New Jacket, cool Chinese candy... life is good.
Well, long time no post! I just had an amazingly great day in every way possible way, but I will tell you about that when I get there. So, maybe I posted 3 weekends ago, so I will start with two weekends ago, when I had the "Sports Meeting," which was really cool, and super fun. Because many of the girls in our class did not want to run, I ended up signed up for 5 races, which was quite a lot. Together with one other girl in my class, we ran the races together, and so we had a super fun day. We couldn't really understand each other very well so we just laughed the whole day. My first race was the 400 meter and I got first place! It was super exciting, although I didn't have much competition. Then I ran in the 400 meter championships, and I got 2nd place! I was so happy about that also. Then we had the relay race, and all together we placed 3rd, which isn't too bad. I was constantly being stared at the whole day. It was like they hadn't seen me before, but I know for a fact that most of them had. Lots of people were trying to sneak pictures of me, but sometimes I would turn towards them and raise my eyebrows at them. It was quite entertaining actually.
Some shots from the "Sports Meeting"
Then the next day was supposed to be the second day of the Sports Meeting, but I woke up and did not feel good at all. I ended up staying home, and it is a good thing I did, because I developed a fever and I literally couldn't get out of my bed without an extreme amount of head pain. Then on Monday we had the day off. I thought that I was better but, up went my fever again, worse than before. It is definitely not fun being sick in a foreign country because it is a lot harder to explain how you feel when you don't know the language very well, and it's also hard to get things that I needed. I really appreciated my mom at this moment--my real mom, not my host mom. My host mom was super sweet though, we just don't have the best communication sometimes. But luckily by Tuesday I was better.
On Friday I went to Susan's belated Halloween Party. It was very funny. It was some-what like a talent show, and so Susan sang and played the guitar with her friend. They were very good, but then this girl started singing with them and it kind of threw me off because her voice was slightly loud and screechy. On Saturday I hung out with my American Exchange student friend who is from Berkeley, but goes to a different school. We had a super good time just talking, and then we watched Spiderman and made brownies, but we forgot about them in the oven and they got burnt. They still tasted good, though.
On Friday I went to Susan's belated Halloween Party. It was very funny. It was some-what like a talent show, and so Susan sang and played the guitar with her friend. They were very good, but then this girl started singing with them and it kind of threw me off because her voice was slightly loud and screechy. On Saturday I hung out with my American Exchange student friend who is from Berkeley, but goes to a different school. We had a super good time just talking, and then we watched Spiderman and made brownies, but we forgot about them in the oven and they got burnt. They still tasted good, though.
International School hang-out room. Pretty nice...
This week was really great because I only had school on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday morning. This was because this week was Mid-term tests, and as I cannot read Mandrin well yet, I did not have to take them. On Wednesday I just took a rest day and was extremely lazy. On Thursday I went to the International School wher I play volleyball on Sundays and spent the day there. All of the teachers were very nice, and so were the students. They were extremely flabbergasted that I go to a Chinese High School. One thing I found slighly strange was that, though some of the students had been at the school for 3-6 years, and while I had only been here for 3 months, I spoke better Chinese than they did.
International School Art Class... Pretty nice too...
That was confusing to me. One girl who'd been here for 3 years didn't know how to say the number 10. Hmm...
Friday I took the English Mid-term test in the morning. It was extremely simple. The most confusing thing was pretty much just finding the classroom, because they mixed up all of the classes and spread us out into other rooms. I was told to go to the Art building, room 17. The problem was, there was no room 17 in the Art building. So I just picked a random room and hoped I was in the right place. I still have no clue if that was okay, but it seemed that everything went fine. I finished a whole hour early, and I couldn't go and get the book I was reading, so I was extremely bored. I just sat there banging my head on the table. Then I went home and I had a super fun time with my host mom. We went shopping to get stuff for the cold weather. I got a new super warm jacket, that is also a rain jacket. I also got some new pants, for under my uniform pants to keep me warm. I love'm!
