Hutong Party Time!

I've had a pretty great weekend. I wasn't moving luggage around in a crazy taxi, and that made all of the difference!

I spent my Tuesday afternoon at a park a short subway ride away with two other girls from the school, Amy and Sarah. It was a beautiful park full of Cypress trees which are very beautiful. The entrance fee was 2 RMB. You have to pay to visit most parks, even neighborhood parks, in Beijing. We walked around the park and found some shade and sat and chatted. It was nice to be surrounded by more nature then the little courtyard my complex has. There isn't much greenery in the city. It was a very hot day.

Around dinner time, we walked over to the Lama Temple neighborhood. The Lama Temple is a Buddhist temple and most of the restaurants around the area cater to a very clean, mostly vegetarian way of cooking. One of Amy's friends came to have dinner with us. She worked with EF, but her last day of work was last week, and she is moving back to Florida to pick up the kindergarden class she left on sabbatical for to come to China. It was nice to talk to another American girl and it made me realize how lucky I am in to be in the school I was placed in. Maybe that switch that happened the day I arrived was the best thing for me? Maybe a little bit of fate was helping me out. The restaurant was beautiful. There was an indoor courtyard that we sat in. We drank two bottles of wine together and talked and talked mostly about boys. It was a fun girls' evening. I had a fantastic salad with all recognizable vegetables and some hummus on toast. I was very content. I am excited to go back to tour the Temple and eat there again.

I left the girl around nine to head back to our school's neighborhood because I was meeting with our senior teacher, Claire, to go to a housewarming party for an American teacher name Ryan. Claire and I took the subway there and a couple of teachers met up with us at the stop to walk us over. Ryan moved into a Hutong neighborhood. A Hutong is an alleyway of one story apartment buildings and shops, one right after another. Here is a link for a better description: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/beijing/hutong/ Hutong's vary in socioeconomic standing and Ryan was living in one that might be in the middle-ish ranking of a Hutong neighborhood. He wanted more of a traditional living space.

The party was fun. I was able to meet a few more teachers. My boss, Vicky, and her long time boyfriend, Liam, were there, and I got a chance to get to know them both a little better and it was lovely. Liam told me a lot about the underground city that you can't visit anymore. A police officer came to tell us to quiet down, and most people were moving to another bar, but I decided to call it quits and go home. I was pretty tired.

I had a pretty lazy day today, which I think I needed. I slept in, talked to Laura, Dad, Joanna and my Mom on Skype which was really good. I braved a trip to the Lotus, and again, bought too many groceries. I guess I learn slowly. You can only buy soy-sauce here in huge jugs, and that was weighty. I did find some skim milk, though, and got all of my vegetables correctly weighed. I had no problem at the check out counter! I steamed a lot of veggies and made enough rice for quite a few meals so I can bring them to work over the next few days, at least. It is nice having more control over the food I eat.

Hope you all have a great Wednesday! I had a pretty good one out here in the future!

Uncle Ladd's Corner: How much is it for a coke, quart of milk, McDonald's fish fillet?

I bought a quart of refrigerated skim milk for 16.95 RMB = 2.48 USD

I found just a can of coke at the grocery store for 1.95 RMB = .28 USD

I haven't been inside a McDonald's yet. I have only really been passed one, but I don't think there is one in my neighborhood. I'll keep out on the look out and let you know!