relaxed diligence: November 2007

I know it seems like all I do is go on vacation, and well, it is. :) To take a break from vacationing, I go to class. This weekend's adventure with my class was to Suzhou and Shanghai. On Friday, we went to gardens and a silk factory in Suzhou for part of the day and continued on till Shanghai for the rest of the weekend. It wasn't really a strictly planned vacation so we were free to do what we wanted the whole time. The best part was when we all took a little cruise boat tour in the harbor and you can see all the new and jazzy buildings in Shanghai. This is the last trip we had a class so we'll have to see what else my friends and I can plan before we go back to the US.

This is Suzhou gardens with a Pagoda and me with my Chinese "MOM", Professor Zhou.

This is still Suzhou and the silk worm cocoons which actually what silk comes from. 7,000 cocoons make 1 silk blanket.

This is Shanghai with all the lights. My friends Ray, Bethany, and Hannah (middle).

This is one of the coolest buildings in Shanghai.

Part of the Study Abroad to China includes a ten-day trip touring China in the middle of the two blocks. We left on October 21 and we got back on October 31. It was sooooo much fun. We saw tons but it was not overwhelming. There was a excellent balance of culture and recreation; you can only see so many different Buddhist temples before they start to look the same. We first went to a city called Luo Yang and saw a famous temple where they study martial arts. We saw people throw nails through glass and amazing acrobatics. We also went to Xi'an and saw the Terra-cotta warriors. They are 2,200 years old. Our country's history has nothing to compare. We also went to Beijing where we saw Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, Ming Tombs, the Great Wall, and some amazing shopping. Here are the pictures of our adventure: (The first couple are before the trip. Our turtle, Enrique, and a visit to a culture village.)

The left picture was when I went into a big bubble and rolled around on top of a lake. It was super fun but really tiring.

The right is an embarrassing picture of me when I dressed up for Salsa dancing. Trip: The other two pictures are of the Long Men Caves. They are Buddhist caves that are over 1500 years old.

More ancient Buudhas, my first attempt at a French braid, and my tandem bicycle experience on the top of the Xi'an city wall (100's of years old).

These are the Terra-cotta warriors. They are over 2200 years old. They were originally painted and each held a different weapon. Their purpose was to guard the emperor's reign after his death. They have found over 6,000 warriors to date.

This is a room of stone tablets that have Confucius' writings on them some 600 years old. The dinner-dance show had some crazy looking dumplings and some interesting dances.

Tiananmen Square and the scenes from the Forbidden City.

Our retreat at Hard Rock Cafe Beijing, our friends with similar hats at the summer palace and my adventure on a dragon boat.

This is the inside of the Temple of Heaven where the Emperor would go twice a year and communicate with God. The others are pictures of the Great Wall with the autumn colors.