Let's Put it to the Test

I have good news, and lukewarm good news. The good news is that I didn't wake up until 5:30 today. A whole half an hour later than yesterday. I am moving up in the world. The lukewarm good news is that my shower was not as tempermental this morning as it was yesterday morning. I think that I might finally be getting the hang of this shower. It will not best me.

I am not going to lie, I had a really good morning this morning. After waking up, I called one of my friends from Hoffman, and it was amazing. I have been having a hard time holding onto what I learned there, and I am terrified that I am going to lose it all, or crash spectacularly. But I got some good ideas. So hopefully, I won't crash. I have some ideas. But it still makes me nervous. I think it might just be a pattern that I am expecting this to fail. Why do I expect failure? What is wrong with me?

I also got to go for a bike ride along the river this morning, before it got way too muggy for me to do anything near something green. 15 minutes out, 15 minutes back. I got a lot of weird looks, being the white girl on the broken down bike wearing aviator sunglasses. Not a typical scene, I don't think. But it was so beautiful. And there were a lot of people out and about, doing their thing. Some where walking their dogs, and of course there were the hard core bikers with their gear, pedaling away. I know that the skies are blue here, but I would not trust myself if I was sucking in that much pollution. There were also groups of people playing tennis, and of course, dancing. Yes, you read right. There was a nice little ballroom/salsa/whatever the fuck you want kinds of dancing going on. It was so cute. They were sweating their asses off, and having a ball. I wanted to stop and dance with them.



And then it was time for my test, both speaking and writing. I went in and talked to the teachers for 10 minutes, talking about my favorite movies and why I decided to learn Chinese. I think I did pretty well. The writing and listening test was a joke. Most of it was pretty straight forward and easy, and some of the questions seemed like they were straight out of my text book from last summer. It made me laugh outloud. Literally. I got the right answers simply because I had seen the questions so many times that I knew what characters belonged where, even if I had no idea what the sentence actually meant. How is that for intuition. I gave up trying to go over it and check my work in the end though. I was tired and hungry. I'll be placed in the Chinese class that I will be placed in. No pressure.

And then it was time to set off into the world to find lunch, that glorious glorious meal that one had in the middle of the afternoon. How lovely. I went with three other people to find a place for lunch, and we ended up wandering around back alleys until we found a sketchy Korean place. We had a little trouble ordering, as there wasn't really a menu, just really a sheet that you tick off. Pictures really help sometimes. It was a team effort though, and we got enough food to have quite the meal.



I also have some bad news that I forgot to share, but which is crucial to the next part of the story. I got absolutely eaten alive by mosquitos last night. I have no idea how they got into my room, because both the door and the windows were close last night, but there you have it. My legs are covered in bites, and they were so itchy that it actually woke me up in the middle of the night. I look like I went to battle and lost. So, I did the only thing any sane person would do: I bought a pink mosquito net, and taped it above my bed. I had to use a mop for one of the corners, because in all my genius, I forgot that I don't actually have a four poster bed. Duh. As a point of interest, I also bought a towel. It's not perfect, but it is infinitely better than the dish towels I have been drying off with most recently.



My afternoon was uneventful, to say the least. I was exhausted from being social all afternoon (seriously, it is hard work. These socialites make it look so easy) so I tried to take it easy. And then of course it started raining, so it was no longer so difficult to convince myself to stay inside for the rest of the day. I ventured out briefly to buy some lotion, but the feeling of it raining while being super muggy was not one that I wanted to prolong for a long period of time. But lotion was a must. There is nothing worse than skin that is just sticking to you. Which now that I write it, seems to be a really strange sentence. But you know what I mean.

I met up with some people from my program that I went to lunch with to go out to dinner with. Although dinner was kind of a failure, it was fun to walk around with them. We started off at Club 7 (also known as 7 Eleven, in some places) to buy a cheap drinkable liquid, and then start hopping from small sketchy restaurants, eating small appetizers along the way. It was definitely a fantastic night. And I stayed up until 11. Take that jet lag. You can't beat me.

