Hangzhou

On the day that we played tennis with Hongchang, we also met local volunteers from a suburb of Hangzhou. They were so kind. They put us up in a nice hotel and took us to dinner at a beautiful vegetarian hotpot 

restaurant. That was the best meal I’ve ever eaten in China. After dinner we were scheduled to speak in front of students and local volunteers at the library. We arrived early and talked with the students while the leaders hooked up their new projector to show our videos. Our presentation went great. It was the first time we have spoken in public about our project, and we were excited to share our story. We introduced ourselves, played videos, told our story, and answered questions from the crowd at the end. Annimal translated for me when I spoke since nobody spoke English. It was a great night with very supportive people.  

Getting to Hangzhou seemed to take an eternity. It was such a beautiful portion of the walk, though. The rivers and mountains calmed my anxiety. When we finally got to the outskirts of the

city, I was ecstatic. Armaan and Sarah had found us through Facebook and offered to host us. They are wonderful people who have an adorable little boy who loves to tell stories and show off his writing skills. That night Sarah prepared us a traditional Indian dinner that was absolutely delicious- a welcome change from steamed egg and vegetable soup. I’m pretty sure I talked their ears off, as they were the first English-speakers we’d met in almost two months. The next day we packed up early to go to the school where Armaan teaches and where we were scheduled to speak. We spent the day giving 6 presentations to over 100 students (in English this time!). Some of the students were reluctant to interact or ask questions, but others were very

outgoing. The most vocal class was a group of upperclassmen that all plan to attend school in America next year. It was great to share insight with them about living in a foreign country. I secretly hoped that they will have an easier time acclimating to America than I have to China. At the end of the school day we said goodbye to Armaan and walked toward the city to meet our next host, Angie. Angie and her husband also have an adorable little boy. They live in a beautiful apartment in the heart of Hangzhou. We walked all day and arrived to their apartment late in the afternoon. Angie let us settle in, and then we went out for dinner to meet Tim, whom Armaan connected us to. Tim is a vibrant and kind man who frequents many social groups in HZ. He introduced us to many people that night, including the host for bar trivia at The

Vineyard, Brent, from Colorado. Brent announced the news about our trip and sent an ice bucket around the bar which was full of mostly foreigners to collect donations. After trivia Brent handed me an ice bucket full of money for our charitey- over 1200 RMB in total. Between beer, bar trivia, and great conversation, it was exactly the kind of evening I had hoped for.

The next day I woke up late and we had lunch with Angie and her husband and son. After lunch we went to West Lake- a lake in Hangzhou, famous for its beauty. Ann and I were too tired to walk around, so we sat and drank coffee and enjoyed the lake from Starbucks. Ann thought this was a shame, but I thought it was a lovely afternoon. That night Annimal and I split. She went to meet Chinese volunteers from Hangzhou, while I had committed to speak at Cracking China, a club of mostly foreigners who gather each week for community and ideas to get out and explore the world around them. One of their founders, Alex, heard about our project and invited me to speak about it at their meeting. I could tell it was going to be a great night when the first person I was introduced to was from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

“HOW much do you miss green chile?!” were his first words to me. Typical New Mexican. I immediately felt at home. The room filled with people as I prepared my presentation. I was nervous, groping for information from every psychology article I’ve ever read about succeeding at public speaking. I had just spent a whole day talking to students, but this was different. These were my peers. My nerves wore off as I began talking. Telling our story

reminded me how amazing it is to be able to share passion with other people. The group’s kind faces and attentive smiles helped me relax and give a solid presentation that I was proud of. When I finished speaking, I answered a few great questions from the audience. Then I sat down to watch the next presenter. As I was listening, Jonny, a friendly Englishman, squatted down next to me and asked if I’d like to join them for pizza and beer after the meeting. He didn’t even finish the question before I whole-heartedly agreed. A small group of us went to The Vineyard (again. I was in town for two days and managed to become a regular) after the meeting and had great conversation over Western food. Jonny from England and Alice from France were very encouraging, asking questions about the logistics of the trip and expressing their awe of our willingness to say yes to such an adventure. We had a lovely night. Most of all, it simply felt good to be among friends.