Today is the Moon Festival, also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival. And it is beautiful! The moon is full and out (it’s usually covered by smog, but today had real blue sky! More on that later) and is graced by thin high clouds. Children are carrying paper lanterns, and adults are sending up floating light things (I’ve had them described to me before, but I couldn’t tell you exactly what they are). So cool!
So today was a day off work for everyone. To celebrate the 3 day weekend, my roommate and I headed to the beach (Dameisha Beach) on Saturday. It was awesome! Good breeze, not very humid, and warm water! We got completely in and body surfed. We bought beach mats and coconut drinks (they cut a hole in the coconut and stick a straw in it). It took a couple hours to get there by bus, but totally worth it for a tropical beach day! With transportation, buying our beach mats and coconuts, and dinner, the whole day probably cost us less than 20 bucks in American money. I can live with that! That’s just the gas money to get from the valley to the beach in Oregon!
Today, I went to Walmart to buy curtains. But when I got off the bus, the air felt so good and the sky was so blue, that I just couldn’t head right in to the store. So I walked over to the mountain first. Yup. I did a spur-of-the-moment hike up Nanshan on a Walmart trip. You can do that here. I didn’t go all the way to the top since I was on a schedule, but I stopped at a resting platform (not sure what else to call it, there wasn’t a view or anything) and laid down on a bench. I gazed up at the clouds grazing the blue sky, bordered by the tree branches swaying in the wind overhead. Heaven.
Weekends like these, I really love being here! It was a long, rough week teaching, so I needed it desperately. Even the kids were exhausted. Here’s to a new week, and fortunately it’s a 4 day one!
P.S. I should mention my birthday- it was a fun time with friends. The girls at my campus (we’re all girls here except when the music teacher comes from the other campus) bought me a beautiful purse with an antique map design. One of the girls bought me a playground ball that’s a globe with all writing in Chinese except for the China section, that says “I (heart) China” in it. Hilarious! My Chinese friend Jessica bought me a beautiful tea set. I love it. I went out to lunch on the Sunday before with all the girls from my campus and a couple of the guys from the other campus. I chose Mediterranean food. The owner is a guy from Canada whose name is Aragorn. So funny! All in all, it was a great birthday abroad. My first one since I was born in Germany.
The Compass Rose Queen 
Sounds like you had a lovely day, and for your birthday too. Did you ever get back to looking for curtains ? We’re happy you’ve found a beautiful spot to spend time. Would love to hear more about the Moon Festival some day. C&M