And that was my night. Thankfully, my friends convinced me to buy an umbrella before we started walking around, because I did not have one. Taiwan is tropical, I have no idea why it didn't occur to me earlier that I would need a rain coat, or even an umbrella. Both of which I forgot to bring. Duh. However, I don't know what I expected of the quality of the umbrella I would buy at 7 Eleven. I was swinging it around by the handle, and the entire umbrella part of it broke off. I carried it around in two parts until I went back to exchange it.

And that was my day. Long, eventful, and good. What more could you want from a day abroad?

In Which I Fight With My Shower

I regret to inform you that I am currently involved in a fight to the death with my shower. And the shower is winning. You know that first moment when you get a new place, and you are sizing up the shower, and it is sizing up you? You are trying to figure out what the best temperature is, and how to use it, and it is trying to decide just how tough you really are. I am still in that phase. And I think that it is safe to say that me and my shower are still in that phase, and I am losing. My shower has more power over me than I do of it. It is always either too hot, or too cold. I won't turn the handle at all, and it will fluctuate from being boiling hot, to freezing cold. It has a personality. I just haven't figured it out yet. But never fear. I will dominate the shower. In time. You might think it is weird that I am in a fight with my shower, but I bet that deep down, each and every one of you know exactly what I am talking about. Don't deny it.

Waking up at 4:30 this morning with the realization that I was not going to be going back to sleep was not a happy moment for me. When I opened the blinds and watched the sun come up, I was filled with both exultation, and disgust. Exultation, because watching the sun come up is so beautiful, but the reality is that you need to be up extremely early in order to do so, and that is not happy. It's a work in progress. I wish that I enjoyed being up early in the morning. I have decided that I am going to try to start doing early morning bike rides, to acclimate myself. Good idea? Bad idea? Still to be determined.

Amy told me to call her when I woke up, but I didn't think she realized I would be waking up that early. So, like the dutiful person that I am, I waited until 9 AM (what I judged to be civilized people-are-now-at-work time) until calling her, to let her know the glorious news that we are all conscious and ready to face the day. Actually, I just said hello, and she said she would come get me. I think if I actually said we are all conscious now, lets have breakfast, she would never talk to me again.

My one goal today was to get my bike and my cellphone, and I am happy to report I was successful. Amy gave me one of their bikes, and then rode with me over to the bike mechanic's place so that I could get the seat raised (because lets face it, I am a good deal taller than most people in this country). The bike mechanic looked at me, looked at the bike, and then said "Well, we can raise it as much as is safe." Gee thanks. I'm not that tall. Yeesh.

Amy helped with with my bike, gave me the phone and a new battery, and then gave me some maps, and sent me on my way. I didn't have anything special I wanted to do, and I feel bad for imposing on them as much as I have. I am sure I will be seeing them again soon. I hope. JUST KIDDING. I will definitely be seeing them again.

With the new found freedom that comes with having a bike (a mode of transportation other than walking) I set off into the world. Or rather, set off to find the bank. Which I did, thank you very much. I am fairly confident that I know the campus pretty well now. I barely had any mishaps. After going to the bank, I went back over to our school building for ICLP, in order to ask one of the secretaries to help me find a Taiji class on campus. Any age is fine. She looked a little apprehensive, but said it wouldn't be a problem. We'll see what happens. I wanted to start out small, but I intend to ask her to help me find a pottery class next week. I hope she doesn't start crying.

I met another kid from my program: Spencer. He said he has spent a lot of time in Taipei, so I trusted his judgement on all the places around the university. I'm still so excited to go out and look at them on my own though. We walked over to the gym because he was looking for some sort of club, and I, being the desperate and shut off gym rat that I am, just wanted to see the gym. We walked in, and the first thing we saw were a hundred Chinese high school kids, all dressed in pink and blue (colors respective to gender). And everyone of them turned around to stare at us, and wave at me. It was a little creepy. At the risk of sounding vain, I kind of understand what it feels like to be a celebrity. Needless to say, I couldn't get out of there fast enough. I ran up the stairs, meniscus be damned.

