I woke up this morning feeling well rested considering we
had traveled as I slept. Train travel is
definitely the way to go. I felt like I
was riding on the polar express as we traveled through the night.
After I woke up I went to the bathroom (which
was a squatter toilet) and came back to find a group of World Racers wishing me
Happy Birthday. Emilie and Candice came
up with a camp theme for my birthday, so they put up camp decorations, had me
fish from the top bunk for small gifts, and other various camp activities.
We were watching some amazing scenery of
green mountains, and cool-aid blue water when Clinton handed me a cell
phone. It was my family singing Happy Birthday. I was totally
surprised, because I didn’t
expect to be able to have any contact with them in China. Just the
sound of
their voices made me tear up.
Once into our city we were greeted by our host, an English
speaking professor. She took us to our
hotel, where we will stay for the next 12 days.
It is not exactly Days Inn quality, but it is wonderful to have so much
space in my room with only 1 roomie.
We toured the campus where our cultural exchange will take
place for 2 weeks. Five thousand
students attend classes taught by over 300 teachers. The dorms looked very different from the US dorms,
because each balcony and window had laundry hanging out to dry.
The students were gathering at the track for
sport club where a competition would be taking place later. Some World Race girls joined the aerobics session
taking place to many smiles from the Chinese students. We continued to receive smiles and greetings
as we walked the campus. We will spend
the next 2 weeks taking classes about Chinese culture then spending the
afternoons talking to students at English Corner hoping to build lasting
relationships.
After the tour we walked back to the hotel where we had
dinner. The meal was family style and contained many dishes of
mushrooms, pumpkin, tofu, and sprouts. I
was surprised by a Birthday cake bought by Tim.
It was one of the best cakes we have had outside the US; it actually
tasted like cake. But, because I was in
China I ate the cake with chopsticks.
We finished out my birthday with a “campfire” in my
room. We sat around the fake fire made
from balloons and talked. This is sure
to be a birthday I don’t forget.
