Could have been worse...

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So you know how I said I wouldn't be online/blogging much since Ralph's laptop died? Yeah I lied. Whenever he's in class teaching English I don't really have a lot else to do so I go on the computers at his work. Although I can't go on facebook of course, boo. But I did remember to bring my camera and lead in, so you can actually have photos this time!

Anyway so today I almost fainted for the first time in my life! Fun times. We were going to try and go to Beihei park but half way through the subway trip I just felt like I was going vomit, then had a massive head rush despite not having just stood up. So we went home instead. Soooo Beihei park will have to wait for another day. I think maybe it was just because I hadn't actually had breakfast and it was hot and stuff... So, moral of the story, always eat breakfast!

Speaking of eating, many of you told me I had to eat weird stuff while I was away. Well I feel I have started that admirably by trying a pea flavoured ice-cream. That's right, pea flavoured. Funnily enough it was foul! (I will forestall any jokes by saying that yes, I know, could have been worse - could have been pee flavoured) Next up, donkey meat! There's a place nearby that sells it. They also apparantly do this thing where they cook tofu in poo. Yeah, I definitely won't be trying that one.

On Sunday I went to church with 2 of the American guys that work with Ralph (Ralph was originally supposed to come too but then one of his classes got rearranged so he couldn't, so hopefully he'll come next week). It was a really interested experience and I got a bit choked up about it all. Religion here is really strictly controlled as the government don't like anything which might cause people to question them or to take away from their authority. So for the people that live here churches are strictly controlled and there are certain things that they can't say. You're also not allowed to tell anyone about your religion unless they ask a specific question, and then you're only allowed to answer that specific question, not say anything more. This means that the international church, in order to be able to not be censored, has to check people's ID before they can come in, to make sure that no Chinese people get in, because if they did then they wouldn't be allowed to preach certain things. As a consequence there's no open 'mission' in China, but lots of people are involved in highly illegal house churches. It just really struck me how lucky we are back home to be so free to believe and worship how we choose, and how we so easily take that for granted.

Then on Monday we went to the Lama Temple, which is the biggest working Buddist temple in China. (Buddism isn't seen as so much of a threat because it doesn't cause people to question/challenge anything) The temple was stunning and it was really interesting to see so many people praying of burning incense to Buddha. The temple is arranged in courtyards whereby you go through one temple and arrive at the next, each one getting more impressive until the very last one hold the world's largest statue of Buddha carved from a single piece of wood, which filled the entire height of the building. Sadly you weren't allowed to take photos inside, so I don't have a picture of that, but I took plenty of the buildings outside.

So that's what I've been up to. On the days when we're not doing touristy things, Ralph and I have begun writing a sitcom, which we intend to film when we get home. So don't be surprised if on my return I start hitting you all up for equipment and/or to be extras! haha

Love and miss you all! X

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Photos

Pea Ice Cream
Yum yum!

Comments

[Sarah Richardson]

Love the photo of the pea ice cream, I will leave you to be my official taster of such things and will allow you to decide so I'll not have any of that in the future then. :D Is the stuffed racoon/ panda/ bear type thing on his travels too? Do we get to see photos of where he's got to? What's his name? Keep eating breakfast. :D

[Sopho]

Haha yeah, he's a meerkat I got at the zoo before I left, the idea being to have photos of him everywhere I went. Of course I've only actually remembered to take him to the Lama temple so far, so we'll see how that goes! Dave named him something but I've forgotten what it was, so I'm going with Monty the Meerkat. :D

[Dave Dowding]

Malcolm the Meerkat!
He's called Malcolm the meerkat and I am glad he has finally appeared in your blog, I'm sure he was feeling left out!! Is the sitcom you are writing the one featuring the ice cream vans at the end of your road?!

[Sopho]

Oh yeah! That was it! :D Can't believe I forgot! hehe No, this is actually a different sitcom, based on our experiences of living in shared houses at uni. I don't think I'll ever write the ice cream van sitcom because it would be a bit culturally insensitive of me to do so, since I imagined the characters to be indian.

[Roxy Fisher]

i found you!
ooooh hia pwo-pweee!! ba-bye baby!