Monday (July 29)
We had Chinese martial arts as our culture class today. Matthew was the dummy that the instructor used and he basically got his ass kicked. I have videos of this too, so I'll be posting those when I get home. I have videos of Matthew getting his ass kicked by the instructor, by Ryan (his Kungfu classes with his host brother every morning before school really paid off), and by Olive (sort of).
After culture class, Ryan, Isabel, Michelle and I took the 118 to 文二路 and walked about 4 blocks before we got to the stationary store. I don't think Ryan liked the stationary store too much, but for us girls, it was heaven. I bought about 11 more pens today. I'm that crazy about Chinese stationary items. I was also on the lookout for the guys that were at the corner on Saturday, but luckily they weren't there today.
Since it was only 3 pm when we finished shopping, I decided to head to Sander's (Matthew's host brother) apartment by myself. I've only been to his house once, but I figured I should just try. The only thing was...I walked for about 30 mins and didn't know where I was. I used Isabel's map to trace back the 118 bus stops (because the 118 takes you near his house), but nothing looked familiar when I walked there. I found myself on the map by matching the Chinese words on the map to the signs on the street, but I didn't have Sander's address. I was basically relying on landmarks to take me there. I was going to walk until I found landmarks or places that looked familiar. I did this for another 20 minutes until I decided that I was completely lost. I tried calling Michelle, Isabel, Alex, Haley and Matthew for help, but no one picked up their phone. I also didn't have Sander's number. I tried calling my host sister for help and she QQ'd Sander, but Sander didn't reply to the QQ. At my last attempt, I called Will for help. Luckily, he was able to google map my present position by having me read the Chinese signs on the street. I was also grateful that he actually knew what Sander's address was. Using google map, Will told me where to go.
After 20 minutes of walking, I finally reached Sander's apartment with Will's help. The only thing was...I couldn't get into the apartment. You needed a key to get into the lobby of the apartment. Of course, no one picked up their phone...so I couldn't just call someone to come down and open the door for me. I tried using the back door that Matthew used last time, but that was locked. In the end, I waited outside for 15 mins before someone came into the building. I followed him from behind, pretending that I lived in the building.
When I got to Sander's door on the 6th floor, I was going to knock and ring the doorbell...but the door was open, so I just went in, ran to Sander's room, and broke down into tears and laughter (I started to half cry and half laugh). Apparently, I gave Alex a huge shock because she started screaming when I came in. Haley, Sander and Matthew were also really surprised. They were wondering how I got in. I told them I got lost and had been walking for two hours just to find Sander's house. Sander's mom came in during this time and asked me if I was okay. I had to explain to her that I had just gotten lost...and that was it. Luckily, Sander's mom was gracious enough to let me stay l o l. She even allowed me to stay for dinner. Heck, Sander's parents are so chill. They told Matthew to bring over all of his friends.
Left to Right: Matthew, Sander, Alex, Sander's mom, Haley
After dinner, the five of us went dancing at the park near the apartment. The ladies there were really mean....just saying. They pushed Haley and whacked me in the side while dancing just because we were laughing. I think they thought that we were laughing at them...but we really weren't. We were laughing at ourselves for being unable to keep up with the dance steps. Oh wells. We just decided to leave the dancing after that to head over to the karaoke happening in the park.
Matthew and Sander exercising their bromance
We arrived back at Sander's apartment at around 9:15 pm. I stayed for another 45 mins, eating watermelon, taking pictures, and talking to Sander's parents. Apparently, Sander's mom had told his dad about me getting lost on the way to Sander's house because he questioned me about it, haha. At 10 pm, I decided to head home because it was hitting the NSLI-Y curfew...and I didn't want to be out this late on a school night. Alex got a taxi for me and I was on my way home.
The taxi driver I had tonight was really talkative. He asked me questions about my parents, if I could sing in English, and if I was from Korea. Apparently, I look Korean? What? I told him, "不，我是从美国" (No, I am from America). I also explained to him that my mom is Chinese and my dad is Vietnamese. He was really intrigued by the fact that my family has three different nationalities running through our veins. He was like: "Your mom is Chinese, your dad is Vietnamese, but you live in America? Hahahahaha". He also asked me how old I was. When I told him I was 17 and studying Chinese in Hangzhou, he was so surprised. This was my second time riding the taxi by myself, and it was a surprisingly pleasant experience. I really liked this experience because it allowed me to practice my Chinese skills, since the whole conversation was in Chinese. I feel incredibly proud of myself.
I arrived at the apartment in 15 mins (taxi ride was only ￥13) and promptly went to my room to study for tomorrow's dictation. I only studied for 10 mins before I showered and crashed. Surprisingly, I got 100% on my dictation~ Woo! 我非常高兴。
