fancy hotel

Today Sara and I slept in until 9 in our super fancy hotel and then went down to eat breakfast. The breakfast was incredible! There were so so so many things to choose from including onion rings and sushi. There was also a ton of fruit, toast, cereal with warm milk that said it was cold, corn with peppers in it, French toast tasting bread sticks, noodles, and so much more! It was good! Odd, but good! J We then got back to our room and I took a shower in our super fancy shower and then sat down to relax in my fluffy robe and slippers the hotel provides when we got a phone call from Orange telling us that a Mom of one of our students wants to take us to lunch. So a half hour later at 11 we went to eat lunch after our super filling breakfast. Haha Orange brought her adorable little 4 year old boy whose first name in English means Star and their last name is Ling, so his name is StarLing. Cute! We met the mom and the little girl and we all went to another super fancy restaurant. We later gave the little girl options of American names she could choose from and she picked Emily, so that is her English name. Anyway, it was really good to meet her so that we know sort of what level of English our students are going to be at. She can hardly speak at all, but knows her letters and how to introduce herself. She also knows things like, “What is your favorite color?” and “Do you like?” and things like that. She is adorable.

So this restaurant was a buffet style and was delicious. We were led into a little partitioned (is that the word?) area to eat. So we got food from the buffet and then the waiter would bring in different meats on a stick and ask if we wanted to try some. We tried lamb, which was by far my favorite, pigs heart, chicken stomach or something, and regular things like pork. I won’t ever eat pigs heart again but it wasn’t so bad. Orange is so sweet because she knows what is weird to us Americans so when she tells us some of the weirder meats she always points out that we don’t have to try. Both Sara and I are really good with trying stuff though. J

After lunch we invited Emily to go swimming with us at our hotel since she loves to swim. We had to go back to the school first though because Orange told us the representative from the United States wanted to meet with us. Sara and I immediately thought it was someone from the US Embassy or something. She said, “I’m kind of nervous.” And I said, “I will just be happy to talk to someone who speaks English... He will speak English right?” and Sara said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t honestly.” Haha Then I was thinking, “Do you think they mean Jacob (the head of China Horizons) is coming to see us?” but Sara didn’t think so. Then we were walking down to meet with him and I saw Jacob walking down the sidewalk with a ton of Chinese people who were treating him like some sort of huge honored guest. We got so excited!!! He had a huge smile and I seriously wanted to cry. Haha I yelled down the sidewalk, “It is like seeing family!” and he gave us both big hugs. And we spoke English to someone besides Orange again. Haha Jacob looked around our school and looked at our future apartments and was really happy that things were so nice for us. Then we went to the hotel and I think he knew that we were really totally fine after that. He spent time talking to us though to make sure we were ok and then he left to go see the other people in other towns. He is so kind to be traveling so far to make sure everyone is ok. Jacob is awesome.

After Jacob left we all went swimming in the huge indoor swimming pool that was ice cold. Haha It felt nice though. Oh and it is definitely a normal thing for people in the dressing rooms to shower in the open and walk around with absolutely no clothes, just for future reference if you ever come to China. We met Emliy’s friend named Helen and it was so fun playing with them! They are adorable.

After swimming Sara went to work out while I took a really long hot bath. It felt amazing. I got in my fluffy bathrobe to relax for a while Orange called to ask us if we wanted to eat at her parents house for dinner. I said yes and she gave us 20 minutes before she would pick us up. Jacob warned us about how there is no since of planning like there is in America. So you never know if you will  be doing anything until like a half hour before. So we hurried and got ready then went to Orange’s parents house for dinner. It was so delicious! I was so relaxed from my super hot bath though that it was definitely difficult to look lively and carry on a conversation, but I managed. Haha It was such a good meal and it was fun to see a traditional Chinese home.

After dinner we came back to the hotel and waiting for us was a ton of fruit and milk that Emily’s mom had left for us. It was the sweetest thing. Everyone is so kind. I rinsed off in really hot water to feel relaxed and clean again and we settled down for the night to watch a movie. There are some of our China Horizons friends that are teaching at a nearby school and staying in the same hotel as us right now who came over to watch a movie with us. It was so fun to see them! They are teaching at a middle school and their apartments are being remodled which is why they are here at the hotel. It was so fun to talk to them and see what their experience has been like so far. Even though we are in the same city and at the same hotel it is amazing to see how completely different our experiences have been so far!

In case you are wondering, I so far haven’t had any problem with getting sick from the food. Annie was right as usual! I have been just fine! J

Sara- what is your email? Email me. I love you!