Crazy Lamby - We love you!

Today is Saturday. At 10AM, our taxi arrived to drive us to meet Sandra, also known as Lamby Lee.

Lamby Lee has been teaching engrish in China for 7 years and she absolutely loves China. She is a spicy gal and was happy to hang out with someone from home. We were happy too. Nice to chat it up with someone who knows engrish! She has two daughters in Minneapolis and one of them knows my friends Sid Tincher and Susan Curry very well.



Lamby met us at the reception desk at school and greeted us with hugs. HOW SWEET IS THAT?! Then we got a tour of her apartment. She then took on around the school and showed us her classroom. Everything was very tidy and clean. The class sizes are no bigger than 12 students. She helped build this school, designed the library and such. Her boss is a 33 yr old named James. This is the 2nd school that James has built. He is a very accomplished young man and Lamby says he works too hard.

We had lunch in the school cafeteria. Rice, vegetables with beef or fish. It was good!

The other hikers started gathering and we popped into 2 vans and drove a bit to the base of a mountain or hill. The place we parked was a bit impoverished looking. Everyone seemed very happy though.

It had to be around 85 degrees or hotter when we started climbing up the hill. There were about 10 of us. The students and other teachers were much faster. Lamby, Megan and I were bringing up the rear. Lamby got hot and tired and decided to stop and grab some shade. Megan and I kept going.

There was a pavilion like structure very close to the top that the others had stopped at to cool of and have some treats. We were offered some chocolate and we shared our cherries and pistachios. Then we all pushed on to the top.

We could hear the resident monks chanting. So beautiful. We were allowed in the temple to see them chanting. There wasn't anyone regulating anything. We took pictures and walked around the grounds. So amazing. There were many buildings. Some were temples and others were perhaps the housing for the monks and the grounds keepers sheds. Then a bit further up the hill on the peak was a lovely pagoda tower. There was a very steep and narrow stairway that lead to the top of the pagoda.

Once on top, we took it in and joined the others at the base of the pagoda. They had a blanket spread out and were playing cards and snacking. We all shared our snacks and a van went down to pick up Lamby Lee. They returned with beer, water, peanuts, cookies and watermelon. Lamby also picked up a couple of super cute straw hats to shade us.

Some of the students and teachers took a nap and others played more cards. The game was called "Memory" (Concentration!) I wanted to go hang out where the chanting was and have my own deep thoughts for awhile. I headed towards the temple and was sort of following 2 ladies ahead of me. I thought they were going there too. They weren't. They were just heading to wash their hands. I figured I may as well too.

I ran into the green-hat grounds keeper and he must have been telling me to take it all in. He waved his hands around the grounds. There were some other monks chanting in a less elaborate temple. I ran into a very cute Chinese elder and asked (charaded) if I could take his picture. He agreed and a woman with a purple shirt was watching us. She waved me to come over by her so I did. She brought me into what I think was the kitchen where she might prepare food for the monks in the next room/temple. This less elaborate temple also had a couple of older silver-haired women in it and they were chanting with the monks too but they weren't dressed in the golden robes.

The purple shirt woman and the older man gestured me to sit down. They also communicated in a charades-like way that I could eat with them. They also guided me to a large bowl of green tea in the temple and offered some to me. I was thrilled beyond words. I felt like I was in such a sacred area and that I shouldn't touch anything. They offered me a seat and I just smiled and looked around. I felt like an alien or zoo animal but didn't care. They would try to talk to me and I shrugged my shoulders and said the only things I have learned to say. Ni Hao ="Hello" and Shea-Shea="Thank You". They chuckled and repeated what I knew. Funny.

The older man offered me a bottle of water. The purple-shirted cook held my arm to examine my freckles. She touched my arm out of curiosity. I think we were both having very different National Geographic moments! I loved it, loved it, loved it. I wanted to take pictures of everything but knew Megan would love this so I HAD to go get her. I tried my best to explain that I was leaving and coming back so that they might stick around.

I went and grabbed Lamby and Megan. We returned to the kitchen. The monks came into the kitchen too and were very curious. We took lots of pictures, smiled a bunch and shook hands. They are so happy. Everyone there was grinning at each other. They would laugh and copy our sayings "OK" and such. So cool. I may have eaten anything they put in front of me to be polite!






After the photo opts simmered down in the kitchen, we found the rest of the gang still at the base of the pagoda in various stages of relaxing. We probably hung out at the base of the pagoda for 2 hours or so. Lamby told us that this was a typical way to spend a Saturday. Napping mid day was very common too. I have been noticing that even retail shop workers will put their head down on the counter top and nap with all of the hustle and bustle going on around them. Wonder if I should try that at work! HA!

The vans loaded up and we headed back to the school, Gateway Language Village. Lamby gave me a package to bring to MN for her daughters and grandson. Megan and I took Lamby to dinner. She suggested a restaurant within a Holiday Inn for some food we could recognize. It was delicious!

We got back to Lamby's apartment and gave goodbye hugs and headed back to our hotel in Hangzhou. Both Megan and I were still pinching ourselves had how amazing this day was and we didn't know how it could get any better. THEN we hit a traffic jam. Turns out the authorities had stopped all highway traffic to allow the Olympians to pass by! Everyone was out of their cars and watching the convoy of Olympians go past. Very cool, or maybe only cool because we were giddy with the day. 


Ok, so now were are thinking, it can't get any better. WRONG! I heard from one of the factories, the one that I prefer. Kevin, the sales rep, had sent me pricing that was completely reasonable when compared to pricing in 2007. Needless to say I was jumping around in the hotel room and had to pop a couple Tylenol PM's to get myself to fall asleep. This is a huge moment and I will most likely work with SaiBo Textiles.

That's the wrap up for our Saturday in Hangzhou. On to Sunday, friends. XXOO Shee-shee.