A Skip and a Hop to China!

Wow, ok it has been way to stinking long since I have posted. I am terribly sorry!! I know that there are a quite a few people following this blog and really want to know what is going on while I am here in China. I'm sorry for not being more persistant in my updates. So here is part of whats been going on. A few weeks ago, on Sunday, two of Sam's students, Christina and Allen, invited us to go on a picnic. We both were really excited to go. I thought that it was going to be like an American picnic. You know, the food, watermelon, some frisbee and football action. I was wrong. We met in a park and hung out there for a few minutes and then Christina informed us that we were going hiking up to the top of the mountain near the school. At first I was suprised and then I thought, "Ok, it will be fun and not that difficult. I can manage." I was wearing long jeans with nilons underneath from work, my red wool jacket, and just my brown shoes. Both Sam and I weren't really prepared.

It was a beautiful day! The hike was really fun. It was great to be with Sam's students and to see him interact with them. It was a really warm day so 20 minutes into the hike I was sweating and I had to take off my coat. The sky was clear so we had a great view of the city the whole way up. At first the hike was in a kind of shaded area with some trees and then when we got to the base of the mountain there weren't anymore trees. Allen said that a few weeks ago there was a fire that burned down the trees. Having no trees made the hike a little hot since there wasn't any shade but it was still a lot of fun. The students were singing songs in Chinese as they climbed and Sam and I sang a few for them. I felt like I was back at home hiking with my family!! They asked us questions about America. It was great! There were about 30 or 40 students total. There was one part of the mountain that was really hard to climb. The trail seemed to go straight up the mountain. Christina and I stayed together while Sam and Allen raced to see who could get up to the top. Christina and I stopped quite a few times to rest. It was so hot!! It was probably 80 degrees that day with no shade. I just kept telling myself that we were almost there. Finally we made it to the top. The view from the top was AMAZING!! You could see the whole city and the valley. On the top of the mountain is a radio tower and a building that you can sit in and look at the view. On the other side of the mountain we could see the dam. The view was so great. I was so proud of myself for climbing this huge moutain! Everyone just sat and rested. People started pulling out candy and other food to eat. I guess this is where the picnic comes in. Sam and I ate some candy and took pictures with the students. We sat on the mountain top for about an hour and then we started the decent home. It was a lot eaiser! We seemed to get down so much faster. The whole day was great! I'm so glad that I went hiking with Sam and his students.