Sunday, August 7

Today I stayed in bed until 11:30 am. It was lovely. Then I had fried dumplings, a piece of bread, and a CoCo Milk Tea Blueberry slushie thing. Then I took a shower. And then beasted through my final paper through for my business class and sent it to my professor. Then I went a church service with a friend, her brother and her roommate.

Afterwards we ate hot pot. After that I am thoroughly convinced that the individual sized hot pot that I ate earlier this summer is perfect. It’s perfect because you can choose what you want and no one else can make you eat mushrooms or yucky meat. Tonight my friend’s roommate ordered us some cow stomach and chicken brains (they are a lot bigger than you would think) and 50 different kinds of mushrooms. Yum. I would totally be fine with just meat rolls, potatoes, and lotus. Oh well I just use my eating in China strategy of eat as much of what I like as possible and try to avoid the rest. haha. And also after every time I eat hot pot, I feel like I smell like it for days. Like no matter how much I brush my teeth, I can’t get the taste out of my mouth.

After hot pot, we went back to the dorms. I got an ice cream bar. Thought I would enjoy eating an ice cream bar without having any idea how many calories are in it and not knowing any of the nutritional value, one last time. When I got back to my room, my roommate’s cousin was there. I did some packing milled around and was ready to take my shower. But I can’t really do that because my roommate’s cousin is a guy. So I laid on my bed, wondering what I should do to pass the time. Throughout this summer I had spent every free second studying. And then I realized that what I would do in this spare time would be to facebook or blog creep. Too bad I can’t do either:( Boo! so I just thought I would update my blog. Almost as good as facebook.

Also my favorite $5 USD purse broke. The strap came un-sewn. I’m hoping the shoe fixer guy will be on the street tomorrow so I can take it to him to get it fixed before I leave.

I turned on my blackberry today to charge it before I leave. Wooohoo.

I love China. Shanghai is an awesome city. I have had a great summer. I’m so thankful for this opportunity to come back to China. I feel like my Chinese has improved so much, especially in comparison to last summer. I feel like I understand more about Chinese culture, and have seen more of China’s vast country.

But since my journey home is quickly approaching, I’m also excited to head for home. I’m excited to see my family and friends, or at least to be in the same time zone as them. I’m excited for this fall and my new RA staff and getting to know them and hang out with them. I’m excited to unpack all my junk and line up all my books on my bookshelf. I’m a little excited to drive my car, but I really don’t like driving, gas is expensive and public transportation is so cheap. I am excited to start the fall semester of my senior year of college.

I’ve now spent around 3.5 months of my life in China. Two years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to imagine spending any time in China and I’m not sure I had any desire or willingness to travel here.

Where you go, I’ll go
Where you stay, I’ll stay
When you move, I’ll move
I will follow you