Franklin High School Quakers, actually. A classmate of mine from Franklin and I connected on Facebook when we both realized that we were both living in Beijing. I haven't seen Jennifer since graduation, and it was a nice surprise to learn that she is here, too. She is in an intensive language study course here and works at a shelter for women.
We met up outside of a subway stop and proceeded on to the 789 art district. It is this fun neighborhood full of galleries and eateries. It's kind of like a Chinese Portland First Thursday event in the Pearl. We had fun looking at the numerous pieces of art and browsing through some of the shops. We had lunch at a pretty restaurant with a very relaxed atmosphere that served Western sandwiches. I had a grilled cheese. Very good.
We moved on to a shopping district. Jennifer took me through a huge four story flea market that sells knock off brands. We each got a nice smelling candle. The market is full of individual booths and if you just eye something, they are very excited to talk to you. It is a little intense. There were a ton of tourists there shopping because it is one of the "it" places to go in Beijing. Outside of the flea market was a bigger shopping mall that had an REI and designer department stores.
We then hopped back onto the subway and went to find a park. It was a huge, beautiful park, much bigger then the one I went to near the Lama Temple. There was a very clean human made pond. Jennifer spotted a little frog in it. There were also some pretty human made waterfalls, too. It was full of trees and beautiful flowers. I plan to go back there on a day off when I am craving some time away from my little suburbia. It was nice to be around some nature. It was really nice to catch up on nine years with Jennifer. I love it when you travel and you end up connecting again with someone from home.
Today's weather was not too gross, but we are getting a little thunder and lightening show, tonight. Very cool.
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