Wow....Everyday is packed with drama (good and bad)

wow. where should I start. thanks for the comments, i LOVED hearing from all of yall. well lets see, so much has happened since I last wrote. Lets start with the important stuff, school. Classes where damn near impossible the first day and the second day was quite the same. Today was my third day of classes and I felt so good after because I am really starting to understand a lot more. Like ive said several times, the teachers speak no english so if you dont study your pretty much up "you know what kind of creek." Anyways, the daily quizzes and the hours of studying continue but so does the enjoyment of just being in China. Without further ado I would like to tell a quick story that I am still in complete shock about. Yesterday I decided to go study on the top floor of the dorm because there are a couple tables up there. I had never actually studied there before because I can usually just go outside or in my room, but I decided: hey why not. So as I was sitting there practicing my chinese characters and listening to music i look behind me to see the elevator open. I did a double take of one of the dudes walking out and sure enough it was one of my really close camp friends. For those of you who know him it was BEN BARTH!!!! He had been studying in Hong Kong for the semester and knew I would be in China but had no idea when where why how etc... it was the weirdest thing to just happen to run into each other in not only a city of 10 million people but a country of 1.6 or so billion people. I basically through my books down and used and expletive and couldnt believe that he was staying at the same place for a few days. I am hoping that he will be here for a few more days so we can really get a chance to hang out. So that was the end of my day yesterday, listen to the beginning. After class we went to a fastfoodish type chinese restaurant called Yon Ho (thats what we call it because its kind of the mascot/ronald mcdonald type thing). Unfortunately the drama here was not good. A friend of ours was sitting eating her lunch and randomly 2 guys came in a stole her purse with all of her belongings and just took off. We couldnt find the person but the workers at the restaurant saw it happen and did nothing to stop it. Lets put it this way, Yon Ho wont be seeing many americans any time soon. After that I went to my tutor who I really like. shes really funny and the conversations we have are quite amusing. After the tutor I went to study outside with leslie and little did we know we were in for quite an afternoon. As I was sitting there, two cute little chinese girls, probably about 6 or so years old came up to us and asked us questions. leslie who speak fluent chinese understand everything they said and had to do a little translation. Anyway, to make a long story short, about 7 or so kids came up to us and were just chatting away. I think they were intriqued that I was white, and I told them I was from America. I also told the little girls I played with barbies and I have way more than her. I think she just made fun of me. A little later they dragged leslie and I to this pedistal like thing and I felt like I was either at the symphony bells thing or a place where people where put above the others and just made fun of. It was still quite amuzing but it was about time to get out of there. Last night we went to hot-pot which is a restaurant where you are given vegetables and raw meet and u stick it in boiling soup in front of you and let it cook. I think that I may have had somebody's left overs in my pot before I started but oh well haha. I then was the designated person to carry a water melon about a mile back to the dorms but it was quite delicious....wow Im definately just blabbing but Im tired and need some sleep. Today I woke up and went to class as usual, and like I said, today was one of those good days of Chinese. For lunch I went with a kid I just met, Peter, and for those of you in China with me, not the Peter that stalked us (OY is that a story to tell - i forgot that). We went to a little hole in the wall, but when I say hole in the wall I completely mean it. It was a brick wall with a hole and u order and they bring it to you. it was quite amazing. for those of you who know Jin's chicken in madison....this was the Chinese version. It was a pancake like thing with spices and fried chicken...mmm so good. The rest of the day I just studying and then went to a bar to get food (american food) and had a grilled cheese in onion rings. The onion rings were AMAZING! Shortly after, taylor, leslie, phil and I went on a nice run around Tianjin. We ran around the TV tower which is the 4th tallest building in China, and then around this lake. I think it ended up being close to 3 miles, and by that time, those onion rings werent so good. Now Im back in my room, and we just watched a pirated copy of Pirates 3. We havent finished it but I think I like it....... So before I go to bed I will tell one last story, its about peter. He is a Tianjin native that is NOT on our program. One day as we were walking to dinner, he randomly stopped us and I guess wanted to speak english and practice that. He seemed really nice and it was nice to see people be a little more friendly. He was definately a history buff. He told me all about Texas and how it borders Mexico and how George Bush signed something to ban illegal immigrants. He told my friend about his hometown in South Caroline. You get the point. He then followed us to dinner and sat at our table. He was being quite obnoxious thinking we were ignorant foreigners and couldnt speak any chinese although we have been fine all along. He then starts getting a little creepy. Asking a few of us for phone numbers email addresses, etc..... he then looks me straight in the eye and asks me if I could give him my room number. As much as I wanted to give it too him I definately restrained myself. A few minutes after that he decided he had to get home. That was the best thing I had heard all day. Its kind of hard to explain this story, but I promise you, it was creepy. So on that note I think that I may go to bed. Im extremely tired. and btw mom, dad, rachel, and whoever else I may call, I need to recharge the minutes on my phone so sorry if I havent called in a while. I love you all and miss you all very much ahd as I say everytime, I WANT TO HEAR BACK FROM YOU ALL! 再见

ben barth