Bernice Noll in Chinese Countryside

Bernice Ready to Climb the Mountain

The Language Training Unit in Chengdu has taken us to the countryside to climb a mountain. We got there about noon and Mrs. Mao, the lady in charge, told us to come back at 2:00. Climbing a 4,000-foot mountain and returning in two hours does not constitute fun in our book. Most of the students raced to the top, Bernice and I took four students and we climbed at a leisurely rate getting to the top at 2:00. We then returned to find all had left but one bus waiting for us. When they asked why we returned so late I told them, "You said to return at 2:00" which we did, not to be back at 2:00. Both Bernice and I always climbed the mountains in China with a cane. They have placed stone steps on the trail and it can be somewhat slippery.