#lu crew

The following reasons make me protest the idea that I was in the countryside that I was told I was going to:

1. Their living conditions were significantly better than a. we were told they would be and b. I had expected them to be. (Camp Bob Cooper's living conditions (where LU Crew spends spring break) are not as nice as these were)

2. The school was in better condition that I thought it would be- it was relatively clean, the windows and doors opened and closed the way they are supposed to, all rooms had electricity and ceiling fans, the teacher's office had AC and wifi (which I tried not to use as much as possible)

3. The kids (aged 9-11) had digital cameras, cell phones with cameras on them (my phone here in China doesn't even have a camera), a few even had iPads (please note that Apple products are waaaayyy more expensive in China than they are in the US). They also all had QQ, which is like AIM, which means they must have had a way to get online.

The following reasons make me feel that I certainly was in the Chinese countryside:

1. The most amazing views of mountains upon waking up every morning and all day long

2. The most amazingly welcoming host family and locals with the hardest to understand Pingjiang accents (when speaking Mandarin)

3. Skies so clear, at night you could see the Milky Way (or, as I have now learned “银河” "yínhé")

4. The freshest food you could ever dream of eating - all grown right on the farm and picked fresh right before being cooked up (this includes the chicken we had upon our arrival, apparently (∩_∩))