I have become very accustomed to riding countryside buses and I actually really enjoy it. Yesterday I had a new experience. The road that we were driving on suddenly went into the river. Of course the bus stopped before this happened, we all got of the bus and then road a raft to the other side where there was another road. I guess it really isn't that exciting, but it was certainly different.

Standing in front of the school gate with a group of students who lived too far away to go home for the weekend.

Last weekend I visited a school in the countryside. This is one of the girls we got to tell stories to.

close up picture of my partially eaten mooncake

In celebration of Mid-Autumn festival, I was given two boxes of mooncakes(4perbox). I cannot read the packaging so I had no idea what was inside each one. The night of the full moon my roommate and I decided to have a taste testing party. These are the remains after the party. As you can probably tell, we didn't really like them. The varities included; egg yolk, white sesame seed with some kind of fruit and nut, some other kind of fruit and nut with meat I think, chocolate and fig, and honey cream. I will just have to say that though they look pretty, I will pass next year.

Close up view of the mooncakes sold in the market.

September 18th this year is Mid-Autumn Festival centered around the full moon. Because the celebration is about the moon, everything moon-shaped is used to celebrate this occasion. Though the people say it is about the moon, it seems that it is rather about the moon-shaped cake. Every street is lined with people selling boxes of mooncakes (very dense biscuits with a wide assortment of fillings). It is tradition to give mooncakes to people for this holiday and then you give away the ones you get. I really wonder how many billion mooncakes are bought and given during the month of September, and how many are thrown away uneated. This picture is in the market, selling individually wrapped mooncakes.