Goin’ Solo

Today was a day full of productivity! Woo!

But let's start with last night. Last night, I was a judge for an "English Host Competition." In other words, ten HZNU students performed various show host duties (including introductions, brief presentations, and dealing with emergencies) while I laughed my butt off seriously and fairly scored each one. These types of things are always super cute and very entertaining - especially considering some of the things they write/say. For example, one girl gave her presentation on the mistreatment of dogs. Unfortunately  she forgot to use spell check on her PPT and so her very first slide said, in a giant, bold font, "I LOVE DONGS." I can't make this stuff up, people.

The Hosts of the English Host Competition... seriously. 

One of my favorites of the night - this girl was all about some fashion!

William was the only boy to compete - and he won!

Anyway, back to today:

First, I finished the seventh book of the Harry Potter series (not for the first time – I like to re-read them every few years).

Then, I headed out on my bike to run all kinds of errands. I got coffee and lunch at Starbucks, bought a tripod for my camera, bought a train ticket (eek!) and went to the gym for some sweet sweatin’.

This is where the magic happens...

Afterwards, I did some shopping at the ever-crazy WuMei, bought some chicken and veggies at the local produce market, and proceeded to cook said chicken and veggies… with success! (Which is a new thing for me, by the way).

And this is sauteed asparagus and grilled chicken.
Beautifully presented on the fanciest of plastic dishware.

I’ve spent the rest of my day planning my upcoming trip (note: train ticket purchase earlier). “Trip?” you ask. “Trip,” I say. Because next week, we have a brief holiday during which I’ll have five days school-free!  (Tuesday through Saturday – don’t ask). The holiday is called QingMing Festival, or, in English, “Tomb-Sweeping Festival.” It’s a pretty self-explanatory holiday; most Chinese people celebrate QingMing by visiting the tombs/graves of their loved ones where they clean/sweep it up, leave flowers, fruit and fake money, and send some prayers and thoughts out to the ever-important ancestors. However, since I don’t have any tombs to sweep here in China, I decided to take advantage of the time off and go on a little adventure!

After much consideration (and, by “much consideration,” I really mean five minutes and an impulse decision), I’ve decided to visit the popular seaside city of Xiamen in Fujian province. I’m really excited for this trip for a number of reasons:

1) BEACH! Do I even need to explain? Let’s just say I don’t get a lot of beach time here in Hangzhou, so I’m thinking some sand, sun and ocean will be wonderfully refreshing.

2) Gulangyu Island. This is an island right outside of Xiamen. And on this island, there are NO MOTOR VEHICLES. Do you know how welcoming that sounds after a year-and-a-half of hearing honking, screeching and revving on a nearly constant basis?  It sounds like a motor-free heaven and I NEED to go there.

3) I’m going ALL BY MYSELF. Yep, for this trip I am puttin’ on my big-girl panties and going alone. This is because most of my potential travel partners either a) already had plans or b) have a different schedule than me, and therefore don’t have enough time to make the trip. And at first, I was kind of worried about this – I’ve never gone on “vacation” without at least one other person (Rachel, I miss you!). But now I’m sort of looking forward to it – it’ll be my own, personal challenge; I’m really intrigued to see how I get on as just yi ge ren (one person).

So, I’ll be headed down to Xiamen via 7-hour “fast” train next Tuesday morning(April 2nd) and heading back to Hangzhou on Saturday afternoon (April 6th). I’ve got my beach towel, cooler and cameras ready (plus a tripod so I’m not limited to lame arm-length selfies). My kindle is full of new books that I plan to read while sprawled out on the beach, listening to the waves and forgetting all of life’s troubles.

…Can it be Tuesday today?