Today dawned bright and clear, so we determined not to spend the morning inside again. Michael was hard at work, Thomas at school, so the girls and I set off for the Botanical garden which is just on the other side of the mountain. At first we tried to catch a bus which looked promising from my guidebook and map, but the bus stop and road were gone, so we took a taxi (which cost about $1, instead of .13 for the bus). The gardens are a sprawling area with different greenhouses, paths and water features and of course, rocks, including the elephant rock that had been turned into an impressive slide. NO cars and hardly any tourists today, so I was able to let them run a little more freely and both walked a long way before we headed back for lunch. I think we only saw a small part of the grounds -- more for another day. For the hardy there is a path over the mountain behind the temple we climbed the other day which puts you into the botanical garden. Michael's student offered to show us sometime.
Tomorrow we begin the process of enrolling Helen in Kindergarten with a health examination. A student is going with us to translate. It looks like Helen will attend right on the first day of school, Monday morning. Its a good thing because she seems a little bored with just me and Sophia for company all day. It has been a lovely couple of weeks adjusting to China together -- and she's my good little companion on the bus or to the store. Tonight we got caught in rush hour on the bus because I had made a late decision to visit my ATM today, since I am trying to get out enough cash for some expenses, including the Kindergarten fees and fees to change our visas. The ATM for my bank has a limit of 3000 yuan (about $400) per transaction. I had assumed that meant per day, but was delighted today to find out I could do more than one transaction! Its hard to adjust to this cash economy -- at home I am used to credit cards. On the way home Helen and I were packed like sardines into the bus, the first time I couldn't find her a seat - usually someone gives one up to children and old people as they board, but we were packed so tight that we could only hang on until some folks got off at the next stop. Helen was a trouper though.
2 comments:
Best of luck with the health exam. It was relatively painless, except for the Hep B test. They drew blood by finger poke, but then had to squeeze and milk to get enough blood. Maya did fine, but Zoe had a hard time with it, having cold hands and being stressed -- hard to get the blood flowing.
I went to that botanical garden with my wife and her family on Chinese New Year in 2005. I have some great memories of playing with my wife's sister's son on the concrete slide. And, yes we climbed the mountain.
Bob
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