First and Second Days in Zhuhai

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The first day was interesting.
I went on the bus.
I went shopping for clothes. And food.
And ate a lot.
And used the squat toilet with success.
And had my first classes. I have decided to drop a level in my Chinese language class and am so much happier now that I have. I am a bit bored, but at least I understand what's going on.

In the AM, a few of us went shopping to buy a notebook for one classmate. We got into the mall, found the bookstore, shopped successfully, and then couldn't find our way out. We stopped at took pictures over the fence of a park.

Shopping in the afternoon was was interesting. I needed undergarments since I have no luggage. I have managed to borrow 3 shirts and a skirt and 2 pairs of sandals from a girl named Emily and her roommate. But there are some things you just don't borrow.
Apparently it takes 8 women to help me buy a bra. I was a bit confused. I had one of the coordinators with me (I figured it might be good to have a speaker along) and Shayla finally yelled out, "Life up your arms!" Next thing I knew I had a woman behind me snapping a bra around me over my shirt to see if it fit (sizes are obviously different). And then they had to check the other sizing. Oh, my. I wish we had gotten a picture. And then it took 5 more women to help with my bottom half. Would you believe I am a size XL? Yep. Tiny me.
So a little embarrassing but by far the best customer service I have ever had.
I also got a should book bag for my books and shopping.
We 4 then went out to dinner. Shayla ordered for us. And it was by the BEST meal I have ever had. We had a whole fish (which we ate with chopsticks), a Chinese zucchini dish (way better than American zucchini), tofu, bok choy, a mollusk dish, and fried rice. With tea, of course. All for 29 yuan a person. ($7)
Total for the day, including groceries purchased for breakfast (including bananas and California grapes and apples, and some laundry soap for my 3 shirts), a whopping 300 yuan. Or $43.
Go me.
I will have great difficulty shopping in the US after this!


The second day was spent in class. And class. And class. And I took the bus by myself. And got more food. And broke our large bills in McDonalds for drinks.
I had a friend back in college who emailed me just to tell me how McDonalds tasted the same in Iowa as it did in MN. I have to do the same. McDonalds in China tastes the same. And the stores look the same, down to the floor tiles and chairs. And they're smart enough to have picture menus for us to point at.

Now I'm at a pizza cafe using the free WiFi. The pizza was actually good, perhaps because it's owned by an Australian guy.

Hopefully tomorrow I can go to the really pretty park by my hotel and get down to the water as well. It looks fantastic from my hotel room. I've heard it's pretty and I want to take a bunch of pictures. Thinking I can get James to go with, since he said he wanted to go back to the park again.

All for now. More in a few days.

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Photos

view from hotel room.
I think this is the South China Sea.

McDonalds menu
they like corn instead of fries sometimes