My first Thanksgiving with 30+ people! My first Thanksgiving without homemade macaroni and cheese, green bean casserole, deviled eggs, pecan pie and sweet tea. But it was my first Thanksgiving with mashed potatoes and salad! My first Thanksgiving with a full-on football game! My first Thanksgiving with a play put on by the children. My first Thanksgiving singing the Doxology. My first Thanksgiving where my dad didn't say the blessing. My first Thanksgiving where I didn't spend the whole day in the kitchen with the other women!

It really was a great day!

On the Bus

To give you an idea of what sitting on the bus is like in China!

T-Day

Some American friends got together for Thanksgiving on Thursday night. We had breakfast for dinner. Delicious! The spread of waffles, homemade whipped cream, apple compote, homemade hashbrowns, quiche, sausage egg casserole, homemade cinnamon rolls and grits made it spectacular! Notice the paper turkey in the back! Thanks to a package from the States that came just in time to decorate with and make our meal even more festive!

Holes all around

So I'm laying in bed last night trying to go to sleep and I smell cigarette smoke! What? I don't smoke! And I'm on the fourth floor so it's not coming from outside. Oh that's right! The old guy from Japan lives above me. I'm pretty sure he must be a personal ad for the cigarette company. He's a chimney! He's really sweet, but he's a chimney!

The way our piping works in building is that they have drilled holes through the ceilings and floors putting pipes from the top floor the bottom floor. The pipes aren't in the walls they're on the outside so everyone can see them and the holes aren't sealed up real well. So...when I play my music loud the people above me as well as below me can hear it. And when Mr. Japan smokes his cigarettes at 11:30 at night the smoke drifts right on in to my apartment giving everything in here the sweet smell of cigarette smoke. You would think my apartment was a country line-dancing place where 200 people just spend hours sweating and smoking while listening to "You Think My Tractor's Sexy"! :)

No it's not really THAT bad. After sitting there a bit and smelling the smoke I just started laughing because well...this is China! Laughing is good!

Freezing!

It was 37 degrees this morning at 9:00 when I went to class and it was 37 this afternoon and it's 37 now at 9:45 at night. It is so cold here! And that's not even taking into account the wind! Apparently I haven't even seen the worst yet! Burr!

Prayers to the wrong One

Here are some pics from my little vacation trip around here. It's some old temples. I'm standing in front of a stone lion. There are actually two of them and one is male and one is female. I believe I'm standing with the female. Not sure though. The temples are very tall buildings and still to this day people go inside and burn incense and give money to Buddha. The other pictures are of the inside of the tall buildings.

Are you scared?

Probably not! I wouldn't be either:) The school started a volleyball team for the international students. We showed up and they gave us sweatbands for our wrists! It was so great! So this is me after we played! We lost last week when we played. But we won this week! The school actually brings in real teams to play us! These teams have uniforms and everything. They are serious about some volleyball! Let me tell ya!

Little creatures

So there are bugs in my room. They are these bugs that look like I cut out a small triangle out of brown paper and attached little legs to them. When you smoosh them they're yellow. Bugs completely gross me out and even typing this is making me quiver. Yuck! This is where I wish I had my brother or dad to kill it for me. Sometimes I call the girl who lives down stairs to come and kill them. Ugh! Anyway, I saw this bug one night when I was lying on my carpet reading. It crawled right past me. I freaked and dropped a weight on it. I didn't look at again until the next day when I lifted it up to take a picture of it. By the way, it wasn't dead! Even after having a weight on it over 24 hours. Erin eventually picked it up and put it outside. I just smoosh them.

Olive oil

So I bought some olive oil from the import store. I was just excited to find some here. It's called Olive Pomace Oil. I looked up the name online because it had a bit of a different flavor than what I'm used so I was curious.

This is what the internet said:

This is the lowest grade of olive oil made and should not even be considered olive oil. It is the kind used to make soap and industrial products!

What?!?! And I've been putting this in my body, making food from it and salad dressing and what not! Awful! I'm sure the Chinese have no idea what they're selling. I had no idea what I was buying! But everyone has been successfully warned now!

Heat

They turned the heat on today! Five days early! Yea!

