Hey everyone!!
I just want to warn all of you that if you ever decide to come to China please learn some Chinese before hand. I thought that I would be able to get by with taking it while I am out here but it turns out that, that isnt the case. Well at least for now. There are a lot less people that understand English than I thought. Even on this International University. The cafeteria has tons of different places to eat but everything is labeled in Chinese and the people that serve you do not know English either. A couple of Chinese girls helped us order yesterday so that was very helpful. It was also very difficult shopping at the grocery store because ,once again,EVERYTHING was labeled in Chinese, so you have no clue what you are buying to eat. Loooking around in my kitchen I can see a bag of rice, crackers, cookies, juice, and bananas. That is it! We were there for an hour too.
The campus is beautiful. It is very big and houses many students. There are about 8 to 10 buildings on campus. Maybe even more! There are two beautiful ponds/lakes around my building and a huge track and soccer field right outside my window. The best part is the huge playground located next to the track field. No, it isn't the playground you imagine with swings and slides to climb all over. It is a variety of different courts, including basketball, volleyball, tennis and badmitten (spelling?). That is what they call it here. There are many things to do off campus as well,but we haven't had a chance to leave yet because we do not have our school IDs. But soon enough. I start my first class today and I can't wait. It is Chinese Art and Literature. O and how can I forget! My class schedule works out to leave me monday and friday off. This means I have a 4 day weekend to spend on traveling. WOO HOO!!!
The school has done an amazing job at accomodating us. They completely remodeled our floor so our rooms are really nice. They look like hotel rooms and they treat it like one too. Someone comes in everyday to clean the floors and empty the trash. AND make our beds too! Everyone is so nice here. The only thing that really makes me uncomfortable though is the fact that EVERYONE stairs at you. I dont know if it is a good thing or bad thing. All I know is that it makes me feel like I am some sort of alien.
Well I better get back to sleep so I can be ready for my class in a few hours. The time difference is 13 hours ahead of Chicago so I haven't gotten a good night's sleep yet. Let's just hope it happens soon. Peace and Love to all my friends and family.
See you in the future...