Blackbird

I am getting back into playing guitar. I used to play from 8th-10th grade. I started out taking lessons privately, and thought things were great. Then I slowly realized that my teacher was extraordinarily sexist, and Katy doesn't deal with people like that. So I quit the lessons and kept playing on my own with the music from my lessons. One night, one of my brothers came in and took one of my strings to make a tattoo gun. He promised to replace it. However, he never did. Sure, I could have gone and done it myself, but I have pride issues and wanted to make him do it. That was the end of me playing guitar.

This semester, I enrolled in the Guitar class offered, and I am absolutely loving it. I already feel like I have learned more than I ever did in my year and a half of private lessons- which is sad. It is so great playing again though. My muscle memory is slowly coming back, along with the callouses.

We are currently learning "Blackbird" by The Beatles. I love this song!

Awkward and Awesome Thursday

AWESOME:

-The weather being in the upper 60s all week

-Groundhogs day says more winter! This is awesome because winter hasn't started yet.

-Ordering girl scout cookies! Samoas and Trefoils, here I come!!!

-Laughing to tears 3 times in the past week with my friends

-Discovering the animal "finger monkey" on Google Images thanks to my friend michelle

-Going to and 80s themed date party

-Pilates, Guitar, and Creative therapies being my most of my class schedule

-Frozen Sangria. Strawberry Margarita. Need I say more?

-Reading for fun!

-Organizing my jewelry and hanging up the rest of my decorations... 

including this new poster:

Awkward:
-Wearing summer clothes in January. I packed up all my summer clothes and took them home. : |
-OU put in the paper that we will now only have 1 day off school for snow because they upgraded the maintenance equipment. Womp womp.
-My friends thinking I am crazy for loving tiny animals (finger monkeys, dwarf goats, lap giraffes, and teacup pigs) and obsessing over them on Google image search.
-Having a class on Thursday nights from 6:30-9:20 that always gets out late.
-Going to a date party with a freshman/18 year old. I had fun though!
-Volunteering for "family mapping" in my Creative therapies class. You pick people in the class to be your family, then place them near/far from each other depending on how close they are. You also pick the emotion on their faces. I even had to pick someone to be me.
-Going to Ted's and being the only one dressed up in 80s attire
-Facebook. Timeline.

After 20 pages of typing.....

I have returned! There was no way that I had the time or the energy to update this week. I had two papers due- one 15 pager and one 5 pager. Yikes!

If you know me, you know that I hate papers. I can write well, but writing papers is just so monotonous and exhausting. Plus, I end up going three days before I realize that I haven't showered. In college, that is acceptable. However, I don't think that is acceptable in a professional internship. I know that everyone else in the world thinks filth is wonderful, but for some reason professionals haven't gotten that memo yet. Haha. :) Just kidding, for the record.

I turned in my last paper at 11 last night, showered, and felt like my life could finally start. I did not want to go to bed, which made for a difficult morning. I have been extra hungry today, and I do believe that is due to my lack of sleep. Does that happen to you all when you don't get enough sleep? I feel like I could eat an entire Large Supreme pizza on my own. Nom nom nom.

Last weekend wasn't that exciting, so I won't bore you with it. But, I might just give you an update later.. In microsoft paint form. Just think about the possibilities!

:)

KT in DC

Hola from Washington D.C.!

I have almost finished my second full day here, and I must say that I am having a great time! When I got here, we went to our dorms, got our room, and then got our AU id cards. I have gotten to know the area a bit after wandering around yesterday. Some of us gathered for snacks downstairs, so I got to meet some other people in the program. There are 4/5 of us from OU!! And a lot from Oklahoma. A lot of the people in the group grew up on reservations, which I think is super legit. I am Cherokee and have only been to pow-wows and been involved in student clubs. So many of these men and women are truly passionate about their tribes and even speak the languages. I am impressed, and inspired to learn more/get more involved with my tribe. It is something I have always wanted to be more involved in, but my family isn't and so it doesn't come second nature! Hopefully through this I will get to learn more and feel more connected.

Some of us went to Whole Foods last night with Lisa, our CA(basically our RA but for our program) and I had a blast. We talked, laughed, and were just plain silly. I loved it! I can really get along with these people, and am sure I will make some great friends!

