Ni Hao Guzhen!

 Guzhen! Finally! We were always so busy on weekends that we weren't able to make a trip to Guzhen until April 20. I was super excited to go and see everything and everyone again! And Apple had talked to Benny's family and arranged us to go out to dinner with him that evening!! We left fairly early, and took the bus for about 2 hours to Guzhen. When we first got there the girls were amazed with how nice Guzhen was. They seemed to think I had misled them with how nice Guzhen was...but I really hadn't ever thought Guzhen was a really nice place. After living in Nanlang for 2 months though, and then seeing the contrast, I can see where they are coming from. Nanlang is kinda ghetto. It's still great...but way less fancy. 

We stopped at KFC to use the bathroom real quick, and about a minute later, I see a little girl walk in with her mom. It was Holli! I had taught her 2 years ago at Happy ABC's Kindergarten! She had graduated after my first semester, and I had never gotten to see her again last year, so I was super happy to see her again! She gave me a big hug too.

 

We headed to lunch, walking through the lily pad park. The lily pads were just started to come out.

I ordered one of my favourite dishes at Raintree. It was on the menu during my first semester, but then taken off. Didn't stop me from continuing to order it all last year and this year too though! It's delicious!

Next stop: washy washy!!! It was great to see all my old hairdressers again. Alu, Alan, and Afa were all there. Alu did my hair just like old times, and we chatted as best we could. I congratulated him on his wedding, and he said "sank you". Adorable.

We walked to my old apartment after getting our hair done, and I saw Coco standing outside a dance studio on the first floor of the apartment complex. She was as stylish as ever.

I climbed the railings of the Guzhen girls' apartment so I could get a view of the backyard. It's changed so much since my first picture of it!

Then it was off to the kindergarten! It was a Saturday, so not all of the kids were there, but I was able to see Nancy, Jacky, Mason, Andrew, Addison, James, Chase, and Laina. 

Nancy

I went down the hall for a bit and visited with Vivian too. She's a sweetheart.

And I got to see Yany's baby belly! She married the uncle of Mark, the star dancer of Happy ABC's last year. Mark was a super handsome little boy, so I'm assuming his uncle would be good looking too.

Benny! I got to ride to dinner with Benny and his parents, then the other teachers took a rickshaw with Apple. We went to Tiramisu, and super cute little western restaurant in Guzhen. We ate cheesecake, french fries, delicious fish balls (those do exist!), and I got spaghetti! It was a delicious meal spent with the most wonderful people. Benny had a few little toy cars with him, and we made a track and ramp with chopstick and the table menu.

I had a wonderful time with Benny and was super happy to see him again. His parents asked if Benny comes to Canada when he's 12 or 14 if he could stay with me too. I told them I would absolutely love that!

It was a great day, but I was sad to have to say goodbye to him again. :(