Happenings...

So I think some exciting things have happened in the last couple of days!

I met a new girl named Katie the other night walking home from dinner. Apparently my long, wavy, blond hair is obvious even in the dark that I'm a foreigner! She came up to me and said, "You want to give me a hand with my English?" Right now? Um...I can't right now. Anyway, we set up another possible time (which probably won't happen). At the end of the conversation she tells me I have a big nose! What?!?! Thankfully an American here told me that the Chinese think Americans have big noses, but they think they're beautiful. I'm so glad I had that 'warning' if you will! I always thought I had a normal size nose :)

And after being sick for five days the little Japanese girls next door came to check on me! Wasn't that sweet? They're in my class so they noticed I wasn't there and well, that I hadn't been out of my room since, uh Saturday! (This was Wednesday.) And...MeiShui brought me roasted chestnuts! Too sweet!

Yesterday Erin and I went to lunch and I successfully ordered our lunch and understood what the lady was saying. The night before I went into the same restaurant by myself. This is the place I got when I'm alone because they have a nice upstairs where I can read in peace while I eat. Usually I have no idea what I just ordered. I point to something someone else has and then pay. This night I came in and pulled out a sheet of paper I had prepared with the characters of food that I like and then how to say it. I wanted to be able to read the menu and then tell the guy what I wanted. As soon as he saw me pull it out he started laughing, said something and then the whole restaurant erupted into laughter. Guess I'm a comedian now:)

And tonight these two old ladies commented that they thought I was French. Yes, I understood what they were saying! This has happened to me more than once! Apparently I look European! Is this good? I just don't know...

It means this...

I can't remember my own language! Everyone told me that eventually I wouldn't be able to remember English words that I used to use. I've been here a little shy of three months and it's already happening. It happens at least once a day. I'm typing an email or talking to someone and all of a sudden I'm completely dumbfounded as to the word that is supposed to go in that spot. UGH! Dictionary.com has become my new friend!

A Day at the Beach

Our last day in Qin Huang Dao was a beautiful one! It had poured our whole vacation except that last day and we were thankful because we got to put our feet in the sand and enjoy the sunshine!

The Great Wall!

I finally was able to post these. The internet has been a real pest lately! Anyway, these are pictures of my trip to The Great Wall! There's pictures of the restored part as well as the original part. The part that looks like a bunch of rocks on a path is the original. There's also a great sign telling us not to walk on the grass. It's how they say it in Chinese translated into English. When they translate things they don't always get the "exact" meaning :)

Sick

I'm sick today. I've been sick since Saturday. It's just a bad cold. But I'm laid up in bed watching movies, napping and reading. The American that lives below me is taking good care of me. She checks on me a couple of times a day and she made me chili and cornbread for dinner last night. Sick feels the same no matter what country you're in...

Drop everything!

Let me tell you what happened Tuesday!

A girl from the Waiban's office came to my door and dropped a package off. She also told me that I had another package and they wanted to know who it was from. Well...I don't know who it's from, I can't see it. So she asked what the address was that it was shipped from. I don't know, I can't see the package. So what's in the package, she asked. I don't know, I don't have the package. She looked worried and said, "You don't know the people who sent you the package?" "I'm sure I know the people I just don't know which ones cause I can't see the package." We went through this same conversation at least twice more.

She kept asking if the goods were personal cause I would have to pay a fee if they were because it was a large shipping order apparently. I told her I didn't know. I told her that if she looked on the package it would give the name of who sent it as well as the address. She told me the package was held up in Xian at the customs office because they didn't know any of the information that she was asking.

She was holding some papers and I asked to see them. There on the top sheet was Shipper/Sender information. I showed that there was the name: Land's End and there was the address it was shipped from. There was also a complete listing of what was in the package. [The Americans here went in together and ordered flannel pj pants and divided the cost of shipping.] I asked her if she understood and she said she did. She also said she needed a copy of my passport, visa and entry form. Of course, I don't have any of this on me. But the way China works is that once an order is given from the top down it is immediate. Everyone is supposed to drop everything they're doing and do whatever was asked of them. So...me being in this country I was supposed to drop everything (sleeping) and go down to a copy place and make a copy of all of this. I let her take my passport and make the copies at the office.

