It's now been a complete week that I've been in China. To be honest, it feels like two weeks. But, life has been really good, I can't complain. We started official classes this week, but are still not in our soon to be usual routine. I realized yesterday that most details of my life here have been available to just my family and Laura. Oops, sorry. I'll try to be better about that.
Our group seems to be coming together very well, and I think we'll get along for these three months. We have a wide range of background and experience represented. We come from 12 different schools: Messiah, Taylor, Indiana Wesleyan, Kentucky Christian, Malone, Biola, Westmont, Olivet Nazarene, Southern Nazarene, Abilene Christian, and Northwest.
This campus is home to about 20,000 students, most of whom are on Spring Festival break. XMU has a very active foreign exchange program, and I've already met students from Brazil (my roommate who goes to Messiah), Nigeria, Germany, Malaysia, and Morocco. When everybody returns in a couple weeks, campus is going to get a lot more crowded.
I've been eating insanely well, and if it weren't for the insane amount of walking I do everyday, I would certainly gain weight this semester. We're given a food allowance of 35 kuai per day (about US$5). That five dollars is way more than enough because I can eat a good dinner at one of the canteens for about the equivalent of 85 cents, though I usually eat at restaurants for about $1.50. One of our professors challenged us to not eat American food for the whole semester. I didn't take him up on it, and ate at McD's on the fourth day we were here. It was the best $2.50 I ever spent.
All but one of my classes (Chinese language) are taught by the American program staff. I'm taking Chinese History, Intercultural Communication, Contemporary Chinese Society, Tai Chi, and eventually Chinese 2. The classes are quite intense since most will finish in 9 weeks so that we can go on our travel study tour to Shanghai, Xi'an, and Beijing. Mandarin is tough, but I'm finding that my seemingly worthless semester at public high school in Ft. Wayne is helping me to catch on a little quicker. We're having great fun trying out all of our new phrases with anyone patient enough to listen. Most are, but I think the staff at the restaurant we like to visit the most is getting weary of "I am American. You are Chinese. Thank you. I am student. I like rice." We've had to master ordering some common dishes pretty quickly, though, just to survive.
Internet access has been kinda spotty, but could be worse. The closest wireless hotspots are about a ten minute walk. I unsuccessfully tried to get a connection set up for my room two days ago at the network office on campus. I completed all of the forms, and was ready to pay when they asked to see my computer to install the login program. It was like I had pulled out a rabid scorpion when I unsheathed my Mac. Everyone in the office gasped. People jumped on top of their desks, backing as far away from the beast as possible. Some even tore their clothes, beat themselves, and wailed.
"Windows XP only!!1!!1!", I was told as they threw rocks at me and spat on my face. Kinda. All of my stone-age Windows-using dorm-mates are now connected in their dorm rooms, so I will frequently be pirating their computers.
I hope that about covers the basics of my life here. Expect pictures in the near future.
Until next time...