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I'm in a new city! Two more nights in Taian, then off to another city. I'm typing from a seedy internet cafe where other chinese teens are playing creepy games as we americans type furiously to back home! I thought I would send a update, however.
A couple nights ago we had a new meal.... hot pot. As if I wasn't bad enough with chopsticks already let's introduce boiling hot water & raw meat. It was like bad fondue, with gross meat. I accidentally ate what appeared to be a "fish ball" and splattered myself with various other sauces in an attempt to eat. My finger now has a callus, and forks are becoming more and more rare fortunately without boiling water I can eat slowly with some success.
Yesterday I rushed furiously to buy a new camera since mine had died. I really wanted to get a new one before I left but decided I was being spoiled. Its screen stopped working & focusing, and I really didnt want to miss out on anything. I found a department store & spent lots of yuen on my visa to make more memories. Eek. We went to a wal-mart in tianjin (ha ha) but they only accepted domestic credit cards 😞 Anyway, then the train ride here yesterday was indescribable...... we were in sleeper cars which sounded really nice.. until it was 3 bunks on each side in a tiny little car..... us on the top bunks... with strange Chinese men on the others. Thank god they were there in the beginning to shimmy our suitcases up, and then i stayed in my little top bunk laughing at Ellen trying to be comfortable in hers. Some girl dropped her credit card down the toilet..... funny funny stuff. It was a tiny hole too, so she must've been doing something weird. Oh well. 8 hours later... here we are.
Over 6000 steps later... the Taishan mountain has been climbed. What a great day. Wow. I wish I had brought my postcards so I could type out some of the history.. basically it's one of the 5 sacred mountains in China & a huge deal. Amanda & I climbed up together; some of the group rode a cable car. Not only would this have made me hyperventilate.. but I enjoy saying I climbed a mountain rather than rode up to the top & back down 😊 We ate lunch at the hotel at the top, climbed to the summmit, peered around, took pictures, and then went back down. The way down was about a million times easier. The scenery was BREATHTAKING & there were several different inscribed, red chinese symbols on the rocks that I wish I could've read. I still cannot believe I climbed the whole thing... some of them were so steep it was tough to believe anyone ever carved them. I have crazy pictures. There were neat little temples with people praying in different areas, and soooo many older people making us look like slobs. Amanda & I made friends with a mom & daughter... she kept telling us "let's go!" becuase we were resting.. she plays ping pong every morning. phew, i need to start. It was such a rush at the top, and when we came out from lunch we were actually IN a cloud. Crazy.
The food is still wearing thin... the things they deem edible & yummy just boggle my mind. I'm trying to sustain myself anyway. Tomorrow we're driving to Qufu for the day; the birthplace of Confucius. I'm very excited to see a forest that sounds pretty cool & explore more parts of China. The day after..... another 9 hour train ride. Hopefully actually in seats. EWW! People still keep taking pictures with us, makes me laugh everytime. Again, not sure when I'll write but hopefully soon! Love, steff.
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Mom
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Hi
What an adventure you're having! I love that you're interacting with the people and trying to use chopsticks. Ha, I'd love to see that. Glad that you got a new camera, I would hate to have you miss any memories. Love you much.