written by Nate Jones.

Hey there!

Today marked a week from when we first arrived in Shanghai. I know that’s hard to believe for me, as it seems like we’ve been in China for much, much longer. A couple of notes before I talk about what I’ve been doing.

First, before Charlotte’s parents get worried that I am completing this blog post rather than her, it is just because of the vagaries of local internet access.

Second, Mr. Manakhov told me I can talk about both yesterday and today because people have been doing so many different things, so you are about to get twice the days in just one blog post!

Yesterday was the first day of the weekend, and we took advantage of our free time. In the morning, I ate a filling Chinese breakfast before heading out with Leonard. We met up with Tyler, Cameron, Izhan and their exchange students to go to a computer gaming center. It contained rows upon rows of computer screens and headsets, along with a pretty healthy population of gamers for 10 on Saturday morning. The exchange students took us to a private room where they played League of Legends and we tried to figure out to play games in Chinese. At 11, we went next door to a much sketchier establishment and played some XBox and PlayStation. After grabbing a quick bite to eat, we met up with Spencer to head to Shaolin temple.

Our students had helpfully arranged a bus to Shaolin Temple and a tour guide. Most of us dozed off during the hour and a half bus ride. Upon arrival, we walked out of the bus to see an ineffably beautiful mountain landscape. The bus ride had gotten us out of the smoggy city to a rural and picturesque mountain region. We went into the temple grounds and watched an astounding kungfu performance. Afterwards, our tour guide showed us around the temple grounds and taught us about Buddhism and it’s history. We then rode a shuttle down the mountain before heading to a vegetarian dinner.

After our dinner we took some winding roads to the location of the other part of the Temple. It would be a while before the show, but we settled into our seats. The show was nestled between three peaks, and was incredible. A stirring combination of auditory and visual stimulation, it showcased kungfu and traditional performance art forms alongside an extraordinary light show. Afterwards, most of us could just sputter superlatives about the incredible show we had just seen. The pictures below don’t exactly do it justice, because much of the majesty of the performance was in the synchronization of it’s hundreds of performers and their dynamic movement. It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip so far.

The unfortunate issue with the trip was that the long trek out to Shaolin had to be repeated again to get home. I got home around midnight and fell asleep immediately.

I woke up in the morning to small children running around Leonard’s apartment. Leonard’s little brother was being picked up to go the family barbecue we would be going to later, and his little cousins were very, very excited about it. His parents told me I could sleep in for a little while before we went to the barbecue. I ate a breakfast consisting of fruit, vegetables, and rice with some sort of broth before I left with Leonard’s family to go to the barbecue.

We turned off a major highway into a surprisingly tranquil park. After a winding series of turns on dusty roads, we were plunged into a crowd of people. It turns out the park was Zhengzhou’s prime spot for picnics and barbecue. The meal was delicious-an assortment of grilled meats and vegetables, along with pear juice.

Leonard and I then met up with the same group of friends from Shaolin along with JJ and his exchange student. We waited around in the mall for a while to play a game called “the room”. We were all placed in a room with 7 doors and tasked with getting out. Sadly, we failed the task as our hour ran out after we got out of the room but before we got out of the entire maze. Still, good times were had by all.

We all crossed the street and headed to the mall, where some ice skated in the indoor rink while the rest watched. Some of the kids skating found the Americans to be more interesting than the skating and came up and chatted. Soon the skaters were tired and we headed to eat a family-style dinner in the mall. Afterwards, most of us wanted a taste of home. We capped the day off with Dairy Queen blizzards. Everyone headed home early to rest for our first school day tomorrow.

From Zhengzhou,

Nate