Wet Weather and Fish Tales

This weekend we went around West Lake in the tram, trying to get a last look at one of the most beautiful parts of Hangzhou.


We met Danny for dinner, and he and Jack had a wasabi eating contest.  Yikes.  They both had steam coming out of their ears and tears in their eyes, but they took the hot green mustard like men.

 

Danny, Peter and Tim hanging out on a boat on West Lake.
 

You may have heard about the flooding problems in China.  This is the rainy season in southwest China and apparently over 1.2 million people have been displaced by all of the water. 

Hangzhou has certainly had its share, but life continues under umbrellas and ponchos!  Our bus has had to negotiate several flooded streets.

This guy has a sweet ride for his kid; an enclosed tent on the back of his bike.  Sophie has her own poncho and she wears it grudgingly.  The hardest part is getting her bike seat dry before we put her in it. 


The rainy scene on the way to school...


We envied this little boy for his green galoshes!  I am still wearing the same pair of shoes I came to China in.  Shoes just don't come in my size here as far as I can tell, so I'm looking forward to other shoe choices when we return to the U.S.!


OK now for the fish story.  Sue and the boys were down by the lake and they saw this boat with a foot of rainwater in it -- and a LIVE FISH!  How did the fish get in there?? Did it jump in from the lake?  We have no idea, but it was about a foot long and swimming around happily in there.

As they were watching, this man came by and noticed the fish - ah ha, an easy catch, but how to get it home!  He had his handy umbrella with him, so he closed the umbrella, grabbed the fish, and stuffed it inside!  You can see him holding the fish by the mouth below.

... and off he went, with the fish trapped in the umbrella.  He hopped into a taxi cab with his bumbershoot bonanza and presumably went home to a delicious meal!