Summer Sunshine

Friday. That means tests. Lots and lots of tests. And guess what? I didn't care at all. Hell, I was ready for a weekend on Tuesday. As soon as I woke up this morning, I was already counting down the hours, minutes, seconds until it was the weekend. Test schmest.

Truth be told, I was really only worried about my written test as soon as it was over. I thought that it was about the same level of difficulty as most of the other tests that we have had, but most of my classmates did not agree. It might have been my 随便 (whatever) attitude that was doing most of the talking, but I just didn't worry about it. Clearly, it is summer time. I still don't remember what on earth drove me to voluntarily give up my summer and study all day, instead of sitting in the sun enjoying life. I think that I should probably be sent to a shrink.

The main highlight of the testing day was our debate. The topic? "Does Western culture obstruct or encourage Chinese culture development?" Now, I would have a hard time debating that in ENGLISH, much less in Chinese, so I am significantly proud of myself for even having something to say. Thinking back on what I said now, it was not the smartest sounding thing that I have ever said, but it got the point across. That's all that matters, right? No one was super duper prepared for the debate, but it seemed to work well enough. And no, my team did not win. But one could argue that we are all winner for just participating in the debate... Just saying.

It was so weird sitting in that room, with 7 other foreigners, debating this in Chinese. When did this happen? Who can sit there for an hour debating some random, vague topic in a foreign language? I can, apparently. When did I learn how to do that? it was almost like a - dare I say it - out of body experience. It was one of those times when you at what are doing, and then give yourself a mental pat on your back.

We also had a surprise waiting for us as soon as we were out of class at noon (and when it was officially the weekend! Finally!) Although I was completely unaware of this fact until someone pointed it out to me, it is 4th of July this weekend. A celebration that is really only celebrated in America (and celebrated to the extreme, might I add. For good reason, of course.) So, in order to at least acknowledge America's massive show of patriotism and toughness, HBA ordered pizza, and provided a massive amount of Coke (the DRINK, obviously). And that was our party. Exciting, right? It was for us. It was a little slice of home to get pizza for lunch. Everyone was excited. Summer was definitely in the air.

To top it off? The weather was absolutely beautiful. The sky was blue and everything. That may seem like nothing, but this might only be the second time that I have seen blue skies since I have been in China. Sure, the air was humid and hot as shit, but it was amazing to be able to walk down the road, and feel the sun, and see the blue sky... Who can focus on tests when the weather is nice?

I'm going to let you in on a little secret: the secret of just how boring I really am. Normally on Fridays I am so brain dead and fried from the week that all I want to do is curl up in bed with a movie, and veg out for the better part of the afternoon. So that is exactly what I did. It was absolutely glorious. I finally got my act together at 4, and headed over to the gym for my tri-weekly ass kicking.

Jack was in much better spirits today. He was definitely back to his old tricks. His favorite? He will hand me weights, show me what to do, and tell me to do it 20 times. And then when I get to 20, he tells me to go for 10 more times. I feel like telling him to stop lying to me. And then I do it anyways. If my muscles fail? He gives me a quick massage, and then tells me to do it again. He doesn't seem to be understand that if I can't feel my arms, I probably can't lift weights. But I struggled on, one weight at a time. And it felt oh so good.

The rest of my day was categorized by rest. Movies, dinner, books. Thrilling, I know.

And that my friends, is my whole day. Tune in for another post later on!