My roommates are also really great. One is from Alaska/Massachusetts, and the other is from Arizona- shout out to Erika! Our room is really awkward- three people in a size meant for two. We tried many ways of rearranging it, and ended up with one of the beds diagonal underneath my lofted bed. I am up high, which is fine, but they didn't give a latter! So, I use my desk to climb up. When moving one of the other desks, we found that the top wasn't attached to the bottom. Luckily, I think the one I have been climbing on is attached fully. We shall see! Hopefully I don't hurt myself! I tend to be pretty good at avoiding injuries though. Unless it involves coughing or sneezing (see: Bruised Rib).

Today began with bagels and the beginning of our Orientation. We learned a lot more about campus then I think I learned at OU's freshman orientation. We learned about police, the gym, counselling, and more. Some of us went to Subway for lunch, and I was really excited to try one of the new AVOCADO sandwiches, but the avocado "wasn't ready." I don't get what they mean by that! Silly Subway. It just wasn't meant to be today. We did some activities to get to know each other and went over some professional development things.

After orientation, I got to see boyfriend! He is here for a couple days, and they let us out early. I was very happy. :) He met me at my Metro stop and we went into the city to eat some Ethiopian food at Meskerem. Apparently it is Zagat Rated, so if you live in DC you should check it out in the Adams Morgan area! I got Zilzil Tibbs, which I already knew I liked from the restaurant Queen of Sheeba in OKC. I have a horrible habit of always ordering the same thing... what can I say? I like what I like! I feel no shame! :) This restaurant was really cool because it was set up with a low "table" which I discovered was actually a basket! They bring a really big plate out that goes in the basket, and they put all the food on it. It was delicious, and not very busy for dinner time which made me happy! Afterward, boyfriend had time to kill and came to see where I am living and met my roommates. Unfortunately, it was then time to go to our first class meeting. Little did I know, I actually missed the first one because I didn't realize I had two meetings today. I wasn't the only one that did so though, so that makes me feel better!

All in all, it was a great day! I think I will like it here, very much!

:)

The day I discovered Endorphins

Today has been a GREAT day! Actually, it has been a pretty great week overall. Last week was the first week of school, but I had two papers due for my Costa Rica class. But now I am free! Classes are going pretty well, but I have only had 3 days of classes. I don't have Monday or Friday classes, and for some reason we had a snow day last Thursday. Oh well!

Today I had my lab for Dynamic Earth, which meant I drew arrows on a map and did some math. After, Michelle and I worked out- and it was great! Everybody always talks about how exercising releases Endorphins and you will be happier. I have NEVER experienced them before though, guessing I was just too out of shape. But today I didn't work myself too hard, but just kept a steady pace. It was really nice, and though I had a few moments of struggle I made it through with a smile on my face! Now, I only got a couple hours sleep last night (for reasons I wish I knew) but I was so happy/hyper tonight. After dinner Michelle and I went to Target and on our way back I was crashing. But we are motivated to go work out pretty much every day, because while we were at Target we tried on bathing suits. We probably should have just avoided them at all cost- but it made us decide for sure that we were hitting the Huff tomorrow(Huff = Huston Huffman Center/aka the Gym).

In other news, I got selected as an Alternate for an internship with the US Dept. of State. This is super cool, as 12,000 people applied for 1,000 positions. However, this doesn't give me any clear mind of what I will be doing this summer, which I don't like. They could call me up 4 days before and tell me that the spot opened up. This is something I REALLY want- and it would be the opportunity of a lifetime! So for now I am just praying that the people chosen get better offers of things to do for this summer- and that they are willing to turn down the DoS. So, despite the super cool-ness, I am having a little trouble getting excited about it. I am trying though, and I am sure the Endorphins are helping! :)

Last Full Day In Costa Rica

So, I am actually writing this post in March. I thought I finished all of my Costa Rican blogging, but I failed and didn't. Here is what I remember best from my last full day and then the travel-day home:

Thursday:

Went to class, and went over the last couple chapters for our class. We joked a lot because it was about Women in Leadership, and said that since we weren't testing over it, obviously our teacher didn't think Women in Leadership is important. This is completely wrong, but made us laugh. It was a really enjoyable day for class. After class, a bunch of us went downtown to an artisan market to by some crafty-looking/stereotypical souvenirs. I think I am kind of over souvenirs, because I only bought a keychain* and a magnet. Oh, and some really cool earrings made out of old Costa Rican coins.

