Hot Springs

The school took all the foreign teachers on a trip with the Foreign Affairs people and their families. We loaded up on a bus Saturday morning to head out near Wuhan to a hot springs/spa resort type deal. We arrived Saturday afternoon, just in time for xiuxi (nap time) so they told us to relax until dinner at 5:30. So basically we got up early to drive to a place to take a nap instead of leaving later and jumping right into the fun when we got their. A difference in culture I suppose. Our rooms were really cool. They were Japanese style with ghetta slippers and beds on the floor. It was pretty cool. For our xiuxi time we walked around the area and checked things out, then went back with the intention of taking a nap. Beth and I somehow started taking stupid pictures of ourselves and laughed until we were nearly sick. No nap for us. (Pics on facebook). I had to leave dinner early b/c I was feeling sick, so I actually missed out on the entire hot springs part of the trip. The others said it was pretty good. You could sit in a milk bath, water with rose petals, lay on hot rocks, etc. Back in the room, I read and spent some much needed Quality time with Dad, then slept for a while. Beth got back to the room around 1, so I got up and went for a walk with the others. We got back to our rooms around 2 or 3, slept, and then woke up much too early to head back. The school had planned on taking us to some mausoleum, but we convinced them to take us to Metro in Wuhan instead. Metro is the store we buy all of our cheese and other precious Western foods. So we basically got a free trip to Metro out of the deal, not bad at all! I left carrying a precious load of cheese, cream cheese, and pita chips! Yum! We road the bus back for what seemed like forever. We got back around 6...hit the showers...then immediately made chicken hot dip (loaded with cream cheese) and sat by the Christmas tree. Not a bad weekend in all. Now it's Monday and we're all trying to get ourselves together with exams and wrapping up the end of the term. One week 'til Christmas!