Pictures taken

"Pictures say a thousand words"
--Someone. (I don't think I ever have heard a person claim this quote but I thought I should at least be courteous in case someone famous actually did say this).

These are some of the pictures that Amy and I have taken.

http://unc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2144592&l=89a7d&id=2736860

We got our picture taken today! Some guy on the street actually pulled out his cell phone, stopped, and followed us with his phone to get a good picture of us. I was highly amused... although I don't think all foreigners would be. I just thought of all the pictures I want to take but am to chicken to actually take. This guy had the guts to pull out his phone and actually take a picture of the weird weigoren (foreigners). I rewarded him with a big old grin. I even held my fingers up in a "V"... that is classic picture taking protocol over here.

My feet, legs and knees would like to take this opportunity to thank the "New Balance" shoe company today. Unashamed propaganda to follow...

Since we do not have what it takes to get bikes and follow the masses in the rat race of bikes we have stuck to the rat race of walking and dodging all other forms of moving vehicles.
20 minutes to Grandma's kitchen
25 minutes to Sabrina's Country Store (where no Honey Bunches of Oats box is safe!!)
20 minutes to the Fu River
30 minutes to High Fly Pizza
10 minutes to my favorite fruit stand
hours getting lost and finding new roads!!

We walked around for more than 4 hours today. This is not untypical for our days. No longer am I conscious that Amy and I are the ONLY ones in sneakers. I watch these women walk around in their beautiful dresses, umbrellas, and HIGH healed shoes and can only imagine the awfulness. Do their feet hate them? Have their feet just resolved to take the punishment everyday? Beauty is a funny thing. I think my pink and black New Balance shoes are the most beautiful thing in the world. My feet love me right now.

In other news... the 20 minutes to Grandma's Kitchen this morning was so exciting. A routine and things to look forward to is always a good idea especially when in a new place. I knew they were making my pancakes as we arrived! We go every Sunday morning, sit at the same table, and order practically the same thing, which for me comes with unlimited amounts of coffee. We read the English newspaper and enjoy our forks and knives. I brought my own peanut butter this time for the pancakes just in case they decided they didn't have any this morning. It was worth the carry. In fact I carried the pb around all day today! The pancakes were amazing... the coffee even better!

Tomorrow is our third workshop and we're really excited about meeting more students. They seem eager to learn. I am wondering about their history though. Their personal history and their history as a people, a country. History influences everything and everyone in a culture even if they don't know it. I asked one of my Chinese friends about the history of her country. She smiled and said she learned it for a test and then forgot it all (not unlike we do in the States). Unfortunately, she doesn't realize how much her thought process, her way of being, her belief system is all influenced by those who have gone before her to shape the culture that she lives in. How do I get them to understand this? Not that I'm trying to change the way that they think but if you don't know your history then it's like showing up 45 minutes late to your own life. You don't know the beginning. How can you make any sense out of your life? How do you avoid repeating the bad parts of the past if you don't know them? How can you know really why you do the things you do without knowing where you've been? So many questions but all in an effort to realize and appriciate our differences!