Later that night, we decided we would still have the dinner that got cancelled the night before. The hotel helped us rent a bus for the night, which we discovered was MUCH cheaper than taxis. The bus took us up a HUGE hill/mountain for about an hour, and then we realized we couldn't find it. Costa Rica really needs to learn about the beautiful invention: addresses. We ended up making it, and the restaurant had a gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous view of the whole valley lit up at night. We also caught the tail-end of a dancing performance which looked like a lot of fun. I truly love latin dancing! Also, to keep us entertained during the bus ride, we all sang. Patrick sang a lot, because we all love hearing him sing. Then Emily joined in, in which I started to harmonize. They then discovered I could sing, so Emily and I sang and Alicia Keys song (I think). It was fun to sing- it is a hobby I truly miss. This group has really helped me get out of my comfort zone, and I greatly appreciate it.

The rest of the day/night involved packing everything up and hanging out with others on the patio.

Friday:

The next morning, everyone started leaving. A lot of us were on the same plane, so we rented a van (again, much cheaper than taxis), and headed to the airport. It was a beautiful last day. The radio was even celebrating with us by playing a mix of 90s songs for us.

The plane ride was just fine as far as I can remember. It was weird to be on the plane with everyone, not sitting together, and knowing who they were. A complete turnaround from the plane ride to Costa Rica. When we got to the airport, customs took their sweet little time and so did immigration. Then so did security. I literally ran my heart out to my gate (after waiting on the train to get to my terminal that was moving way too slow). I got to the gate, and there was only one person in sight. The door was already shut. This was very reminiscent of my day-trip to D.C., and I thought there was no way I was going to make it on the plane this time. However, I was wrong. Apparently, Anna had told them I was coming, because she was one of the last to board. They asked if any other people were coming from Costa Rica. If it weren't for her, the amazing person at the end of the hall by the plane wouldn't have seen me looking in the window about to cry.

( I would like to say that as I was running, a man on a Gator-cart asked me where I was headed and told me to hurry- he thought it was already gone. Did he ask to take me down there? Nope. I decided I was too antsy anyway and my adrenaline was pushing me, my backpack, and 40 pound suitcase with higher horsepower than the Gator-cart had. I was better off running and sweating.)

On the plane, we ended up waiting for a very long time, without a/c. I was disgusting- hot, sweaty, and pumping with adrenaline. I don't think the guy next to me noticed though. He was quite the chatter bug. He was from Louisana- and was a very stereotypical "Bayou-man." After noticing he was trying to send very inappropriate messages from the air (without service, while flying--NOT supposed to have a phone on), I decided to not really let him talk to me anymore. That was a wise decision.

Then, outside the window, was that beautiful Tulsa night sky. I was home, and I was happy. (Of course I was even happier once I got my Taco Bell on the way home.)

:)

*Sadly, this keychain is now almost none existent. It was a chain with really colorful beads hanging off of it, and the very bottom bead is a heart. Now all that remain are a few beads and the heart. If it were a dog, this dog would have one of those really bad allergies to Grass and only have patches of hair randomly placed on its body. That is now how I view my sad, formerly really fun and cute, keychain. I apparently have bad luck with keychains, because my last one fell off in the parking lot outside and I have yet to see it again.

Test Day... Dun dun dun

Today was test day. Last night we were told that it was 30 minutes earlier. We get a wake up "call" from a friend yelling downstairs that she was wrong and it is actually the time we were originally told. But, of course, half of the students had already left because they wanted to go study at the school. We thought they were going too early, so we stayed at the hotel until closer to class-time so that everyone else wouldn't get us freaked out about the test. The test ended up not being the worst thing ever, but I know there were some things that I got wrong.

For lunch, we all piled onto the bus to go to a pizza place that was LITERALLY around the corner. Then, the bus couldn't park on the street and ended up waiting for us at the school's parking lot. Silly silly. But the pizza place was great. Pizza pizza pizza... and then.. an unexpected dessert of CREPES with NUTELLA. It had ice cream too, chocolate, but that did not matter to me. It was amazing, and tasted exactly how they do in Paris. It brought back that horrible addiction that I had in Europe, only I could only have one crepes. The girls around me only ate a few bites- but I went for it. You don't hand an ex-addict a nutella crepe and expect them to care about how many calories it has. It was fabulous.

