Settling in…maybe??

As a group, we try to take advantage of the time on the weekends as much as possible because the weekdays can be very busy with internships and class, making it difficult to sightsee and experience the city. Saturday afternoon was mostly a relaxing day where people caught up with family and did whatever homework they had. Saturday evening we made our way by bus to one of the night markets in Hangzhou. Taking the bus in China is very easy once you have rode it once or twice. You just have to figure out what bus number you should take and a bus of that number comes to the station every couple of minutes. Its that easy!

The night market was very interesting. There were dozens of booths selling various items from pearls to watches at very cheap prices. Some referred to the market as the “knock off” market because most items have a brand name on them but are actually fake. The night market was also where I experienced street barbecue for the first time. It was pretty cool and very efficient how they prepared the food that you wished to eat. You selected what you wanted them to cook, gave it to them, and they cooked it! All of the food was on a stick and was grilled on a small griddle off to the side. The food ranged from squid, to chicken, to beef, and some other interesting things that I did not know what they were. Overall, the night market was a very pleasant experience and I plan on going back to buy some gifts for people back home.

The next day was Sunday, and we traveled to the hills

that are right next to the campus to hike. It is deceiving that these are called hills because we probably climbed some six to eight thousand stairs! It was very tiring but the views from the “hills” were very nice and it was a really enjoyable experience hiking it as a group. We hiked for around 4 or 5 hours as a group of about 10. Along the way many locals stopped and wished to take pictures with the group. We visited one of the temples in the mountain which was awesome! Inside the temple was a giant budda statue and they had dozens of candles burning outside the temple area.

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Monday we began our internships and had our first official class period. It was a struggle getting to our internship because we had to take the bus and then walk to get to the office. We ended up getting off at the wrong bus stop and having to call one of the employees to help us arrive. It was no problem though, since it was our first day. My internship seems like it will be beneficial, for I am working in a technology company that makes devices that power electric scooters and motors. I also get to practice my Chinese with the employees. I am starting to finally feel like I am getting into a routine and understanding how the Chinese go about their daily lives.

Tom Abbott