Back Home

Well, it's been pretty eventful since I got back.
First off I confirmed that I am in fact allergic to cats. I was feeling alright when I arrived, not on allergy medicine, and then I went home to five cats and slept and have been pretty miserable ever since. I even took allergy medicine beforehand! I bought some stronger meds with a decongestant so hopefully that does the trick. If not, I'm going to consider the possibility I might be sick.. again.
The day after I arrived my mom had her christmas party which was fun. It was nice to see mom's old work friends that I've now known for, like, 10+ years. The dinner was pretty awesome. I woke up that morning at 6 after going to bed at midnight but then went back to bed at 9 and didn't wake until noon. Then I took a nap after dinner and woke up around 6. My days are really days yet, they're just periods of sleep and awake. It's 2am right now and I just woke up at 11:30pm... I'm really doing the opposite of improving (I'd say the word but I can't think of it).
Then today I finally turned in my computer to be fixed. For those of you who don't know my computer was having trouble starting up and didn't like this one particular update. So after turning it in I found out it's going to need a new hard drive which means bye bye to basically everything that isn't on my old computer or the few videos and school assignments I was able to save on my flash drive before taking it in. Thankfully there's facebook but there were a number of pictures people had asked me not to put on facebook so I didn't and now those are all gone. Oh well, nothing I can do now.
I was able to see my good friend Laura today! It was so nice to see a friend after so long. We're going to see a movie tomorrow night in Atlanta. Then at some point I need to make it down to see my friends' children and give them the gifts I got from China.
I really need to start wrapping my gifts for everyone. I think I'll start doing that tomorrow night when I'm awake when I shouldn't be.
Hope everyone who's made their way back from China (I think everyone has now) is adjusting well and is happy to be back with family and friends :)

Last Full Day in China

Today will be my last full day in China. My plane takes off tomorrow around 5pm. Also, tomorrow will literally be the longest day of my life. I leave Beijing around 5pm, go back in time and arrive in Chicago around 4pm, then I have a three hour wait until my plane to Atlanta leaves around 7pm and then I finally arrive in Atlanta around 10pm. Saturday will last.. well, I'm not sure- my itinerary doesn't say how long my first flight last but it's going to be a long time! I suppose, even on a plane, having a super long Saturday is a good thing.

Anyway, so after I took my final we had our graduation ceremony. Our teachers were there and some people received prizes for, like, best picture, funniest picture, most improved student, etc. It was really nice. We also received a free T-shirt! Well, I'm sure we paid for it somewhere but it felt free! Afterward a bunch of us took pictures and then we left. I decided it would be best to take pictures of what's going on out here so we can do a comparison when I arrive in the US.

However, I become totally badass. This is what I wore in the snow.

Didn't slip or trip once.

Peking Duck in Beijing

First I'd like to say that this blog has gotten more views than my other which has been up since February of this year while this blog started in September. I'm pretty stoked and it clearly shows how much content matters.

Anyway, so our group had decided we really needed to have Peking Duck before we left. (For those of you who don't know, Beijing used to be called "Peking" but changed with the change in pronunciation.) So one night most of got together and walked in the cold for about 15 minutes to this little restaurant to eat three ducks. That's it, we just had three ducks and some tea. Kate tried to get rid of the third duck when she realized not as many people were coming as she thought but apparently they start cooking the duck before you arrive so it was too late. Because they cook before you arrive, it's also very important that you arrive on time for your reservation. By the way, if the reservation part didn't tip you off, Peking duck is pretty expensive.
So we sat down and ordered some tea while we waited for our duck and what they do is a man in a chef's hat actually comes out with the duck on a cart and cuts the duck into tiny slices for the table.

I didn't realize I had my camera on paint mode but it looks cooler this way anyway

Each duck is two plates of slices. Then they also place some steamed pancakes on the table. Apparently, you eat the dish like a burrito with some celery (or other vegetable- I wasn't exactly sure what it was) with some sauce that some compared to Korean BBQ sauce ironically. You put that on the burrito pancake and wrap it up and bam! It was pretty delicious but I wasn't in love with it. I did get a pretty nice shot though, if I do say so myself.

