A Couple Days Late

So I meant to write an update sometime midweek, but that didn't end up happening, so this is the replacement! Many things have happened in the last week, but I don't think a lot of them are that interesting.

On the mundane side, classes started this week. There are 9 different levels of Chinese here, ranked from A, the easiest, to I, the hardest. I got placed into C and moved up to D. I really like my classmates - they are super cool. Most are older than I am too. I think a lot of people are here post-graduation looking to improve their Chinese. I have, although, met some really young kids - an 18 year old and a 15 year old both from Kazakhstan. Pretty mind-blowing. I got an electronic Chinese dictionary too. The thing is seriously a life saver. You can write the word right onto the touch screen and it will just check it up for you. It also has Sudoku puzzles so if you are bored in class you can sit around and play those. Additionally, you can add in MicroSD cards and play MP3s and MP4s (music and videos)...on your dictionary. Seriously? Speaking of amazing freaking technology, my Japanese friend has this crazy cell phone that is a touch screen when you flip it open and swivel the screen and a flip phone you don't swivel it. It's so crazy. It is an MP3 player, 5.2 megapixel camera, and plays LIVE TV. LIKE LIVE TELEVISION, FULL PROGRAMS. Oh, and of course internet, instant messaging, email, and all that other basic stuff. It's nuts. Oh, and it has a little Goku that flies around the screen. That's like the cherry on top.

This weekend, two of my good friends Kenzie Chin and Vrutika Mody, from Middlebury, came to Shanghai! I successfully snuck them into the foreign dorms five people-nights. 3 nights for Tika and 2 for Kenzie. It was no small feat. I took this opportunity to both speak candidly to people I knew in English, which was awesome, and to finally explore the touristy sites in Shanghai. We went to Nanjing Road, a shopping hotspot (where I bought things from UNIQLO!), the Bund (along the western side of the Huang Pu river), Xintiandi, this really nice upscale kind of foreign place, the French Concession, Old Town, and to see my grandmother. It was cool but also weird since I had seen most of those touristy sites before on previous trips to Shanghai. I felt kind of naked without my parents around me. It was really fun though. I'll try to get pictures from them later.

So I don't remember if I have written about having a roommate before, but if I haven't, the short story is that I'm in a double and when I moved in all my roommate's stuff was here (computer, cell phone, watch, clothes, toothbrush, towel, etc.) and he wasn't here for the first two weeks. Every night I was a little worried that when I woke up there would be another guy in my room, and the longer it took before he got here the more freaked out I got. To the point where I thought he might have just like died. Seriously freaked out. Anyway, in hosting (against the rules) my two friends, I was even more worried, since my two friends were on our respective beds and I was on the floor. Anyway, the night before we had all had dreams about my roommate coming in and like it being really awkward. Last night it happened, at around 6 AM. I guess he was traveling in Hainan. We heard the door open and saw a pretty tall guy just standing in the doorway and I was like oh crap. It was pretty odd. Anyway, he's Polish, and surprisingly tan for a Polish guy. He also has huge feet. They are surprisingly large.

Anyway, I can't seem to remember the answer to my security question for my credit card. My bill is HUGE. When I tried to look at my statement they asked me my security question, which I know the answer to, and I couldn't seem to remember how to type it correctly. I tried a couple times and I can't get in, which is troubling. You guys might know this (and this will show how ridiculous I am) - If I could control my height, how tall would I be? (and for bonus, why?)

I'll holler again later. I'm getting McDonalds for lunch. I don't know why it seems so much more appealing in China.