2/20/2016

Today was utterly exhausting! And also quite awkward. But, overall, it was pretty good, I think. Last night, my roommate Georgina and I watched Kung Fu Panda, because we're in China and we can. (It was one of the ones I had brought.) Kung Fu Panda is a thing here. The third one was out in theaters last week, but I think it might be done now. This morning were our medical tests. They did, indeed, take blood. It was super embarrassing. I gave the lady my left arm, but she didn't get enough blood from it or something. I accidentally made the mistake of looking, and I know there was blood in the tube thing, but not enough. She pulled the needle out fast, and it hurt. And then, when they said I had to do it again, I got all woozy and the other interns started babying me. Now, it's no secret that I have a thing with needles. I did the other tests first before I came back to it, so I could recover a bit. The second time was fine. The guy who did it was better at it than the lady, and I knew not to look this time. It didn't even hurt, though my other arm was sore for a while. After we got back to the hotel, we went to a noodle shop. It was like a Chinese fast food, but it was really nice. We had noodles and potstickers, and it was SO good! At one we went to the lobby to meet for the trip to West Lake. On the bus ride over there, my back started hurting. The park where the lake is is stunningly gorgeous. It was hard for me to enjoy at the first, because my back was in so much pain. And, of course, because I was in excruciating pain, the other girls worried about me. More embarrassment. After a time, though, the painkillers kicked in, and I was fine. I also got separated from the group. I turned around for one moment to see how much a camera cost (more than I had), and they were gone! There were others who were planning to go as far as the pagoda, but I wanted to stay with Rice's group because they were going to see all around the lake. (Yes, his English name is Rice. Rice is nice.) I made it to the pagoda. It's gorgeous. I don't have pictures, but you can look up images of West Lake and see it, I'm sure. I didn't go inside it, because it cost more than I could afford, but it was nice to look at from the outside, too. I was hoping Rice and the others would be there, but no such luck. I kept trying to catch up with them. I never did find them, I did find a tomb of some guy called Wu Song. (I'll have to find out what he's famous for later.) And then a very nice Chinese lady named Rachel and her friends helped me get a taxi back to the hotel. That was how the pagoda group got back, too, though they went out to eat and got back much later. I think that, in the end, I had a much cooler adventure than the group that stayed with Rice. Not only did I find Wu Song's tomb, but I also met Rachel and her friends and I got to hang out with them. They were so fun! Rachel spoke really good English, and she told me the story about the pagoda. I will have to find out the details later, but the gist of it is that there were two snakes who turned into women and fell in love with handsome men. It was a forbidden love, though, and they had to wait for 500 years at the top of the tower for the men to get them out. They got married and had children, but their ghosts are still stuck at the top of the pagoda. . . or something. I will always remember walking along Sudi Road with them and seeing West Lake by the light of the city and the moon. As beautiful as it is in the day, it's even more stunning at night. I made it back to the hotel okay, and then I ran to Family Mart and got a couple dumplings. I wasn't that hungry, but I figured that since I had only eaten one meal, I should eat something. Now, I'm really tired, but I have to finish writing this email. I decided to kill two birds with one stone and send it to Mom and Rachel. So, Rachel, I'm sorry that I wasn't able to write to you from Beijing, but you did get the story of Hangzhou, at least. Tomorrow, we're headed for Suzhou, finally. We don't know the plan, but we were told to be prepared to teach on Monday. Busy, busy, busy! I hope all is well with you. How was Benson's birthday? How is it in England? (I've been learning English lingo. I asked if anyone knew where a garbage was, and they all looked at me funny, because it's called a bin.) I love you all. Good night. Love, Chelsey*:x lovestruck by hpaich on