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Published: September 25th 2011
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Now that our classes are in full swing, I’m fully appreciating time and mourning my lack of it. I hardly have a free moment anymore what with studying and doing homework, writing blogs and journals for class. I really do love this though. I always feel like I’m accomplishing something, and there is always more to do. Even if I don’t necessarily enjoy writing articles, I’m thankful for this internship because it provides me with so much information about Hangzhou and new restaurants and venues we can visit. Now I just need to get off my butt, get over my slight anxiety of exploring and get out there.
In two weeks we have the National Holiday, which means a week long break from classes for us. We’re starting to plan out where we want to go, as this is the perfect time to make a couple trips. I’m definitely going to Xian to see the terracotta army. I’d also like to try somewhere in the south, maybe by the coast. A beach sounds really good right now. And there are some cool islands to visit as well if we take that route.
Wednesday we went to Ellen’s for
an assignment from the magazine. They are doing a piece on burgers in Hangzhou, and going to different restaurants to try and write reviews about them. I got to review Ellen’s burgers. Here’s my thoughts:
Everyone knows Ellen’s Café is a cheap, fun place for foreign students to hang out. You can get cheap beer, listen to Western music and write whatever thoughts you have on the wall in permanent marker. Of course one couldn’t serve Western food without having burgers, and that’s what I came to Ellen’s to try. The burger isn’t bad by normal standards, but it certainly wasn’t the best I’ve ever had. The bun is a little too big for the amount of meat, and if you don’t like onions, I wouldn’t suggest ordering this, as the onions are mixed right in with the meat. But for 22 kuai you can get a decent burger served with even better French fries. I wouldn’t compare Ellen’s burger to other restaurant burgers; it’s more similar to fast food burgers like McDonalds. (And I think I prefer McDonalds).
We met Jenny (my Chinese pen pal) and her roommate there for dinner which was nice because I haven’t seen her for awhile. She’s going to let us know the next time they go to a KTV (karaoke) and we can come along! She also told us about an English Corner at Zijingang Campus (the largest campus of Zhejiang University). I hope we can go there sometime, as those will all be students our age. We might be able to meet more friends there than at the West Lake English Corner since those are mostly adults.
Last night Kelsey, Brittany, Guiliani, and I went to He Fang Street to check out the shops there. I got a couple scarves and some chopsticks. It looks so cool at night with all the lights on the traditional buildings. There is so much to look at, even if you don’t want to buy anything. We got back about 11 and I went right to bed. Today
was pretty low key; I got to sleep in and workout then did homework and researched where to stay when we go to Xi’an and another city to visit. I need to talk to Mubin about my options though to make sure they are good places. We need to get our train tickets soon too. It will be harder to do later since everyone will be traveling during the holiday.
Tomorrow is another English Corner; I feel like I haven’t been there in forever! And we are going to a KTV in the afternoon with Fangshu so that should be fun. She said they have English songs, so maybe I’ll actually try it.
Also, here is a montage of pictures of all the different lions I have seen around the city. They stand outside pretty much every business and restaurant as guardians. Many are the same, but I’ve caught some of the variants for you to enjoy. So enjoy!
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Jas
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Lions...
So what is the purpose of the lion guardian? Who are they guarding from the stores?