I know many of you are curious to know what China looks like. Well, I took a picture on my walk to church yesterday morning. There is a hilltop where students like to study in the midst of nature, and I thought it looked particularly pretty. You can see it on the left and on the right. I'll post pictures of the rest of my walk sometime. It's not as pretty...China is still working on how to efficiently take care of garbage, for instance, so...well, the smell is rather interesting. Pity cameras can't record smell as well, eh? The picture on the right should have a pagoda in it...but the trees make it almost impossible to see. I apologize for that. I'll try and get a picture of it again when I'm not snapping photos and walking quickly to avoid being late to church.
Church was good yesterday. It's odd having such a small branch, but the Spirit is very strong. We had another foreigner come to visit. The Chinese government will not allow natives to attend our meetings, and we're not allowed to proselyte to them. There are, however, some branches of natives in China. They can share the gospel with members of their family--a lot travel to Hong Kong in order to get baptized. Anyway, we had Sunday School this week, so I didn't have to do much of anything in the meeting, which was nice. I'm still trying to get used to the idea that I'm the Relief Society group leader. Kinda scary...
Yesterday was the auspicious Mid-Autumn Festival in China. It happens once every year, when the moon is believed to be the fullest. Families gather around to watch the beautiful moon. Some make Confucius Lamps, which are like hot air balloons made from paper and a candle. They float up into the sky carrying hopes and prayers for the coming year. It is a time for family. So, most of my students went home to be with their families. Which means I don't have classes today. Which is odd--the last day I taught was last Tuesday, for there was a celebration for Xiangtan University on Wednesday and Thursday.
Anyway, Lany decided to invite all of the foreign teachers to a dinner, for she considers us her family while we are in China. She's an amazing woman--very kind and considerate. She has bent over backwards trying to accommodate us picky Americans used to a certain standard of living. She and her husband Darren are our interfaces with the University. Of course, since Jeff and I are teaching at the adjacent trade school, we rely a lot on our co-teachers as well. My co-teacher has the English name of Helen. Most Chinese who speak English choose an English name. Some of them sound a lot like Chinese, but it makes it easier for other English-speakers to be able to talk to them. The students and teachers think it is a great honor that we came all the way from America to be here and teach. Consequently, we are treated very well. My students treat me a bit like a movie star. They love it when I sing.
We had dinner at a very nice restaurant near the apartments of the other foreign teachers, which is about a half-hour walk away from our apartment. Jeff and I decided to just chill at David and Rebecca's apartment for most of the afternoon. We played games and socialized, which was nice. Living far away hampers a lot of that. Of course, Jeff and I socialize with our students, which means we get to try Chinese food we probably wouldn't try with all the other foreigners.
The pictures you see are of our meal. It was very good. Lany knows that most Americans aren't used to super spicy food, so she generally orders stuff which won't burn off our taste buds. The picture of the fish head is cool, eh? They serve a lot of their food with heads and feet and stuff still in the mix. Scott, one of the people sitting at our table, at the eye of this particular fish. He said it tasted like a peanut. The picture with all the bones next to the dishes is of my place setting. The bones were from a chicken dish--you don't want to eat Chinese food without being careful--that was only sort of spicy. It was yummy. I ate a lot more than everyone else because I didn't mind picking through the bones for the meat. I tried eating chicken leg last week when our dean of the college took us to eat...it was really chewy, and I gave up because one of the claws kept poking my mouth.
The traditional part of the Mid-Autumn Festival that Chinese people seem most proud of is that of eating moon cakes under the full moon. Moon cakes are...well, unusual. Some of them are very good. They have about the consistency of fruit cake. (Cakes in China aren't exactly like cakes in America.) Some of them are quite sweet, but others...well, Jeff and I bought some, just to try them, and they weren't particularly good. That might be because we got cheap moon cakes, though. Lany gave us a bunch. I took a picture of my biggest one, which is to the left. And then a smaller one, which I bit into. You never know what's in a moon cake until you bite into it. The one I had last night before bed had egg yolk in it. Which was unusual. But not too bad. This one had some sort of jam in it, though. It was yummy! Some smell like they're coffee flavored, though. I wish I could read Chinese characters... The top of the cake is always ornately designed. They're quite beautiful up close. If you're in China around the Mid-Autumn Festival, make sure you try moon cake!
After dinner, Jeff and I walked back home. Of course, about fifty feet away from the restaurant, I ended up tripping (yay for clumsiness!). My skirt is all dusty, and I got some road rash on my left leg, but other than that, I was relatively unscathed. I took a picture just for kicks. Those of you reading this blog who know me very well know that I fall down a lot. Jeff didn't laugh at me, but I laughed at me.