We hold these truths to be self evident

Firstly, for those of you not living in a commie country, happy forth of July. My apologies about the lack of updates but the work load has been both harrowing and consistent throughout the week. Rather than post several pictures about one topic I'm going to give you five slices of my previous week. We had an exam on friday which is updates have been few and far between.

On Sunday I visited a church within the consult section of Shanghai. Several of my friends here wanted to go to church so I decided to tag along and see what I could glean from a sermon. In order to enter the church, the Chinese government requires a foreign passport; no passport, no entry. Although we weren't checked for our passports at the door here, I've heard that in Beijing they will not admit you without you first showing your papers. The church itself looked to be catholic in origin, my personal guess is it was founded by Jesuits. The service appeared to be denominationally indifferent but the pastor has had some seminary training. Very ecclectic blend of people due to the internationalized location of the church. There were Africans, Asians, and Whites all gathered there. The experience was quite interesting.

We also went to the Urban Planning Museum. Now while that sounds about as interesting as watching paint dry, it was really cool. The museum lays out what Shanghai will look in the next 20 to 30 years. There were several maticulously crafted miniature versions of the city outlining Shanghai's future. The was also a vomit inducing 3D tour of Shanghai where you stand in a room filled with panoramic projectors as you fly through Shanghai. Yes, it is nauseating and your head will hurt, but it was pretty sweet as well.

Lastly this weekend we took a weekend trip to the city of Nanjing which is about a 3 hour bus ride. We got to see several pretty sweet sights. First we took a trip to the former presidential palace, founded when Nanjing was still the capital and China was a republic. The picture I'm including is a picture of Chiang Kai Shek's office within the palace. The whole place was maintained in the same art deco style that it was created in. While we were there we saw many military people touring the site. My guess is its part of some cadet program the Chinese military has, that they have their newest or in training soldiers tour the palace. Next we saw where Sun Yatsen, the founder of the Nationalist Party and the first president of china, is intured. As far as places to be buried go, Sun has a pretty sweet setup. His tomb rests upon the Purple Mountain within an elaborate Temple structure. Lastly we saw the defensive wall the surronds the city and visited a master painters shop within the fortifications. He creates these beautiful paintings within crystal spheres. They are absolutely beautiful.

Well, apart from mountains of work, that was pretty much my week. Now it's time for me to start studying but I bid you, my faithful readers, adieu.

P.S.
I have eaten the most disgusting thing I could imagine a deranged chef coming up with. Congealed Duck Blood. Let me tell you it tastes just like it sounds like it would.