Where Are All the Oranges?

I've been posting a lot about the academic side of this program, and I haven't talked much about actually living in China as a DSIC student...

Well we live in a hotel; it's an actual hotel. That means 服务员 clean the room every other day and change the bedsheets once a week. It just spoils us really. xP And our classrooms are just in the opposite side of the same building. All we have to do is cross a connecting hallway.

There's also various restaurants close to campus. But the best places to eat are the little stands. The jiaozi/baozi stand is amazing. And the couple who runs it is so adorable and kind. There's also a boba place right around the corner of the stands that have the best boba I've had in China. Then there's also Yolanda, where you can pay 18 kuai and have all the drinks you can drink. Mango shush. Mmmm.

Everything is really convenient, except maybe going to the subway station because we have to take a bus to get there. Oh, and the washing machines. Light Alums have told us washing machines in China are harsh on your clothes, and well they are. So I've resorted to hand-washing a lot of my clothes.

Next week is our 4th week, halfway point. That's kind of hard believe because it feels like I've just started this program. We'll have a midterm exam and then a long weekend trip. I've chosen to go to Xi'an; the other options were Shanxi and the Shaolin Temple. I'm excited. :DDD

I feel my Chinese getting a lot better. I went into the nearby congee restaurant and asked if I could order something to go. So the fu2 wu4 yuan2 hands me the sheet with only Chinese characters to mark my order. He thought I was Chinese! (Well, I am... but you get the point)... that is until I asked for the menu with pictures anyway.

I've been craving American food. Something other than Chinese food. We dined (yes dined) at Pizza Hut last night and went to a Korean restaurant near Houhai the evening before. It raining, the streets were flooded, we got wet, but the food was good. :)




I also really want to eat an orange. I haven't seen any since I've been in China. I asked my language partner about this and she told me oranges are rare this time of the year...

Also, if you haven't been to Banana Leaf yet, gooo. It's a lot of fun. There's Filipino group that dances (at 7 pm) and sings (6 to 8 or 9 pm I believe) for you. It's a Thai restaurant but the food doesn't seem like it's Thai... Chinese Thai food? I took Peter there for his birthday (I'm a good CASA mom :D)