On another "good" note, I got to skype with my parents and Fifi on Saturday! It was super fun. But, they ate my favorite dinner right in front of me: home-made ravioli with butter-sage sauce! Ahh, it looked so amazing. Then I got a Skype-tour of the house, which looked a lot different through a computer camera. Fifi's room was as messy as it ever was!
School last week went quickly, all 9 class, 10 hour days. Thank goodness it goes fast, or I might start falling asleep on the metro....
...So I guess I will tell you all a little bit more about my host family. My mom is super great. She is an English teacher and teaches at our house in the afternoons and some evenings. I think all of her students really like her, especially the little 2nd graders who are SO incredibly loud. It's pretty much impossible to hear your music or really even your own thoughts when they are around. She says that they keep her young. My dad I don't know as much about because we don't really understand each other (yet). I do know that he is super sweet and nice, and I think that he works for one of the biggest telecommunication companies in China, called 华为(Huawei) technologies. I think that's pretty cool. My host sister is Susan. She is very nice also. We get along very well. I definitely see the "only child" side of her though, as she is used to getting everything she wants and asks for. That is not a bad thing; I still love her a lot. You can always tell her mood though because when she is happy she always talks a ton, and when she is sad or tired she doesn't talk at all. A lot of of the time Susan doesn't come with us to eat, and so it is just the 3 of us. My mom and dad are a very sweet and happy couple, I think. I never see them being physically lovey dovey, like kissing, but they are always laughing and joking with each other, and they spend a lot of time just enjoying each others company. I really like going out to dinner with just them because they are very fun, and my mom and I get along really well, especially when she is mad at Susan (haha).
Another random thing...When I get off the metro on Sunday nights there is always this huge crowd of people dancing. And it is not like the normal cluster of women doing dancing/exercises all together. It is a huge crowd of people who come and just grab a partner! I think it is pretty cool. They should do some more random dancing in the USA.
Some of the new Chinglish I have seen is "Protect me from the fashion system,"and "Test your justice off!" There was also one great shirt I saw that just had the F word spelled wrong, in huge sparkly letters. I'm always on the look out for MISTAKES! Ah, they make my day.
Well Wednesday is Halloween, and to my surprise, the mall here is actually decorated for it! Just like in Target back at home, there are signs hanging from the ceiling, and random fake pumpkins everywhere in the shoes and clothes racks. It is funny to see people so eager to take pictures with the fake pumpkins. It's hard not to think about other holidays and Christmas. I think I will skip school on Christmas. But don't worry, I told my teacher I'm skipping, so it's all good.
A note about the pictures that I posted. There are a couple of the soccer game (above), or as I now say out of habit: "football." At one point during that game they showed how many people people had bought tickets and were at the stadium. Now mind you, about 5,000 people were there without tickets, because it was so crazy they didn't even bother checking them! One picture is of a blurry Olympic Stadium all lit up for the game.
Be well!
Love,
India~