Only a Week?!

So yes, it's only been a week (well, a week and a half, I suppose, but only a week of classes) and I can't believe it. It feels like I've been here for a month! Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers regarding my last post. God really came through for me and they are opening up a lower level business course, so yes, my classes are still changing, but not subjects, so this is great! Really, it's the best case scenario. :D God is good and gracious. Things are getting a lot better and I feel a lot better about the semester than I did just a few days ago.

Saturday was a really good day. We had a scavenger hunt through the city and we were split up into groups for about three and a half hours. Some of the questions were simply questions (e.g. Who's calligraphy is the calligraphy of HIT's main sign styled after? How much does it cost to play a single game of ping pong? etc), some required us to take pictures (e.g. Take a picture with a worker at Wal-Mart. Take a picture of a team member in front of Cafe Russia. etc) and some required us to get certain items and bring them back (e.g. A pair of fake eyelashes, a loaf of Russian bread, a shrink-wrapped chicken claw, etc). We got to go all over the city and see the more famous parts of the city, including St. Sophia Cathedral and Zhongyang Dajie (pictured below). In case you didn't believe me, the city was built by Russians. Do you believe me yet?




I also got my furry Russian hat! At dinner, there were fresh tomatoes. I've been craving tomatoes. I think I ate way more than my fair share. But they were right in front of me!

Eating the chicken claw

Rammin' around on the frozen river (climbing on what looked to be the foundations of a giant ice building that has since been torn down)

Today I got a Chinese cell phone and that was...an experience. My roommate took me (I definitely couldn't have done it myself) and it was pretty overwhelming. Stores aren't nearly as organized here as they are in the US. There are hundreds of people all over the place without any semblance of order, pushing and shoving and very, very loud. I basically chose the cheapest phone I could find (226 kuai = $37.67), then we had to trundle up to the fourth floor of this building with one of the workers where I paid for the phone and ran around getting all these forms stamped (it seems like everything in this country has to bear some sort of red stamp). Then we had to wander down to another floor to buy the SIM card (sort of like a pre-paid card, which all cell phones use here), and that was by far the most confusing part of the morning as my roommate kept asking me questions about what I wanted and I didn't understand what she was asking so I couldn't respond. All I wanted was a cheap little phone that I can use to call and text my classmates! Regardless, it's done and I spent a mere 326 kuai ($54.34), which should last me the whole semester.

And on that note, I should post this and go do some studying, as I won't lie: I am procrastinating at present. I've spent the whole afternoon working and I get tired of it. :P I've posted photos on my flickr account (efriedme), so there are tons on there, although it looks like I won't be able to put all my pictures up there from the semester (I'll have way too many!). Regardless, they're up now.

Even in the winter (or in this case, the snow), someone is ALWAYS playing basketball on the courts opposite my dorm (and I'm really not exaggerating).

And, as promised, photos of Chinese squat toilets. :)