Happenings in Nanjing

The past few weeks haven't been all that interesting. I've been so busy with school that I've hardly had time to leave my apartment! But we did have a holiday break of four days so I was able to get out and experience some of the city.

beautiful lake

The zoo was a bitter-sweet experience.  It was nice because there's a lake at the front where children fish with makeshift fishing poles. It's so cute! A people camp out there and picnic.  The zoo is an all-day event in China.
The animals here are held in cages, not habitats, so it's more like a prison of animals than anything else.  It was very sad to see these grand, beautiful animals sulking behind bars.  The zoo also wasn't very safe. There are no rules in China.  My friend Katie and I were actually able to walk into the elephant cage through a hole in the fence and pet it.  It probably wasn't my brightest idea, but it was a once in a lifetime opportunity so I couldn't pass it up! The elephant slobbered all over me, but it was fun and I survived!  There is also a theme park in the middle of the zoo, where I went on the sketchiest roller-coaster of my life.  It was basically four chairs tied together on wheels and they strapped us in with a seat belt. I saw my life flash before my eyes every time it spun around!

I also went dragon boat racing with a group of my fellow Arizona students and some local high school Chinese kids.  Dragon boats are long and seat about twelve people.  There is a drummer at the front of the boat who keeps the rhythm and the rest of us paddle in tandem.  It was a ton of fun! We separated into four teams and raced each other across the lake. My team lost horribly, but it was a learning experience. And then we went out for pizza!

our dragon boat racing team

I am going to Beijing this week. Hopefully I will have more to write about when I get back!