I thought we were done. Not so...

Ma Laoshi sends Aiyi to my room to tell me that I have to come down to the Waiban's office right now and talk to her. I'm in my pajamas! Aiyi is handing me my shoes and shutting the door behind me telling me to come NOW. So I'm walking out of the dorm with one shoe on as Aiyi issues me over there.

I get to the office and the only thing Ma Laoshi wants to talk about is that package again. She asks me the exact same questions the girl did and I showed her the sheet again. Then they start arguing over whether or not this sweater that another girl ordered had a hood on it or not and what type of material it was. I don't know! It's not my sweater! I think I made up something to tell them so they would quit going on about it. It was absolutely hilarious!

If I come back to the States and do everything last minute and expect all of you to drop what you're doing immediately, please forgive me. It was drilled into me here! :)

Highlights of my vacation to the coast!

I know you've seen and you will see pics, but let me tell you some things as well...

Highlights:
1. Riding a train for the first time.
2. For western restaurant since I left the States-Pete's Tex Mex and Grill
3. Real ice cream.
4. First experience in a hostel.
5. See Jenny Lou's (import store) and all it has to offer next time in Beijing!
6. Starbuck's coffee-and buying a bag of decaf to take home!
7. The Great Wall
8. Hiking the Wall in the rain.
9. Summiting the peak next to the Wall.
10. PB&J sandwiches 5x during the vacate.
11. Being with a large group of people my age and in my same stage in life.
12. Laughing 'til I cried.
13. Finding a book store that sold English novels.
14. McDonald's
15. Homemade chips and salsa
16. Homemade apple pie a la mode (my fave).
17. Eating pork (I can't do it in Yinchuan.)
18. Going to the beach and putting my feet in the sand and basking in the sunlight!
19. Band pics.
20. Acting like I was 19 again and back in college!
21. Expensive, delicious coffee that our friends shared so graciously!
22. Making up themes for girls' night!

It was an awesome trip and so refreshing to the soul!

Vacation to Beijing

Some pics of our trip east. There's a pic of the countryside (taken from the train-18 hours from Yinchuan to Beijing) and a picture of Beijing (that was actually an extremely clear day), me at a Western restaurant that we went to called Pete's. It was fabulous!

No heat

One, I'm back from vacation in Qin Huang Dao. I was greeted by cold weather here in Yinchuan. It was seriously like 40 degrees yesterday. I'm wearing long underwear and as many layers as I can get under my jacket and jeans. I've got all the accessories going on as well. The big deal, there's no heat in any of the buildings in the whole country. The country controls the heat for everyone and it doesn't turn on until November 1. So...even though the weather gets colder outside as winter presses on, this is said to be the coldest time of year because there's no break from it. It's usually even colder inside because the sun can't shine in there! Brrrrr!!!!!!

October School Trip

Some pics from our school trip out in the dessert. There's our trek through the dessert, eating a normal spread of Chinese food, big plate of what's supposed to be lamb (but mostly fat) and then the skin left over from the roasted lamb. Nice bow on top, huh? :)

Mafan

"Mafan" means trouble in Chinese. And this word comes up a lot in conversation no matter who you're talking with, Chinese or American. The Chinese use it because they refer to anything that's considered more than easy or not a little effort to be mafan. They often say they don't want to do something because it's "mafan". We Americans use it in reference to how things are done here. It causes mafan for us because it's different than we would have done it. Today is a perfect examples...

Erin and I went to lunch today and then got bubble tea afterwards. (Bubble tea is a milk tea [you pick the flavor] with little rice balls on the bottom.) Delicious! I tried the new flavor, honeydew. This is a treat for us!