I showed Spencer my new favorite Baozi place for lunch. Yum. I love Chinese street food. The sketchier the better. Neither one of us particularly wanted to sit down for lunch, and both of us had things to do. I had to call people back home, and he had to go to work or something.

I'm afraid the story gets a little boring after this. I spent the next couple of hours plugging into the rest of the world, sending emails, sending texts, calling people, before finally deciding to do some Hoffman work, and then take a nap. My nap was cut abruptly short, however, by the massive amounts of explosive thunder and rain that rocked Taipei for about an hour. It sounded like the sky was falling in on us. I normally like rain storms, but let me tell you, I really didn't like this one. And of course, by the time it was over, I was too awake to go back to sleep. So I just watched the rain fall. And jumped every time it thundered (or, as I imagined it, the buildings started playing dominoes with each other again.)

But then the sky cleared, the rain stopped, and it was once again safe to venture out into the moped army that dominates the Taipei traffic system. I wanted to bike around campus and the surrounding areas on my fancy new bike (actually, not so fancy. About half of it is covered in rust. No joke) and get a feel for the campus, and the food places surrounding. It was so beautiful, but also so hot. That is not something I have commented on recently. The weather. It's only about 90 degrees, but the humidity makes me feel like I am swimming to class. I have given up on the concept of ever being dry again.

I failed in finding the supermarket that Amy showed me last night, and I also failed in finding a proper towel, because I didn't want to pay an arm and a leg for one. It is starting to look like I may be drying off with dish towels every morning. Hitch hikers Guide to the Galaxy got it right: always know where your towel is. Best advice I ever got.

And that is about my entire evening. Jet lag is a bitch. It is only 8 PM here, but it is 5 AM in California, and I am having a hard time keeping my eyes open. So I am just not going to fight it anymore. I biked down to the water front this afternoon, just to see if I could find it, and I found it! Although it is not nearly as pretty as it looks from the distance. The buildings are in need of repair, and the water itself looks as if it might be brewing the next plague. But biking along next to it, I can pretend that I am somewhere beautiful and relatively clean. I am planning on going back there tomorrow morning. The morning air should be nice.

Before I go, I want to leave you with some of the realizations I had today as I was wandering around the city:
1) The only way to really get around Taiwan/China is to act like you are confident. Even if you don't feel it, act like it, and you will be ok.
2) I am never going to be dry ever again. There is no fighting against the sweat. It is inevitable, and I will just tire myself out from always trying to stay cool.
3) If my program makes me take classes in the afternoon, I am going to skip. I am here to have fun and enjoy myself.
4) I honestly don't care what Chinese class I am in, nor do I care how well I do on the assessment tests tomorrow. I am going to enjoy studying Chinese again, for once.
5) I want to ride every where on my old rusted bike, because I feel like a total badass.

My shower was still not cooperating when I took a shower tonight. But it was not as moody as it has been. I think I might be getting the hang of it. It still likes to fluctuate from super cold to super hot without me even touching the handles, but I am getting better at knowing when it is about to change. I might be about to avoid first degree burns now. Fingers crossed. I will be the boss of my shower. Inanimate objects can't control me.

I'm fading fast, so stay tuned. More fun to come tomorrow.

Taiwan Undercover

China. Taiwan. What do you think of when I say those two words? What cliches come to mind? I always imagined them to be very similar. Sure, people always told me that Taiwan was much more developed and sophisticated than China, but I never believed them. Or if I did, there was no way I could imagine it. And I didn't have a whole lot of time to think about it before I got here.

