The American Exhibit

October Holiday is basically the greatest thing known to man kind. It’s this entire week where schools all across China go on ‘holiday’. That means a week of no classes for us! Instead we’ve spent some quality time with the city of Harbin and its peoples. One day may be more memorable than all the others.

All-those-Americans part 1

All-those-Americans part 2

There is a river that flows in Harbin. On this river there is an island, known as “Sun Island”. To get to it, you can either drive or take a ferry. Trust me: the ferry is the cooler option. It’s fun when you can go exploring by yourself, but there are other times when it’s fun to go exploring in a group of 15. There are various city teams here in Harbin, and being that it’s holiday, many others came to our city to visit.

The tickets we received from the ferry also granted us access into one [of the many] parks on the island. We just so happened to obtain tickets to the Russian park. Yes, a park that was dedicated to Russia. Despite the fact that I can speak neither of the languages, let me tell you, it was cool!

One of the most memorable parts of the day was the crowds that we gathered. Trust me, we did this unintentionally. We had all brought a picnic lunch so we picked a spot of grass just off the main road to eat our lunches and to chit chat with one another. Little did we know that we would soon turn into the “latest and greatest” exhibit in the entire park. Three times we were asked if we could pose for pictures, merely eating our lunch (ps, we turned them down). Like animals in a zoo, people stopped dead in their tracks and watched us partake in the everyday task of eating. For minutes they would stop and stare and discuss amongst themselves, pointing if necessary as we chewed and swallowed. Some didn’t even ask is they could take a picture with us… they just did!

Posing for a picture in front of the Americans.

All in all, the weather was absolutely glorious, the community of people refreshing, and the quality time spent with those that I live with revitalizing. 

I guess this would be the most appropriate time to post ...

Number of times I've been mistaken for a Russian : 9