And I don't know if you notice anything missing. Like the leaves on the trees or my clothes all over the floor
It was a rainy day today. The first time it's rained since I've been here in China. But it was also cooling down. When I first arrived I would die at night if I wasn't running the air conditioner. I haven't run the air conditioner in my room at night in over a week, most nights I just open my sliding doors to my balcony (I have a nice room and apartment) and that is enough. Today I wore a sweater to class, though I didn't really need it. I'm sure it won't be long before I'm wearing a coat.
Class was the same as it always is. At least I'm learning a lot.
After class I went out trying to find a new place to eat. What I found exceeded my expectations. I found a restaurant which would be a Chinese version of Panda Express. You choose how many sides you want to your rice and pay accordingly. I got 3 vegetables and a meat, with rice. It was more than I wanted to eat for lunch. I was full (I know, a lot of food). And it only cost 6 RMB ($.85 USD) I'll be eating there more often.
After lunch I headed home, did my homework, read an article in the National Geographic Traveler that I picked up in Shanghai (in Chinese of course) about Mongolian horse competitions. I was pretty tired and took an hour or so nap.
When I woke up my roommates wanted to go to dinner, but I wasn't particularly hungry (still full from lunch I guess). I went out with them anyways and didn't get anything. On the way back home I bought a comforter so that when it does get cold I can still sleep fine, it only cost 40 RMB ($6 USD). You got to love China.
Today was my roommates birthday, so on the way home I decided we were going to stop by someplace and get some cheesecake for him. As we were walking by a small bistro we stopped to look at the menu and the owner came out. He was trying to get us to go inside but it looked a little pricey. I told him that it was my roommates birthday and he said that he would let us eat for free tonight. We went in and got cheesecake and the owner came and started talking to us. This is where the night started to get interesting.
The owner used to be a chef at the Shangri-la Hotel in Nanjing, which is a 5 star hotel. Then he was a chef at the Hyatt and the Marriott. My roommate happened to have studied culinary arts in Marseilles, France for a summer, and got accepted into the CIA (The Culinary Institute of America, very prestigious). As they talked about the cheesecake the owner told us that he'd only been open for a little while, and he wanted to know what he could change about things to attract more customers. We then talked about everything about the small bistro, the look (he had painted everything in very nice blues and whites, but needs to put some pictures on the wall so it doesn't look so empty), the music, the smell, the taste of the food, how he presents it, etc. He brought us out foods to try so that we could give him feedback on how well he was cooking it. The best was the fish and chips. Very good fish, exceptional tartar sauce, the fries were a little soggy (and by little, I mean little - this restaurant really was a high high quality restaurant). He also brought out lasagna and pizza (all of which was 5 star quality), showed us the full menu and asked for advice. He saw my camera and asked about it, and I told him that if he would like I could take pictures for him to put on his walls or in his menu. In the end he gave us his personal number and email, and said that any time we wanted to go back and eat or just hang out we could. Whenever we helped him with things the food would be free. It seems like I'm making a lot of friends here. Most of them are eager to do anything because my Chinese is good enough that I can actually communicate with them, so for the first time they can actually understand the American or Western point of view.
I find it very interesting that I came here to China in an attempt to better understand the way that Chinese people think. I set up my whole interview project around the idea that I would like to better understand the people here and the culture here. As I have been here and I have stopped to talk and get to know people, they are ecstatic because they see getting to know and talk to me as an opportunity for them to understand people that they have never understood before- the Westerners who are living in China.
Class was the same as it always is. At least I'm learning a lot.
After class I went out trying to find a new place to eat. What I found exceeded my expectations. I found a restaurant which would be a Chinese version of Panda Express. You choose how many sides you want to your rice and pay accordingly. I got 3 vegetables and a meat, with rice. It was more than I wanted to eat for lunch. I was full (I know, a lot of food). And it only cost 6 RMB ($.85 USD) I'll be eating there more often.
After lunch I headed home, did my homework, read an article in the National Geographic Traveler that I picked up in Shanghai (in Chinese of course) about Mongolian horse competitions. I was pretty tired and took an hour or so nap.
When I woke up my roommates wanted to go to dinner, but I wasn't particularly hungry (still full from lunch I guess). I went out with them anyways and didn't get anything. On the way back home I bought a comforter so that when it does get cold I can still sleep fine, it only cost 40 RMB ($6 USD). You got to love China.
Today was my roommates birthday, so on the way home I decided we were going to stop by someplace and get some cheesecake for him. As we were walking by a small bistro we stopped to look at the menu and the owner came out. He was trying to get us to go inside but it looked a little pricey. I told him that it was my roommates birthday and he said that he would let us eat for free tonight. We went in and got cheesecake and the owner came and started talking to us. This is where the night started to get interesting.
The owner used to be a chef at the Shangri-la Hotel in Nanjing, which is a 5 star hotel. Then he was a chef at the Hyatt and the Marriott. My roommate happened to have studied culinary arts in Marseilles, France for a summer, and got accepted into the CIA (The Culinary Institute of America, very prestigious). As they talked about the cheesecake the owner told us that he'd only been open for a little while, and he wanted to know what he could change about things to attract more customers. We then talked about everything about the small bistro, the look (he had painted everything in very nice blues and whites, but needs to put some pictures on the wall so it doesn't look so empty), the music, the smell, the taste of the food, how he presents it, etc. He brought us out foods to try so that we could give him feedback on how well he was cooking it. The best was the fish and chips. Very good fish, exceptional tartar sauce, the fries were a little soggy (and by little, I mean little - this restaurant really was a high high quality restaurant). He also brought out lasagna and pizza (all of which was 5 star quality), showed us the full menu and asked for advice. He saw my camera and asked about it, and I told him that if he would like I could take pictures for him to put on his walls or in his menu. In the end he gave us his personal number and email, and said that any time we wanted to go back and eat or just hang out we could. Whenever we helped him with things the food would be free. It seems like I'm making a lot of friends here. Most of them are eager to do anything because my Chinese is good enough that I can actually communicate with them, so for the first time they can actually understand the American or Western point of view.
I find it very interesting that I came here to China in an attempt to better understand the way that Chinese people think. I set up my whole interview project around the idea that I would like to better understand the people here and the culture here. As I have been here and I have stopped to talk and get to know people, they are ecstatic because they see getting to know and talk to me as an opportunity for them to understand people that they have never understood before- the Westerners who are living in China.
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