Happy Thanksgiving!

It is beginning to hit me that only 2 weeks remain in my program here in Hangzhou, and this is important because I really like the people here and also because I have a lot of work to do before I leave. It may only be two weeks, but I am expected to write thousands and thousands of characters. It is weird because most of my friends here are mentally preparing to go back to the states, they are making lists of the things that they are going to miss and wondering how they are ever going to live without dumplings for breakfast, or how they are going to ever readjust to paying more than $2 for a delicious meal. But not me. I have none of these problems because I am staying here in this lovely, strange, and fascinating country for a very long time.
While my classmates' brains are drifting back to the states, mine is already thinking about the 7 weeks of traveling that I have ahead of me, during which I will be accompanied by various and wonderful travel companions. I am also thinking about my new home in Kunming and starting over in the beautiful city where everything will be completely new again.
But really, I have no need to live in the future because right now is pretty great. I spent this past weekend spreading my time between a tea house and a jazz club. On Friday night my friends and I "won the tea house," meaning we spent seven hours there, drinking tea, eating food, playing games, collapsing on the floor of our private room in fits of laughter, until they kicked us out at 1a.m. On Saturday and Sunday we spent many many hours listening to live music and chatting with the musicians at JZ jazz bar, where the band consists of a singer and bassist from Mauricius, a drummer from Portugal, and one of the best Jazz pianists in China. Random people end up in China. We all wish that we found this club months ago, but we acknowlegde that it is probably better for our budgets and grade point averages that we did not.
This week is our last week of weekly tests. Next week we have a review week, and then the following week is finals. And somewhere in there we are expected to write thousands of characters, no big deal.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we are all going together to have a "traditional" thanksgiving feast at an Irish Pub in Hangzhou called "the shamrock."
These last two weeks will probably fly by.
Oh, and my internet in my room has decided to suddenly stop working, so if you have not had any contact with me for a while, that is probably the reason why. Having an apple computer in China is extremely mafan.

Useful Chinese Phrases

Two weekends ago I traveled to Suzhou with two good friends and then this past weekend I went to Nanjing with about 50-60 people from my program including Chinese roommates and teachers. I have also spent time browsing at markets, eating delicious foods, and having fascinating conversations with my Chinese professors, most of whom are Chinese women in their mid-twenties who enjoy getting completely off topic almost as much as I do. While my ability to present myself in a somewhat intelligent way improves a little bit everyday, I fear that my english also gets a little worse. Or rather, every day my "chinglish" gets a little bit better.
I would like to introduce a few useful chinglish phrases that will help my friends and family to understand me when I (eventually) return home to the states, or if I happen to slip these seemingly nonsensical words into our skype conversations. My friends and I all agree that some Chinese words are just plain better than their English equivalents.
1. 麻烦 "ma fan" (mah-fahn) both a noun and a verb!
meaning: troublesome, annoying, bothersome, or to trouble, annoy, or bother; used to describe situations, people, and really just about anything.
Examples (in Chinglish): This essay is so mafan. I don't want to write it.
(an actually conversation excerpt) Boys like it when girls mafan them.
2. 比较 "bi jiao" ( bee-jee-ow)
meaning: relatively or kind of; used in basically every sentence ever
Examples: This book is bijiao interesting. That class was bijiao long. He is a bijiao good person. That food is bijiao delicious. It has been a bijiao long time since I showered.
3. 差不多 "cha bu duo" (chah-boo-dou)
meaning: literally more or less, often used to mean good enough or close enough.
Examples: When a professor asks if you have prepared well for class the answer is often: chabuduo.
So, maybe these words aren't applicable to anyone else's life except mine. But they are much more commonly used than their English counterparts and they have become integral parts of my everyday life. like chopsticks. and green tea.
A few other things of note that have happened recently:
1. I was approached by a person speaking Spanish only to discover that I no longer speak Spanish. My brain space that was previously filled with 8 years of Spanish study is now completely blocked out by Chinese. I think I am speaking Spanish, but Chinese comes out.
2. I went to a hot springs outside of Nanjing where they have a pool filled with small fish that nibble on your dead skin. It felt weird.
3. My friends and I have gotten into the habit of referring to eachother as "Mei nu" and "Shuai ge" meaning pretty lady and handsome guy. You can also call waiters in restaurants by screaming these words across the room.
That's all for now. I will try to not wait almost two entire weeks before writing again.

奥巴马！ （Obama)

First, I would like to say that following the election from China was a weird and surreal experience that definitely gave me a unique perspective on this huge event in American history. The timing was bizarre for us folks who are 12 hours ahead because I woke up Wednesday morning (which is Tuesday night in the States) and then spent the morning rushing back to my room in between classes, checking to see if a president had been chosen yet. The average Chinese person really does not care about the American President, however I did have quite a fun time trying to describe what the electoral college is to my some Chinese friends who were curious as to how the U.S. could have so few people (they mistook the electoral vote, which at the time was about 207-103, for the popular vote.) Nevertheless, the energy among the foreigners in China is mostly one of celebration, hope, and awe. I spent many hours on Wednesday reading newspapers online, and all I can say is that Obama seems too good to be true. I hope this is not the case, and when I read his speeches I am awestruck by his ability to say extremely intelligent things in humble and honest ways. I am very excited to see what he can do. I will be watching from afar. I am also excited by my ability to discuss my opinions on politics, the U.S. economy (crisis) and other important current events in Chinese.
But enough politics! It has been rainy and wet and kind of gross lately which does not inspire me to get out as much. I have also been recovering from our crazy week of traveling, which means catching up on correspondence with the outside world and with friends here. It also means lounging, reading, doing kunfu, running, swimming, making earrings, and eating...always eating. I don't know what I am going to do when I have to go back to the states and there are no vegetable and red bean dumplings at breakfast and chinese style eggplant and tofu served over delicious rice for dinner.
This Wednesday we went to a Chinese elementary school and and made some "xiao pengyou" (literally little friends). It was a really interesting experience because Chinese elementary school is very different from my own experiences. Let's just say Chinese children are very well trained, from a young age. We learned about insects with one group of students and then did a craft project and tried to talk with the students. I am not sure whether it was because they did not understand our less than perfect Chinese, or because they were intimated by us foreigners, or some other reason, but it was really hard to get them to answer our questions with more than a grunt. They were also very focused on their construction paper bug making. There were also about 8 photographers sticking cameras in our faces, which made the whole experience a little fake. However, we went to a second classroom where the children were a little older and much more friendly and silly. They performed songs for us and asked us questions in english and giggled whenever I said anything in Chinese, and made us all sign our names in english and chinese about 50 times. I think we were equally amused by eachother.
Another part of my week that I really enjoyed was my one on one class where we have fantastic and fascinating discussions about various aspects of life in China and the U.S. that usually have little to do with the topic of our reading for the day. For example, on Monday we spent quite a bit of time discussing prostitution and pornography, and on Wednesday we drifted from palm reading to body image to plastic surgery and marrying for money to shampoo and hairstyles. I think we both equally enjoy sharing the parts of our own cultural standards that we know will truly shock the other. For example, when I told her that my mom went back to work after having children and I went to daycare, she told me that you cannot do this in China. If a mom goes back to work, her parents or her husbands parents will watch the kids, because in China if you leave your children with a stranger you risk them selling your kids. Especially sons. So watch out.
One final bit of exciting news is that I have gotten an internship in Kunming, Yunnan, China for next semester and so I will be staying in China for a wicked long time, probably until August or so. I am very excited, but ofcourse I will miss all of you, so if you feel like you ever in your life might want to come visit China, this is the time. I will welcome you with open arms and help you order delicious food in restaurants.