Yet again, I can’t believe it’s time to do another monthly recap! Seriously, where did May go??? We were lucky enough to have my parents and aunt come to visit us for a week during the middle of May. During their visit, we were super excited to finally go on a mini-vacation out to the country-side, something that we haven’t had the chance to do since being here in China.
And for these travelers, it’s tough to stay still!
The only bad thing about taking 5 days off work to travel and visit with family was that we had to spend much of the rest of the month catching up on work, both on the website as well as at our teaching jobs. For me, I chose to work 6 days a week to make up the hours — because technically, I didn’t have any vacation time at my teaching job yet. But I was super lucky that the school let me take the time off work anyway.
I also had a graduation party for my students from one of the corporate classes I have been teaching, a major car manufacturer here in China! We had a great time out at a traditional restaurant in the countryside, where everything is grown in the small village and made fresh at the restaurant. We played some games, had a lot of toasts with the department heads (of course, all in Chinese) — and ate a lot of awesome food. It’s so interesting to be a part of the business culture here in China, something that I always wanted to experience!
The month of May has been extremely rainy here in Guangzhou, which has made our days fun — trying to guess the weather and dodging monsoon rain outside. We have learned…NEVER leave home without your umbrella and raincoat!
But overall, we are still loving it here and enjoying life here in China & we are happy to see that our hard work is paying off — and the bank accounts are finally going back up, after all these months of travel!
Here is a quick rundown from May, 2015 during our Around the World Journey!
Ending Balance April 2015 = Another Surplus of $1,184
Income = $3754
Expenses: $1230
Accommodations: $450
- Rent – $330
- Misc. utilities & property management dues $120
Transportation, Food, Fun, Misc. Cash (all lumped together): = $1340
** This includes 4 days vacation out to the countryside — including trains, hotels, food, and activities with Liz’s family!
Highlights from May 2015
- Seeing family and showing them around Asia — I never thought I’d see the day my parent’s came to Asia! (read the journal entry here)
- Enjoying another amazing Dim Sum meal with our friends and family
- Visiting some local sights in Guanzhou that we hadn’t seen yet, such as the Chen Family Ancestral Hall (absolutely beautiful!)
- Taking our first bullet train ride into the countryside
- Getting away from the city for a few days to explore the beautiful (albeit touristy) town of Yangshuo
- Exploring the countryside and villages outside of Yangshuo by motorbike
- Venturing deep into the country and high into the mountains to see the famous Longji Rice Terraces and hiking to the villages!
- Seeing the beautifully lit Sun and Mood Pagodas in Guilin
- Buying yet even more artwork — which we have no idea how we are going to get back home to the States!
Favorite Moments
Liz: I definitely enjoyed showing my family around China. I especially loved seeing my dad so excited to sample different foods. He is a curious person, I think that’s where I get it from, and he doesn’t always get to indulge his curiosities. So I was super happy to see him enjoying himself at our morning Dim Sum meal — he was loving all the different foods and flavors. And I was quite impressed with his chopstick skills too! It was really great to share our experience with them, even if it was just for a week.
Josh: My favorite was getting back on a motorbike in Yangshuo, China. Since we finally got the hang of it while living in Chiang Mai, Thailand, we were happy to get out and explore the picturesque karst landscapes all around Yangshuo. Even though it had been raining and there was a lot of flooding, we really enjoyed riding around in the fresh air and checking out the villages and landscapes. Even though we got a bit lost on the unmarked roads, we had a really great time & can’t wait to go back for a longer visit.