Let me go back just a couple of days, so you can really understand what a chaotic mess I really was when I arrived in Taiwan. Last week, I went on this amazing retreat, called the Hoffman Institute, which focused on breaking all of the negative patterns I learned from my parents, and learning how to live a forgiveful and compassionate life. And it worked. So well, in fact, that when I went into a Safeway to buy your basic lunch stuff, and I felt like a deer in the head lights. WHAT THE FUCK. Everything was so bright, and so jarring, my head hurt. Me and a group of people ended up congregating around the fruit juice display (like moths drawn the brightest flame) before wandering down the isle, still in the group, and moving as quickly as felt safe. So you can understand why I wasn't feeling quite ready to go Taiwan yet.

After my dad dropped me off at the airport, I had to steel myself to go to security. I am fairly sure that I had that familiar deer in the headlights look about me, and I know that my heart was racing like a mad man's. So many people, and so many lines going everywhere! And everything was making noise. EVERYTHING. It was overwhelming. I am surprised no one stopped me and said what the fuck is wrong with you, because I had to keep closing my eyes, and taking deep breaths. I may or may not have been shaking by the time I got to my gate. Whereupon I discovered that my computer has permanently eaten one of my Hoffman cds. There goes my chance of ever watching a DVD on my computer ever again. It's a good thing I just got the DVD drive on my computer fixed. Awesome.

The flight was a breeze. If you ever in your life have the chance to fly EVA Air, take it. I have never been so impressed with an airline as I was with them. As soon as the hostess handed me a small thing of Haagen-Daaz ice cream, I was ready to kiss her. And after the obligatory Dramamine, my flight was set. Thank God for Dramamine. Seriously. Oh, and did I mention that they had a plug so you could charge your computer WHILE ON THE PLANE????? Fuck you United.

Of course, I had to wait for my bag for half an hour. That was so much. For one horrible minute, I envisioned that my bag had been lost in transit, and that I was now stuck with no clean underwear. It was not a happy moment. But then it came in sight, and I found my ride. Amy and Sen Chen. They are my guardian angels. It was 10:45 PM by the time we got in the car, and my head was spinning, from the heat, the Dramamine, and the fact that I am in Taiwan. But they were saints. Saints who were extremely relieved that I could speak Chinese. To their credit, they started with English, but it did not take much arm twisting to convince them to start using Chinese. And guess what? Speaking Chinese is just like riding a bike. There were a couple of embarrassing moments, which I will never admit to ever again, but I am getting back in the hang of it. It is almost like speaking English. ALMOST. And I was blown away by how clean everything was, and how orderly the cars were driving on the street. It is sad that I expect no one in Asia to follow traffic rules. It made me think that Taipei in actually a Western city undercover.

The fun really started as soon as we got to my dorm. My exhaustion, and the fact that I had just flown internationally 24 hours after getting back from Hoffman was finally kicking in. And we couldn't find my dorm room at first. All we could see where buildings in every direction, 15 stories high, and none of them were my dorm room. And then, as soon as we did (with the mosquitos doing there best to make sure we didn't have enough blood left in us to get there) we discovered that their computer was broken. This would only happen to me. You have to pay to get electricity in our room, and it all goes on a prepaid card that you add onto as you need. And since it was the middle of the night, I quite obviously needed electricity. Feeling my way around a brand new room in the middle of the night is not my idea of a good time. But anyway, the lady behind the computer needed the computer to charge the card, and the computer wasn't working. No bueno.

This entire time, Amy had been talking to me, helping me to see how Taiwan was laid out as we drove along the highway, pointing out landmarks so I wouldn't get lost, and telling me why the highways look the way they do. They kept telling me how the roads were laid out, so that I would always be able to find my way back. I could have hugged her, if it wouldn't have been more awkward than the both of us could handle. People here don't touch. If you thought I had problems hugging, just come to Taiwan. I will look like... someone who hugs a lot.

