May 8-9

Nî Hâo,

Where to begin...On Friday we had a day full of tourist activities. First we went to a Buddhist temple and learned some things about Buddhism. Across the street was a very large pagoda that we climbed all the way to the top of. Some people took the elevator, but I was determined to climb all the way to the top (about 500 steps). Once at the top, the view was breathtaking. The observatory went around the building so you could see West Lake and downtown Hangzhou, pretty unreal. After lunch, we went to a museum that had artifacts from over 6000 years ago that had been found in the

Hangzhou area. By this point in the day, everyone was pretty worn out, and not even I, someone who likes history had the energy or the focus to go around the museum. I wish our days weren't so packed sometimes because its hard to get the full experience when you are go go going for 8 straight hours. After supper, we ate PIZZA HUT as a group. The pizza didn't taste 100% the same, but it was PIZZA!!!!! I think everyone who had lost weight on this trip due to being sick from the food difference, put it right back on (including me). We then got back and decided to go out for a night on the town.

*Pricing sidenote*

I had the wrong perception about prices in China coming over here. Sure there are cheap things here, mostly small trinkets, drinks, food, but most of the shopping the prices are even higher than in the US. For example, there is a place across the street that sells Snow beer for 2.5RNB (36 cents US) and you can eat a full meal for less than 2 US dollars (Rice, noodles, drink, rotisserie chicken). But, at the same time, there are NIKE stores all over, and they have Air Force 1s (popular nike shoe) for over 100 US where you can get it for about 65-85 in America, depending on the quality. I even saw a fake pair (sowing wasn't correct) for the same price. I talked to Professor Ewest and he said that the middle class hasn't emerged yet, so that is the reason that there is stuff priced very high, and stuff priced very low, but no middle ground yet.

*PDA sidenote*

In Hangzhou, I had not seen hardly any Public Displays of Affection, not even holding hands. We went to a very large, over crowded dance club, and the first time I had seen two Chinese people kiss, it was two males while there was a lap dance going on next to the guys kissing. I am not sure why there isn't more hand holding and kissing in public, its probably a cultural thing.

Saturday

We had a free day all to ourselves, I planned on sleeping in until about noon, but because of our cycle of waking up at 7 every day, I made it until 830. Mike and I had planned to go golfing, but the weekend rate, and the ability to get a tee time, made it pretty much impossible to play. It was 1350RNB (200 US) for 18 which isn't totally outrageous considering you get a caddie and club rental, but it is a little steep. Instead I watched the Rockets vs. Lakers live on CCTV5. For the first time this whole trip, I was able to watch a full NBA playoff game. Another short sidenote, during commercials in the US, in China they show highlights of other games, its pretty cool. We then walked to KFC, which was an experience, I decided to get crazy and order a Crunchwrap Supreme. I know you are thinking to yourself, wait, that is a Taco Bell dish. They served it at KFC but the meat tasted Chinese so it wasn't too tasty. Jarrett's fried chicken was actually really good. After KFC we went to the Black Market, but most of the stuff there was very overpriced or stolen, hah. Mike found an Iphone for 100 us, I wish I would have been with him because that would be a good investment for the future.

After the black market, we went to play basketball again. Shawn Jarrett and I won a lot of games, but to handicap the games, they called a foul on everything. It was the weakest basketball I had ever played. Also, when it was game point, they would foul as hard as possible to make sure we didn't make it, we wouldn't call a foul because we had the rebound for an easy putback but they wouldn't allow that. Also, a big contrast in the pick up games in America and here is they don't check the ball, as soon as the guy gets it on top the balls in, which makes it really tough to get defense set up.

After basketball, we decided to go out as a group for supper and then out on the town. We went to a place called Panchos, it was a mexican place and it was amazing. Our waitress was very good and spoke english, even though she was from the Ukraine, in China. The food was amazing, and the atmosphere was good, and the Margaritas actually had slush in them, which we didn't have on Cinco De Mayo, we might go back there on monday for salsa dancing.

All for now

Erik