Again, paint mode

We even managed to finish all three ducks so it was a very successful venture!

The Beginning of the End

Today I have my exam in Contemporary China and I totally didn't study enough. I mean, I might have but I won't know for sure until I'm in the class because we've never had a test in the class so I really don't know what to expect. We do have the questions so I can go over but I don't know which questions he's going to choose.
Anyway, after this I have a paper due Sunday that has to be twenty pages and then I have to present and then I have another paper I have to also present on and then I have my Chinese final.
This really is the beginning of the end for my procrastinating, anxious, terrible student self.

老师

Shao Laoshi (邵老师) is a petite young woman with long black hair that reaches the small of her back. She wears contacts to lighten her eye color but one can only tell when sitting close to her and the ends of her hair are permed to be wavy. She dresses in the typical Chinese fashion, very cute with interesting combinations. Normally she wears a short skirt with tights and a nice blouse with heels. Her voice isn't overly soft but it isn't very commanding or loud either. She takes the lessons seriously but laughs when Theo lists off his sentences to practice the grammar that all are about how hot he is (excuse me, "aesthetic"). She is absolutely adorable and she is my Chinese teacher.
Lately I've missed a lot of classes due to illness and so Marketus and those in D.C. suggested I make up class time with Shao Laoshi. So now I meet her twice a week for an hour and I just had my first session with her yesterday. When I arrived I saw she was writing the new vocabulary on sheets of paper for today. We discussed my exam and what I got wrong and why. Afterward I found out she needed to soon go to Tsinghua where she teaches as well. Actually, the times we meet are the only times she has available. Today in class she admitted she had a sore throat. Afterward, she admitted to me she hadn't gone to bed until five am.
You remember when you were a kid how you felt the teacher's life was at school? Wondered if maybe they lived at the school and were shocked when you saw them outside? I feel like Shao Laoshi is pretty close. It really seems like, besides her weekends, her life revolves around teaching and she's not a special case. Some teachers actually live in special dorms on campus that are specifically for professors. From what I've seen, there's no way you would ever find a teacher who didn't feel passionately about teaching in China like you sometimes find in the U.S.
Maybe it's just Shao. Either way, I have a totally awesome teacher who deserves to feel better soon.

Buying Clothes in China

So last night I went to the Chinese Wal-mart to buy some pants. I only have one pair that doesn't have a hole in them and since it isn't getting any warmer I thought it necessary. So I went in and found some jeans but they were mom jeans... meaning that the pants came up to my belly button instead of staying on my hips like most pants in the United States. That, or they weren't real jeans; they had like a stretch band which kind of reminded me of maternity wear.
Anyway, I ended up not finding any pants. The reason I went to Wal-mart to find clothes was because most places don't have fitting rooms except expensive places in malls and foreign stores like Wal-mart. A classmate of mine actually bought pants at a market without trying them on but they were American Eagle and she knew her size already.
This seriously makes me wonder- do Chinese always know their size for pants?? Because from what I've been hearing most buy in the markets or online- both ways you can't try the clothes on before purchasing. However, they can't possibly know their size for every store because when I started my search for pants in Shanghai I tried on pants in, like, six different stores and each fit me differently! And the markets don't have return policies I don't think. I mean, I don't get a receipt. So what do they do when something doesn't fit? Just give it to a friend? I mean seriously, I see many different body shapes here so how can you buy pants without trying them on? I should ask Xiao Hang, Marketus's assistant, what she does because she told me she buys almost all of her clothes online. Perhaps you can return things bought online?
I don't know, all I know is I need pants, and fast.