Back to the dorm room. I know you are all dying to know what happened. I was sitting at one of the tables with my bags, practically comatose from exhaustion and shock, while this lady made desperate phone calls trying to figure the problem out. Thankfully, Amy paid my deposit, which is more than I could have asked for. Right around 12:30, they finally told me that I could go to my room. Hallelujah. Our little procession moved along the corridor, opened the door, and looked around. At first glance, it looked fine, if a little spartan, and then we all took a closer look at the bed. Something wasn't right. My jet lagged brain took a little bit longer to process what was missing. Oh wait. The mattress was missing. My bed was a wooden plank. All I could think was, well, tonight is going to suck. Then I started imagining trying to buy a mattress tomorrow morning, and wrestle it into my room. Let me tell you, I got even more excited. I didn't know whether I should burst into tears then, or wait until after I had slept on the wooden plank.

Amy was outraged, to say the least. Then she saw the millions of little gnat bodies that littered my floor, and that was the last straw. She told me to take anything I desperately needed for the night, and then get back in the car, because she was taking me back to their house for the night. She said she would deal with it in the morning. And then proceeded to berate the poor lady behind the counter. If I hadn't been quite so tired, I think I would have felt bad for her, but as it was, my brain wouldn't function quite enough to actually decide how I was supposed to be feeling. All I could do was smile, nod, and follow. Anything else was too much. Amy was ranting in the car that the dorm people wouldn't let her into the dorm before I got there, otherwise she could have cleaned it up for me, and set it up for me. She was seriously not pleased. I tried to be polite, and sweet in the car, but my brain was so tired, I seriously couldn't do anything but respond. And I felt like a broken record, saying thank you all the time.

I don't know how much time any of you have spent in China, but if you have, you will know that Chinese people, as a general rule, are both extremely friendly, and extremely pushy. Aside from the stream of questions ("Are you hungry? Are you thirsty? Can we get you anything?") they had a very good idea of how I was supposed to sleep. I was all ready to just take all my disgusting clothes off and just fall asleep, but nope. Amy gave me one of her old dresses, and told me to jump in the shower. Pause for a second. Try to imagine me in a 58 year old Chinese woman's sleeping dress. Laugh all you want. I definitely had a moment of mirth. And no, I didn't take a picture. So don't even ask. I tried to tell them I didn't need it, but there is just no reasoning with them.

I didn't sleep all that well (you will never ever find a Western sized mattress in China. It is all wooden boards and then mattress pads that are a couple of inches thick) and it is so humid that a very loud air conditioner had to be on all night. I woke up every hour, and finally gaving up with the air conditioner at 4:30, and sleeping all together at 6:30. I took that opportunity to continue on my Merlin marathon. I am currently on season 1, episode 6. You should totally watch that show if you haven't, by the way. Amazing. And right about where my mental capacity is at the moment.

This morning was defined by Amy, once again. She told me that I had just gained another mother in her, and she was going to treat me like her daughter. And she did. They gave me a desk lamp, a mattress pad, sheets, a pillow, a hair dryer, a mop, and a cell phone, with promises of a bike tomorrow. Amy then moved me back into my room, with both of them reassuring me that if I needed anything, at any time of day, all I needed to do was call them. How lucky am I? I am 100% that if I had had to deal with all this shit on my own, I would already be back in America right now. No questions.

This is an appropriate moment to comment on just how fucking beautiful this campus is. The main street is lined with coconut palms, and there are trees and grassy fields everywhere. Both of them work in a building about 5 minutes away from where I am going to be going to school. They showed me a bunch of the land mark buildings, and then Amy and I went out to breakfast. I bet you are thinking of some extravagant Dim Sum like thing for breakfast right? Wrong! (Not only because no where except Hong Kong actually has Dim Sum.) Nope, we went to Subway for breakfast. Yes, Subway. As in the sandwich place. What to know what I had for breakfast? Chicken sandwich with a chocolate chip cookie and a drink. Not what I was picturing either. She kept saying we were going to Subway, but I was hoping she meant we were going to take the subway somewhere. Serves me right for trying to be logical.

