BALLS

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New hostel! I love it! It is right in, literally in, Wulan square 😊. It is also conveniently located just about a 8 minute walk to my favorite vegetarian restaurant in town 😊! I slept like a rock last night (for the first time in over a week) and got up around 9 am. Even though the weather forecast said it was going to reach 90 degrees today, I was still set on going to the botanical gardens. I made sure to apply lots of sunscreen and packed my bags full for the day. I left around 10 and found a coffee shop around the corner that had a sign in the window saying "best coffee in hangzhou!" So i decided to give it a try. There is no such thing as drip coffee in China. I settled for a cappuccino. I asked for a cold one (yi ge bing bei ka fei cappuccino) key word being "cold" but she poured me a hot one instead.. I didnt say anything because i didnt want to be a hassle (thats the server in me). I can easily say though that it was really good, even though it was hot. I am not too familiar with this side of the lake (east side) so i didnt know what bus to take to the gardens. My bike was locked up at zhejiang campus so i decided to walk to the top of the lake, grab a familiar bus i knew went towards campus, get my bike, then ride to the gardens from there. It was so warm out by 10 oclock so i knew i had a long day ahead of me. I started walking my usually pace, which is fast, but within 15 minutes i had balls of sweat pooling all around my face!! And since i had just applied all organic "water proof" sunscreen on just a little before that, it made my situation worse. I always get stares from people, im a foreign white girl with metal coming out of my nose, but they had stranger looking expressions then usual. I took a pit stop at one of the public toilets (the coffee ran right through me) and took a look in the mirror and holy mackerels i looked insane! Haha im laughing out loud right now just remember how ridiculous i looked. I had balls of sweat, like big BALLS, all over my face, not just the upper lip or forehead, the whole enchilada! And the sunscreen made my face pale white, but in a blotchy organic sunscreen kind of way. I probably looked like a drug addict running to get my next fix to all the people i passed on the trail. Haha it was seriously hilarious, i was laughing loudly at myself in the bathroom as i tried wiping the residue off my face, and now that i think about it, im sure that made me look even crazier. I didnt care though, im in China. So after that i decided to take it easy, even if it took my twice as long to get there, thats better then looking like a crazy person! After 2 hours, 2 long hot hours, i finally made it to the north side of the lake and jumped on the bus. I read last night that the busses with a "k" on the front are air conditioned! So k118 is the same as 118, just one is air conditioned and one is not. I was stoked when i saw my bus pull up with a "k" on the front, i used my super ninja powers to mingle myself into the front of the line and i scored a seat in the window on the shaded side... It was a nice cool down. What only took 15 minutes on the bus would have easily taken me 2 hours on foot. An old man got on the bus and the seats were full so i gave him my seat, i had my rest and was ready for round two! I got off the bus a block from school, i picked up my bike along with picking up my favorite popsicle, it made me miss Joohee! Her and I would always get the orange and lemon stacked popsicles... So good! The botanical gardens was a short ride from campus. I basically had it all to myself because it was so hot out!! It was very peaceful and relaxing. The only thing was that the main signs had english but all the smaller informative signs were in Chinese 😞 it was nice walking around and viewing the different gardens and groves. I got there around 12 30 and left by 2, it was just too warm. I got on my bike and rode slowly to the other side of the lake (i didnt want balls of sweat on my face again!). Oh, and i was a smart girl and wrote down bus numbers at the stops along the way, so i now know the bus i can take from my hostel to school (man im smart!). Taking a taxi is always an option but the bus is only 1-3 yuan compared to a taxi which is usually 11-30. I mean 30 yuan is only 5 bucks, but if you do that once a day for a week that adds up to 35 bucks! Thats over 140 a month! So yeah, i save my taxi rides for when i really need them. Besides the bus is easy once you know kinda where you are going. And i like to people watch, and buses are great for that. So i wondered around the shopping district for a little bit (plus the stores are air conditioned) and i found some super cute overall shorts for only 39 yuan which translates to around 6 bucks. I couldnt try them on but i got a large (i am a large in China! Can you believe that!) and once i got home they fit perfectly! I cant wait to wear them on the farm 😊. I got back to my dorm and instantly made friends with my new roommate Jasmine. Her Chinese name is Wan Yi Ting. She has been so helpful. I took her to my favorite vegetarian restaurant and we shared a dinner together. We talked alot of the one child law and other cultural changes China has been going through. When we got back she helped me buy my train ticket to Shanghai.. She is such a doll! She checked all the options, best prices, what stations, and payed for it online so i can just show up with my passport and i am good to go. I tried giving her a little extra for helping me but she wouldnt take it. She was like "we are friends right? You dont pay friends!" Haha. She is leaving in the morning to go to her friends wedding, it is her first time as a bridesmaid (as it is mine too this summer!) and she will be back on the 27th. Since she is taking the train i am going to watch her big luggage for her so she doesnt have to lug it around. She was supper stoked when i offered. Im really glad i had a buddy to hang out with tonight, i have been kind of lonely. Everyone i meet leaves shortly after. She is leaving tomorrow but will be back after the wedding, i am looking forward to seeing her again. Im really comfortable here, not just the hostel but china in general. It can be intimidating sometimes but it is all about how you look at it, and the way you approach it. Although i am still learning my pronunciation and vocabulary, learning Chinese isnt scary anymore, or being here in general. If i dont know what is going on or i dont know where i am or what someone is telling me, i just smile and relax, and it gets worked out. There is no point in getting your panties all in a wad. That never helped anyone ever =p

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