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.