As I really want to make sure people keep reading my blog, I am not going to detail the rest of my day. But I will add a little more. I finally paid for internet in my room, and was then informed that I would have to wait until either this afternoon, or tomorrow morning for it to work. I was distraught. And then had the stroke of genius that every Starbucks has wifi. So guess where I ran right after my shower. Yep, Starbucks. And I am having a very hard time prying myself from this seat. I didn't even mind overpaying for a cup of tea. Don't ask me how much. I am going out to dinner tonight with Amy and Sen Chen, and then they are going to show me the supermarket. I'm going to have to do something extreme to forgive them. Stay tuned.

Miss you all. So much. But hopefully this way I can share a little bit of my amazing adventures with you. I'm going to try to do things I wouldn't normally do. :)

I'm Leaving On a Jet Plane

My last day in Beijing. What does one do on the last day? Well, in my case, pack. And eat dumplings. And get a massage. Glamorous life, I know. Try to control yourself.

I'm coming home tomorrow. That's right, you heard me. I will be in California, with access to my cellphone. I don't have time to write this blog right now, and actually, I don't really want to tell you what happened today, mostly because it is a little embarassing for me. But I will definitely update this later. Right now, I have to get my beauty sleep, because I have to wake up early tomorrow morning.

One Last Hoorah

This was it. The last day of class. The last day of HBA. The end. It sounds so sinister, doesn't it? I have been half dreading, half hoping for this day. And now, finally, it was here. Time to face the music.

First up, our final written exam. I was feeling lose as a goose, and carefree. My written test was actually not as hard as I thought that it was going to be. I felt pretty confident for it, and it was not the hardest test that we have ever had. There were some points where I am fairly sure that I didn’t respond correctly, but hey. It happens. I don’t need to be perfect.

I finished the test in 2 hours and 5 minutes. And then I was liberated. That was it. It’s done. HBA is done. My summer was over. I actually didn’t know what to feel, or what to do with myself. So I just bought myself some soy-milk, and walked back to the dorms with my friend to change into more formal clothes. We had our graduation ceremony today, so I wanted to be wearing something a little more formal. Besides, one of my teachers was feeling uncomfortable because she was wearing something really formal, so I figured why not.

During our graduation ceremony, a bunch of people talked, thanking us for coming to HBA, and doing such a good job. For about half an hour, it was just people talking, and listening to themselves talk. Awesome. Then we got our diploma’s, and it was off to Chinese tables. No, wait, ENGLISH TABLES. That’s right folks, I am officially allowed to speak English again. And we had to get the teachers to speak English as well. They were all so nervous to be speaking English in front of us. It was actually kind of cute.

I actually have a confession to make. Even though we could speak English (officially) a lot of us kept speaking Chinese, because we were just used to it. Sometimes, it is just easier to keep speaking Chinese. Especially with the teachers.

We were going to another college to eat lunch, but once we got there, it was actually pretty cool. There was a huge restaurant, and there was a buffet, with American Chinese food, and American food. It wasn’t the greatest food, but it was fun. But it was also sad. Oh so very sad. Because this is probably one of the last times that we are ever all going to be together. There were lots of pictures being taken, let me tell you. We also all crowded together to take a big class picture, and then paired off to take pictures with all of the teachers. I was actually kind of sad to see this end. Which is weird, because I have never really thought of myself as an emotional person. But I was starting to get really nostalgic.

At 1:30, it was time to go to the gym. Even though I had eaten a lot of food at lunch, I was still going to go to the gym. It was my last day with Jack. How is that for sad. When I got there, I first took some pictures with Jack. They are pretty fun. Jack posed them especially, and even rolled his sleeves up to show off his muscles. Then we both had to flex for the camera. It was adorable.

Then it was time for working out. While I lifted, Jack took pictures of me. And he totally kicked my ass today. I thought that I was going to die. And the hour went by way too fast. I closed my eyes, and then we were done. After my super long, lovely massage, Jack taught me how to do cupping. That’s right folks, I can now unleash a new form of torture upon the American population. You want someone to suction glass jars onto your back that will leave bruises on your back for days? Look no further, I am here to help! I also bought 12 cups, and one of my friends gave me a lighter. It’s going to be a fun couple of weeks.

