Counting down... kind of

I know it's been forever since I've written. Sorry for those of you who try to keep up with what I've been doing. I figure I need to save some stories for home!!! (Yeah right! All of you will be so sick of hearing my stories... just slap me when it gets to that point.)
Anyway! This last weekend was pretty low-key, but it was really neat. On Friday night I went salsa dancing (I had done that on Tuesday, too, but had only stayed for the "lesson"... imagine that in Chinese!) with Peg. We met a guy who is some kind of hot-shot at the club and who had actually lived in Minnesota for many years! He even has a daughter who still attends Highland in St. Paul. How crazy is that? And he was a really good salsa dancer, so that was fun. Then, right before I left, the instructor asked me to dance. I felt like such a dweeb trying to show off in front of all these Chinese people with the good-looking instructor guy... not to mention that my shoes were falling off the whole time, so I was not concentrating on the lead. Oh well! I had a blast anyway! Who knew there was a small population of Chinese people who can salsa dance?!
Saturday morning we left early to a place translated to "Thousand Island Lake." It's this huge, really deep lake with so many islands on it. Unfortunately, a typhoon was headed our direction as we sat tight in our hotel rooms on one of the islands! We survived because it didn't hit us directly, there was only a little bit of rain. I even went swimming at the pool that day-- hey, I wasn't about to pass that up! (It was an infinity pool!!! So awesome!) We went into town that night (barely surviving the drive up and down the winding mountain roads!) for an absolutely awesome dinner (no surprise there!). We spent the rest of the night on the patio drinking and just chatting. It was so good to relax and enjoy the last weekend with this group of women and Jacky. I am going to miss him so much. He has been an amazing guide and friend. More than once I have said that he is the perfect man. He's responsible, caring, organized, outgoing, and all those other things that you want in a friend. I don't even know how to begin to thank him. (Okay, I can't start thinking/talking about it or I'll start to get teary!)
Sunday was a nicer day, so we went on a 5-hour cruise around the lake, stopping at some islands. The first island had a temple/pagoda up at the top, but we only had about 40 minutes before we had to get back to the boat. Luckily, we had the chance to travel in style: a sedan chair! That's what it's called when there is a chair between two poles that are carried by two people-- a man in front and one in back. For 35 yuan (about 4 US dollars), two men would carry you up the mountain to see the pagoda, and back down to the boat! I felt totally guilty doing it because it's such hard work, but the men were friendly and laughed at me when I looked terrified that they were going to drop me off the side of the mountain!!! (Oh, don't worry... there's video to prove it!)
The second island was not quite as exciting, but we got to take a beautiful chairlift ride to the top of that mountain to see the sights. Even mom wasn't too scared of the heights because it was so breath-taking (Jacky's newest word, thank you very much!). The third island was odd. It was called "snake island" and just had a bunch of cages of snakes... I never figured out if there were any in the wild there, but I didn't see any.
The fourth and fifth islands were not the greatest, but we did get to go on a high bridge that was basically rope and boards. The signs specifically say "Do not purposefully swing" or something like that in bad English, but everyone pays 5 yuan to go on the bridge, and then I think they feel the need to turn it into some kind of an amusement park ride, swinging it every which way and getting some kind of sick pleasure from watching people who are scared. Molly and I braved the crazy Chinese tourists and made it across in one piece... barely.
So now I only have about 3 days left of teaching, shopping, and just generally saying goodbye to Hangzhou. I don't want to bring it up because it will be difficult to leave. At the same time, I'm very excited. I'm the definition of mixed emotions right now. I know I am leaving a lot of work behind me and a lot of uncomfortable situations, but I am also leaving good food and very nice people. I know I am coming home to good food and nice people, but I will also have a lot of work and uncomfortable situations there as well! And just as I am getting to feel comfortable here, I am beginning to really miss everything and everyone at home! Oh geez... time to go compose myself before I teach a class. This could be a tough one, too, because it's the last of its kind that I'll have.
Wish me luck! Hopefully I'll have one more chance to post before I go to Beijing! But if not, wish me and my parents (my daddy's coming, too!) good luck on the rest of our journey!
Love you and miss you all and I'll see you or talk to you soon!

