A Time of Firsts

We stepped off the plane. As if choreographed, all six members of team Harbin whooped, hollered, jumped and rejoiced at the warmth that 37◦F provided to our skin. Winter coats came off, deep breaths of warmer, non-paralyzing air were inhaled, and smiles were spread across all faces.

We are on the first stop of our vacation journey. Everybody, say ‘hello’ to Xi’an! Xi’an is a city rich with Chinese culture and way different than the China that we’ve been experiencing these past five months. Our team is having a blast [which is no surprise at all] and we’ve been experiencing a lot of ‘firsts’.

So far it’s been our first time:

-staying at a hostel

-eating Pao muo (Xi’an special dish with slabs of meat and cubed bread in broth)

-bartering hard core for things that we want

-walking on a rooftop garden

-visiting a Muslim mosque

-eating at a Korean restaurant

-drinking fresh pomegranate juice

-eating spinach noodles

-doing the donkey dance

-drinking hot orange juice

-to have an extended sleepover as “Bean Team” women.

-seeing Terracotta warriors

We have a really good friend at home named Sunny [perhaps some of you have heard about her]. She is a fellow English teacher at our school and often hangs out with us foreign people. When we told her that we were going to Xi’an she became all excited and told us that her brother lives in the city. The other night, he met us at our hostel and showed us around town and took us to his favorite Korean restaurant. He said that he and his wife eat there every week; if I lived closer, I would too!! We had such an enjoyable dinner spending time with him, and watching the waitresses turn our tables into grills. Grilled bananas, grilled oranges, and grilled dragon fruit right in front of our faces.

Today was the day that we went to see the terracotta warriors. Our hostel is ballin’! Through our hostel and another, they provide a daily tour of the warriors. We went as a large group, meeting Miss Scotland and Miss Britain along the way. They too are English teachers somewhere in the south of China, on their way to visit Harbin, and stopping in Xi’an coincidentally at the same time that we are. It was an hour bus ride there so we were able to have some interesting conversations with Miss Britain and Miss Scotland along the way; these women were…hilarious, to say the least, reminding me of my sister and I when we try to tell the same stories at the same time. Any of you who have been witness to that, you know exactly what kind of spectacle I'm talking about. The only noticeable (and crucial) difference was that their British and Scottish accents were far more consistent and authentic than Erica & I could ever carry. Alls that to say, it was a friendly reminder of home and a wonderful sister that I love.

  

Maybe my teammates will have more insightful blog posts about these experiences. My body is a little confused, thinking that it's now spring due to the drastic weather change and my allergies decided to have a party inside my sinuses. Sniffle...sniffle...

Even though that's just me, trust me when I say that a grand time has been had by all thus far. Promise!