Yesterday was awesome! Really quite awesome. Thomas and I were invited to climb Yuelu mountain with the other teachers. If you make it to the top then you receive 100 Yuan. Thomas and I were told 9:30 to 11:30. If you made it up there between 9:30 and 11:30 then you would get the money. We left Yi Zhong at 9:30 and took a bus. Then we climbed the mountain. Calling another English teacher! She kindly waited for us. Climbing the mountain does not take very long. But we didn't know where to meet them. There are enough nooks and crannies all over it is hard to figure out where someone is. We had a lack of cellphone reception. While we paused to get our barrings and try to call the English teacher, Thomas and I were way laid by people who wanted their pictures taken with foreigners. This happened every time we stopped.
Eventually we found some university students. We told them we couldn't find our friends. We said they were at the Yuelu temple. The students said they would show us the way. As we walked along we asked them questions. Most of the students were calm and in control. Two girls were crazy energetic! When we asked "What do you study" They eagerly exclaimed "WE STUDY MAO ZE DONG!! MAO ZE DONG!!" They were a little crazy. Eventually one of them called our friend Faye, and explained where we were. Faye came up to get us. Then they bugged her with many questions. Faye is cool as a cucumber, she answered their questions good naturedly and then said we had to be going. As we waved and said goodbye to the students, the two young women bounced up and down screaming "Goodbye Goodbye!"
We made it to the top and signed the ledger at 11:29! We received our money and took some pictures. Then down the mountain, to Lamian (hand pulled noodles). I went to go get a hot chocolate, and saw some people standing in the middle of the road screaming at one another. There was a car, and a motor bike. Then I remembered something Michaela and Teresa told me about. People won't get off the road, they will continue to block the road and scream at one another. I watched from a safe distance, there was no resolution, so I returned home.
A relaxing afternoon, that was not as productive as I wanted it to be. I was falling asleep watching pokemon in Chinese. Instead of working on my lesson for today. I got just enough done before meeting my new friend Corra for dinner. She met me and gave me peanuts, I gave her some hongzi (I don't know what the word is in English). We walked around, she bought me gloves because she was worried about my hands being cold. I bought some fried sweet dough for the two of us. Then we went to street food, we got a hot spicy soup, fried rice, and fried food on sticks. Then she bought more fried rice. We were unable to finish this food, but it ended up being about 20 yuan for all the food. Someone told us we looked like sisters! Corra is so energetic, she kept asking me when we could hang out again! We went shopping, she kept asking me if I wanted things. I kept saying no, i was worried she would buy them for me! Walking around with her was like having a girlfriend, she was hanging on me, holding my hand and my arm all evening. The evening ended with me smiling and promising to see her again. She is going to teach me yoga and Chinese cooking!
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