I AM IN CHINA!

The 14-hour plane ride to China was hell; it was so cold on the plane. Even though I'm only half Chinese, I, apparently, look Chinese enough for people on the plane to speak to me in Chinese. It's pretty funny because I couldn't understand half of what they were saying, so I just pretended I understood by nodding my head (: (I think the man next to me was asking me to watch his stuff, lol idk). To pass the time, I watched Paranormal Activity 4 and slept. The only thing that I did not like about the plane ride was the turbulence. At one point, the turbulence got so bad that I was literally having a panic attack.

After we landed in Shanghai, we took a 3 hour bus ride to Hangzhou. The buildings in Shanghai literally look all the same; it's like the suburbs in America. We even passed by an IKEA and a Walmart on the way there. I don't really like Shanghai that much...I don't think I would fit in.But I LOVE Hangzhou. This city literally looks like the Chinese version of LA/New York, but smaller. I really like it here (thank you AC for putting me in this city!). The one thing about Hangzhou in June is that it rains a LOT. Not only does it rain, but it is also humid. I sweat so much in this city; I always feel so sticky and disgusting. It's amazing how people in China never sweat, especially students who have to wear those track uniforms. So glad we don't have to wear those uniforms at SHA. (For my SHA friends, I showed my host sister a picture of our uniform because she was curious...and she really liked our uniforms LOL. She said they were "very beautiful").

Anyways, today was my first full day in China, and I am starting to love it here. The other 18 Americans are really nice and easy to talk to (really glad that I got grouped with these people). Everyone is just so interesting, outgoing and funny. This morning basically consisted of exchanging money, eating lunch, taking another placement test/interview, and playing charades in Chinese (which my group totally failed at). After, my host sister and I walked & took the 303 bus back home to the apartment.

Speaking of my host sister, my host family is really nice, and they try to help me as much as they can. It's a little hard to converse because 我的中文不太好 (my Chinese is not too good), but I'm trying my hardest to comprehend what they are saying. Of course, if I don't understand, they usually try to translate it into English (which they are capable of speaking). At first, I was a bit apprehensive about getting along with my host sister...but after walking/taking the bus home with her today, I feel a lot comfortable around her. I guess it'll just have to take some time because of the language barrier. 

Overall, today was a successful day. Tomorrow we start actual Chinese classes. I'm nervous, yet excited. I have to get up at 5:40 a.m. tomorrow because my host sister has A level exams.

PS: my host family hasn't served me anything too weird or outlandish yet. But I do know that Olive (one of the other NSLI-Yer) was served tripe and HOOVES last night. Pig hooves, I think. Isn't that just lovely? I miss everyone at home, but I also really love Hangzhou. I'll try to get pictures for you guys up soon....when I take some. I've been neglecting my camera just because I'm usually too lazy to take it out and snap some pictures. But I will soon! 

Until next time,

Christine