J+45 last holiday day...

Today was the last holiday day, tomorrow being the week end.
I met up with my AFS friend I know from Beijing. (Hungarian)
After a long walk, we explored some big and interesting supermarkets, a lot of new streets, we headed towards the restaurant for lunch.
We both had planed (him and I) to go and visit a museum together, but there had been a misunderstanding between my sister and I (or rather a lack of communication on her part if you ask me...) however, I wasn't able to stay with my friend because we had a family outing, to the countryside. (My host mothers parents; for dinner.
I took a night walk around the place, and met some workers in a textile "factory". There are a lot of small garages (like the one you can see on the picture) where hundreds of little hands are making our clothes, for a daily bowl of rice... Yet, they all smile and laugh, and get on together like a big family; it's touching to see!

Tomorrow, I will go climbing the mountain (again... Yes I have been about 5 times!) with one of my classmates. They really enjoy this, and it's a good opportunity to get to know them more personally.

J+43 long time no see!

I have been very busy for the last few days, therefore it was tricky for me to post anything.
We are really enjoying the "national holiday", 8 days is a very long rest here. Most students will study for 6 days, and "go out and play" (as they say) for 2 days. It's hard for them to relax, knowing that they have a big exam on Monday, in all the subjects!
But some of my schoolmates still managed to clear some spare time for me; and took me hiking to the Nanjing Zijin Shan (purple mountain). There are several ways up to the summit (stairs. road, or the rocs), the view from the top is rather amazing! It's a pity Nanjing is so polluted though, as you can see on the pictures, it's still quite foggy!
My father took my sister and I to the Nanjing city wall.
"The City Wall of Nanjing was designed by Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang (r. 1368–1398) after he founded the Ming Dynasty(1368–1644) and established Nanjing as the capital 600 years ago. To consolidate his sovereignty and keep out invaders, he adopted the suggestions of advisor Zhu Sheng to build a higher city wall, to collect grains and to postpone the coronation. Then, he started to build the city wall. It took 21 years to complete, and used 200,000 laborers to move 7 million cubic metres of earth. The City Wall of Nanjing was among the largest city walls ever constructed in China,[1] and today it remains in good condition and has been well preserved."
(Wikipedia... I checked the information; it's right!)

J+40 mid Autumn Festival

Mid autumn Festival (中秋节)
For those who don't know, the mid autumn Festival, which falls on Sunday this year is a traditional Chinese holiday that originates from the worship of the Moon.
As its name suggests, the day falls in the middle of the fall season and symbolizes harvest and family reunion.
The festival, celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, has no fixed date in the western calendar but the day always coincides with a fool moon. It is also known as a moon Festival.
(you can spot the fool moon on one of the pictures if you pay attention, in the background behind my sister and I)

To celebrate this festival, people here eat Moon Cake (月饼), I have also posted a picture.
Moon cakes are round pastries that are about an inch in height. Inside, they are filled with lotus seeds, ham, dried flower petals and salted ducks egg yolk . Their surface is patterned with clouds
(云),the moon (月) and the rabbit (兔子).
The custom of eating moon cakes dates back to thousands of years ago!

I received some moon cakes from my school mates. I arrived in the morning, and found a packet under my desk, with a note: "dear justine, this is a moon cake, my only one. I want you to have it. I hope you enjoy it."


This morning, we had breakfast all together, my parents, sister, brother and I in a very good restaurant.
And I spent the rest of the day with my sister, walking around. She really enjoyed it , since it is the only day she is allowed to go out, and not to study. The rest of the "holiday time", (8days) she will stay in her bedroom all day long, and go out to eat.
We also watched a very popular Chinese movie (Taiwanese...), Called "you are the apple of my eye" (那些年，我们一起追的女孩, Chinese name), a very nice love story, I recommend it!
In the evening, we all gathered in the restaurant, to have a big dinner, with the family and the staff. My sister and I took a evening walk, we starred at the moon and had very long and interesting conversations.

I also posted a picture of the black board in my classroom, decorated for the occasion! (initially, I had written some sentences in Chinese too, but the teacher told me: "your handwriting isn't good enough to stay on the black board. I can't allow it. You understand?" I just said "of course, ok" and smiled. She added "it's a bit like primary school handwriting, you need practice". So I was told to write mid autumn Festival in French, for my contribution to this collective "chef d'oeuvre")

You can also see a picture of the preparation of the school ceremony, (the end of the construction work). All the teachers had to wear grey suits, unfortunately we weren't able to attend the ceremony because we had to go home.

Tomorrow, I will try and find a place where they are willing to show me how they make moon cakes! (I tried today, but they were all too busy)