Teaching and Learning in Beijing : The Summer Palace

Last Sunday, one of our co-teachers Ciel and her boyfriend "Stone" (he knows that it is not a real English name, but wants to be called it anyway!) took us to the Summer Palace. We met them at the front gate (after getting lost in the taxi and having the driver talk to Ciel on the phone to figure out where to meet them - lots of yelling in Chinese went on). It was so refreshing to see a teacher outside of school where she was relaxed and so happy! One of the first things that was said was that Stone was shy because he is chubby. We are still getting used to the whole bluntly honest concept here. We got our tickets and were on our way up many stairs to see the views of the city. It was a mildly smoggy day so some of the pictures seem grey but it was a very hot and sunny day. We enjoyed some popsicles before heading past the first palace to the water behind it. You can rent a boat for pretty cheap and pedal like a bike with one person (Stone) steering it. We took turns pedaling and splashing our feet in the -green- water. It was such a lovely day! And even though we couldn't swim in the water, it was the closest we had been to it since we were back home! We miss swimming and the beach very much...