Saturday, October 11, 2008

Temple of Heaven


Today I went to the Temple of Heaven with my friend Sam. We rode the subway, which I am becoming more familiar with by the day. The Temple of Heaven is aligned with the Forbidden City and the Temple of Earth on a north-south axis (according to Sam), it being the southern most of the three. The Temple of Heaven is actually a huge park with various Temples inside where ancient Chinese emperors would go to pray for good harvests and such. The architecture was beautiful, like with most ancient Chinese buildings. In addition to the temples, there were very entertaining sights on the sidewalks of the park. The most notable (and hilarious) was a group of middle aged ladies energetically dancing to the music of Pink (for those of you who don't know, Pink is an American "alternative rock" singer who was especially popular at my middle school in Illinois). It was quite a sight to see them dancing, and while we were sitting gazing at them a fifty-something 外国人 ( wai guo ren, AKA foreigner) came up to us and told us we should go dance with them. We smiled and said, "You first":) Anyway, The day was filled with entertainment and we have decided to explore at least one new place each weekend. The picture I have included was taken a couple of weeks ago at a Chinese history museum we visited with school. To the right of me is Marianne and to the left is Sam. They are awesome!

4 comments:

Mama said...

This is a super fun photo! Did you happen to take any of you-all at the Temple of Heaven too? I'm so glad you have a good group of friends! Life is so much more pleasant, enjoyable, all around positive with friends around you! I'll write more when I'm not so tired : )

Today was Valley Fest and I'm hoping Roosevelt did well. At the last competition, which I don't know where that was, I heard they placed 4th and everyone thought they should have placed 3d. The drum line did place 3d though - so that is great! I talked with Frank's mom today and am hoping she can join Ellen & Brad & me at Mars or for a walk tomorrow. I'm so happy you are settling in and life is treating you well!

Ellen aka Ellie said...

Mars Cafe was so good!

Always nice to see you smiling so honestly in photos.

Ellen aka Ellie said...

Okay, which Pink song? Gotta know. Even though I'm almost 50, I like her and I think I would have danced...

Jennifer said...

I'm enjoying your pics and stories, thanks for sharing.
We're in the midst of leaf-raking and pumpkin season, marching bands with frozen fingers, and of course the memorable mud xc regionals; kaneland is looking strong for state qualifying, we're pumped!
thanks for sharing your china days, it sounds even better than we all could have imagined.
take care
jennifer