March 28, 2016

Hello again, This weekend didn't really go as planned, but that's not entirely a bad thing. In fact, I thought it was quite nice. All the cleaning that I was going to do went out the window, but I did manage to clean my bathroom and most of the dishes. All in all, it was a lovely Easter weekend. On Friday night, as I said before, I went to a restaurant with some teachers after school. It's surprising to me how easily I can pop off snail heads with a toothpick and eat them. Seriously, how did I get past the thought of eating snails so fast? Also, there was stinky tofu. They don't call it stinky tofu for nothing. But, it was a very good dinner. And, the teachers started asking me if I wanted to marry a Chinese man. They were joking (I think). It was funny, because earlier that same day, some students were asking me if I had a boyfriend, because they were thinking of setting me up with someone. (I'm too young, I think.) Yeah. . . On Saturday, I'd been invited to go with some of the other interns to look at a couple of museums in the old part of town. It was a fun walk just getting there from the metro station. The three of us who had ridden the subway together went to a fun noodle shop where you could pick your own soup ingredients and waited for the others. As we walked, the closer we got, the more old buildings we saw. And then, suddenly, we were in a place that was distinctly old-time Chinese. We went to the Folk Customs Museum, or whatever it's called. Inside there are a lot of displays of things from ancient China. The woodwork was carved with a lot of bats, which I remember from watching Sagwa means good luck. (I love how so much of what I know about China is from cartoons.) I honestly don't know what most of what I was looking at was, but it was pretty, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We found the Lion Forest Garden, but didn't go in, because none of us had thirty kuai to spend on that, but we will go back after payday. We found and ocarina shop, and a bunch more stores full of pretty things. I found a silk tunic on sale for a good price. We also found the other museum we wanted to go to, but the line was huge. It was right next to the Humble Administrator's Garden, which we also didn't go to. But, I know where it is, kind of. We found our way leisurely to Pingjian Street, which is a long street that looks like it's from another time. Most everyone was excited about finding the Cat Cafe, which is a cafe that you can go in, and pet cats while you eat. I'm a cat person, but I didn't see the point of paying so much money to pet a cat. There were three of us who stayed out and got spring rolls for a few kuai and enjoyed the scenery instead. Then we wandered, and we were there till after the sun went down. Pingjian Street was beautiful with all the lights reflecting on the canals. The others wanted to get drinks at a hostel. Fortunately for me, one of the other girls needed to leave to catch her bus, which meant I had someone to leave with. I went home and did some cleaning before bed. On Sunday, I went to church. Caitlynn wasn't able to make it, after all, but it was probably a good thing, because I got lost trying to get from the metro to the church. The park on Jinji Lake was lovely, and I got to see people flying kites, but I the ones who I asked for directions to Furong Jie didn't know what I was talking about. I missed the Sacrament, but I made it for the last few minutes of Sacrament meeting. I needed to meet with President Okeson, and when I did, I asked him if there was a way I could still take the Sacrament. Where last week was district conference, and where there aren't a lot of times during the week when my environment is spiritually stimulating, I really felt a need to take the Sacrament. So, President Okeson talked to the Aaronic priesthood and I was able to at the end of church. It was weird having it just for me. It makes me feel like I need to try harder this week, so that it was worth it. After church, the Okeson's had an American-style Easter dinner at their home. After dinner, we decorated sugar cookies (which I shared with the teachers today, although I'm not sure how they liked them). I also played the piano, which was awesome! When I got back, I decided I really needed to watch The Testaments for Easter, so I invited Amelia to watch it with me. We both enjoyed it. Then, I stayed up late trying to get ready for Monday. I apologize for writing such a long email- again! I hope you had a good Easter. I was very glad to take the time to appreciate the Atonement, and I hope for you it was the same. I love you! Love, Chelsey*:x lovestruck