countdown

today in our free time, we may or may not have done a count down.

we figured out that as of today we have:

7 days left until our halfway mark

18 days until Xian and Beijing

36 days left of teaching

54 days left until Yangshuo

74 days left in China

time really does go so fast. we have already been here for 62 days. how crazy is that?

i wouldn't trade these 4 1/2 months for anything.

we have already done so much, learned new things, and had an experience of a lifetime.

the next 74 days will be amazing, i can only wait to see what they have in store.

-k

planning a trip

who knew that planning a trip could be so much work?

i have always been the beneficiary of my mom's hard work and planning when it comes to vacations. i have never really sat down, planned out the details, tried to find sleeping accommodations, thought of the expenses, etc.

i guess i never really understood that it takes a lot of time and a lot of thinking.

why am i writing a blog post about this you ask?

last night for a good 3 or 4 hours figuring out train rides, hostels, tourist destinations, and costs for our next vacation.

we are going beijing and xian!

here is the tentative itinerary that we planned:

april 29: leave to beijing around noon

april 30: arrive in beijing in the afternoon

pm: shopping

may 1: beijing

am: tiananmen square/forbidden city

pm: options- chinese opera, chinese acrobats, shopping

may 2: beijing

am: beijing zoo

pm: silk market and pearl factory

may 3: beijing

all day: GREAT WALL "mutianyu"

may 4: beijing

am: options-temple of heaven, summer palace, olympics, bell tower, silk market, pearl factory

pm: chinese acrobats, chinese opera, shopping

may 5: leave to xian late at night

am: options-temple of heaven, summer palace, olympics, bell tower, silk market, pearl factory

may 6: arrive in xian in the morning

am: terracotta warriors

pm: shopping

may 7: ½ day in xian, leave for home between 2-4 pm

am: muslim quarters

may 8: arrive home in the evening

sounds pretty great right?

-k

walking street adventure

today we went to walking street. it was definitely a day for the books.

not only did we try some of the best food, we tried the some of the most interesting food, and ran into some interesting people.

here is what we tried today:

1-a chinese crepe that had eggs, green onions, oregano, peanuts, and some other unknown ingredients. IT WAS SO GOOD. I call it the chinese burrito, it was the closest thing to mexican i have had since i arrived in china.

2-ice cream. sounds pretty normal right? get this...the flavors were watermelon and cactus. interestingly enough, it was really good.

3-squid on a stick. the taste was good, but the texture was N-A-S-T-Y. it was definitely a one time thing.

4-a "choco mucho" bar. anything that is chocolate and costs 2 yuan, is worth it. just saying.

while we were at mcdonalds today waiting for 2 of the girls we were meeting up with, this old chinese lady just stood outside the window staring at us. when we looked at her, she started to dance for us and just laugh. we thought it was pretty funny. when we went outside she started following one of the girls in our group. we had her turn randomly and start running and slow down--all these different things to see if this chinese lady was really following her. every motion kendra did, the chinese lady made sure to follow. it was funny for the first few minutes, but she wouldn't stop. we had to get a guard to tell her to leave us alone while we hid in a dvd store. it was pretty great.

-k