Doctor Visit

I think I found something about China that I really like much better than America.
When I went to the doctor's office last week it was the second time in less than a week and I was running late. I wasn't sure what to expect- maybe they would send me away? Maybe I would be there for an hour just waiting to see a doctor!
I arrived at 11:15 am, 15 minutes late for my appointment. I sat down and waited for a bit until the doctor came. When in the room, I told him the whole story, even the really stupid part about how I'd actually suffered for a week before going to the doctor because I didn't want to leave Shanghai early. He wanted to take blood to make sure whatever infection had been in me was gone as well as an x-ray to see my stomach. He filled out some paper work and then called over a nurse. He spoke to her in Chinese so I didn't understand what he said. I just followed her down the hall. It turned out to be the x-ray. It all went really quickly- the only weird thing was because it was my stomach and abdomen, I had to lower my pants. I didn't realize until after I thought about it for a bit that whenever I've had an x-ray I've never been in my normal clothes- always a patient dress. Luckily I was wearing my really long sweater so nothing was ever visible but it was kind of weird.
After the x-rays were finished and printed the nurse returned and took me to another room to have blood collected.
I thought she was just going to prick my finger but instead she collected a vial full of blood. After about five to ten minutes the doctor called me back after receiving the results and looked over my x-ray. He gave me some medicine and then I was off.
I looked at my phone. It was 12:15.
All of that done in just an hour.
First of all, I'm fairly certain that I've had to make another appointment to get x-rays done and usually somewhere else. Then they would send the x-rays to my doctor, the doctor would call me and I'd have to go back in and talk about them. And I've had to get blood drawn recently. I have to go to a completely different place and then about a week later my doctor will have the results. If I had been in America the same treatment would have taken a week at least (probably longer) while here it took an hour (and I was even late for my appointment!)
I know China can seem backward in a lot of ways but we really need to emulate them in the speed of their treatment and diagnosis!

Days Missed

So I got called into the office today to talk about how many classes I've missed. I've been physically sick a lot but most of those are excused- it's really the ones that are depression/anxiety related.
I'm writing this because I don't know what the Alliance is going to do with this blog once I'm done or if they're already directing students to our blogs but if they are I don't want anyone to think you can't go abroad if you have issues. I'm on medication for it but it wasn't working very well before I left and we had run out of time to explore more options. That being said, for being away from my friends, my family, my therapist, my entire support system really, I haven't done too bad. I'm not failing any of my classes. I'm just... having a hard time meeting them face-to-face.
At any rate, the semester is half over so I've already survived halfway. I can survive the rest if I use the coping skills I've learned over the years to help me.
What I'm saying is, don't let anything stop you from an opportunity to see another way of living. You never know, you might find things that will be more comfortable for you, that you can bring home with you. The worst thing that can happen is that you fail. I have an intense fear of failure but I know I would be far less likely to live with myself if I had never tried at all than tried and didn't make it all the way.
I've been told my blog posts have been mostly negative and I'm sorry about that because it's not all bad. I won't go home and think this was awful and I wish I'd never done it.
So if you're thinking about doing this, going on an adventure and seeing a different way of life and learning a different way, you should do it. You can't know what's going to happen but I can promise you if you don't you'll miss it. Even though you have no idea what you're missing- you'll still miss it.

Not a Happy Camper

So here's where I am right now. I'm stuck eating noodles with very little flavor (as part of my very bland diet the doctor has put me on), I'm taking 10 pills a day, not including the powder I need to mix with hot water and take three times a day as well. I'm tired all the time, I'm behind in class and my homework, partly because I keep sleeping through my alarm, and I have a twenty page paper due this weekend that I haven't started writing.
I. Am. Not. Happy.

Medicine

So I'm having stomach issues and went to the doctor last night to pick up some medication. I noticed they take a large amount of drugs for a very short amount of time. For instance, I received one drug that I take two tablets of, after meals, three times a day. I also have a drug I'm supposed to take one tablet of, but not at the same time as the first tablet because the first would kill it. I then dissolve a powder in water and drink that three times a day. You would honestly believe I was close to dying if I received that much medication in the United States. And this isn't a special occasion, I received four drugs when I went in with a cold asking for allergy medicine.
Although he gave me so much, I only have enough for three days. That's also similar to when the last doctor only gave me ten days worth of allergy medicine that in the United States I take almost daily year-round. In the United States I would have been given one drug to take for ten days with a warning to eat "bland foods" and drink lots of water (which is what this doctor also instructed).
Just a little observation I made while having my life momentarily revolve around which medicine I'm supposed to take next, and with what.

