The Rest of The Story

6:00pm, AT, July 6, Guangzho Airport, China
We finally boarded our plane. The flight was nice, but nothing really eventful happened.

7:30pm, AT, July 6, Nanning Airport, China
Something eventful happened. *** Imagine the most beautiful painting of a Chinese mountain, river, rice field, etc. and then imagine flying over that. The view was absolutly amazing. Then it was like our pilot forgot we had to land, so we dove down quickly, hit the run way hard, at about midway, and then slammed on the brakes. I literally came up out of my seat. Had I not had my safety belt secured, I would have flown head first into my tray table, which was safely locked in the upright position. We pulled to the gate, and began getting off the plane. ***

8pm, AT, July 6, Nanning Airport, China
We proceed through the airport without incident, other than every single person is staring at us like we were made with eggplant. I don't really know where that came from, but anyway. We get to baggage claim, which was no easy task might I add. Had we not had our guides, it would have been very difficult to find it. So we get to baggage claim, and look just past the gate, and lo and behold, there's about 30 students and teachers waiting with flowers waving peace signs. We grab our stuff, and as soon was we get past the gate, we are swarmed by all these students grabbing our bags to carry them and handing us flowers in our now empty hands. We take a couple of group pictures and hop on a bus towards my new home for the next 4 weeks.

9pm, AT, July 6, Guangxi University for Nationalities Middle School
We arrive, and the students carry all our bags up to rooms for us. We get settled in a little bit and then go to a big dinner. Once again, typical Asian setup with the lazy susuanne in the middle, covered in tons of food. Interesting foods: skewered shrimp, with the shell still on, cooked in salt; mystery meat stick (stick on a meat. It was very good. I asked what it was, and they just asked if I liked it. I said yes, then they said "Well that's all that matters." I inquired more to no luck); fried pumpkin in a sweet glaze sauce; more un-translatable greens; some short bone with meat (very delicious); more jiaozha(it's absolutely amazing); and I think some more stuff. I've got some more funny stories from this evening I'll have to tell you when I get back.
After dinner, we had a quick team meeting, and then went to bed. P.S. Here's my bed: wooden board under a thick blanket under a sheet under a normal sized pillow. And I slept like a baby.

6am, AT, July 7, GXUN (Guangxi University for Nationalities)
Woke up from a great nights sleep. I went out on the balcony and chilled for a little watching the morning fog roll away. This is going to be an amazing summer. *** *** *** ***

9am, AT, July 7 GXUN
Breakfast: This meal was in a cafeteria. Our waiban (guide/translator) ordered our food: steamed bread, cinnamon roll things, jiaozha, green, yellow, gray, purple stripe (Green, yellow, gray, and purple stripe reffer to this substance. It's like a thick jello. We believe it's made from rice glucose and flavorings, but that's all theory. It's actually more like ballistics gel than jello. Also, try eating jello with chopsticks. It makes for a good time. The green had a green flavor (combine every green candy in the world. Yeah that flavor), the yellow had a yellow flavor (combine every yellow candy in the world. Yeah that flavor), the gray, gray. And the purple, purple. Needless to say, the gray was pretty bland, but still very satisfying), and last but certainly not the least, the bean paste treats (i don't know how they did it, but they have a bean paste that tastes just like chocolate spread. The made little pastries with it, little fried balls, and tons of other things centered around this chocolate bean paste). Breakfast was delicious

10am, AT, July 7, GXUN
Team meeting. We began discussing what needs to get done and how to do it. It was intense, but this summer is really starting to take shape.

12am, AT, July 7, GXUN
Lunch: "Old Friend Noodles" It was a spicy noodle soup with beef and tomatoes. Very delicious. After lunch, me, another teacher, our team leader, and 3 students walked around to look at where our class rooms are gonna be. It's pretty awesome. *** After walking for a bit, we came back and resumed our team meeting. That ended, and I have free time until 5. I have a fair amount of free time right now, but I garuntee next week will make up for my time that I've had to relax. The schedule is crazy, and I'm loving every minute of it.

Until next time, sia xian.