Non-stop Busy

So every time I’ve tried sitting down to write another post I always get distracted… so what better way then just to bring my laptop with me to class and to work on it during our FOUR continuous hours of lecture?

It’s hard to believe that it’s almost been a week since my last post..! The weekend was full of activities, starting with an opening ceremony for a sport festival/meet at the university. Every department was represented and the walked around the track somewhat like the opening ceremony for the Olympics, followed with a traditional dragon dance (SO cool) and other dances ranging from hip-hop to salsa, which was very entertaining to see! There were people from all over Nantong and adjacent towns/cities at the event, including lots of journalists and cameramen. We thought most of them were just taking pictures of the large crowd in the stands but it soon became apparent that everyone was just taking pictures of us- we felt like celebrities to say the least! Cell phone cameras, tv video cameras, and newspaper cameras all were aimed at our very noticeable American group for the majority of the show, and afterwards I was even interviewed for a newspaper! It’s fun to know we’re the first large group of Americans to come around Nantong so I hope we’re doing a good job representing our country because we’re the only Americans most of the students have ever seen in real life!

The rest of Friday morning was spent in our two classes, and the early afternoon was dedicated to finishing our first take-home exam for our marketing class. Luckily I finished mine early and was able to head off campus with a group to what the students call “North Street” which is basically a long row of restaurants, shops, and marketplaces located just beyond the gates of the campus. We explored around there for awhile and then continued to hang out the rest of the night which was fun because the group as a whole definitely got to know each other better just by hanging out in our dorm and watching downloaded movies/tv shows.

Saturday morning we all got on a bus at 9am and headed to the #1 textile factory in China located a half hour from campus. It was the first textile factory in all of China so that was pretty cool to see. They even took us into the actually factory to see how the fabric was made which I posted a few pictures of in the album on facebook. Afterwards we visited a HUGE flea market, which I really wish we would have gone to after seeing a normal mall because everything in the mall was SO pricey compared to the dirt cheap prices at the flea market. But we were also discouraged to buy anything there because our china buddies said it was all very poor quality and that we wouldn’t like it… it’s hard to get across to them that we DO want to knock-off brands and that the quality is exactly what we’re looking for because they buy things that are nicer so they think that’s what we want- it’s just one of those things that’s hard to describe with the language barrier but we’ve been working on it!

With a full day of shopping and touring the factory, we were very pleased to hear that the university was treating us to dinner. The restaurant reminded me a lot of Benihana’s in downtown Seattle because it was a Japanese restaurant where each large table had its own chef that cooked what you ordered right in front of you. It was all you can eat and we definitely took advantage of that… I think we were literally there for 2-2 ½ hours just eating our hearts out and WOW did we have some interesting food (again, refer to the pictures… I can’t even believe some of the things I tried)! Afterwards we were supposed to split up into our groups but it turned out most of us wanted to check out this bar that served American liquor in the downtown area. Yea, it was definitely just an American bar altogether full of random European sailors/captains, but we soon got the place loud and rowdy and had a good few hours of fun-

Sunday was meant to be my day to relax and to catch up on sleep, but of course that didn’t happen.. I mean really, it was still the weekend! Some groups had been to a cool park with crocodiles and other attractions but what sounded even more appealing was what our China buddies referred to as “Wolff Hill”, a large temple/monestary we could see from our campus. After another trip downtown where I got a few gifts for friends and family (and where I had some AMAZING ‘dumplings’.. aka really good pot stickers), I headed up Wolff Hill with a good portion of our group. Outside of the gates there were tons of vendors selling all kinds of incense which I completely didn’t understand, but once we made the loooong climb up the hill I found out why. The temple was full of statues dedicated to gods and goddesses meant to bring various kinds of good fortune and happiness to their followers. People brought coin money and incense for them, which the monks continued to light the entire time we were there. Again, refer to the pictures to see more about what I’m talking about, along with the comments I left below them!

Finally Monday came, meaning the end of the on-going fun and back to classes, which have kept me busy for the majority of the week. If I haven’t been catching up on sleep, visiting North Street, or hanging out with people from the group, all my other time has been dedicated to typing up homework for each of my two classes- we have quite a bit seeing that we go to each class 2 hours a day Monday thru Thursday and then just 75 minutes each on Friday… talk about cramming- but its nice that after tomorrow I’ll officially be halfway done completing 6 credits! My other 3 credit course is a combination of posting journal entries on our trip’s website, writing a lengthy paper about the cultural difference between China and the U.S., and designing a sort of ‘year book’ for our time here at Nantong University for both the U.S. and Nantong students to have as a keepsake- yea, I’m quite busy! So for those of you who knew I was planning on taking an Accounting class online as well, I found out over this past week that I actually passed the class so I am now officially a certified business major at Washington State University! I can finally say I’m halfway done with college… it’s so hard to believe! Granted there is a possibility that I might stay for an extra semester or two but I WILL be done with my majors in 4 years as long as I stay on track!

So I’ve definitely taken a few breaks since I first started writing, because now it’s 5pm and for the rest of tonight I’m working on marketing homework with my China buddy Kuang Li and studying for our first management operations test tomorrow… wish me luck!