Today I learned just how beautiful Hangzhou is. We went hiking in the hills and it is amazing! The first part was a little painful though; the stairs were quite steep and went on forever. But we finally made it to a more level area, or at least a path with no steps. Periodically, we could see patches of the city between the trees, but once we reached the top, we could see the whole city stretched out below us. Absolutely breathtaking! Between the humidity and the light rain, we were all dripping and out of breath. Miss Li told us the trail from end to end is about 7 kilometers and we will be doing the whole thing later this semester. She wants to give us time to get ready for it though, so we ... read more

I cannot wait until it gets cold! It’s the second day in Hangzhou, and it is too hot! We can actually see the sky today (it’s been overcast or smoggy) but that only makes the sun hotter. We don’t have the luxury of air conditioning as in the United States either. Our rooms have air conditioners, but we’re only allowed 60 kilowatts of power per month, and running the air conditioner constantly would use that up in about 3 days. For those of you who know me, you can imagine how much I dislike this. But I’m not complaining (just in my head) and trying to enjoy the experience. We’re at the Central apartment now, so I do get to enjoy some air conditioning now. We went on a campus search earlier with a list of ... read more