I set a new milestone - furthest from home I've ever been. I have so much to say, but I'm going to try and keep it short.

It was the last week of summer at school, so we decided to end it with a bang. My Chinese teacher, myself, his nephew, and some friends went to a mountain resort for getting in touch with nature. And stuff. I was told we'd be hiking.

"Alright! I need my knife, a multi-tool, food, water, a lighter, some extra clothes... let's do this!"

By "hiking", the Chinese mean travelling on a very well maintained trail with a tour group.

Oh.

But that's not to say it wasn't beautiful. I had a blast, and some of the best eggs I've had in my life - because the things were laid right before I ate them. Anyway my words really don't do this place justice, so I'm going to picture vomit for a bit.

I also got to climb a gorram waterfall. This is one of the more dangerous things I've done, and there is no way you could ever do it in the US without signing a very lengthy waiver. They are pretty serious about safety though - you cannot have a frolic with each other.

(snicker)

But I did triumph, along with a bunch of other kids.

I was asked to be the host for our summer movie courses. So I got an excuse to pull out the ol' suit, hat, and stand on stage and act the fool.

The one in the blue and red is good ol' Sophie, who is leaving us at the end of the week. Miss you!

A new coffee shop opened up on my street, which is pretty much the best thing ever. They were pretty thrilled to have a foreigner spending his day there, so they gave me lots of free coffee and cake. I got to pose for a lot of pictures, and the staff ran out front to get some photos of me. So of course, I snapped some back.

We also went to Shanghai this week for Kyle's going away party. As you can see below, we went to the most classy establishments the city had to offer.

We also went to the museum which had a robot which could solve a Rubicks cube. I thought this was the coolest thing ever. You mess the thing up, give it to him, and bam. Solved. I swear they're taking over the world.

Finally some shopping at the fake market near the museum. Can you spot the amazing 900GB USB stick? Or maybe you'd prefer the camera? As you can see, its a top of the line brand.

Oh China. I'll miss things like this.

And now, for a special Hangzhou edition of the blog.

I really should go to Hangzhou more often, and lately I have been. Xiaoshan is a nice enough town, but after being here for 9 months, I feel like I've fully explored it. Now with only 3 months left on my contract, I'm wanting to venture more and more. So expect some sights from neighboring cities like Ningbo, Shaoxing, and maybe Nanjing. I am mentioning those cities to commit myself into going there.

That's right, future Weg. Suck it.

I've had terrible luck with shoes, and I can't figure if it's because I walk a million miles a day or that Chinese shoes are made like shit. I think it's a little bit of column A and a little of column B. Anyway walking around Hangzhou I found something completely unexpected. I had to tell the guy who was driving me around on his bike to stop immediately so I could go inside. Yes, it is the holy mecca of America. It is....

Walmart.

I figured since 99% of the stuff in an American Walmart is Chinese anyway, it would be just like stepping back home. Oh how wrong I was! Their "ethnic food" section could fit in 1 shopping cart. Honestly it was exactly like every other Chinese grocery store, which was quite disappointing. I however was able to get some shoes which seem remarkably sturdy. Hows that for irony? I am holding up Walmart in China as a symbol of quality. The only thing of interest there was a Snickers bar, which are not incredibly common but not incredibly rare either. Chocolate is pretty expensive though - take a look at the anti-theft dealie on it.

We had a typhoon two weeks ago. I had never been in a typhoon before, and didn't really know what to expect. School was closed by the government, we were told to stock up on food and water, and not to leave our homes. I had also heard this is the most severe typhoon the area has had in a decade. So I was a little concerned, but not overly so. Anyway I got an extra day off, and planned on sitting around and watching the world burn. (or blow away, I guess)

China, if this is the worst typhoon you can come up with, you're the biggest bunch of pussies I know. This "typhoon" was about as bad as an average storm back home. A little bit of a wind, and steady rain. Granted it was about two days straight of rain, but c'mon. Unless I stand outside with my mouth open and my head back, nobody's dying from this. Hell on the 2nd day I went out for a bike ride. A little wet, but overall not so bad.


And that's that. As I mentioned on Facebook I got into a Chinese newspaper, which is kind of cool. The headline reads "English First's Interactive Teaching Gives New Focus". This was from the pictures I posted on the last blog, where we had to go around snapping photos of stuff. They didn't tell me they were giving that stuff to the newspaper, so, surprise!

Also there was a girl in Hangzhou with pet squirrels. I thought this was totally awesome.

Squirrels!