Hot Pot

So yesterday Elena and I tried going to the art district but it was closed by the time we got there. We did manage to see two exhibits and a whole bunch of cool graffiti though.

Afterward we decided to eat at a hot pot place!

For those of you who don't know what hot pot is, basically you order a bunch of raw ingredients and then cook them in this boiling/simmering metal pot on the table that's full of some flavored stock you would have ordered already. Usually it's one pot to a table but we went to a "mini hotpot" place so Elena and I ordered two different stocks but shared the ingredients.

I cannot describe how good this thing was. My stomach had been bothering me since I got here but this for some reason just made me feel so much better. It was a really nice place but thankfully not overly expensive. 还可以 as my teacher would say. There was a point of worry though because the waitress was going to make me a dressing but I wanted to tell her I was allergic to nuts first. Unfortunately I had no idea how to say that and had to call Marketus and ask him. I think it went well though I'm not sure because she had to give the phone to someone else and then I accidentally hung up on him and couldn't get back in touch with him. The point really is she just didn't make me  a sauce and I never had an allergic reaction.

Shanghai next couple days

From Halloween Party on Friday Night

So I'm ill. again. It's official- China and I don't mix. At least that seems to be what my body is trying to say. Don't worry- no fever, no pain, just bleh. I'm cutting my trip short because of it but it's nothing to worry about. Seriously though- BOTH travel weeks?! Come on Body/China, give me a break!
It's also rainy and gross today so I may go out later to take pictures of "The Bunds" but I'm going to wait a bit. Last thing I want is to get caught in the rain. Maybe I'll finally get my haircut- there's a place two shops down from her apartment that looks promising.
Anyway, last night Elena and I went out and ate at this "Italian" restaurant. I say that but I'm sure the Italians feel the same way about our Olive Garden so I shouldn't be so snobby but... w/e. I had chocolate milk (which they put ice cubes in...) and fries. French fries, by the way, they have down here in China. Have yet to have weird or bad fries. And ketchup- that's fine too. Spaghetti sauce? Not so much. Tastes like ketchup.
I'm still going to stay for Halloween here so I can see the old bunker and watch black-and-white horror/Halloween movies. Then I think Thursday I'll head back. I need to work on my paper and intern stuff anyway (not that I will but, you know, I should).

Shanghai Day 1

Today was my first day really seeing Shanghai. It started out late because we went to a Halloween party the night before and I didn’t get back until just before 5am. So I didn’t really wake up completely until 11. After I found out where Elena, my friend whose apartment I’m staying at, ended up after the party (she stayed with other friends after I left), I went out to take pictures.

I started out just walking down this street that is, like, the main street of Shanghai called Nanjing Road (lu or 路 means road). I have never been stopped so much in my entire time in China as I was in the hour walked down this street. I must have been approached fourteen times by people trying to sell me fake merchandise. I’m slightly surprised they’re there though; the place is lined by stores, legitimate stores, so why would a foreigner be interested in purchasing from a person on the street something fake they can buy in a legitimate store? Anyway, I mainly walked down the street for the architecture.

You really feel like you’re in another China here- like, it’s still China but it’s not at the same time because there’s this very cosmopolitan and international feel. A lot of the architecture is European inspired, in fact, there’s an entire street of just European architecture I plan to take pictures of tomorrow. I saw it tonight when Elena was showing me where the hostel was but I didn’t bring my camera. I had actually been looking for it today but I didn’t bring the map she had so I didn’t know exactly where it was and didn’t want to get lost.

