Before going to bed last night, I got a text from Drew inviting me to tour Tianjin with his UW Tianjin Program's classmates. I was excited, until I realized that I have to navigate a taxi to the University. Drew has taken care of everything for me up to this point. He speaks Mandarin and understands the money exchange, culture, people, etc..... I have been sitting back and letting him handle everything: planes, trains, taxi, ferry, subways, food orders, money, you name it, he did it!! NOW I am in trouble.....my traveling partner is staying in Tianjin and I am on my own!!!
Well, I stayed up late planning my day and pre-packing and thinking through my steps for Saturday. I was ready! Setting two alarms, I was asleep in seconds. I needed to be at his dorm by 8:45 and the taxi ride was 30 minutes in good traffic. Estimated wakeup, 6:30 a.m.
Good Morning Tianjin!! It was a beautiful, somewhat cool morning. I had breakfast at the hotel (same breakfast stock as the Ho Jo) and coffee to go. The concierge snagged me a cap and explained to the driver where to take me. The Westin's concierges are the best!! Very very helpful. They also gave me a card to show the returning taxi driver where to bring me back to.
The University where Drew is going to school is nice. Unfortunately the front desk clerk of his dorm (or hotel as they call it here) didn't speak a lick of English. They called the program director, Ms. Wong. She came down and helped me locate Drew, who by that time, showed up in the lobby. I got a chance to see his dorm room, #610 and meet his roommate, Ricky. Ricky was studying with Drew last year in Tianjin and was one of the four returning students like Drew to the program this summer. There are 50 students from Wisconsin attending the University and at different language levels. The program is very intense and complete immersion. It should be a great summer for Drew!!
Well, we loaded the tour bus and started touring the city!! The students were very welcoming in light of the fact that I was Drew's MOM!! First, Tianjin hosted the soccer and football in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. We saw a beautiful Olympic Stadium. Next, was the Tianjin Museum. We spent an hour and half touring the rich history of Tianjin and people watching! The little kids are so darn cute!! Tianjin is about 600 years and was occupied by nine different countries during the opium era. The museum is beautiful and very well maintained. The museum was very busy!
After the museum, it was lunch time on Food Street. Drew arranged lunch with another returning student, Mark and Ms. Wong. Since Ms. Wong is from Tianjin, we went to a restaurant for authentic Tianjin food. She ordered 7-8 dishes and it was unbelievable!! The pumpkin cakes, spicy chicken, fatty BQ pork, squid, and fish soup were fabulous. After she ordered, we all got up from the table and went to the fish tank located at the front of the restaurant, at which time the cook reached in, grabbed a huge fish, asked if it looked okay and then killed it, The fish was then placed in a bag and sent to the kitchen. We returned to the table and food just started coming, and coming, and coming. The drink was sour plum juice, which was fabulous!! Since the dishes were hot (as in spicy!!) I held onto the plum juice pitcher and guarded it with my life. The glasses were the size of mini juice glasses and I think I filled mine no less than 6-7 times. I also started sweating at this point and never did cool down the rest of the day. I long for ice cubes and have resigned myself that for the net three weeks luke warm drinks are okay.
After a wonderful lunch we went to look around Food Street and all of the different types of foods. The students went on to the Italian Concession and I took a taxi back to the hotel to make my bullet train reservations for Monday to Beijing. I then took a taxi back and met the students at Ancient Culture Street to do some shopping/haggling. Everything imaginable was there: purses, jewelry, furniture, paper and calligraphy pens.......and on and on and on.
I restrained myself somewhat, buying mostly small things, but I have my eye on some things that I would like to take home. Long day and we were tired. The students went back to the dorm and Drew haggled for me, then we both took taxis back to our rooms and went to bed.
Good day and it was fun to spend it with Drew and his friends!! He has a good group here and should have a great summer experience.
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