Sunday: A quiet day because I thought there would be no school activities. I explored by running for about 40 minutes at 6:00am. I cannot sleep very late because my body is still used to Ohio time. I'm sorry that I did not take any pictures of my sights while running. An American here is quite a rare thing and there always seems to be people staring at me so looking even more out of place by stopping to take pictures all the time is difficult. I will try to keep taking as many pictures as possible. I can give you a mental picture of Xiaogan; think of downtown Cleveland with all the storefronts open and filled with activity. Add to that activity with everybody on a bike or scooter and you have a pretty good picture of Xiaogan.
Mr. Li and one of his English teachers and his driver wanted to show me around their city and parks. The city, as with most in, China has a legend or story behind it. The story of Xiaogan deals with a man named Dong Yong and his dedication to his family. You will have to research the story for yourself if you are interested. Anyway, most of the parks are dedicated to Dong Yong and this story. I have included many pictures of the parks filled with people enjoying many different activities.
After the parks we ate at Mr. Li's house. I included pictures of a typical, if not upscale home, in an apartment building in Xiaogan. A principal is a respectable job and is rewarded as such. The lunch was delicious and was prepared by Mr. Li and his wife. The picture of Mr. Li holding the fish is because a boy caught the fish out of the pond at the park and gave it to Mr. Li for his aquarium at home. There were no unusual foods just the way they prepare the food. The fish was fried whole in the pan and presented that way. You just pick off the part you would like to eat of the fish.
After lunch we drove about an hour and ½ to a neighboring city to meet up with another visiting American principal from the same group. Mrs. Louise Mason is the principal of Girard Middle School in Girard, Ohio. I had the opportunity to meet some of this Chinese middle school students who were staying at school for the weekend (several of the students live at school in dorms). We traveled to another school on the way to a hot springs. Our guests thought we would like to relax in the famous hot springs of China. The hot springs are fed by volcanoes under the ground and have sulfur and other minerals the Chinese people find as healing. The hot springs were relaxing and very much an expensive resort. There were many different types of pools with massaging chairs. The most unique pool was called the fish pool. There were literally thousands of tiny fish like minnows in the hot spring and you were to sit in it and the fish would heal your aches and pains. I sat in the pool and the fish would come around you and nibble on you. It was a very gentle bite and their were several at a time. That was a first for me. Dinner was at a local restaurant and was very similar to most we have had. Probably the most unusual item I ate at this dinner was eel. It tasted ok, but the underside of it was kind of like the bottom of a starfish, pretty tough and sharp. Oh well, when in Rome...
See you tomorrow and enjoy the pictures.
No comments:
Post a Comment