Also, I found that here the people pronounce “shi” words like “si.” I got so confused! I actually thought my lunch would be four kuai but it turned out to be ten. And then, as I was eating, a lady who didn’t speak English sat next to me and started trying to talk to me and kept using “si” instead of “shi.” Luckily, I eventually figured it out and was able to understand her a little. I will say I’m practicing my Chinese here a lot more than I thought I would, which I’m happy about because I don’t think I’m going to go to Nanjing. It’d just be too much of a hassle to get there and then figure out how to get back to Beijing, and cost more money. The hostel here in Beijing is pretty expensive and I already decided I want to stay to Wednesday at least. Elena said for Halloween there’s going to be a screening of black and white horror movies in a former bomb shelter which I think will definitely be interesting.
So my next blog entry might be coming from a hostel. Definitely sounds like it'll be an interesting experience- keep you posted!

Leaving for Shanghai

So I was supposed to have left by now but I got absolutely no sleep last night. My brain would not shut up about the Vampire Diaries episode for some reason.
Anyway, I'm pretty much all packed now and going to take a taxi to the Beijing South Railway Station. I leave at 10am and then arrive about 5 hours later at 3pm. I actually have a friend who's living in Shanghai and she has been kind enough to let me stay with her for the weekend. She's already found a number of Halloween parties for us to go to! I don't have a costume yet but I'm sure Shanghai has something; it's such an international city.
After the weekend I'm not sure what I'm doing. I might stay in Shanghai and look around but I really think I'll go to Nanjing. That way I can use my Chinese and see another historical city.
Alright, now I really need to go. I'll try to post pictures and updates throughout the week!

Observations

Hey, so I thought I'd better post something since I haven't in a really long time.
It's starting to get cold here and it's happening fast and with it have been a few changes. One of which is the doorways. Here in China they leave the doors open because so many people go in and out; however, they also put up these construction type, plastic... blinds to hold in as much air conditioning as possible.

They had them up at my school but now that it's cold out they've put these up.

My guess is to insulate and keep the heat in.
Something I noticed earlier and have been wondering about are the stairs here in China. All over Beijing, especially with older buildings but still with some new ones, the stairs look like this.

I've been wondering why they do this for a while and my best guess is so that, when they were pulling a wheelbarrow or carrying the emperor, they would have some friction and the load wouldn't run them over. I suppose I could Google this but I'm just too lazy. Anyway, these stairs are everywhere, even in the subways.

Unfortunately this is really all I have. I didn't go on the excursion today because the air quality was so bad but, looking at pictures on Facebook, it doesn't look like there would have been too much for me to take pictures of anyway.

I Might Have Messed Up... Again

So I might have messed up. You see a while ago I met this older man who talked about tea and what not and wanted to talk to me about American politics. He said he would help me with my Chinese. He then asked for my phone number and I agreed because I'm an idiot. He said he'd contact me a week from then. Throughout the week I learn he's been talking to other white girls randomly at the cafeteria and so now I'm freaked out. I answered my phone the second time and he didn't speak in English at all! Even after I reminded him my Chinese wasn't good. We spoke in English when we were together so I was worried maybe he wasn't the same person. Anyway, luckily Xiao Hang (spelled her name wrong last time) was there and translated and told him to text me. He did and wanted to meet that day but I couldn't. I haven't responded since because I'm officially freaked out by him.

And then I'm doing my homework and this guy asks me if I can help him with his English. I say NO (!!!) nicely and he says oh well just for today because that seat is better anyway. I say fine. We sit, we talk, his English is terrible. Eventually he asks for my phone number and I say NO (!!) nicely because he's a stranger. He says he understands and I tell him I do my homework there almost every night so he can see me tomorrow. He tells me this story about a South African dude his friend introduced him to who's supposed to help him with his English but he's "not honest" and basically stands him up. Because of this I give him my email but NOT my number. Afterward he walks me to my building.

Let me say he DOES know I have a boyfriend. In fact he asked me and he asked if he was Chinese. When I said "Zai Meiguo" (在美国）or at America he clapped. At the time I thought he was clapping because he was proud of me for having an American boyfriend and not a Chinese one. Now I wonder if he thinks that means I'm game?