We headed straight to Ningda Chaoshi to buy a hairdryer for me (I can't handle the natural look anymore), tea, conditioner, band-aids, lotion and chocolate milk. (Some of this was Erin's too:)) We put our purses in the lockers (you can't take them in with you). We head in... A lady stops us. I, of course, have no idea what she's saying so I proceed. Erin, who speaks Chinese pretty well understood and stopped. "You can't take those in." she said. She was afraid we would spill it. You can let your child pee on the floor if he REALLY has to go but 25-year olds can't take bubble tea in. We returned to the lockers and put our bubble tea in. MAFAN

We get the hairdryer and go to pay for it. Two things you have to understand: One, between 12:00 and 2:30 is rest time and there aren't a lot of people working anywhere. Two, you have to pay for what you got in the department in which you bought it in. We go to pay for the hairdryer and there's no one at the desk because it's rest time so we have to go to main checkout and pay. MAFAN We pay and she bags it. We attempt to go back in with it but she won't let us keep the bag if we're going to continue shopping. We can take the hairdryer, but not the bag. MAFAN.

We buy the band-aids and lotion and have to pay for that separate than the conditioner and the tea. MAFAN

It probably all seems so small to everyone reading, but when these little things happen multiple times/day, everyday, they can wear on you fast. It's not that it's the wrong way to do things, it's just different. And when you've spent 25 years doing things a certain way it's hard to get used to a different way. You know? Can't wait the family to visit next summer. They'll experience MAFAN! :)

But on a good note...I'm feeling much more content here this week. It's becoming less one-sided on the States side as far as consuming my thoughts. It's so good!

I leave on Saturday for my first school trip!

Oh and I have Nigerians in my class now! Three of them!

Wrong language!

Every time I have to count or refer to numbers for any reason I find myself speaking French. It's like I know that I have to speak something other than English and so...French comes out! Even if I've counted to nine in Chinese I finish with the French word for ten, dix. It's awful cause no one understand me then, not even the other Americans! I have to laugh at myself though.

Some more pics too...

This is me, Erin and April. We went out for one last "hooray" before school started. We headed into Old City to eat some very yummy Thai food. Some of the best non-Indian curry I've ever put in my mouth. The restaurant had much more to offer than the food. It also had air-conditioning, seats with backs on them, free napkins, pictures on the menu, and it was quiet! It was so wonderful! For a moment there I thought I was in a restaurant in America. It was a very short moment, but it was there:)

Split Pants

This is for you mom! You've been dying to see it! You can't see it all that clearly but the little girl is wearing split pants. Children wear them until they're potty trained and little boys sometimes where them until after. The pants are split and open down the front and back making it easy for the child to go to the bathroom at any time and any place they need to. This picture was taken at a major shopping center downtown right in front of KFC. The child just squats down and goes. It's easier on the parent, not having to think about diapers or diaper bags. The children even where these in the dead of winter. They'll have on the puffiest most warm clothes and then a split down the middle of the pants. (I'll try and get a better picture sometime!)

Take A Seat

This is the typical resting position. If there's not a chair they squat down like this. Whether they're in the grocery store, or on the side on the road or whatever. It's actually harder to do than you think. If your calf muscles aren't used to being stretched that way or ankles being bent like that, it can be hard to sit like that for any extended period of time. I can't do it for long. But the Chinese can do it for what seems like forever!

Culture everywhere you turn

So yesterday was the epitamy of cultural experiences here. Let me take you through my day...

I went to class like normal. My Reading teacher asked for the homework to which I responded to her with a dropped jaw and eyes wide! What homework? Me and two Korean girls had no idea what she was talking about. Apparently she had written it up on the board and only the Japanese classmates could read it enough to know it was homework she was assigning. I politely asked her to tell me next time she assigned homework.

During break one of the teachers informed me that myself and the rest of the new foreign students would be going to Old City at 2:30 that day to apply for a residence permit. Here, it's very normal that you are told what you're going to do or what you need to do at the very last moment possible. And because they have dropped everything to do it at that moment you are expected to as well, no matter what you're doing. So...at 2:30 that afternoon I was going to Old City.

After class I went to lunch where I successfully received what I thought I had ordered and it was delicious! I went on to the chaoshi (supermarket) to get some ingredients to make a cake for the pizza place. Everything went fine. I go home to make the cake and I use the oil I bought. Apparently I bought peanut oil because the cake tastes like peanuts instead of a spice cake. One downside to not being able to read yet.