It was hard to leave the gym. I didn’t want it to be over, because Jack was going to Shanghai this weekend, and I am going back to America. But I gave Jack my email address and phone number after he asked for it. Hopefully, I will be getting an email sometime soon. Cross your fingers.

For the rest of the afternoon, I tried to relax. It had already been a long day, and it wasn’t even near to be over yet. But I needed a cup of tea, and a movie, stat. Not for long though. As soon as I got back to my room, I started crying. Seriously, I don’t know what is wrong with me. I am not normally this nostalgic. I was just so sad to be leaving Jack, and that HBA was over, that I just lost it. What can I say, it happens. I guess it was just my time to let some stress off.

At 7, it was time for dinner. Most of the 4th kids and the teachers were all going out to dinner, and then going to sing karaoke. I decided, what the hell, it’s my last day in Beijing (well, second to last day) and I was going to go out, and I was going to look good doing it. Time to take my black top out for a spin. Haven’t had a chance to wear it yet until tonight.

Dinner was actually a lot lunch. It was Chinese food, sure, but it tasted like American Chinese food. Not really the best thing to be eating. I felt extremely honored though. My teacher, for the entire 20 minute walk over to dinner, held my hand and talked to me. Female teacher, by the way. That may sound weird to you, but that is just the Chinese culture. Good friends walk down the street arm in arm, hand in hand, gossiping. I felt like a local.

After dinner, it was karaoke time. If you know me at all, you know that I don’t sing. Unless it is in the shower, or no one is around. But I went to karaoke, in the spirit of celebrating with my friends. When we first got there, I didn’t sing, but then, as it turned into a huge ‘everybody sing at the top of your lungs’ kind of thing. It was fun. We sang along to Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls, and other such classics. It’s funny how those songs are really only okay when you are singing karaoke. But they are the most fun to sing at the top of your lungs.

Once again, at the end of karaoke, we had to say goodbye to the teachers. And it was still horrible. I hate goodbyes. Really. I would much rather say “See you later.” Bah.

For the final act of the night… dancing. And oh, how much fun it was. We got there at 11:30, and I stayed until 1:30. We had originally had 4 tables waiting for us, but by the time that we got there, we had lost all of our tables, because not enough people had shown up. Oops. But once we got in there, it didn’t matter. I just danced. The clubs in Beijing are amazing. The music is so loud that you can’t even hear yourself talk, and it is packed with people. And that is all that I am telling you about tonight.

And now, it is way past my bed time. Good night all!

No Pain, No Gain

I used up all of the money in my wallet this morning to pay for breakfast. I had run out of milk, so cereal was out of the question. Luckily, I managed to scrape together 10 kuai, which is roughly a dollar and a half. I paid in basically the Chinese version of quarters. I think that the servers are starting to hate the sight of me.

Then it was time for the last day of class. It's amazing how much spirit people get when they know that we are in the final stretch. We were positively busting with energy. Even though we spent most of class time just going over simple grammar that we all learned in first year, but it was helpful still. There are some things in Chinese that I am convinced I am never going to get the hang of. And we laughed, and had a great time. Laughter can definitely make you remember things better. There was then a super funny fake class that one of the kids in our class put on. It was hysterical. I can't explain it properly using Chinese, but basically, he just used the easiest grammar you could possibly think of, and just joked for a while with it. Hysterical.

For the rest of the day, it was a lot like that. Everyone was excited that it was the last day, that we were all almost free. Sure, there was definitely some useful learning that went on, obviously. But you could tell, everyone was just counting down the seconds until the end of the day. Who can study in this kind of atmosphere? I definitely can't. Well, at least, I have a hard time studying. Since it is finals tomorrow, I suppose that I can rally and study at least for a little while. I'm not too worried for the test tomorrow, actually. I will probably regret saying that later on, but I still have 12 hours to live in bliss.

