National Holiday

After returning from Beijing, I had a short week at school. Due to the National Holiday on October 1st, we all had Thursday and Friday off that week and the following week off from classes. The Monday before the holiday, I showed movies in my classes and had an interesting lunch. Two of my students brought me to a resaurant to try to my first donkey burger. Yes, DONKEY MEAT! It sound weird to us Americans, but Donkey Burger is what Baoding in known for. The meat come out looking a little gross but tucked nicely into a cute panini type bread. I bit into it fearing the worst....and loved it! Okay, I tried donkey and loved it. Now what about dog?

Tuesday I showed a movie in one class and played games in another. I decided my holiday should be two weeks, not one and a half. On the actual National Holiday, I watched the parade/celebration on TV. It took over Beijing and was MASSIVE and very long. It was quite beautiful though. Emily, Kim, and I made a lazy day of it and had Korean food delivered to our building. A couple days during the week, Emily and I tested out the tennis courts with our new, super cheap tennis rackets. Overall, I think I did less than most people in China during the holiday because I did not travel outside the city. However, it is all worth it because I was able to relax, meet up with new friends, and save money for future trips.

On day, three of my students brought Emily and I to the Baoding Botanical Garden. It is humongous and beautiful. We did not even go to the Winter, Summer, Autumn, or Spring gardens. We walked through the middle and to the back with the massive buildings and the serene lake. A man sold us cotton candy that he made by using his bike's momentum. We then rented a paddle boat and stayed out in the water for about an hour. It was a lot of fun! We even saw about 6 couples getting their wedding photos taken. In China, the bride and groom will dress up in their wedding outfits and go to a beautiful location to take pictures before the wedding. I had heard we would be lucky to see one couple but we saw six. It was such a lovely day and as a way to repay my students (who did not let us pay for the boat), we took them out to dinner the following day.

The National Holiday was a relaxing break from classes!