Shanghai, Xi'an and a Lot of in Between!

So it has been far too long since I made time to post on my blog, but now it's time to catch up. Currently the system isn't allowing me to post pictures or video clips, so I'll have to update it again later, but as for how life in China has been - well, it keeps getting better and better.

Two weekends ago I had the chance to go to Shanghai with my classmates for a couple of days. It was great fun, we left Hangzhou Saturday morning and took the hour and a half fast train ride to Shanghai. Once there we went to a traditional Chinese music store, and had a look around before being set free to explore the city. Shanghai is absolutely amazing. I went around the city with a few friends, and had an awesome time. We went to the Oriental Pearl, as well as Shanghai's two massive skyscrapers (photos coming soon!). I thought Hangzhou was big, but everywhere you look in Shanghai you see a skyscraper - it was awesome. Then Sunday morning I was able to attend the branch in Shanghai for Church. Previously I have met every Sunday with 6 to 8 other individuals to have our sacrament service and church meeting, but I actually got to go to church in Shanghai. There were around a hundred or more people in the Shanghai Branch, and there is also another branch - the Pudong Branch that met after us. The Branch is very diverse with members from the U.S., South America, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, and more - it was a great Sunday. Some of the meetings were in English and some in Chinese. Afterward I spent the afternoon with some friends that I made at Church - it was an awesome day. After the afternoon with my new church friends I met up with my classmates and we all caught the train back to Hangzhou in time to start class bright and early Monday morning!

The week wasn't too eventful after that, full of homework and studying - but we got Friday off, as we were given a four day break to travel. A four day break doesn't sound like much, but it's the biggest break I've had this summer - which made it all the better.

Everyone in the program made plans to travel different places, and I decided to go to Xi'an. Originally a friend of mine in the program was planning on going with me, but he changed his mind at the last minute, so I went solo. Xi'an is over a thousand miles away from Hangzhou, so I took a two and a half hour plane ride to get there, but it was well worth the journey. I wrote previously about how I had met a friend through Church that operates an Orphanage here in China - well, that orphanage is in Xi'an and was the main reason I wanted to go to there. I stayed with my friend Amanda, at her orphanage with a few other volunteers who are here to help her for the summer. All of the kids that she has at her orphanage are all two years and younger, with quite a few infants - so it was full on all the time - but absolutely amazing! There was never a shortage of babies needing to be held.