First, my unabridged schedule: Monday 8:30-10am Chinese Homeroom 10:30-12 Reading Comprehension 1:30-2:30 Calligraphy Tuesday 8:30-10 Chinese 10:30-12 Listening Comprehension Wednesday 8:30-10 Chinese 10:30-12 Speaking 7-9pm The Chinese Minority Experience, Lecture Thursday 8:30-10 Chinese 10:30-12 Reading 2-3:30 Writing (every other week) 4-6:30 Chinese Culture and Society 7-9:30 Sino-American Relations Friday 8:30-10 Chinese 10:30-12 Speaking Sunday 7-9:30 Chinese Minority Experience, seminar As is, I am overloading on credits. I can't receive credits from all of these classes, because I haven't had an advisor sign a credit overload form for me. Luckily I don't need all of these credits, because it is all too much. If I went to all of these classes I wou... read more

I apologize for inundating everyone with an entry for every day, but so much happens! Maybe things will slow down in a week or two. I've managed to put together a breakfast that is not the least bit Chinese. Oatmeal with bananas and peanut butter. I can't believe I was able to do that here. I don't even miss cereal, because I eat so many carbs the rest of the day, and milk is a lot easier to come by than everyone said. Flavored milk is my new favorite thing. I like mango, pomegranate, strawberry, walnut, peanut, coconut, milk tea, and coffee milk. I'm sure there are more and, trust me, I will find them. Class was boring, boring, boring. Basic and speaking until noon. In speaking today we read the vocab and dialogues over and ... read more

After basic Chinese class, I had speaking. It was super easy. We started with the fundamentals. Hello! My name is Laura. I am American... It is good for practicing tones. Relish for lunch again. Had my favorite. 酸菜面。Sour veggie noodles. We went back to the dorm and I did homework. Then I went to the ping pong room to do yoga. After a half an hour or so the cleaning ladies started mopping around me, which was good because the floor in there is filthy. I had black stuff on my feet and knees and hands. Around 4, Clare, Audrey, Maria and I met Snow White, Audrey's Chinese friend from English corner, at the East gate, which is right next to our dorm. She took us to hotpot, the Sichuan specialty. The pot had sour broth ... read more

I woke up at 5:30 this morning. It was painful, but necessary. I had my Skype interview with the Pamplin Society board at 6:30 am, 3:30 pm Pacific time. Luckily, it was sans video. I felt bad about skyping while Sara(h) was still sleeping, but I had to do it this one time. The interview was short-- about twenty minutes. I hope I wasn't too blunt with my answers. I am not always very good at composing answers on the fly. We will see. I went to breakfast with Clare, Audrey, and Jeff at the hotel next to our dorm. I will not go their again. Their 包子 were metallic and their bean sprouts were bean sprouts. And it cost 10 块。 太贵了！ The class I am in feels like a good fit. I understood almost ... read more

Internet in my room!!... read more