Afterward, we went to Nature Air, which is a really cool airline that is the first carbon-neutral airline in the world. Basically, they fly small, twin-engine planes that have a max of 18-19 passengers. Each passenger has a specific weight limit of baggage, and if you go over they WILL NOT allow you to get on the plane with it. This is because they really can't put any more weight on the plane. We even saw a group of male fishers that encountered this problem and were trying to figure out what to do. Also, if you are over a certain weight you have to buy two tickets. All-in-all, this was a really cool company that was taking care of the environment serious. To be carbon neutral (since even thought these planes are better--they aren't perfect) they help fund a certain amount of eco-protection projects (like rainforest preservation) to make themselves neutral. I really learned a lot from this company. I keep thinking- but it isn't a perfect airline- but that is based off of the luxury that we are provided from our non-eco friendly airlines. It really made me think about what we take for granted and think is necessary that harms our environment. While I am not about to give up a lot of the things I love (like driving), it really makes me think that we need to reconsider how we view our lives.. I think I just repeated trains of thought but that was the best way I could express myself. :)

After Nature Air, we were supposed to visit HP. We got all pumped up and ended up at the wrong HP office, apparently. This time of day the traffic is worse than what I expect NYC's traffic. We attempted to go to the other office, and made it about a mile in an hour. Sean entertained us during this time, but needless to say we ended up turning back. We cancelled our group dinner to try to go to this, and ended up doing neither. When we got back, everyone was planning to go out for dinner, which meant waiting 2-3 hours before getting food. By this point, my carb/sugar crash from pizza and nutella crepes had hit my body full-force, and I needed food pronto. So, Patrick, Mary, and I went to a nearby soda (a Costa Rican walk up cafe type thing). We ordered meat and rice dishes called casada, which means marriage in Spanish. It is called Casada because it is like the food is having a marriage. They are cute. It was really filling (and cheap), so we came back from eating (before everyone else even left for dinner), did classwork, and then went to sleep.

Sometimes you just have to laugh

So, today was our "Epic" trip to the Rain forest. On the schedule was a 3 mile nature hike through the rain forest, a barbecue lunch, and going on the zip-line.

First off: We were told that the weather would be nice, sunny, only a little colder than the amazingly warm weather we have here in Santa Ana. Instead, it was cold and later rainy, and for the first trip this whole time I left my jacket at the hotel, go figure. I was sucking it up though. We opted out of the hike because we were all underdressed and they could take us in cars instead. Come to find out, most of the "nature hike" was up a gravel road up to the forest. The rest of the hike was going through ten feet of mud in the forest to a water hole. By water hole, I thought we would see a small pond or something. Actually, it is an area that is even muddier, with a sewer-type opening. They lifted up the cover, and it was clean water running over rocks underground. I mean, it was pretty cool how it all worked, and the water is supposedly clean to drink, but it was extremely anticlimactic. Also, we didn't really see any wildlife, which was also a little disappointing. During the hike our teacher got really upset and started talking to the guide in spanish, saying something like, "If anything happens to these kids I am screwed." I thought this was entertaining, but needless to say she is picking a more tourist-y place next time. It was fun to hike around though, and we were pretty muddy afterward. People were losing shoes all over the place! Haha. One thing we learned was that there are primary and secondary rainforests. Primary are original, and secondary are ones that have been cut down but are being grown back. The vegetation is more heavy because there is more sun. Oh, and I forgot to mention- the cars we drove in were real jeeps. I have pictures.

Then it was time for lunch. We had to wait over an hour because we were really ahead of schedule. We were at a really cool place- a pool, pool house that was two stories, indoor/outdoor kind of thing. It had a foozeball table, comfy seats, and a high "jump" for the pool. The boys thought it would be a great idea to jump in off of it, multiple times. They never dried off sense it was so cold/wet outside. I was entertained though. The food for lunch was: 1 piece of chicken, 1 piece of sausage, 1 piece of beef, corn tortillas, and tomatoes. It was really strange.

After eating it was time to get in our harnesses for the zip-line. The first zip line was really cool- I went through fog and was in love. I couldn't see anything for a while, which was amazing. Then I was able to see some, and realized I was a million feet of the ground and there was a river. The second zip line would have been great, but right at my turn we got cut by a smaller group. By the time it was my turn again, it was raining and very foggy. So I was a little upset. I just wanted a clearish sky for at least on of them. Then I had to check myself and stop feeling that way. After that we had two more that would go faster. It started raining even more and we were all freezing, and I just had to laugh at the situation. It was a lot of fun, though I still couldn't really see. Two of the girls ran into a tree because they couldn't brake enough. Apparently this place has only been open for 6 months(originally a lawyer's fun place for his family that they decided to turn into a business). This explains that it was really disorganized and probably too fast for a zipline. Oh, and the fact it was raining. Haha.

