Tomorrow will be the one month mark of my little adventure. I started crossing off the days on my Botanical Paperworks plantable calendar pages when I was feeling a little home sick. When March and April were staring back at me, untouched. It seemed like April 24th was a lifetime away. But here I am, more the halfway done my classes, one week away from seeing Peter and two weeks away from seeing the rest of China. Yippee! I did it. I'll be planting my calendar pages in no time. I can't wait to show Peter around my new home turf. I've been picking off the sights in my free time and saving some of the highlights for when Peter arrives.
Here are a few new sights:
Nanjing Museum: Not a very big museum given China has a 5000 year old history, but they managed to capture some pretty cool highlights. The two floors were partitioned into items China is known for - jade, pottery, weaving. The coolest thing was the oldest thing I have EVER seen.
They don't look like much. In fact, I believe Mom has something very similar from my pottery class days but these little vessels date back to 5000 B.C. 5-0-0-0 That's old. And what is neat about them is that they took the time to make pig faces. Usually you think of things that are 7000 years old to be purely functional. Not in this part of the world. Fashion and function are key. Here's a couple other pics from the Museum.
Jiming Temple: It is a working temple complete with scary gods, golden Buddhas, and a gaggle of nuns and nuns-in-training. The centre tower provides a spectacular view of the city including Xuanwu Lake, sight of the bicycle for two adventure.
We finished at the temple around rush hour so we decided to walk to our next destination - Blue Sky. It's an expat bar owned by an Australian and run by a Canadian. It is the place to go on a Saturday I hear. They have a restaurant too so I finally had a meal that I could identify, didn't have to pick bones out of and was certifiably toad free.
Rush hour in downtown is chaos. If your life wasn't being threatened from all directions I would even dare to call it magical. It is a perfectly choreographed dance. Problem is, we missed the rehearsal. The sheer volume of bikes alone boggle your mind. The picture really doesn't do it justice but you get a bit of an idea.
Tomorrow we are off to Slender West Lake. Saturday I pick up my suit. And Sunday is a blank page. More pictures to come.
1 comment:
Hey Mave,
It's Val - Wow! What an amazing experience you're having there. I definitely have been thinking of you with what's all going on...or should I say with what I am told is going on...you'll have to give us the inside scoop when you get back.
You take care and can't wait to see you.
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