Yesterday I was sick and didn't go so he emailed me asking and I explained. Just read his reply and he said I should get more rest and he'll be waiting for me.....

Why do I put myself in these situations....? I don't even know what kind of situation I'm in and I know I don't want to be in it.

Leaving Work

So as I was leaving work I saw the Chinese version of Robert Pattinson. I would have taken a picture for everyone, however, his girlfriend was there and I can't pretend to be the idiot foreigner because it was at my work, which is an English radio station. There are foreigners there to show foreigners aren't crazy. There's even a couple Americans so I couldn't play the Ugly American either. Add to that I work with the girlfriend and it just wasn't happening.
But in case you were wondering, the Chinese version is way hotter. And possibly as tall if not taller.
Some things are better made in China ;)

Like Disney's Epcot but Totally Not

So today my Contemporary China class had a field trip. We went to the ethnic theme park. Yeah, you read that right, the ethnic theme park which was created by the Chinese government to showcase the 56 different ethnicities in China. So he wants us to really have a critical eye here and consider why the government has spent so much money to create this park and what it says about the ethnicities as well as the government.
So we get there and it's like, built into the city. You get off the subway and then you're like "oh, a totem pole."

So we get our tickets and go inside annnnd...

There's no one there... It's just like Epcot where the people are dressed up and walk around (a little) and there's an area for each ethnicity but... there's just no one there. Like, it's the saddest theme park I think I've ever been to. The people really just hang around not doing much and when we walked around it was like we made them have to work. There was one place where it was a replica of a tent or home of a Mongolian and there were two guys inside. I guess they were supposed to be doing something because the second we walked by and looked in one guy get up and started playing his instrument... Adam compared it to a cage... it was seriously their job to stay in there and play or do whatever would replicate "real" Mongolian people even though they're probably Mongolian and don't live in a tent but an apartment and yeah.

We saw maybe a few groups of two or three but nothing that warranted creating this place. Also, many of the places were closed down and locked so we couldn't even get in. There weren't people to let us in or any signs, nothing.

The place wasn't kept up nearly as well as the Forbidden City or any other place that you would visit. Everything was in a bad state and deteriorating.

 

It was an interesting experience. Clearly this place isn't on anyone's priority list and yet it's still here.  

I Lived

So I was just minding my own business when all of a sudden I think I hear a knock on the door. I open the door and it's Rebecca, dressed up. Apparently everyone was going to san li tuan (三里屯) which Wikipedia describes as having a lot of bar streets and international stores and she wanted to know if I wanted to come. So totally I did and she helped me figure out what to wear because I still don't have down what you wear clubbing.. certainly not out of my limited choices here (how did I bring so few clothes??) and we left. They were pre-gaming in Wudaokou at this place called Pyros which has some pretty good pizza actually. I hadn't even sat down yet when Erin goes "Courtney! Tequila shots!" Somehow this turned into Rebecca and I buying our own tequila shots and I taking three instead of two. So we get them and Rebecca says we down the first two and then wait for everyone to get theirs before we drink the third. I gulp the first one and it is totally disgusting... as I expected. However, as the minutes tick by I start to feel worse and worse. Finally I accept I'm going to throw up. So I go to the bathroom and while I'm in there manage to calm myself down and keep myself from actually throwing up. I leave, still feeling totally sick but don't tell anyone because, I mean, I'm freakin' 24. There's a 19 year old who's downed a rum and coke and a couple shots already and he's totally fine. Then there's all the other girls there who are also younger than me, heck everyone is younger than me!
I sit down and Rebecca goes "Hey, you haven't taken your second shot!"
I figure, what the heck, I'll finally be able to throw up and get it over with.
This one I however decide to sip it because I just don't want to have that feeling again. Erin notices and she's like "No no no, you have to open your throat and down it in one swig." How the heck do you open your throat?! I have always wondered about this!! When ever I drink I feel like it hits a wall, how do you open it!?
I actually ask this and Rebecca says "just drink it all at once and then swallow" in a way like, 'it's okay Courtney, you don't have to be a pro."
All the others get their drink and Erin shows me how it's done. She goes really quick, I mean, lick, swig, and lime- five seconds tops! So my turn, I lick, I... something.... and then they're all like "lime! lime!" and I get the lime which does make it better.
The biggest thing I took from this was I must have done the first one wrong because I don't feel like throwing up and I just did two shots in a matter of minutes. That's three shots of tequila in less than 30 minutes.

