Dear Friends, Please accept my sincerest apologies for the lapse in communication over the last week. For you have faithfully read and encouraged my entries, yet I have failed you. But, if you would give me this opportunity to make it up to you, I shall recap everything from the last week. I also pledge to write faithfully until my departure from The People’s Republic of China.
Day 4

But the taxi ride was soooo good. We must have been in an upscale taxi because it had a touchscreen TV on the back of the passenger seat with tourist categories such as restaurants, sites, activities, etc. So we pressed “activities” and discovered Ningbo had an amusement park! But, a taxi ride in Ningbo is more exciting than any roller coaster could ever be. The Mamba at Worlds of Fun could learn a thing or two from Chinese taxis. I mean, I’ve ridden in taxis in Chicago, NY, Jamaica, almost all of Western Europe—including the Asian side of Turkey, but Chinese taxi rides teach you about the power of prayer. Whew.








At around 5:00, we went back to the hotel for dinner and then caught the bus to the Ningbo Music Hall so we could watch Sunday night’s 7 competitors. Although the music was beautiful, I was knocked out! Tragic! So I came back to the hotel and went straight to bed!
Day 5
Robert’s Competition Day! What a peaceful day. After breakfast, Robert went out and bought a huge bottle of cold water—about a liter. What a luxury. You must not forget that the water here is not drinkable—therefore neither is the ice. And apparently refrigeration isn’t so important. So, we’ve been drinking lukewarm bottled water and some have been drinking hot Sprite and Coke. Yuck! So we were really excited to see big cold water. However, the other day, we had room service come unlock and empty our minibar so we could use it to house water.
Since we had a late breakfast (9:30 AM), we didn’t have much time before we were recruited to go to lunch. Apparently, the volunteers have been told to make sure we all eat to prevent our starvation. So, if lunch is at 11:30, and we’re not seen by 11:33, we receive a phone call from one of the Chinese girls asking us to “come to lunch and eat right away”. No, it’s not a formal meal. It’s a buffet. The competition is taking care of us very well. There are about 20 volunteers ready to assist us at all times. If you walk into the lobby and act like you’re leaving, someone will rush up to you and ask “where you are going”. You say, “shopping”. They ask, “where”?
(Sidebar: I’m still not sure where the quotes go in sentences. I feel like if the quote is a sentence, then it should go after the punctuation. But if it’s a fragment, it should go before the punctuation. Example: “Where are you going?” she said. Example: She said, “home”. Can anyone help me fix this elementary grammar problem?)
Back to the volunteers. They are all college students majoring in English. They are very sweet and warm and truly want to help you go where you’re going and do what you’re doing. After speaking with a couple of them in depth, we realize what a wonderful opportunity they have to practice their English with many native and non-native speakers. I asked one girl if she ever wanted to visit the Australia, England, or Great Britain. She explained that she used to, but now she probably won’t ever go because her parents want her to stay in Ningbo. She also wants to stay so she can take care of them as she is the only child. This is due in part to the Chinese law that only allows one child per family or else you must pay an expensive tax for any subsequent children. This is to curb the population growth which is out of control. Because of this law, many women obtain abortions if their child is a girl because many families want a male child. This also puts a lot of pressure on that only child because he or she has the sole responsibility of taking care of their parents when they’re young. Another girl said that the government does not allow many Chinese to leave the country. She said you must be rich if you want to go. So, some people will never see anything in their lifetime but China. Keeping all of this in mind, we have tried to make their experience with us as meaningful as ours has been with them.
Competition night for Robert! Yay! He is so handsome in his tux!


Good night.
Day 6
Good morning. Well, 1 American made it into the competition (Lis) and it was well deserved. But now, the rest of us (our clique) must figure out what to do next. We decide we’re going to stay in Ningbo until Friday. That way, we can enjoy all the city has to offer and hear Lis sing in the semifinals.
That afternoon, Robert invited several singers to come to our room for his school project. He is studying to see if vocal timbre is connected to ethnicity. So basically, is there an African-American sound? Is there a Chinese sound? Is there a Turkish sound? Etc… It was so interesting to hear his 10 volunteers come and sing the same song while listening to their timbre. I can’t wait to read the results from my Dr. Husband.


I’m sorry everyone. But, after all of this traditional Chinese food and shopping, about 68% of us are desperate for some meat. So I find the Brazilian steak house and ummm… I don’t think I should tell you what happened there. But, we all slept very well that night.
Sweet Dreams…
Day 7














Back at the Ningbo bus station, we caught a cab to the hotel and then made our way to the Concert Hall to hear Lis sing in the semifinal. As it turns out, we got there just in time with time to spare. Go Lis!
Long day. Good night again. (See, this is why I’m late on the blog. I’m pooped.)
Day 8


After the hours of shopping, we had dinner at Nancy’s Thai Restaurant! It was excellent. Nancy knows she can cook.
Days 9-10
Time to board the bus back to Shanghai. I didn’t take the time to adequately choose a hotel before we left so our plan was to ride back to airport with everyone, spend some money to get on its wireless network and search for a hotel, and catch a 140 yuan ($20) taxi to the hotel. But, the volunteers offered to drive us to the center of the city and help us find a hotel. This was the longest day ever. We ran all of their errands with them and saw a great deal of Shanghai before finally being dropped off at our 3 star hotel in a 2 star location. The pillows were mildewy, the batteries required to open the door were hanging out of the door, the bathroom was full of rust, the whole room stank, and it was all around scary. Leslye, you would have had a fit. Pas, you wouldn't have been there more than 2 minute 45 seconds. But because it was so late, we stayed the night and planned to check out in the morning. In the morning we skipped the showers (I think we were cleaner without them) and decided to check out breakfast. But even it looked like warmed 3 day old leftovers. So, we discerned that God was calling us to a fast. We found a great hotel in an area called the Bund. It overlooks water. But, it was kind of like staying in Corporate Woods in Overland Park—great rooms, but nowhere to go. We would have had to take a taxi everywhere. We were so secluded and nothing was in walking distance. So we moved one more time to a hotel not quite as nice as the former, but in a fabulous location—like the Country Club plaza mixed with a little Westport.

Good night!