Maggie and Jo have been telling us how great it is to visit the hot springs during the winter. The temperature dropped and Cori's sister, Jessi, was in town so we decided to make the trip. When we woke up at 6 we peeked out the windows to find the trees topped with fresh snow. Cori, Jo, Jessi and I left at 7am to begin our 4 hour journey outside of the city. We drove through the rural areas as the snow began to fall harder and harder. We arrived at the hot springs resort. there is a hotel and a [View Full Entry]

---

---

We had a wonderful week traveling through Hong Kong. Our plans changed a million times due to finals schedules and the fact that we as Americans really enjoy planning ahead whereas the Chinese dont even have a schedule until the week of. It has made things difficult while we are planning our travels but Sarah and I made it work and we went to Hong Kong for one week. Dan and his girlfriend Jo, who was visiting from England, left the day before us. We took an overnight train which still gets me excited because this form of travel is not [View Full Entry]

---

---

China loves Christmas almost as much as I do, thank God!! I have been lucky enough to have many pieces of home with me during this Christmas season. My wonderful Mother has been giving me gifts each day of December. Many of the gifts have been crafts and projects, which I love lots!!! My friends have soon learned how I lack will power because I will try and open gifts days too early. I have enjoyed making stockings for my friends with lots of fun glitter. I also loved gluing together the foam nativity scene. It has been a perfect way [View Full Entry]

---

---

David invited us see a traditional Chinese music concert at the Wuhan Conservatory of Music. He and Barbara had been invited by the owner of a music shop where they had previously purchased some instruments. Tuesday night six of us piled into a black market van taxi and arrived at the store where the owner was waiting to walk us to the conservatory. We found out that it was an ErHu (air hoo) concert featuring other instruments. An ErHu is a string instrument with a long neck and a small cylindrical body at the bottom where snake skin is stretched. There [View Full Entry]

---

---

Thanksgiving was beginning to look pretty grim for us Americans living in a country where people have never even seen a turkey before let alone stuffing. We were going to make the best with what we had, until we were invited by our American friend who works at the Shang ri La to a western buffet. The seven of us and the two Seamens took the trip across the river to this really nice hotel. We were the first group there, I like to Christen buffets, and we just walked aroud in awe of the spread. The best was the cheese. [View Full Entry]

---

---

We have been so lucky to have had the most beautiful fall weather last week. It is amazing to walk outside and feel as though it is September at home when in reality it is the day before thanksgiving. This week we spent time with our friends Jo and Maggie. Maggie wanted to cook some traditional dishes for us and sarah makes a mean scrambler so we decided to have a "banquet" as Jo called it, at my house. Maggie made excellent fish and peppers. She also made egg and tomato, which is very popular, and cucumber, pepper and chicken. It [View Full Entry]

---

---

I haven't been doing anything of any grand importance but I have had a lot of time wandering our beautiful campus and observing people. One of the greatest parts about teaching early in the morning is that on my way to the English building I pass the park. The park has many trees and benches and a large concrete area where many people gather. Around 7 am there are about 5 different groups of people gathered to practice Dai Qi (tai chi), the art of movement of energy. Many also dance with fans or tambourines or scarves or flags. The groups [View Full Entry]

---

---

We have been fortunate enough to meet two graduate students; Maggie and Jo. These girls sit in on Sarah's classes to improve their English, which needs little improvement. They have befriended us and taken us to many places throughout Wuhan. Jo is a local and so she wants to show us everything in the city. Last night we went with them to Hankou to a haunted house. The haunted house was located inside a sports arena/arcade which was in the basement of a shopping centre. The arena had lots of badminton courts filled with businessmen playing competitively. There was also a [View Full Entry]

---

---

So we decided as tourists of Wuhan we needed to find all of the things we have been spotting in China that are different to our American eyes and get photo documentation. Cori created a list of things that we see everyday and have become used to seeing but are not common things to see in America. We split into two teams. I was on team HeyHeyHey (like Fat Albert) which consisted of Cori, Sarah and myself. We gave ourselves four hours to travel anywhere in Wuhan to find the long list of items. It was such a great experience I [View Full Entry]

---

---

The last three weeks have been a whirl wind. I will try to recap the most exciting moments just so I can be caught up into November. We have neighbors in our building, Mr. and Mrs. Seamen. They are Americans from Georgia. David is a teacher at CCNU starting the French program here and teaches French at Georgia southern university. David is 67 and acts like he is our age, and Barbara celebrated her 56th birthday October 20. David threw a party for her at their apartment and invited all of us. We watched American Football games, ate Chili (barbara made [View Full Entry]

---

---