Today was our final full day in China - we spent it in Kunming. We started it off slowly by making sure we had most of our stuff packed. Then, Leon and Teresa came to get us to catch a bus to the center of the city to meet someone for lunch.
First, we stopped outside the Kunming Zoo - I had a few last minute gifts that I still needed to pick up. We then walked to the restaurant. This restaurant is well known for its over the bridge noodles that I mentioned in yesterday's post. Well we were not too pleased with this restaurant - of every place we have been to and trust me we have been to the best and the not so great - was the worst we had been to. It had a very foul odor and was not very clean. The people we were supposed to meet - Leon's uncle and his family - did not show up so we left this restaurant and went to another.
Leon's mother was very frustrated and sad by her brother's behavior but we didn't let this stop us from having a great last day. We had stir fried rice for lunch. During the lunch, I decided that a future blog post is going to describe a genuine Chinese restaurant experience - the ideas we started to list had us laughing so hard that we could barely eat - stay tuned!
Teresa's phone was having problems so we went to the phone store - Leon took me and my parents to a nearby park. I actually ran into someone here from New York that was visiting for the month. We have seen the leader foreigners in this town so it was quite a surprise.
From here, we jumped in taxis to go to the Green Lake Park. I might have bought a few more items - I am trying to spend down my last few RMB :) There was lots of activity at this park - ethnic dancing, square dancing (I participated and there are pictures), weirdos dancing, musicians, sketch artists, vendors, etc. We had a nice day walking through the park and could not have had nicer weather. Leon ate more food at the park after a very filling lunch!
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| Notice the Mickey and Minnie? |
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| Minority dancing |
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| I participated in the line dancing. I wasn't too bad for a beginner! |
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| Minority dancing |
After the afternoon in the park, we headed to a friend of Leon and Teresa's place. The man was a high school math teacher at the best university in the province and helped Leon get into a good elementary school. We spent a few hours at their place. They offered lots of food to snack on - we tried the local pear. They all caught up while my parents and I watched a soccer game on the tv - it wasn't in English but at least we could follow along.
Side note: In most homes, you don't wear shoes. However, the Benedicts have big feet and most Chinese have small feet. Here are pictures of why this matters. My foot could not fit in the slippers and neither could my parents. I am shoving my foot into this shoe and it will not go any further.
Here is Leon's elementary school. It must have been a pretty good one :)
Afterwards, we headed to a nice dinner with this man, his wife, his daughter in law, and his sister. Let me just say we have been completely blown away by everyone's hospitality. We offered to pay for many meals and every time we were told no. These meals were not one dish each - tonight they ordered 10 dishes and the main dish was a huge fish (head and tail included but very few bones). It was a very pleasant way to end our time in China.
Here are some pictures of the apartment we stayed in.
We are forever grateful to Leon and his mother along with their family and friends for making our trip so memorable and special. From our arrival into Beijing to singing karaoke to walking through parks, this trip has been a unique and unforgettable experience that will be forever treasured. Also a special shout out to all who helped cover me at work - I am grateful for having support to be able to have taken the time off to go on this adventure.
While my China travels are coming to a close, there will be more pictures and stories to come along with videos on this blog.
My parents will head to Singapore tomorrow (my mom is planning to use this blog to post her updates from the cruise) and I head to Seattle where I will stay for a night before flying back to Tampa. We have to be up at 3:50 am to catch our 7:20 am and 7:50 am flights! Good night!
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