Monkeys and pandas and birds, Oh My! Although I knew we would visit a panda reserve, I had no idea that would happen after visiting the office of Xun Jie head (and parent of Bullis alumni, Ace Huang) which could best be described as a baby zoo. Yes, there were monkeys, birds, and fish, and probably one of the most elaborate offices I've ever seen. Very Cool! On the morning of our trip to the Chengdu Panda Reserve, my daughter instructed me to not get too close to the pandas. Her reasoning was while they may be adorable they can also be aggressive. So when I sent her a picture of me petting one a couple of hours later, she was astonished. I, on the other hand, was so full of excitement. After petting Wen, an adorable one and a half year old ball of fur, we explored the rest of the reserve. We kept finding four lead clovers, which further solidifies what I've felt since stepping off the plane in Beijing...we are all so lucky to have this experience. For lunch, we had hot pot cuisine at a nice local restaurant. The lunch was sponsored by the family of current 9th grader Steven Lyu, who also arranged the special visit to the Panda Research Center. The owner, a very jovial woman who radiated with love made us all feel extremely welcome. We were greeted with smiles and shipped off with many hugs. Although I couldn't eat the food, I enjoyed the company of my very personable coworkers. After lunch we spent the afternoon in a tourist location called "Wide Road, Narrow Road", which perfectly describes what it is. However when you throw an enormous amount of people on those two streets, it becomes a little overwhelming. We got our usual stares and points, which I still haven't quite gotten used to, and navigating that amount of people was challenging to say the least. However, there was ice cream sold there, so for me it was worth the trip.The evening consisted of dinner compliments of families of two accepted Bullis students, Tomas and Jerry. This was one of my favorite meals as there were enough dishes to suit my particular diet and the amount of food was not gluttonous. We all ended our meal content but not stuffed. Spending time with Thomas and Jerry however was the icing on the cake. Every year, our immersion program gets stronger and meeting some of the newly accepted students, it's clear next year will be no exception. So after experiencing pandas and monkeys, finding several four leaf clovers, enjoying ice cream and a great dinner, and bonding with new students, there is no surprise that Chengdu has been my favorite city on the trip.
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