Trip to Shanghai

The first big trip during my stay here in China is about to commence. This evening at 8:20pm a group of us (Lorelei, Olivia, Alex, Jake, James and Isabelle) are hopping on a train headed for Shanghai. The trip should take approximately 12 hours, so our overnight stay in the train will save us the cost of another night at the hostel in Shanghai. I'm not quite sure yet exactly what kind of attractions await us in Shanghai, but I do know there is a beautiful garden and of course the city itself is a marvel to see. There are also little cities with beautiful scenery close to Shanghai to which we can also travel.
The last few days - since my last post - have been quite ordinary. Classes are going well as usual, and leisure time with friends (aka. strolling the streets in the evening) keeps the schedule busy. A few days ago I discovered a new part of the ever grand city of Beijing; an area that houses the Bell and Drum Towers. This place was more relaxed than most of the hustling and bustling downtown roads. There were lots of little side streets known as Hutong(s)胡同. There was also a park in this area and the picture for this post is of a flower from there.

The most recent exciting event was last night. Josh, a student in the program received a gift from his parents back home. Through another student's parents who came to visit us here in China they sent along a huge piece (5lbs. or more) of smoked meat from Schwarz (a famous smoked mead joint in Montreal). We all gathered like hungry animals and enjoyed the feast with mustard and bread. It was really funny. In this sense we are adopting the Chinese culture, because here too many people gather around on the street, chat and eat food. So here we were all sharing this communal meal. There will be pictures of this event later on as I did not use the camera (my stomach overpowered my will to get the camera :P ) But I will get the pictures from others who took them.

I'm packing the last few things (Gnome (aka. Chuck Norris), camera and charger included), then we will make our way to the train station. I will take lots of pictures so stay tuned for Monday when I return. Hope everyone is doing well back home.

Also an advanced Happy Father's day to all dads out there since I will be gone till Monday.