Lakes and IKEA
Tonight is my last night in Nanjing! I should really go to bed since I have to catch an early flight. Setting your alarm for five AM is never fun...
I just wanted to report that my last two days in Nanjing were quite memorable! Yesterday I went to Purple Glow Lake with Halla and some of her friends. It is such a beautiful little lake, surrounded by weeping willows and grassy knolls. The best thing about the lake? You can swim in it! (Well, the sign tells you not to, but everyone ignores that.)
The temperature was just perfect for swimming and I was so put out that I didn't have my goggles with me. I could have done some proper lengths and tried to work all the yummy Chinese dumplings off!
After languishing in the lake for a while I went over to the grassy bit where we had set up camp. Blankets and towels for those who wished to bake in the sun, sports equipment for those with excess energy. I ended up playing badminton with a couple of the others for the most part. It was literally fun in the sun! (But with liberal amounts of sunscreen. I would not have wanted to go to Japan covered in burns.)
The evening was spent eating pancakes for dinner. One of Halla's friends needed help getting rid of some pancake mix, and we were eager to help! They were the thick American kind of pancakes, and we experimented with adding bananas, chocolate chips, wax-berries and even some Icelandic liqorice to the pancake batter! Delicious pancake science.
Today Halla took me to the Chinese IKEA. It was so bizarre! And not just because of the strange English translations that could be found here and there. It was just weird how similar the Chinese IKEA is to the Icelandic IKEA. (Aside from all the crazy Chinese people who like to test the furniture vigorously. Halla tells me that it is not unusual to see them shaking the furniture to see if it breaks, or even falling asleep on the beds. Oh, and the toilets had special plastic shields with directions to the nearest WC written on them!)
We had a difficult time getting a taxi to take us back home. We were unfortunately trying to get a taxi during the time of day that all the taxi drivers use to have dinner. That is apparently just how it is done. No taxi for you if it's dinner time!
Eventually we managed to snag a taxi and we made it home in one piece. I was a bit sad to leave Halla, but I suppose I will see her again in November. She's done such an amazing job showing me around and putting up with me. Goodbyes are always hard.
But even though it is Goodbye China, it will be Hello Japan tomorrow (and Hello Facebook!), so it's not all doom and gloom. Hopefully I will be able to get online soon after I land and let you all know that I'm okay.
See you in Japan!
I just wanted to report that my last two days in Nanjing were quite memorable! Yesterday I went to Purple Glow Lake with Halla and some of her friends. It is such a beautiful little lake, surrounded by weeping willows and grassy knolls. The best thing about the lake? You can swim in it! (Well, the sign tells you not to, but everyone ignores that.)
The temperature was just perfect for swimming and I was so put out that I didn't have my goggles with me. I could have done some proper lengths and tried to work all the yummy Chinese dumplings off!
After languishing in the lake for a while I went over to the grassy bit where we had set up camp. Blankets and towels for those who wished to bake in the sun, sports equipment for those with excess energy. I ended up playing badminton with a couple of the others for the most part. It was literally fun in the sun! (But with liberal amounts of sunscreen. I would not have wanted to go to Japan covered in burns.)
The evening was spent eating pancakes for dinner. One of Halla's friends needed help getting rid of some pancake mix, and we were eager to help! They were the thick American kind of pancakes, and we experimented with adding bananas, chocolate chips, wax-berries and even some Icelandic liqorice to the pancake batter! Delicious pancake science.
Today Halla took me to the Chinese IKEA. It was so bizarre! And not just because of the strange English translations that could be found here and there. It was just weird how similar the Chinese IKEA is to the Icelandic IKEA. (Aside from all the crazy Chinese people who like to test the furniture vigorously. Halla tells me that it is not unusual to see them shaking the furniture to see if it breaks, or even falling asleep on the beds. Oh, and the toilets had special plastic shields with directions to the nearest WC written on them!)
We had a difficult time getting a taxi to take us back home. We were unfortunately trying to get a taxi during the time of day that all the taxi drivers use to have dinner. That is apparently just how it is done. No taxi for you if it's dinner time!
Eventually we managed to snag a taxi and we made it home in one piece. I was a bit sad to leave Halla, but I suppose I will see her again in November. She's done such an amazing job showing me around and putting up with me. Goodbyes are always hard.
But even though it is Goodbye China, it will be Hello Japan tomorrow (and Hello Facebook!), so it's not all doom and gloom. Hopefully I will be able to get online soon after I land and let you all know that I'm okay.
See you in Japan!