Chengdu Week 8 - Sunday Special

People's Park Memorial

Oct. 19, 2014

    Well today started off slow. I essential did my homework and practiced my Chinese with a friend on WeChat, which is a really easy to use texting service. I also ran a few errands for people who were not super interested in leaving the dorm. Then after lunch I headed out with Meiling to go see People’s Park (人民公園). Since it was Sunday, there were people everywhere. People dancing, Children running around a small amusement park, vendors selling things. There was a small lake that you could rent a paddle boat out and go travel around the park. There were also many tea houses including one that was famous for secret meetings during the Japanese occupation. I began to figure out that this park was in fact a memorial to the soldiers who died fighting with the Japanese. At least fem what I gleaned for the large memorial and the information around the park. This particular memory of the Japanese invasion is very complex, so it was very interesting to see how it was so carefully integrated into a normal place such as a park.
    After the park Meiling and I walked to the Wide and Narrow Street which I had been to before but not explored all the way through. It was nice to have a companion this time around, and one that could tell me when things were probably too expensive to be reasonable. Walking around, I had many people take pictures with me or of me. Meiling didn’t say anything about it though so I guess I just noticed more. We went and found some odd street food including pig nose… Yeah, even Meiling thought that was strange. After we had finished wandering around Meiling and I headed back to the University to get some dinner at the very cheap cafeteria. Then I went back up to the dorms.
    I went on a mini adventure with Jesse to our favorite bubble tea stand (Boba tea in the States). They have begun to recognize me so now I have a punch card. The two workers that are always there are very nice and patient with me when it comes to my Chinese. Today I tried out the Puding tea which Rahpi introduced me to, it was better here then the one we got at the Mall and half the price. After that we wandered back to the dorms, and I waited for Chiyi to come. She checked out my homework, and found it was good. I was rather pleased about that, I feel like my Chinese writing and understanding are getting very good. I also enjoyed our speaking because we were able to switch between English and Chinese fairly fluidly. It’ll be a short week, but that doesn’t mean Yin Laoshi won’t kick our butts tomorrow in class. After this week I’ll have been in Chengdu for two months. It feels very short, and yet like I have been here forever; I find I really enjoy the feeling. Good night for now!