An Unexpected Afternon

Summer comes early to this part of the world. It is supposed to hit 30 degrees C today and it feels it. I, of course, love it. It is beautiful weather to be outside and active. Last weekend I sent a text message to one of my friends asking her if she would like to go to the park and take a walk, she replied "ok". So, I head out to meet her and she shows up with her whole family plus her sister in the car and tells me they are going to a school. I wasn't sure exactly what was going on but after a few attempts at communicating thought perhaps they were checking the school out for her son. When we got there I discovered we were picking up her nephew. Now we will probably head to the park, I am thinking. Wrong. We get back in the car and my friend informs me we are heading to a lake 15 kilometers (about 9 miles) outside of the city to ride bicycles. What? I am not dressed for this, I was wearing a skirt and sandals, so I informed her of this and they graciously took me home to change first. It turned out to be a wonderful afternoon of riding bikes and enjoying the outdoors but it was a rather amusing situation. My friend doesn't speak a lot of English and often relies on her 14 year old nephew to communicate with me in a mixture of Chinese and English which is great for my Chinese learning but odd in that I end up talking with him more than her. :)

This part of the country is known for the people have a more relaxed and leisurely lifestyle. All over the city there are tea houses where people go to sit and talk or play cards or mahjong. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

Tea house, people playing cards

People enjoying live music at the park

An amazing pot of tea I enjoyed with friends

This is in front of my building. Literal translation is: give me a little love, I give you some green. :)