Right before the ride back down the hill it grew even more rainy. The car I got in was one without a roof, and we just had to laugh at the situation. Well, Ashton and I did- everyone else was a little upset. But it was cold, rainy, and we were scared to fall out of the vehicle. No biggie. We arrived back at the bus, put dry clothes on(we were told to bring some for the mud) and then went across the street for hot chocolate. It was amazing hot chocolate. I could taste the lactose in it- but I didn't care. I love hot choclate, in case you didn't know.

I napped and studied on the bus. For dinner we ordered pizza and studied all night. Bed at 10:30 to wake up for our test in the morning.

Oh- and apparently there is a stomach virus going around Costa Rica, so that is probably what we all had.

Getting there..

Today I am feeling better, but my stomach is still bothering me. Our rainforest visit was moved to tomorrow to give us sickly ones another day to get better. Waking up this morning, we found out that Cindy is sick and class started at 10. We finished our movie and it was pretty good. Then we had a group assignment and chilled till lunch. People played volleyball again, but I am pretty sure my stomach would have killed me if I joined in this time. Recess today = checking my email and relaxing.

The rest of the day was fairly easy. Cindy came after lunch and we had more class time. Then I came back and napped before heading to dinner. I studied a little bit, skyped with Marc and Mallori, and checked up on everything back in America. Pretty easy day.

Tomorrow, the rainforest!!

Day 2

Waking up today was a little bit more rough. I attempted to sleep to my alarm, but the construction workers across the street decided that I was not allowed. Breakfast today included Pancakes though, which brightened my spirits! The first part of class was great- discussion time which included a "recess" where we played circle-volleyball for thirty minutes. It was a lot of fun and was the perfect race. Recess is a great idea!

After lunch we had a speaker come in that works on environmental management/research in Costa Rica. He was Australian, and with the echo in the room it was difficult to hear(I was sitting at the back). He talked a LOT about carbons, haha. After that we stayed late so that we won't have class on Saturday, and began a movie called "Stand and Deliver."

Next, we had dance class! :) We learned Merengue and Salsa. I know some Salsa already from ballroom, and I got a thumbs up from the teacher, haha. I think I want to take just a Salsa class, because it is definitely my favorite. For dinner we all went to a place called "Old West" that the hotel suggested to us. It took a while to get our food, but we all had a lot of fun and the food was amazing. One of the waitresses would take our names for our order, and then giggle. She was a lot of fun. The other waitress failed and was mean- but the other made up for it. Then we all came back and began reading for Friday's class. Tomorrow- Volcano!!!!!

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Today was our first day of class. I woke up to an absolutely beautiful morning! It was dark in the room, and I opened the bathroom door to blinding light. Once I recovered, we opened the curtains and doors and enjoyed a lovely morning. We eat breakfast at the hotel, under a straw covered patio near the pool. I was definitely loving that setup. After eating, we met up with Jay, the international student coordinator(or something like that) for the school we are staying at. We are at the United World Colleges campus in Costa Rica. Jay took us the long way to school so that we could see the different ways we could get there and a little bit of what is around us. On the way, I saw a cat sitting on a roof. A tin roof. And I instantly thought of the play, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." :)

Once we got to the campus we had to be let in by a guard and then we also had to sign in. The campus is fairly small (nothing like OU). It has a soccer field, and the buildings are connected by a covered walkway that stair-steps downward. At the end is the Library, where we have class. Beyond the library is a field and a stage.

The first part of class was an orientation from Jay about Santa Ana and United World Colleges (UWC). UWC was created in a response to World War II, to prevent it from happening again by inspiring young adults to have better awareness of other cultures. UWC is actually a high school that is intended to prepare students for University. The campus was also originally an orphanage, which I think is cool. Something I found interesting is their mindset on the environment. Jay told us that Costa Ricans share the idea that nature was here first and will be here long after us, and so to let the insects be- even giant spiders that are inside. He said if we were till go around on a killing insects than the Costa Ricans wouldn't be very fond of us. Americans tend to just kill anything because they are simply annoying. They are better at co-existing than we are. During orientation some students from the college were with us. There were 3 from Haiti, one from Thailand, one from Hong Kong, one from South America, and one from Kenya. We split up with them and talked about cultural differences based off of some questions that Jay gave us. It was really neat to get to interact with them. I am truly amazed by them also. One of the boys from Haiti came here knowing no Spanish or English, and now he knows both very well (after 1.5 years). It is always good to see people who accomplish so much. I feel sometimes we take for granted what we are capable of, and it is really inspiring to see.

