Becoming a local...kind of

We were supposed to get our Student ID cards yesterday (the 5th) which will have money for our dining hall but like most things in china we waited around for a really long time and nothing got accomplished. Ms. Wu (our 'advisor' in the international office) told us that the right information did not get put into the system for our group so we still don't have our cards.  However, they gave us dining hall coupons and we were able to eat there for lunch. The food was good. 

After lunch we had our first class.  It is our Chinese culture class. The professor seemed really nice and had a sense of humor. She was able to keep us all awake for our 3 hour class.  The building was old and run down but the room was updated with computer connections so she could use a powerpoint. The room was freezing. the weather outside has been tolerable during the day, it gets colder at night but I have been fine in a fleece, until that class. I am going to have layer up next time I go to class.

After class we all just hung out on our own for a while but eventually the group met up to go cell phone shopping. Cell phone shopping is an experience all on its own. All the phones in China take sim cards and all of the phones are unlocked so it doesn't matter where you buy your phone or sim card. so naturally we were looking for the cheapest phones since we are only using them for 4.5 months. The cheapest Sim cards are the ones with the number 4 in the telephone number because 4 is a bad luck number in china. As americans we don't care if we have the number 4 so we were able to get some good deals.  I ended up buying my phone on a side street, but it was in an actual store. Most of us got our phones there.  Like most things in China you must bargain for what you are buying.  I was able to get a phone for 100 kuai and my sim card for 80 kuai.  So basically I got everything for about $25.  You just can't beat those prices!

After we were all connected with local phones we were hungry. we went to a restaurant that was in one of the tourist books someone has. It was family style and the food was awesome! we haven't been too adventurous in the types of food yet because we want to make sure our bodies are used to the local bacteria and things, that way our chance of getting sick is a lot less. Almost our whole group was together at dinner.

As for our living arrangements...well the room is less than great but its really not bad.  We do have a great view of all the hustle and bustle and some of the skyline. I will take pictures and post them. But we have a TV with one English channel all the rest are in Chinese, obviously.  Two twin beds that are slightly hard but not as bad as the floor. I am glad I have my pillow though. We can get maid service everyday since it is a hotel but Caitlin and I have sort of agreed to have it every couple of days for clean towels, every day just doesn’t seem necessary. There are no drawers so we are keeping all our clothes in the suitcases. The shower is dirty, thank God for flip flops, but the water is warm and the pressure is high. And there are a lot of mirrors everywhere we have like 4 mirrors in this room and its not a big room!