This is the last day of our stay at GRC. Soon the interns will come and inspect our rooms.
Maymont is indeed beautiful. But it's so hoooooooooooooot. I cannot stand it anymore. I was sweating all the time. The scenes were not special but beautiful, waterfalls, the main house, flowers, lake. It's a good place to take pictures. And we took a lot.
Tomorrow, we're gonna depart for NY. Good wishes to us: )
"Canoe under the star" was changed into "canoe under the sun". The sun really spoiled all the sense of romance. I thought we would row light-heartedly on the James River, feeling the cool breeze touching the face and watching the stars! But the reality was that we were sweating, the sun piercing our skin fiercely and we were exhausted after rowing 4 miles. But anyway, we canoed on the James River and the thought that we might lose some weight was a comfort.
It was almost 7 when we got back. Having taken a shower, we went to the Elephant Thai again. It was really a rewarding dinner after a whole afternoon's "hard work". I ate it up! I'm sure I'm gonna miss the iced tea&coffee. It's so good. Actually, i miss them already!
I must have a good sleep tonight, getting ready for NY.
Phuc took us to a Viet Namese restaurant at noon. My first time to have Viet Namese food. It's good. Actually, i think Asian food is quite similar to each other generally. Thanks, Phuc! Oh! And we had an accident on the way. Our car hit the one before us! Fortunately, we are all good, no one's hurt and both cars are fine. But everybody freak out. Strangely, the crash was like two bumper cars hitting each other. I did not have time to react at that time. But in retrospect, it's really dangerous. It can be a terrible car accident if it's in Beijing.
In the evening, we went swimming. So I'm exhausted now. I'll probably never go swimming again with Yinghe until she improves. To look at the way she swims is really horrible. It seems she could get drowned at any moment. Anyway, i'm glad she survived. Ha ha...
We'll stay here for two more days. Everybody, enjoy yourself.
It's "an art day". We had lectures on painting, acting and jazz. It's quite fun. Since elementary school, i haven't painted anything. Last semester, i took an acting course and quit half way. But i could still recall something which was also mentioned by the professor today. Personally speaking, jazz should be the most familiar topic for me. I am not a big music fan, but i listen quite a lot. And i love Norah Jones! But the presenter did not mention her at all either in his talking or in the handout! I am really furious. Joke... Anyway, Norah Jones only does one kind of jazz. In all, the lectures today are much more relaxing and light-hearted than those before.
Some pix at Monticello.
West front
plantation
Soon we're gonna leave. Yinghe always says she's gonna miss here. I cannot say for sure now, but probably i'll miss the dorm, the library and the classroom here when i go back home.
Monticello is a great place to visit. Thomas Jefferson is a good designer. It's not hard to design something, but it's surely hard to take many factors into consideration. If there is only one reason as to why i wanna live here, that is the environment rather than the house itself. It's located on the mountain. Thus it's cool in the summer. The air is clean and humid under the effect of which trees and grass look all the more green, an ease to the eyes. Monticello reminds me of Jiang Jieshi's house in Ningbo. They are similar in many ways------location, climate, etc. Seems that great minds think alike.
I should probably start to work on my paper. Sigh...
Back from Phuc's house. It was an exciting and unforgettable weekend. Phuc, we are really thankful for the Luau party, the Thanksgiving dinner, the church, naval base, shopping, in all, everything you've done for us. Love u~ Wish i could treat you the same way as you do when you come to Beijing.
Luau paty
It was a Hawaiian party. We had a great time there, eating, chatting, playing "who's the murderer". I felt really high. Maybe it was the rum jelly that worked.
We look Hawaiian?
Back to Phuc's house, her friend Jennifer cooked us a Thanksgiving dinner. We had Thankingsgiving in July. We had turkey, smashed patato, grean bean, croissant, pumpkin cake,etc. It was really a feast.
one picture of the turkey
Today, we went to the church in the morning. It was totally different from what i thought it to be. The priests were very passionate as if they were campaigning for the president, haha, joke. And there was a band and a chorus singing several songs. People stood up, lifting their hands, praying and preaching. And those on the stage sang pretty well. After each song, people greeted others around them, hug each other. You'll find it hard not to be touched by such scenes. I guess if i live here, i'll probably join them too. That's the way to really integrate into the community.
In short, a fantastic weekend. I wanna say more if i get chance. Now i must go to sleep. It's really late.