Weekend Adventures

This weekend was quite jolly.  On Saturday we decided to go to this beach somewhere north of here, so around 11 we headed for the train station to take the train there.  It was only about a 45 minute ride but at one of the first stops after we got on an old man shuffled on and sat right behind me.  I was sitting by myself at the very front of the car next to the door and two other ETAs were sitting across the aisle from me (everyone else was in different cars).  Well, even though the car was nicely air-conditioned, this fellow propped the door open so all the humid air from outside came rushing in on us as we sped along.  Although a bit annoying, it wasn’t a big deal, but then after about four minutes he tapped Sarah a few times, who was across the aisle from me.  She turned around and he said something we completely could not figure out.  I thought maybe he didn’t appreciate the fact that she was reading aloud, but since she wasn’t being loud and there were plenty of seats to move to if he wanted to I figured that couldn’t be it.  Well, he settled back down for the time being but shortly afterwards he poked her again and mumbled something.  This happened a few more times and finally I was able to get him to repeat himself, and by now he was standing in the aisle.  I asked what he said and he leaned in super close to me and mumbled some sounds I couldn’t decipher.  I am convinced they were not words in any language…but I did smell the unmistakable stench of alcohol and I began to understand at least part of the problem of our inability to communicate.  Then, as I must have been giving him a look to show that I didn’t understand, he spoke again, but this time covering his mouth with his hand.  Obviously this was in no way helpful.  Finally, he motioned to the door he had opened and the empty seats that were behind the two girls and I was able to understand that he wanted them to move back so they wouldn’t be so close to the door since it was kind of pinning them in.  I asked him if he wanted them to move and he nodded and sat back down.  I conveyed this to the other two, but since they weren’t bothered by the door, they decided to stay.  I turned around to tell him that it wasn’t a problem but he was asleep…

Anyway, we soon got to the beach after a short walk from the station.  The day there made me realize that the ocean doesn’t have to be a terrifying place and is actually really enjoyable to stand in the water as the waves come in.  The water seemed about as warm as Lake Johanna when I was in it earlier this summer so it was pretty pleasant. 

That evening a few of us took the train to nearby Luodong and explored the night market.  It was incredibly busy because there was an art festival going on, so that was a fun bonus.  The night market is full of little stands of all kinds of food and other goods.  We found a stand that sold pancakes so of course I had to get one with chocolate and it was absolutely delicious.  We also treated ourselves to freshly squeezed juice.  There were all kinds of options, but I had to go with basic orange juice.  Not only did it just sound so good right then, but it complemented my pancake nicely.  Towards the end we ran into the art show and watched a few dances, ending with a dance to LMFAO’s Party Rock complete with flags, fans, batons and shirts with pompoms on them.  There were a bunch of elaborate floats as well, that were just all parked together so we took our time looking at them and just as we were about to part ways (some to the train station and some to their apartment in Luodong) a bunch of fireworks started going off because it was the last night of the festival.  I do love a good fireworks display.

On Sunday I went to church with Ellen, one of the teachers from the partner schools.  Last Monday when all the teachers came to present their schools and introduce themselves, one of the teachers mentioned that she was a Christian so afterwards I asked if I could go to church with her.   Well, not only did she pick me up and drive me to church in Luodong, but because the church service is in Chinese and they ran out of headsets for the translation, she also translated the service for me.  The worship was neat because I knew the songs in English so I felt a lot more like I knew what was going on.  Plus it’s just a fun experience.

After church Ellen and her daughter who’s in 6^th grade took me out to eat at a steakhouse.  First we drove to her house and dropped the car off and then biked to the steakhouse since parking is limited there.  I was wearing a dress and I have also never biked on the streets of a busy city, so those features made things exciting.  I was totally successful though, so I felt pretty good about that!  The food at the steakhouse was really good, although probably not what Americans would think of when they think of a steakhouse (I can't say for sure since I have never actually gone out to eat steak).  The meal started with some kind of shellfish and a sauce and another fish on a bed of alfalfa and something like mayonnaise drizzled on top.  After that they brought out a soup topped with this flaky bread-type thing, which was tasty.  Next came out our main course, which in my case was chicken.  The food came on a sizzling plate that was basically a skillet and besides my chicken, there was spaghetti and some vegetables and a fried egg.

After lunch, Ellen took me to The Home of God’s Love, an orphanage a little ways out of Luodong that I've been wanting to go to.  I got to hold some very sweet babies and meet some wonderfully hospitable people.  Basically, this whole day was filled with meeting gracious people who I am excited to get to know better!