Do you notice the orange haze? I actually have pictures that are better quality but I liked this one at the time because it was when things started to get loopy.
So I hadn't eaten since 5pm, I missed lunch, and we walked around all day at the Forbidden City. I also am not that great at keeping myself hydrated.
Yeah, I was loopy. I remember my eyes were super huge, like I was trying to keep them open and I just kept looking around. Someone would say something to me and I would suddenly smile and I can only think I looked like George Carlin during one of his last stand up gigs.

So I didn't get talked to too much for a little while. Then we decided to finally go to 三里屯 and begin the gaming. Apparently the subways close around 11:30pm here. I was having a hard time walking and nearly tripped over another street, concrete, thingy and Devin offered to be my walking buddy. Seriously, those things are like just the right height that I don't pay attention to them and they're everywhere! So we get to the subway and find out we probably won't make the transfer. So when we get off we bolt.
Okay, so I don't run. I also have asthma. Running and I really don't get along.
I was freakin Usain Bolt dude. I mean, I was flying. I don't know if I was actually flying but it felt like I was flying. I've never felt so fast and composed in my life. I didn't even feel like dying once we stopped running!
So we miss the transfer and have to take a cab. Actually we have to take a couple cabs because there are too many of us to take just one. We manage to all get there and then we hit the bar streets.

We end up going to this bar that's a rooftop deck that had a pretty nice view. Unfortunately my camera is crap and refused to do it justice. My camera really doesn't handle night pictures well. So we dance at the bar and Rebecca and Devin make some new friends from Africa! Unfortunately  these friends don't really want to leave them alone once they leave the dance floor, in particular Rebecca's friend. This is about the time I sober up.
Eventually Rebecca's "friend" leaves and I ask if this is normal, like, guys not leaving you alone and she goes "basically." Yeah, I wanted my boyfriend to dance with really, really bad. I constantly worried about the guys around me who just kinda stood there or would sway behind you and like, I don't know. I felt like they were getting pleasure out of fantasizing that they were dancing with a girl. I was semi okay with these guys though because they didn't talk to me and I figured that was because they were afraid if I noticed I would move. I felt they were easier to deal with than Rebecca's "friend."
So after her "friend" left we try to gather everyone up and hurry out of there but two wanted to stay behind so Nick stayed with them. We all went to this club with lots of lights and heart-pounding bass. That was pretty cool but we soon tired of that (and were thirsty) so we left.
Then they all started pretending they were Spanish and talking in Spanish much to the amusement of this Spanish dude nearby. I have no idea what they were talking about because I took French and apparently no one else did. That is the one thing that sucks about French; I can't really practice it at random whereas it's like everyone took Spanish at some point.
Anyway we get some drinks, Adam gets a chicken, and we decide to head out. They were talking about hitting another club in Wudaokou but by the time we got back everyone was tired so we all hit the hay.
And thus I lived :)

Forbidden City

Dude, I was really excited about going here. I even made sure to charge my camera in advance! And then what do I do? I leave the memory card in the computer. Not my finest moment.
Actually I didn't really find many moments where I really wished I had my camera. All the courtyards looked the same and all the buildings looked the same. We could see inside three buildings and see three different thrones. That's it. However, I did have a moment of excitement when I recognized one of the thrones as the one from the movie "The Last Emperor" (which is an awesome movie by the way. And in English). We also found a shop that was really cheap and I bought a couple things. Not going to say what because I know one of them is going to be a gift and the other is undecided.
Anyway, here's a picture of a lion/dragon turtle that I stole from someone's album:

Next Saturday is the Summer Palace!