Wednesday, May 18, 2011

The Coupland’s take on Wuhan

                My parents arrived in Wuhan last Wednesday evening.  I went out there with our taxi drive friend Bibo.  It was really weird to have them here initially.  I’ve talked about all of these places so much it was kind of strange to have them here experiences some of my daily activities. 
                The first night they arrived mom was not feeling too great so dad and I went to Vanke for dinner and to pick up some groceries for the week.  I wanted to slowly take them around to all of the places that I talk about so Jeep bar was the first place that we went to. 
                The next day I think that they were a little exhausted from the whirlwind vacation that we were having.  They had continued on the tour to Shanghai and was on a schedule there as well.  So, that day they just chilled out in the apartment, did some laundry and came over to watch my PE classes play some baseball.  All of my students were very excited to see and meet my parents, it was pretty funny.  Surprisingly a lot of them said that I looked like my father, which is not a comment that I usually get.  That night we cooked dinner at home since my parents were a little tired of eating out all the time.  It was nice to cook with my mom like we do at home. 
                The next day they took a walk to the IGA while I was at school.  After school I also got Dad out on the hockey court with us and joined us in our weekly street hockey game.  He even scored a goal which was fun to see.  Everyone was very nice to them and it was fun to mix it up a bit.  That night I took them to Lu Xiang (the mall) where we go all the time for dinner.  On the way home we walked by the local university street market as well so that they could see some of the culture in Wuhan.
                Saturday was a little bit of a late start as we were a little weary to get out of the house due to the cloudy weather.  Once we decided to leave we headed to Computer city.  Dad just got a new camera so we bought a lens filter and screen protector for the camera.  We shopped around there for a bit and had a fun time looking around at all of the gadgets.  After that we took a cab to Tailor street and Mom and I had a fun time looking at different fabrics for dresses.  That night we had a nice dinner and watched a movie, which was nice to do. 
                The next morning the weather looked a little better so we headed to Mo Shan which is a big park in Wuhan, pretty much one of the only tourist attractions in the city.  It’s kind of like Stanley park.  There are just different areas that you can walk around and took some pictures.  They have this really neat slide that they drag you up to the top of the mountain and then you can walk around a little bit and then slide down.  It’s pretty tame but also really fun, Mom even enjoyed herself on it.  After that I took them into the nice part of Wuhan which is Hankou.  We had a nice lunch there where mom was actually able to use her Cantonese which has not happened that much while she has been in China.  That night we came home and mom cooked us a good meal.  It was nice to have someone else cook for you, so I enjoyed that.  
                The next day I was back to work and they ventured out to Vanke for a walk.  That night I took them to the University near by and showed them all of the street food that you could possible imagine.  Mom thought it was super neat seeing them cook all of these different kinds of food.  We walked around trying and buying anything that looked interesting.  I think they really enjoyed it, good China experience. 
                I am so thankful that they came as they both came with a completely empty suitcase.  They were able to take home my Boo Costume J all of my winter coats and clothes, shoes and anything else that is not a necessity for the next 6 weeks.  That is going to help me so much when it comes to packing.  All of that stuff was the big and bulky stuff that would take up a lot of room so it’s going to be nice to worry about a lot less stuff. 
                It is almost the end of the week and we’re just discussing how our weekends are getting numbered here.  I’m due to come home in 6 weeks J  I’m at the point now where it’s so close that I’m getting anxious for it to come.  After this week there are only 4 teaching weeks left as well!  I’m starting to get very excited to come home.  The weather here has started to get hot again.  I teach PE two blocks in a row so I’m already starting to develop an awful farmers tan.  Hopefully a couple days in the pool will fix that problem. 
                Anyways, that is all for now!  Miss everyone and can’t wait to see you when I get home.
-Taryn

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