An emotional girl lately

So this last week/weekend went by so quickly! I can't believe that I'm leaving for home in just a little more than two weeks! That completely throws me for a loop... it seems like I only got here a little while ago (until I start thinking about it, and then I get a little homesick... weird, really).
Anyway, last week I went bowling with Peg, Wayne, Cole, and Cathrine. It was so much fun! Of course, Wayne was really really competitive and beat me after I had been talking big about being pretty good at bowling... oh well! It was really cute when we started when Wayne said to me, "Okay, princess, you go first!" I was so touched because his family calls Peg "Queen" and it meant a lot to me that he would say something like that. I really feel a connection with him somehow. I think we just kind of "get" each other even though he's a fourteen-year-old Chinese boy. I'm sure we will be friends via e-mail and messenger when I get home. I hope I can help tutor him in English and help him with some slang terms, etc. I know Peg does that, too, but it's always good to talk with someone close to your age who will know how to use language in casual conversation among friends. Sometime before I leave Hangzhou, I am going to go shopping with him for CD's and a "chop" with my Chinese name on it.
Then Friday night I taught until 9pm and we (the teachers from MN, minus Julie) decided to go to a bar in a hotel near our school. I needed some food in my stomach before drinking, so I took my second shameful trip to McDonald's. It was kind of worth it this time... I'm sorry to say. The McChicken sandwich was actually really good! The bar, however, was the weirdest thing I think I have ever seen! There were all these dancing girls and live music and singing, but the costumes were just bizaare! They were fruit and bellydancers and other odd combinations of things, and the decorations were just completely gaudy! There were private rooms that had small windows, but I am still not sure what goes on in there... honestly, I'm a little skeptical because there were all these girls sitting alone and looking mopey at the bar. Maybe they were working? I dunno... We only stayed for one drink because it was loud and late and I was so tired from just having taught 7.5 hours! I'm hoping that I get more time to go out before I leave... but maybe not to a place like that!
Saturday was a big day without our usual guide, Jacky!! We had a lovely Chinese girl with us, so she helped, but we probably ran her ragged! We shopped up and down this old street after having hiked up to a pagoda/temple in the morning. Lunch was wonderful, as usual, and then we shopped some more. I am wishing now that I had bought more gifts for people, but I'm having a hard time keeping track of who I've spent money on and who I've not. I'm working on that list right now, actually. You'd be surprised how little I've been making lists since I've been here! Maybe this trip has made me more organized! Who knows...
Saturday night I went to dinner with my mom's family. They are such awesome people. The grandmother and grandfather are so cool and seem so young and open-minded. The mother and father (Bruce and Ing) are easy to get along with and so eager to please. The daughter, Apple, is adorable and is staring to open up a little bit. I really hope she will paint my Chinese name (she's taking lessons) before I leave!
Sunday was the most emotional day I've had here in China. I spent the entire day (from 9am-9pm) with my students from my first class. We met at school and then walked to West Lake. We rented some row-boats, which was really funny because they arent' very strong, so they were getting blown all over the lake and I was pretty much the only one who knew how to steer the boats! We sat in the middle of the lake and talked about music and games and stuff like that... just small-talk, really.
Then we walked to a tea house, which was pretty much the coolest "restaurant" I've been to, ever. You buy a glass of tea (which is about 58 yuan) and then there's a buffet of finger-food type stuff that is free! The students got food for the whole table, like fruit and ice-cream, and egg-rolls, and lots of other stuff and we just sat there for a couple of hours eating and drinking tea! The building was so cool with little pools of water and bridges and goldfish all over the place and big paper lanterns; and even in the middle of the day it was so dark and romantic-looking inside. I wanted to stay there for the rest of my trip!
After tea and lunch, we decided to rent bicycles and ride around the West Lake. That was really hot and we were all super-sweaty by the end, but it was a lot of fun. I told my kids that I thought they were trying to kill me by taking me on boat and bikes! The traffic rules being what they are here, I'm feeling pretty lucky that I am still in one piece!
After that, we walked to the old shopping street again, but didn't really see much. Then we took a bus to the restaurant for dinner. It was a really cool experience to have what they call "hot pot." It's a bit like fondue in the states. There is a fire in the middle of the table with a divided pot over it. In the pot are two different kinds of "soups" as they called them (though I think they were mostly oil). Then the waitress brought all kinds of raw meat and vegetables to the table, and you just put them in the soup and wait for them to cook, then eat them. Half of the soup was really really spicy and the other half was not. I liked them both, which surprised me, as it was almost painful to eat the spicy kind! We had some really interesting food to cook that you'll never believe I tried (and I only tried a little bit)........ pig brains! Not all of the students like them, but some did, so I decided I had better have a small bite. They taste a bit like tofu, but softer. Not really my thing, but at least I can say I did it!
After dinner, we took taxis to a store for a little bit of late-night shopping. By this time, my students were starting to dwindle and I was getting really emotional. The last few to say goodbye got to see their teacher cry. It was a pretty stupid sight, I'm sure, to see this little foreigner looking lonely walking home just sobbing. I love those kids so much and I really hope I get a chance to see them again someday, or at least keep in touch with them. They were my first students ever, which really means a lot to me. (One of them is already sending me something in the mail, as a matter of fact! It's my next tattoo!)
I have a quick embarrassing moment from Sunday to tell you about... so you can all make fun of me when I get home (which I know you love to do!): When I was shopping with my last three students (Myth, Edward, and George), I tried on this really pale pink dress (which I ended up buying), but because it is so pale pink and I was wearing dark clothes that day, it showed all of my undergarments! Myth was the only one to see it, but then she told the boys what my underwear looked like! And when I went back to them, George was blushing and Edward says, "Oh, so sexy!" I could have died! What an impression to make on these young Chinese kids! Oh well, just chalk that one up to another "Tess" moment!
Only about two weeks until I come home! Can't wait to see everyone!