China!

I was planning on blogging while I was here in China for Spring break, but I had forgotten a very important fact- China blocks Facebook, Google, and most blogging sites, so I'll have to write these in email form and copy them over when I get back home.

We are staying in a hotel in Beijing, but only about half of us made it here. Because of the giant earthquake in Japan, our other half is delayed two days!

We spent the day walking around and eating food. I tried chicken heart, and one of the more adventurous members tried scorpion! I couldn't quite bring myself to try, but he said it stung the roof of his mouth, so maybe its better I didn't try. I did help eat cotton candy bigger than my head, though.

I now know 2 words in chinese and one symbol. The symbol is this 串. It means skewer. I love this symbol because it looks exactly like a skewer, doesn't it? I also can say hello (Nǐ hǎo ma) and thank you (xiè xiè), although according to my Chinese roommates, my accent is bad almost past the point of recognition.

The night life here is hopping! All the bars and cafes are open late and everyone is in the streets. The lights are also super impressive! It seems like half the walls are covered in lights, they are selling laser pointers everywhere, and the street vendors were even selling shirts that light up. Check out the picture of the band we saw in a cafe to see what I mean.

Off to the school tomorrow!

LOVE,

LAURA