Nanjing

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We all new that we had a vacation from school this week, but nobody would tell us whether it was for three, or four, or five days. The original plan was to go to Chengdu and see the Pandas, but we were afraid we woudn't have time. A quick search for the cheapest plane tickets possible brought up Nanjing, and here we (Den, Darla, and myself) are, at a dusty hostel where no one speaks English (It's supposedly an international hostel, but the staff seemed rather surprised at the event of international guests.).

Nanjing itself is a very pleasant city with lots of trees, where people obey traffic laws, and things seem to make a lot more logical sense than they do in Wuhan. It also has the distinction of being warm and sunny (If we'd stayed at home, as we almost did, we woud have been facing five days of steady rain.). It's not exactly a prime tourist location, but I imagine it would be a very nice place to live.

Today we rode a rickety cable car to the top of a nearby mountain. My companions were fearing for their lives. I probaby ought to be more alarmed about riding something that looks like a decrepit park bench while suspended by a screeching wire, but I thought it was fun. One of the more ridicuous sights was a couple who had decided to take their gigantic siberian husky up the mountain with them, and were having to work to keep the dog calm as their bench swung in the air. The top of the mountain had a nice view of Nanjing, and the obligatory giant Buddha statue (I think every mountain in China has a giant Buddha statue... as well as every cave, lake, and valley. To be fair, the one I saw today was especially giant).

After some deliberation about how to get down the mountain, we hopped back on the cable cars and rode down. I suppose that would be mountain climbing for lazy people. At the bottom we walked around, and went to the Ming dynasty tomb park. It was a huge park, and one could easily pass an entire day there. It had a tomb (as the name would suggest), but it was locked. There were lots of interesting statues and artifacts around the park. We wandered and took lots of pictures. Tonight we're going to see about finding a night market.


At the moment I'm back at the hostel, drawing somewhat of an audience, by virtue of existing and not being Chinese. Currently there are six people standing around the reference desk discussing how I seem to have caught a cold (Not really. I had one last week, but I'm better now. I've just resigned myself to having a hacking cough as long as I reside in China), how I came from Wuhan. how I'm with two friends, how I'm writing something, and how I don't understand what they're saying.


Since I haven't written anything in awhile, I'll do some quick updates. I decided against going to Europe this summer, in favor of taking classes on how to be a good teacher. I figure that I ought to concentrate on getting as educated as I can, while I can, and leave any dreams of wandering around Germany for some point in my life when it makes logical sense to have them. The teaching classes will last for one month, and give me a very good certification. By this time next year I should be considered very competitive in the TESL job market, between certifications and experience. The course is in Zhuhai, which is just a short ferry ride away from Hong Kong and Macau. I don't have any desire to see Hong Kong, but I think I will, because I know I'm supposed to want to see Hong Kong, do to it being...well, Hong Kong. I've been reading up on Macau, and I'm hugely excited to see it. It should be a decent month, with a fair amount of exploring crammed in between the work I expect I'll be doing. After that, I'll have a month to myself, to do whatever I please in Asia, insofar as my funds hold out (I think they'll hold out pretty far, because the school is giving me money to pay for a plane ticket to America that I'm not buying, and because I've saved a lot this semester, and because we get a bonus at the end of our contract.). I'd like to think that I'll be seeing my favorite German musical in Japan, but despite my current proximity to Japan, such a trip might not work out to be any cheaper than going to see said musical in Germany.

And that's all. If something interesting happens, I'll update this again. Until then, rest assured that I haven't been kidnapped by robots, mauled to death by a horde of angry three year olds, been run over by a motercycle while walking on the sidewalk, or met with any other unseemly fate (however possibe the last two fates may be.).

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Comments

[Bruce R Jones]

Nanjing sounded interesting and your summer plans sounded good too......Missing you in K'Prt and hoping you are well.....Bruce, Betty, and Carole