I had a nice weekend

I took over an hour of subways to go places each day, and the sun was out for a little bit today.  It was nice.

Friday, following our weekly test, five friends and I went to the biggest tourist trap of them all: 秀水街--The Silk Street Market.  This place is the definition of a tourist trap: tourists go, and they are trapped by what they believe to be good prices, but end up being outrageously 上当受骗 (tricked) by the very well practiced shopkeepers.  You see, China lets you haggle.  China also can mass produce many beautiful things for very cheap.  So, even if it is something that would cost the equivalent of 10$US, you probably could have gotten it for the equivalent of 3$.

As with everyone who goes shopping there, I bought much more than I intended to.  But I do not regret buying a single thing, and I got to see some pretty outrageously awesome things.

For example, this cat made out of pearls.

(jamey and andrew lookin' gangsta in their new panda hats.  andrew got down on his knees to knock off a few more kuai while haggling.)

On Saturday, we made the trip to The Temple of Heaven, another of Beijing's most visited places.  It was very beautiful, and we went on a the perfect day.  It was supposed to rain, so it wasn't too hot; it was overcast, and there was a breeze.  

On our way to the Temple, we passed a man painting water calligraphy.  He used water to draw characters on the ground and, by the time he was done writing something, the first characters had vanished.  

(a little girl gives it a try)

Naturally, Stephanie wanted a go, and we ended up spending about 20 minutes learning helpful ways to remember characters.  It was very fun, and many Chinese people took pictures of Stephanie as she painted her Chinese name on the ground.

(天坛--Tian Tan-- The Temple of Heaven)

At the temple itself, I ran into a friend of mine from High School which was beyond weird, seeing as I had had no idea she was in Beijing, and Beijing is one of the world's most populous cities, so the chances of us running into each other were tiny to begin with.  She is also in Beijing doing a summer program, but hers does not have a language pledge.  I was very jealous.

That evening, we went on HBA's arranged trip to a 茶馆儿--Tea House--where we drank tea, chattered, and watched Chinese folk songs, dance, acrobatics, music and kungfu.  It was very fun, although I was exhausted from my foray to the Temple of Heaven.

(中国的功夫--Chinese Kungfu)

Today, I met up with a friend of mine, Eric, who is at PIB on a Light Fellowship.  He was one of my first friends at Yale, being on my Harvest Farm during Yale preorientation.  We hadn't managed to meet up over the course of the past few weeks, and it seems unlikely that we will see each other before we go.    We went and ate dim sum, over-ordered, and over-ate.  It was wonderfully fun.  He also gave me a belated birthday present which I have named 小胖子(xiao pangzi - small fatty, a term of endearment).  It was wonderful fun to see him, and even more amusing that I ate more than him, considering that I have seen this kid put away two full Chipotle burritos without any problem.  

(我和小胖子)