Look at all those Nuggets!

Map of Shenzhen. It is so big! And not everything is even pictured here. The red arrow at the top is pointing the direction of where I live. The blue arrow is pointing in the direction of where Jessica and Marie live.


One of my favorite days in China so far. Cliff, Andrew, Ben and I were spending the weekend out in Longgong and Marie and Jessica's place. Andrew unfortunately had to leave on Saturday morning for a school function but the rest of us got to spend the day together. Jess and I woke up at 9 and cooked M&M pancakes for everyone! They have a stove in their apartment which is rare so it was nice to actually cook. Then we headed out for the day. We all went and grabbed supplies and went to a mountain and had a picnic. The mountain wasn't very tall so it was a nice hike up and had lots of paths wrapping around. The trick with China mountains is that 1) everything is paved paths and lots of stairs instead of actual dirt paths 2) the paths are intricate so you go up the mountain and if you deviate from your own path (which of course you always do) then you are lost for an hour or two trying to find the way out. So...we of course got lost and had no idea how to get back down the mountain. You probably are thinking "why didn't you just take a path that was going downhill and it would lead out". Well again, China, half the paths that lead down just eventually start going back up the mountain or lead to a dead end so it is not as easy as that. We started wandering and checking out different paths. Eventually we met up with these other two Chinese families who were in the same predicament as we were. Joining up the larger party now searched together. We came upon three old Chinese women and the families asked if they knew the way out. At this point we were right next to an apartment building but it had a large black fence around it and no way to get through the fence. Well the old women pointed at the fence and seemed to want us to go that way. The families seemed doubtful so the old women decided to prove to us that there was a way out. They quickly climbed over this dirt pile and disappeared around a stand of trees. Not having any better options we all followed. The group ended up walking along the top of an irrigation path right between the forest and the large black fence. A ten minute walk later we all emerged from the forest out onto one of the main roads. The old women seemed proud of themselves (as they should have) and the families were happy to be out. Our group headed for the bus to go back to the apartment. On our way we decided that since it was such a nice day we would go buy kites and try flying them in the local park by the girl's place. Shortly after, Cliff, Jess and I were stringing our newly bought kites together and getting ready to join the crowd of Chinese enjoying the afternoon wind in the park. I was actually able to take off my shoes and experience the grass under my feet (the first time I've gone barefoot out in China so far). Being the only white people in the park we attracted a lot of attention. Any Chinese person or child who spoke any amount of English came up to us at some point to say hi. So we had lots of help to teach us how to correctly get our kite in the air. None of us were very good but it was so much fun trying that it didn't matter. At one point I just stopped, looked around at the sunshine, saw Cliff and Jess running around with their bright yellow kites, and realized that at that moment there was nowhere I would rather be. After kite flying we went out for a family style dinner and then headed home. Jess and I had wanted to bake cookies for everyone (the girls also have a toaster oven) but unfortunately we realized we didn't have any baking soda and that the store didn't carry it. So we were at the grocery store staring up and down the aisles trying to figure out what the hell we could combine to make some sort of dessert. China is really not into sweet stuff the way America is and they don't have ovens so they don't bake. Finally we decided upon China smores. Jess's stove is gas so we had access to a fire. The store had marshmellows which were the same as ours and had chocolate bars (they weren't hershey and were a bit thicker than usual but they worked). Our main problem was graham crackers (which you can't find in China except at the International stores). We ended up purchasing these circular disks that had a layer of chocolate in between two. We hoped that the chocolate would just help add to our concoction. Well, the smores actually turned out pretty well! The disks were a bit harder than graham crackers but they worked. After smores we headed to another apartment and hung out just chatting about life. It was a quality day and I was very happy to be surrounded by good people enjoying the sunny day in China.


Not the best picture. But, we were out at a bar/club in Longgong and I was given a glow in the dark lollipop! I of course had to take a photo of that. This place really liked lasers. At different times throughout the night the staff would get upon the bar and dance. One point a guy got up and performed in a laser show. He had choreographed movements to the times of the lasers so it looked like he was in control of the light. He also had mirrors in his hands and would bend the rays around the room. It was quite impressive. There was also a laser cage (a platform with a pole that had laser bars coming down from the ceiling). It was a fun night and an interesting place.


(Sorry about the blurry picture, I was trying to take it without them noticing) This is where Fuat and I go to play badminton with the other teachers. The lady in the pink is Tracy, she and I try to play together once a week. Sadly I missed out the past few weeks so on the 21st I made sure to make it out to play.


This is now my bus stop. The side walk has been completely demolished (as seen in previous pictures) so I get dropped off directly on the road and have to walk a bit to finally get to my school.


Due to the construction this is the wall I have to climb if I want to walk to the main road or to Xili. It's only a couple feet high but the workers all get a kick out of the white girl pushing herself up and over the barrier.