Wednesday, June 18th

Today was another rainy day, but good all the way around.  Since I had so much tea last night I hardly slept.  Got rolling early and walked up a mountainside before school even started.  It was gorgeous and cool just before the rain started.  There was a HUGE statue of a soldier.  My guide told me it was "in honor of the men who conquered in battles."  As I got to the foot of the monument, I noticed a war helmet under the soldier's foot with "US" written on it.  When I pointed it out to the guide, he was rather embarrassed. I had a good laugh.  The Principal invited me for lunch today.  He and a could of the English teachers took me to a place where I ate like a pig...again....  He is a short man- MAYBE comes to my shoulder.  His belt wraps around his waist twice.  He laughs at every thing I say and says, "Oh good, American" about every 3 minutes.  Very cool guy.  He registered over 300 new 1st graders for next year in one morning.  He said his lunch should be all beer after the stress he had endured.  I dared him to do it but he didn't take the chance.  After several wild 6th grade classes and play practice, I had arranged to take the young guy out who has been translating for me and taking me around town.  We had a great dinner at a very elegant "vegetable only" restaurant.  I have had enough mystery meet for a while, I thought I would have a stress free meal.  ICE COLD BEER and some incredible food made for a great evening.  We walked along the river and he explained several historical points along the way.  The river walk is beautiful.  There are thousands of moving lights along the water's edge and all the major hotels and buildings are brightly lit.  With the light rain, the crowd was small.  We watched a mom, dad, and two kids play tag in the park.  We had some ice cream to cool the evening, and headed home.  I just enjoyed a nice chat with my host family while we chopped some strange looking mushrooms for the filling of our dumplings for tomorrow's dinner.  We plan a cooking class for me tomorrow - it should be fun.