After orientation we had snacks that the college provided for us. They had Cinnamon rolls, sandwiches, and two pastry things (one sweet and one with cheese and ham). They were really good and now we wish we could have snacks every day. Following snacks we had class for a little bit, reviewing what we had learned in America before Finals week. Then we headed to the cafeteria for lunch, right across the way. It is interesting how it works- you can have one entree and one starch. They had Chicken, Pork, Mashed Potatoes, and Rice. You cannot get both rice and potatoes. Also another idea I never considered. In American cafeterias growing up, I could get whatever I wanted. Here they only want you to take enough that you can eat. While we were eating the gave us a cooler of popsicles to pass around. The flavor was something unfamiliar to us, but fruity. You also put your trash separate from the food you didn't eat. The food leftover goes to feed a pig. They remind me of Native Americans in the way they make use out of everything they can.

After lunch we convinced Cindy to have class out on the stage. It was nice, but got interesting when we saw all the spiders living above us and things started falling from the trees. We moved class back inside when some women came to have their dance class on the stage. After class three of us went with Jay as he showed us around the "city center" of Santa Ana. Apparently in Costa Rica, the city centers are all around the main Catholic church. The Santa Ana church is called the 100 year old church- though they aren't quite sure how old it actually is. We found some new supermarkets and some places to get food, which came in handy later. Oh, and as we were leaving the school, some kids outside the "cat on a hot tin roof" house were roasting marshmallows over a makeshift fire on their driveway. I loved it. Also during our tour we tried Chicarrones (chaccaron? anyone?), which are some pork things that are really tasty. The shopkeeper was very nice and simply asked if we wanted to try them, even though we weren't buying any. They have fried ones that are kind of like chunks that remind me of really crunchy bacon, and non fried ones which you cut up that remind me of the texture of turkey legs. We decided we really liked these.

After the tour we had to get back to work. We had a ton of things to do. We did some group case studies, which took a little longer than I expected. We breaked for dinner, where I led a lot of us to a nearby Mexican restaurant that Jay pointed out during the tour. The dinner was very interesting, and the food was amazing. It is an actual Mexican family that owns the restaurant, and they were really nice. Then we went by an ice cream place we saw on the tour, but it was closed. So then the search was on. We ended up going to a bakery that had some interesting flavors. I passed since I am lactose-intolerant and none of the flavors were all that appealing.

And then it was 9 o'clock when we got back. My group finished our assignment, and then it was reading time. We had many articles to read, and I finally crawled into bed at 12:30. A very busy day, but I still love it here!

Lazy Day

Tuesday June 29, 2010

I could not focus in class today. It was very difficult. It got better as the day went on, but I was very happy when the bell rang to end class. For lunch I just had some ramen noodles, because I wasn’t very hungry. I started doing some laundry. I was going to attend Tea Ceremony class today, but it was cancelled. We watched Sherlock Holmes, but I stopped because I couldn’t hear very well, so I worked on my journal and talked to Mallori instead.

Afterward, Kayla, Rachel, and I had girl time and went to the Box for dinner. We got pizzas and did some things using their good internet that we can’t get done at the hotel. I also got some chocolate ice cream, which made my night. :) The boys called us and gave us a hard time about not inviting them. We came back, hung out in our room a bit, then I read and slept while Rachel watched Jeremy play Spider Solitare.

Back to school

Monday June 28, 2010

We got off the train at about 7:20 and battled our way through a sea of Chinese people. Yang Laoshi was waiting for us, and after a few minutes we all made it out alive. We were tired the whole way back, and wanted to nap before going to class two hours later. Rachel and I had to do our hw for calligraphy, however. We ended up not really having time, and went to class tired. I did get in a ten minute nap, though. Our normal teacher was getting a physical for a job, so Yang Yang Laoshi was our teacher. He made us use our brains a lot more than we had been intending (having our teacher play hangman with us and getting him to let us out early) and we hardly had any of our break time. There were only three of us there, which meant we had to talk even more. It was really helpful and I learned a lot, but I was hardly able to speak clearly by the end of class.

