Bronzed and Back on Track

Well, it's about time for another post. It's been a week since I last indulged you in my physical well-being. I haven't been so well, considering I still have a crazy cough and can't sleep at night sometimes because of it. The doc is definitely too far away, so I don't think its worth it, since he's probably just going to say I have a bacteria infection. As of now, I'm doing well, fortunately, no cold symptoms.

Over the weekend, I met up with my mom's cousin's family. Yay for relatives and Hongbao (Red envelopes= $) Let's just say I probably don't have to visit the ATM any time soon. I met my grandpa's older brother, and they look so much alike! They talk and act the same, too! Learned a lot of family history about my grandpa's family as well. Quite interesting.

Yesterday, we only had an hour of class, and Alliance took us on a field trip to Shanghai's Flower Port. When we got there, I felt I like I was in the Netherlands rather than Shanghai. There was a plethora of tulips, all colors, and all hybrids (stood oddly tall). Spent the day there, and they finally dropped us off back home around 5pm. Ate some MaLa Tang for dinner, then proceeded with next weeks homework.

We got a new book for Chinese class, filled with surpisingly interesting topics. Our first lesson is about the KFC franchise in China and how it is prospering. Our second lesson is going to be about Starbucks. Finally, a good and funfilled textbook!

The weather has just been PERFECT in Shanghai. Today was encroaching on 80 degrees, just a tad bit humid, but nice and sunny. I definitely got my bronze back on, and somewhat of a tan line :( boo. I hate tan lines. Shannon, Charlotte and I went to a travel agency to purchase our train tickets to Hangzhou, which saved us a long trip to the Shanghai South Railway station. Then, I got some passionfruit green tea with coconut jelly and pearls to enjoy out in the sun where I studied for my test and Shannon, Eric, Kyle, and Mike threw a frisbee around.

S, C, and I are taking a train to Hangzhou (about an hour and a half by bullet train). We decided to couch surf this trip because there were no more hostels open. We figure the living situation would be the same if we were in a hostel, but this would be much more comfortable. We're staying with a 23 year old American female who loves boating and art events, sweeet! I will let you know how my first couch surfing experience goes.

I better get back to studying since tonight Shannon, Amber, her two friends from back home, and I are going to Volar to get free manicures and free martinis (I'm in for the manicures) for their Fashion Industry Night promotion.

Tata for now.

Death by Air

As morbid as it sounds, I am pretty sure I have lost 5 years of my life by living in China for a year. I am sitting in Economics class struggling to pay attention because my lymph nodes and lungs are swollen. My lungs and trachea are filled with mucus and I'm having a hard time breathing. Apparently, the three main things that can cause respiratory issues is 1)environment/industrial pollution, 2) cigarette smoke, 3) indoor air pollution...all three of which China facilitates...

Well, just wanted to rant about my physical health. Other than that, I get MSG headaches daily..I think that my time in China is about to expire. Take me back to the States, land of SALADS AND HEALTH NUTS, and real clean air.

Bye Bye Break

So, spring break is coming to a close, and I have not really "relaxed" this entire time. As much as I wanted to get away from the Shanghai pollution, destiny had me stay right where I am. On Monday, Amber and I discussed going to Sanya in Hai Nan Dao, a beautiful region of China, a southern island in the South China Sea. Unfortunately, we checked the weather forecast, and most of the time it was going to be raining with thunderstorms. Even though the tickets to Sanya were cheap, there was no way I was going to spend money on a vacation in a hostel.

Then, we thought about going to HangZhou, which was definitely more plausible, considering you can purchase a train ticket the same day, and it only takes an hour or two to get from Shanghai to HZ. But of course, just my luck. When I went to the ATM machine, the machine rejected my card...even though I have plenty of money in the bank. I called B of A for 3 days but they kept saying that my card was fine, and so was my account. So after Mike left, I was left with 50RMB...so I had to survive off of that amount for four days...Some days I only had one meal and usually it was from sketch alley.

Didn't really do anything eventful except go to a CD release party for a Shanghai band called "HardQueens". At first, the cover band made me feel like I wasted my time and money going, but once HardQueens began to play, I really enjoyed it, minus all the smoke in a completely fire-hazardous club. The music was like punk-rockish Beach Boys. It definitely reminded me of being back in California, where I hear the weather is beautiful right now. Extremely jealous.
Didn't really accomplish much this break, except for submit maybe 10 more internship apps which I will probably get denied, oh wait, already have within the week, lame. I know that I have one already, but who knows what other opportunites there are.

Got hooked on Gossip Girl, which was NOTHING how I expected the show to be, instead it's much better than I imagined. Got hooked on Scrubs too; guess it was a week of new addictions.

The weather forecast for Shanghai is sunny this next week, in the high 60's and tomorrow it will be a high of 70! Pretty excited for the heat, but definitely not the humidity.

I should probably head to bed, considering there is class in the morning...lame since it's a Chinese national holiday tomorrow, and yet my CHINESE teachers, will still be teaching.

Ok. Off to rest.