We had our speaking test today. I actually felt pretty confident for it. I figure, if you are relaxed, you will do fine. So I wasn't worrying a whole lot. And the teachers that I was taking the test with are pretty easy going, so I was relaxed and happy, talking about capitalism, and Africa. I know, who comes up with these topics? I thought that I was home free, until it got the final minute, and the main teacher walked into the room to listen to the end of my test. Then my teachers really woke up, and started asking lots and lots of questions. Some of which I couldn't answer. I felt cheated. Why on earth would she come in, just when I was in the final stretch? People always want to show off in front of their bosses.

And then I was home free. Well, as home free as you can get with a written final tomorrow. But I had three hours to kill by studying until I had to go see Jack. Oh yes, today was a Jack day.

I studied, and then it was off to the gym. He was five minutes late, but I suppose I will let that slide just this once. I was completely exhausted after 15 minutes. He pushed me so hard on my arms that I had to give up on one of the exercises half way through. I have never given up. Ever. I will push myself to throw up, but this time, my arms simply gave out. There was no way that I was going to keep lifting weights. Mostly, it went well though. Until we got to the end, when it was time to get stretched and massaged (still taking applications for anyone that wants to help me as soon as I get home). Anyway, the stretching. It normally hurts much more than when we work out. But if I tell Jack that he hurts, he just tells me to suck it up, and push harder. That is what he did today, as well. Except that it really hurt today. I told him that it hurt, and he kept pushing. I was fine with that, until I felt a tell tale pop and crackle in my hip. That is never a good sign. That was when I called it quits. I think that I might have just tweaked something, not torn it or anything. But can I just say, I told you so? I was waiting for this to happen. Ouch.

I caved in. I ate dinner tonight. Well, not really dinner. More like, I had broccoli, and this pumpkin sticky bread thing that is amazing. I figure that I am only in China for a little while longer, I am going to enjoy myself, and that is that! It was good.

I have spent the rest of my night signing cards for my teachers, studying for the test tomorrow, and relaxing. And now, I am going to bed. A girl needs her beauty sleep! Goodnight.

The End is Near, Run For Your... Health?

I haven't written in a while, I know. It's not for any particular reason. Obviously, I could say that I have been too busy studying, or that I have just been really into Chinese, but the truth is, I have just been plain lazy. But I am back now. I might just paraphrase, if that is quite alright with you.

I have seen Jack twice since I last wrote to you. He is on a new kick, after finding a new way to torture me. For many of you, it won't seem too bad. Probably. Anyway, he has decided that he wants to see me sweat. So he has started making me go outside, to the smoggy, humid air, and exercise. Exercising in the humidity? Not so much fun. It definitely gets my body temperature up. I am going to take this opportunity to let you in on a little secret about me when I exercise. First off, I get super red in the face. That is the first clue that I am actually working hard. The second thing about me? I don't sweat a whole lot. I mean, I do sweat, but it's not like Niagra Falls or anything. I tried to explain this to Jack, but he just laughed it off. Out we went. And guess what? I actually did sweat a lot more. It was disgusting. Kind of like how I am explaining how I sweat is disgusting. I think that China has taken away my politeness. Just forget everything that I just wrote.

This also marks the beginning of the end. I am starting to get ready for all my tests. I have a speaking test tomorrow, and a written test on Friday. Everyone is finishing up studying, going into finals mode. We are all seriously burned out. I have almost no studying energy at all. I am done. My brain is too full of Chinese. I can't remember even the simplest characters. Oh well. I suppose that I normal. I need time to review, and process.

It's kind of sad to be seeing everyone packing up and getting ready to leave. I will be sad to leave Beijing, but I won't be sad to see HBA done. It has been such an intense summer. I have worked my ass off, harder than I have worked in a long time. But it was just what I needed to make my Chinese better. I haven't worked this hard in Chinese since I was in Beijing last time, and I have finally realized that my Chinese has come a long way this summer. It has gotten more formal. I still have such a long way too go, but it's better than kick in the head. I'm not nearly close yet.

So that's that. I have basically summed up my last couple of days. And I will talk to you all later!