Update on School

Hey everyone,

Sorry my last update was a while ago. I haven't had much time now that school's picked up to do much of anything. Everyday, I always feel pressed for time. For the majority of the week, I have 8 AM classes, and don't finish until around lunch time. After that, I get lunch and then go to my second class. Usually, the second class finishes around 4 PM, so from then until I go to bed, I do various activities...

I will eat dinner (of course), do homework (usually before bed; this takes up a huge chunk of my time), go for a night run, hang out with friends (usually while doing homework, hence, the huge chunk of time for homework), and do laundry. Thinking about everything makes me tired already!

This upcoming week is the national holiday week for China (Golden Week). I thought there was a whole story and history on Golden Week, but I guess all it is is the Chinese government trying to encourage tourism around China. Well, they get it! Mostly everybody in my program is going outside of Shanghai and traveling around China. Originally, I wanted to go to Xi'An (where the Terrecotta soldiers are), or Beijing, but booking tickets was too much of a hassle or they were all so out, so I just decided to stay in Shanghai for the week. Two of my friends are also staying behind. We have been planning various trips and activities to do around Shanghai so we won't be bored while we're here.

We get a whole week off of school, but our program is making us go to school Saturday and Sunday to make up for the days that we're taking off. It's a bit lame, but I guess education comes first, right?

The following pictures are from Mariko's 20th birthday celebration. We went to this really cute cafe/bar where the food was delicious. [[DISCLAIMER]] The last picture is kind of disgusting though. I just wanted to show people how many bug bites I've gotten here. There are actually a lot more over my body, but my leg looked the most gross, so I put a picture up. Enjoy =)


Girls in the dorm lobby


The handsome boys


Our whole group in front of Mao


My bug bite-infested leg =(