See Miss Jane do Tai Ji

As I’ve mentioned, we do two hours of class every morning to learn about Chinese culture. We have learned about Chinese history, geography, food, economy, and a bit of Mandarin. Last week we learned a little bit of tai ji which I learned I was very bad at. Being uncoordinated, left-handed, AND clumsy is not a good combination for tai ji. I always put the wrong foot forward or the wrong hand up or something. Anyway it was fun and good entertainment for our teacher. A security guard appeared out of nowhere and it was good entertainment for him too. He also took some photos of us which was really funny and awkward but not surprising at this point.

See Miss Jane Go to West Lake

Last weekend we drove an hour and a half to West Lake which is a freshwater lake that is very pretty and touristy. Wikipedia tells us that:

“West Lake is not only famous for its picturesque landscape, it is also associated with many scholars, national heroes and revolutionary martyrs, thus embracing many aspects of Chinese culture. In addition, many ancient buildings, stone caves and engraved tablets in surrounding areas are among the most cherished national treasures of China, with significant artistic value.”

So there you have it. Our students told us about an ancient love story that takes place at West Lake and I still am not very clear on it but it has something to do with a man falling in love with a woman who turned into a snake and then they could not be together and then somehow they ended up being together through magic or something and then it was said that they would be together until the lake dries up or the tower falls.

Anyways, our students love this story and they were very excited to share it with us.

Just like in Tonglu, we got many stares and many photos taken of us. However, this time, it was with a vengeance. There was a random guy that actually took photos of us from the bushes and followed us very non-surreptitiously took photos of us pretty much the whole time we were there. He thought it was very funny that I took a photo of him when he blatantly took a photo of me. I didn’t do it every time, but here are some photos I took of random people taking photos of us, some blatant, others trying (and failing) to be sneaky. There’s one below of some random man who thought my friend A was very beautiful and got her to pose with him for several photos. One lady was taking a selfie with the lake in the background so I got out of her way and she turned around and said, “NO NO NO NO NO NO!” So I did my standard shrugging of the shoulders and then she put her arm around me and tried to take a selfie WITH me! Super awkward. So then someone took pity on her and took her phone and got the photo for her. She was so happy and couldn’t stop smiling. Super duper awkward.













Here are more photos of West Lake:





















Then we went to a very delicious restaurant for lunch and went shopping. Some of us weren’t feeling the shopping though so we sat in the park for a little bit sweating so much and playing cards.