It was such a fun break! I enjoyed touring the historical spots of Nanjing, playing basketball, studying, and eating with sometimes random Chinese people. Here are the highlights.
On Chinese National Day Eve (I just made that up. Work with me.), my roommate Jimmy and I went out to dinner with a student I met on campus (陈浩) and his girlfriend. It is safe to say that the conversation was much more enjoyable than the food. We ate duck head, and I thought it was one of the most disgusting things that I had ever eaten…that is until I made it to the duck’s brain. Squishy. It became official—it is the MOST disgusting thing I have even eaten! In spite of the “cuisine,” we laughed the whole time and we had a great night.
I slept in on Thursday morning, and then I went and played basketball with some of our friends at the university. I tried to take it easy on them, but how could I resist utilizing the pull-up jumper over the 5’3” Chinese guy guarding me? I couldn’t. We won. :)
Thursday night, Jimmy and I went out to dinner with a nice Chinese man he had met on campus (谭显胜). He is so humble that it is refreshing just to be around him. He also speaks both Mandarin and Cantonese, so I particularly enjoyed eating with him. Oh yeah, the curry was a big improvement from our dinner the night before.
Friday night, my other roommate Nate and I went to the Confucius temple with our friend from the night before 谭显胜. The Confucius temple is basically a touristy night market, and it was packed! Nate and I had our pictures taken so many times! The highlight coming when Nate caught a high school girl trying to sneak a picture of us, causing her to scream and run away. I told Nate it was not his fault he is so handsome. :)
Saturday morning, we went with our program director to tour an ancient city built within the current Nanjing borders during the Warring States Period. My favorite part was the appropriately named “Ghost-faced City.”
For Saturday night, please refer to my previous blog. It was such a fun Mid-Autumn Festival!
Our branch did not show General Conference on Sunday, but the normal fast Sunday meetings were great, and I spent the rest of the day in the apartment enjoying the Sabbath. Monday morning, we went and toured a Buddhist temple built during the Ming Dynasty called the Jiming Temple. I never knew Buddhist temples were such good places to practice my free throws!
On Monday afternoon, I went to go play ping pong but all the tables were taken. I decided to go talk to the owners of my favorite popcorn stand (some things never change). They were watching a movie inside their shop, and I started watching it with them. Dinner time arrived, and I got up to leave. The husband was cooking peppers, tomatoes, and chicken just outside of their little shop, and I couldn’t help but entertain the thought of possibly getting lucky enough to merit an invitation to join them for dinner. I never made it out the door. They insisted that I stay for dinner, and I spent the next hour laughing and eating delicious chicken and spicy peppers. I counted it as Family Home Evening.
Wednesday morning, we went and toured the Confucius temple, and then we played basketball with a group of Chinese students in the afternoon. Once again, I tried to take it easy on them. :) Wednesday night, Jimmy, Nate, and I all had dinner with our friend Leo. He was hilarious, and the curry was so good!
And then came Thursday, the last day of the break. You would think that all of us would have set aside time to do a little bit of homework each day, rather than saving the whole week’s worth for Thursday. You would think. Let’s just say I spent the entire day in our apartment learning a lot of Chinese. :)
Ok, Ok. I very much do not support communism, but is it really so bad to celebrate it once a year?!
What big adventures! I bet China has never seen such incredible basketball skills. I'm playing on a 3 on 3 team with some buddies at the MTC. Remember to SYL!
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