海滩天

Like I said in my last post, Rachel and I had a lot of fun in Cixi with Arlene and her family. But, the final day we spent with them was definitely the best... because we got to go to the beach!

I didn't realize how much I'd miss the beach, but I suppose after living so close to it for four years, I became a little spoiled. So when we found out that Arlene didn't live too far from a beach, we made a request to spend some time there. And it was great! The weather was hot, the water felt good and the sun was bright. It was a perfect way to spend the day - it just doesn't feel like summer without some beach time.

It turns out, it was Arlene's parents first time at the beach, which Rachel and I did not realize at first. So, when we sprinted from the sand into the crashing waves, Arlene's parents just about had a heart attack! They thought the waves were going to swallow us - they didn't know better. However, after we explained that we had been to beaches plenty of times, they relaxed a little. They even let us take Hazel (Arlene's 11-year-old sister) into the waves a little further! She had a lot of fun. And let me tell you, that water felt good, especially after the 90-100 degree weather we've been getting in Hangzhou.

Jump if you love the ocean!! - Me and Rachel

Arlene and Hazel at the beach

And you know what else felt good? Lying out in the sun - oh how I miss it! Turns out, Rachel and I were the only ones on the beach interested in absorbing some UV rays. Chinese people are extremely concerned with having as fair skin as possible, so when it's sunny out, they wear long sleeves and sit underneath umbrellas. I'm sure they all thought Rachel and I were insane for wanting to lay out and absorb the sun. 

Me trying to get some sun and Arlene trying to hide from it

Arlene's Uncle - as Rachel said, he's "not a beach kinda guy"

And of course, we couldn't leave the beach without trying to dig a hole to America (that's how it works, right? Since all the holes we dig in America lead to China, of course!)

This might take a while...

After a great day at the beach (and a little burnt skin, of course), Rachel and I wanted to treat Arlene and her family to a dinner to thank them for all of their hospitality. So where did we take them? Pizza Hut, of course! We wanted to give them a true American dining experience. When we told them that in America, we eat the pizza with our hands, their jaws literally dropped. And while we couldn't get Arlene's parents to eat the pizza with their hands, they did manage to eat some chicken wings without their chopsticks or other utensils. It was a lot of fun to be able to share a little of home with them, especially after they had shared so much of their home with us. 

Everyone's happy after our delicious American dinner

Spending time with Chinese families like Arlene's is a truly different experience - I can't really say I've experienced Chinese culture until after adventures like this one. I only hope I can show my mom and my sister a great time like this family showed me!

慈溪

So, I can't sleep...

Why?

Because tomorrow, I'm picking up my mom and sister from the airport in Shanghai!! Ahh!! It's times like this I can't believe I actually live in China... Needless to say, I am extremely excited! I can't wait to show this crazy, chaotic country to two of my favorite people.

But, they're not here yet, so I figure I'll make best of this excitement-induced insomnia and tell you about the trip I just took to Ningbo.

So, last Wednesday, Rachel and I met up with one of my (now former) students, Arlene. She led us to the bus station where we took the 2-hour bus ride to her hometown, Cixi (pronounced: "Tsuh-Shee"). Turns out, we didn't actually go to the city of Ningbo (as I originally thought), but rather this area called Cixi, which is a part of the greater Ningbo region. When Arlene described Cixi, she told us she lived in the countryside... and then she said the population was only about 1 million. Only 1 million - ha! Clearly, we define "countryside" and "small town" quite differently in the USA.

Anyhow, we spent the night in a lovely hotel in Cixi and woke up the next day to go on our Yangmei picking adventure. We went with Arlene, her mother and uncle, and her younger sister, Hazel. The berry pickings were a little slim since it had rained the night before, which caused a lot of the berries to fall from the trees prematurely. Regardless, we picked roughly 3 kilos of berries... and, yes, we ate all of them that day. And, the crazy thing? We never felt full - these are magical, magical berries people. Rachel and I are pretty sure we ate an entire tree of them, and we didn't even feel bloated! If only the yangmei season were longer... it's only 10-15 days long each year, so they won't be selling them much after today. I suppose that's why you have to eat so many of them while you can! Here are some pictures of our yangmei-picking experience:

Hiking up the mountain to the Yangmei trees

The size of your average Yangmei

Hazel and I with our Yangmei basket

Arlene, her mother and Hazel eating Yangmei straight from the trees

They gave us these jackets to prevent bugs from crawling into our skin... ew!

After Yangmei Day, we spent a lot of time with Arlene and her family. We shopped, ate, sang KTV, ate some more, visited Arlene's house, and even did some dancing! 

Cixi is famous for its duck necks, so of course we ate some!

The lunch that Arlene's family prepared for us - full of seafood !

Arlene's Mom teaching me a dance

Arlene's family owns a slipper factory... which was literally 10 feet from their house!

So, as you can see, the first three days we spent with Arlene and her family were plenty of fun! But, I have to say, the final day we spent with them was probably the best... which I'll talk about in my next post because this one is too long and uploading pictures is becoming difficult. I'll update it shortly!