At 2:30 I met everyone to head to Old City. There were like 20 of us. It was actually a great ride, getting to talk to new people. They provided us with water and a bus with cushy seats. We get to the police station and it's chaos! Typical here. This culture doesn't do lines so you better pay attention or someone is going to swoop in and get in front of you. Basically each person is going up to the counter to fill out a form, get their picture taken and give them their passport to get a residence permit put inside. Two and half hours go by and myself, another American and a Korean guy still have not been seen. We ask about it and we go to the counter and the lady there says that we don't need to get a residence permit because we already have student visas. :) Yes, we just smiled because we knew that we had just wasted three hours of our day. Our teacher and the lady behind the counter talked and they said they needed to take out picture. I am pretty sure they only did that to make us feel like we did actually go there for some purpose. (It wasn't a complete waste-I spent three hours getting to know people that otherwise probably would not have on that day. I did actually enjoy it, I was just exhausted!)

I then go home to make something else because the cake I made earlier was peanuty. I made some cookies. But while I have the microwave defrosting the butter and the oven is preheating I switch a breaker. Only, it's not one in my room. All of those are fine but nothing in my apartment is working. I have to call Aiyi to come and flip the breaker in the hall. She sees my big commercial oven that the pizza shop gave me and she is mad! She is yelling in Chinese. Thank goodness I couldn't understand her. Sometimes ignorance really is bliss! NOTE: do not run the oven and the microwave at the same time.

So there you have it. My day here. Just typical cultural things. I tell the other foreigners here and they laugh because it's all happened to them at one time or another:) It really was an eventful and entertaining day! :)

The Primp Place

Sorry it took me so long to get these up. You won't believe how much time I DON'T have! So...here are some pics of my bathroom. I know, not too exciting. I'm just giving you guys a look into my WHOLE living space! I'll put pics up of my bedroom/den later! Notice the nice piping effect! It brings a sort of rustic feel to it doesn't it? Some people pay big money for rustic and here I have it for practically nothing! :)

Surprise-two fold!

So...I got a package! This is actually my second as my parents sent me one about a week and a half ago. I headed down to Old City yesterday with a friend to pick up my package! Inside were the ever-precious chocolate chips (4 bags!), microwave popcorn which I was wishing I had yesterday morning sitting in class :), and chewing gum (so yummy!). Thank you Millers! And Meredith wrote me the sweetest card that was so cool looking! I opened the package on the bus ride home with all the locals looking over my shoulder wondering what foreigners like:) They all "oohed" and "awed" over the card. They love beautiful things too!

The other surprise was at the Post Office. Apparently, you have a week to pick up something after they send you the form that states you have a package. I got the slip on Monday and went down there yesterday. They told me I had until Wednesday to pick it up or I had to pay a fee. They charged me 1.5 yuan. I know, it's not much. But it was the principle of it. Can you imagine going to the US post office and them charging you to hold a package? It's just part of the life here:) So I paid my 1.5 yuan and got my package! It was definitely worth it! Next time I'll know that I need to get to the PO ASAP!

Cultural Observation

While watching a movie with a friend here I made an observation. There are no other nationalities represented here other than Asian. It didn't occur to me until watching this movie and seeing other types of people.

Coming from the melting pot of the world and then coming to a country where everyone looks the same is so different! I think the reason we don't stare at everyone is because we're so used to seeing all different types of people. Here they're only used to seeing people that look like them. This is most likely the reason they continually stare. That, and because it's not considered rude here at all!

I'm trying to get into the habit of staring at people like they do to me. Not to be rude but to be one with the culture:) It's hard when you're taught your whole life not to stare:)

Pics of the kitchen

Food

This is a "dishes" place. Everyone eats off the same plates with your own little bowl of rice. You take one or two bites from the dish and put it in your bowl and then scoop up some rice to go along with it. It's one of the more healthier options because it's your choice of whether or not you want to eat all the carbs (rice).

The City and the South Gate

These are some pics of the south gate at the school. I walk through this gate almost daily. There are shops around and restaurants. The little stand is where I like to go to get bing liu cha or bing hong cha (cold green or black tea). They also serve soft-serve ice cream. The ladies who own it help me by correcting my pronunciation and telling me the names of things. They're really sweet!