Today we had the opportunity to go shopping with a few of the Chinese students from Nankai University. We started our shopping excursion at an Ancient street in Tianjin. After arriving, everyone split up into small groups and chose a time and place to meet when we were finished. When it came time to leave the shopping center, a few of our group members were missing in action. Almost instantly, Martin offered to stay and wait for the students who hadn't arrived yet and insisted that we move on to our next shopping destination. I think that Martin's actions are a perfect example of how kind and generous the Chinese culture is. It seems like someone is always going out of their way to make sure our group is both safe and happy. I hope that the generosity that we've been shown here is something that I can bring back with me to the states!
After a fun day of shopping, we started thinking about plans for the evening. One of the Chinese students invited our group to attend a jazz concert at a local coffee shop she works at. I had never been to a jazz concert before, so I was really excited to see what it was all about. The musicians were absolutely fantastic and the few of us who went had a blast! If anyone has a chance, check out Tami Jones Andrews on facebook -- she's amazing! I had such a great time with Bailey, Danny, Tim and Josh tonight and I hope we can find other concerts to attend while were here in Tianjin!
cool