And day four I go!
It's the weirdest thing to think about; that I only have three days left. It just doesn't feel like I'm leaving. I've been looking forward to home, yet there's no body clock countdown... you know that internal timer that makes your heart start beating faster when you get close to "time's up!" It probably won't hit me until until I'm on the plane. I think it's because my excitement comes from being home, not from leaving here, if that makes sense.
Another good day to add to my last week, though! I went with Hannah (Sylvie's friend) to Tienyige this morning. That's the old library I went to with the fam a couple weeks ago. I know I'd already been, but I really wanted to get out of the house and see more of China before I leave. It was great being out and about! We grabbed a cab and made it there for 13 Yuan (about $2). We walked around the library, and I enjoyed the beautiful gardens all over again.
After the library, we headed off to see Moon lake. It took a little wandering, but we got there without trouble. (For those of you who don't know, my normally horrible sense of direction becomes compass-like in foreign countries. I don't know why). It was really neat actually, we found our way not by main roads, but by wandering through an almost inner-city village. I can hardly describe it. Narrow streets with tiny living quarters, no real floors, no paned windows, and roofs that looked like they were hundreds of years old. Tattered apartment like buildings with the laundry hanging out all the barred windows. Chinese characters on little store fronts on the street with random assortments of who-knows-what. Yet despite how horrible it all sounds, it wasn't. It was quaint. It's a truly humble life that these people live, and that somehow erases any unfavorable perspective. The hole in the wall (size-wise) food places that are probably too dirty to even stand in, really don't seem that dirty or unsanitary. That's just how it is. It the hardest thing to explain...
Moon lake was super pretty, more of a "city" feel though as it is back out in the open area out of the area we had walked through to find it. We walked the whole way around it, stopping here and there to wander through a side garden or take a picture of a beautiful view. We saw people playing Chinese chess at stone tables that have the playing boards etched in. There was an old man doing Tai Chi and plenty of people just kind of lazing around. We had plenty of people trying to talk to us; they are somehow able to carry on conversations despite the fact that we speak no Chinese. The old Chinese are the best though. I have no idea what they are saying, but you can tell they just have so much character.
We bought some Chinese breads and rolls for lunch, which were really good. (Not to mention super cheap... 2-5 Quai, or 30-60 cents) Can't get better than that! We decided to call it a day after 3 hours of exploring and sweating. And i was able to tell the taxi driver how to get to my house after reaching Dong Hu... Zuo gui, You gui, Zuo gui (give or take the spelling!).
All in all a good day! Worked in the afternoon, dinner, some time to myself, and now bed! Couldn't ask for more, really!
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