Friday I took the English Mid-term test in the morning. It was extremely simple. The most confusing thing was pretty much just finding the classroom, because they mixed up all of the classes and spread us out into other rooms. I was told to go to the Art building, room 17. The problem was, there was no room 17 in the Art building. So I just picked a random room and hoped I was in the right place. I still have no clue if that was okay, but it seemed that everything went fine. I finished a whole hour early, and I couldn't go and get the book I was reading, so I was extremely bored. I just sat there banging my head on the table. Then I went home and I had a super fun time with my host mom. We went shopping to get stuff for the cold weather. I got a new super warm jacket, that is also a rain jacket. I also got some new pants, for under my uniform pants to keep me warm. I love'm!
Today, I had a school trip. I was really, really not looking forward to it because I had to get up early, and I thought it would be raining, and we were supposed to be going hiking. Well, while waking up early wasn't that great, the rest of the day was SO fun! It turned out it wasn't much of a hike that we went on but rather a jaunt, through a bunch of temples and walkways and statues. Also, the trees were very beautiful, and bright red at this time of year. The funnest part was that I got to spend the whole day with my friends, and we became so much closer. I don't really know how to explain it, but we just became a lot closer and it was so fun.
Some shots from the trip...
I bought some things, and we ate a bunch of different little Chinese foods. I got this sweet that was made by a man who melted the sugar candy into shapes. He made Chinese characters with it, and then he stuck it with a stick and it was candy! I got mine with my Chinese name, which means Grace, because that is what people thought my name was when I first got here (格蕾丝)。
And here is another addition to the "Weird Things I Ate in a Foreign Country" list: Duck blood!!! I don't exactly know how it tasted, though, because I was so scared I ate it as fast as I could and just swallowed it. I was going to try to eat a chicken toe too, but I took one bite and I felt the skin crunch and I "chickened" out. Haha, pun intended. We also ate Chinese "cotton candy" and some unknown meat on a stick. Yum Yum Yum!
And here is another addition to the "Weird Things I Ate in a Foreign Country" list: Duck blood!!! I don't exactly know how it tasted, though, because I was so scared I ate it as fast as I could and just swallowed it. I was going to try to eat a chicken toe too, but I took one bite and I felt the skin crunch and I "chickened" out. Haha, pun intended. We also ate Chinese "cotton candy" and some unknown meat on a stick. Yum Yum Yum!
After we got back to school my friends invited me to go to KTV with them. If you don't know what that is, it is a room where you do karaoke. It was very fun! It was especially awesome because none of us were good singers, so we just shouted as loud as we could. It was so great! I think there was maybe 12 of us; some girls, some boys. Then we went to dinner afterwards, and then I walked home. I love my friends so much! It was an extremely good day; a Saturday well spent. And tomorrow I get to go to volleyball and then eat at the American Restaurant!
Well Thursday is thanksgiving, and I think that my parents anniversary is on Wednesday... I think. Happy early Anniversary!!! I love you guys. I am planning on leaving school early on Thursday so I can go to the American restaurant and eat dinner that night, because I don't really feel like eating Chinese food on Thanksgiving. Also, guess what? I found an Ugg store! I plan on going there and seeing about a new pair of shoes, because mine are literally falling apart.
I hope you are all doing great, I hope to write more soon. Oh and a quick side note: Justin-Siena High School football only has two more games until they are the Champions of the High School Football World! Or at least something like that. I have been listening to the games that are streamed on the internet. Numero uno! As we say here in China, 加油!!!
爱,
India
I hope you are all doing great, I hope to write more soon. Oh and a quick side note: Justin-Siena High School football only has two more games until they are the Champions of the High School Football World! Or at least something like that. I have been listening to the games that are streamed on the internet. Numero uno! As we say here in China, 加油!!!
爱,
India
PS.
My grandpa sent me this old picture of me and Fifi and I think it is the cutest thing in the world. I know it has nothing to do with China, but I love Fifi so much. Thanks Rock!
My grandpa sent me this old picture of me and Fifi and I think it is the cutest thing in the world. I know it has nothing to do with China, but I love Fifi so much. Thanks Rock!