More Chongqing Attractions

I'm grading final exams (I've been sitting here on the couch, in my PJs since 8:00 a.m.--it's 4:30). My students are super-sweet, so it's fine. It's just hard on a beautiful, sunny Saturday to stay motivated to read student writing of variable quality. And there is only so much anthropomorphism I can take in one day (ex: "this paper basically says that blah blah blah..." Remember kids, an inanimate object "basically" can't speak!!!!). I do love them, though. Yesterday, one of the undergraduate students asked how my tenure application is coming along (um...it's not) and then asked if there was anything else he could do for me. I told him not to worry; they won't fire me until after he graduates. He seemed relieved by that and then no longer felt compelled to do anything on my behalf.

Anyway, back to my point.

I'm looking for diversions from grading. I found a site for Chongqing tourism. Here is a brief description of the Chongqing zoo, with a picture of some pandas!

"The zoo is located at the western suburb of the main urban area. It occupies more than 60 hectares of land and there are 230 kinds of more than 4500 rare and precious wild animals shown in this zoo throughout the year, among them 80 percent of the animals belong to world rare species and national protected important animals. Pandas are most popular among those. In the Panda Ground at the foot of a hill and by a little stream, visitors can see charmingly native giant and lesser pandas and their offspring. Visitors can actually play with them and take pictures with them."



We'll get to play and take pictures with Pandas?! What's a hectare, though? We will definitely take Nora to the zoo--I'm quite certain she's never seen a zoo! This will be cool. It will prepare her for her new life...in our very own "dog zoo."