There's a whole lot of learning going on here!! In just a few days, I have compiled a stack of about 40 flashcards in characters, pinyin, and English translation for all my Chinese vocabulary. In addition to these vocab words from the book, we went through some survival words and phrases in class today, so I can finally count as well as tell you the day of the week, the month of the year, and what kind of meat I will eat. I seriously love Chinese class. We learn so much, it's so fun, and our teacher and TAs are the sweetest people ever. They push us to be out of the comfort zone, but never let us get to the panic zone. It's just wonderful.
We had pizza for lunch today, and it was a rather fluffy crust with sauce and veggies or Asian sauce and veggies and chicken. I tried those two kinds, and there were two with sausage/ham on them. During our midday break, I started my Chinese homework because I have a lot to do before Friday's class when we have a test. In public health, we had the same teacher we had on the first day, and he finished talking about the schooling required to be a doctor/public health professional in China before moving onto food borne diseases in China. He talked a lot about what the hormones and antibiotics do to the food, and it was interesting, but also a little freaky. We have our field trip tomorrow, which should be fun.
After class, my suitemate and I got ice cream bars and stopped in the housing service office to refresh our hot water because it shut off again. Students who are here year round have limited electricity and hot water, so we have to get a card that recharges the hot water for our room when we run out. Our university has a deal here or something that it's unlimited for us, which is nice, but still a nuisance that our water can shut off mid-shower. I did more Chinese homework, and then Andrea and I met our language partners for dinner.
Helen was coming from her singing class where they spent a lot of time learning a few lines of "Seasons of Love," so she was a bit frustrated with the class because she already knew the song. We met up with Andrea's buddy, and then went to a noodle place on campus for dinner. The noodles were a regional specialty, and they were very soft. They reminded me of egg noodles in shape, except long like fettuccine, and much softer. They were in a sauce/soup that had beans, mushrooms, beef, and cilantro in it. I'm not a fan of cilantro, but the dish as a whole tasted good. I particularly liked the noodles. Next time I'm going to try either that kind with tomatoes and eggs like Andrea's language partner had, or I'll go to a different window for a different kind.
Andrea and I stopped for bottled drinks on the way home, then I finished writing my Chinese characters and started writing this blog. I wasn't going to do anything special tonight after deciding I was too tired to do the hour commute for a jazz/swing night with some of my friends, but then another group was going to the nearby pizza place, so I went there and had a great time. I met my neighbors on my way home, and then finished both my homework and this blog and went to bed.
Today is notsome because my blister that was almost gone now has a blister of its own. I have lost all hope of pain-free walking while at the Great Wall on Saturday. And I have been wearing exclusively sneakers on this trip, so the blisters are particularly bothersome because I was wearing what we at camp call "smart shoes."
Today is awesome because of the extremely pleasant weather! It was neither too hot nor rainy today, which was the first time the climate felt good in the time that I've been here.
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