After class I napped before calligraphy. Calligraphy went by slowly, so I worked on my character workbook to prevent myself from falling asleep. We hung out a bit after class, and then Rachel and I went to dinner. We chose the restaurant that we went to on our first day, Heavenly Manna. The boys wanted to go to Mei er Mei, which we have been going to a lot lately, so we went off on our own. It was delicious. We had been missing food like that, meaning not just noodles. We had spicy potatoes, spicy pork, a beef and pepper dish, rice, and broccoli with mushrooms. We were really full, and very happy. We spent about as much as we would have at Taco Bell in America. We got some sorbet/gelato after we ate, which was also delicious. Very full we were, but in very good moods.

We went to Tai Chi a little bit later, and learned some new, fun kung fu moves. I plan to master them and have a random new talent. Haha. When we got back I took a warm shower and drank hot chocolate and read. It was very relaxing. I have decided to start taking showers at night, as it guarantees me hot water. Also, I decided after my stressful week of hating people that I need a night to relax each week, if not more. I think it is a good decision. I got to sleep about 10:15, but woke up about 11 because my stomach hurt. I couldn’t go back to sleep for a while, but didn’t want to continue reading, because I knew I was to a part where I would be sucked in. I eventually fell asleep though, thank goodness.

Free Expensive Food

Thursday June 17, 2010

Today during Hulusi class, I was able to nap a little. There weren’t as many of us in class, so Justin and our teacher kept doing duets. It was actually very enjoyable. With more students, the class tends to get a little annoying. After class, we had a ceremony to open the OU Study office at Yunan University. There was a really funny translator. For dinner, we went to a really nice place with extremely good food. We cheered glasses about a million times with the teachers and each other. We were supposed to have a vocabulary quiz the next day, along with a ton of homework. We were able to easily convince our teacher to not have the vocabulary quiz though. It was a successful day.

Taylor Swift and Hot Pot

Thursday June 10, 2010

After class today, we were walking back and a Taylor Swift song was blaring from campus building speakers. We debated whether it was her or not at first, but it definitely was. We were really thrown off and didn’t understand why. I asked a teacher later, and they said that it is the University Radio Station. We came back and watched Dexter, and then went to Hu Lu Si class. When we were meeting downstairs for dinner, a man I met in our hotel from Ghana asked me out. It was really entertaining. He asked if I wanted to go to dinner with he and his friends from India, but I declined. It helped that I got to say I was going to dinner. He was nice, and I loved all the people from India, so I was glad to not seem to hurt anyone’s feelings.

For dinner all of us went to a Hot Pot restaurant with Luis and Zach. Luis is Zach’s friend from Portugal. This Hot Pot was really cool. The pot was split- half spicy, half not. It was really delicious, but I ended up having to combine some of the spicy and not. The spicy gets spicier and spicier with every minute. After dinner, Luis invited us over. We all hung out and met his friends/roommates, and he gave us Portugal tie/sash/scarf things. He came in the room and asked who would cheer for Portugal in the world cup. I, having no attachment to soccer, yell, “I will, I will!” I got one, and then he ended up giving each girl one. It was exciting. :)

Massages, Subtitles, and Cheese

Tuesday June 8, 2010

Class ended early today to get a massage! We tried a sketchy place first, but then they didn’t have enough people. We didn’t really mind. We ended up going to a different place and it was a lot nicer. We paid 30 kuai for an hour- which is not even 5 dollars. We might be going every week. It was my first massage, and it was wonderful despite the random tickles. I then did some laundry and went to Tea Ceremony class. The class was an exact repeat of last week. Apparently with each type of tea, we have the same lesson twice. Seeing as how I don’t like tea, and the repetition, I decided this class is the least relevant class to my life that I have ever taken. After class, I got some more ramen. My stomach is still weird and I have not been too hungry. Kayla found cheese flavored cheetos (I have only found meat flavor so far) and I got two bags. I have been craving cheese, especially cheesy crackers like no other. They don’t like cheese here- and things like goldfish and cheez-its don’t seem to exist. These Cheetos as saving my life. I am already halfway through my goldfish because of being sick. I got better for a few days, but think I may be getting worse again. We shall see.

Then we decided to watch Prince of Persia that Rachel bought at the DVD store yesterday. The movie is in Chinese with horrible English subtitles, and was difficult to understand, but funny. We guess the copyright laws are different and that’s why we could buy the Chinese version.

Movies and Muslim Chinese Food

Monday June 7, 2010

Today I was very tired in class. We had our Calligraphy class today, but we aren’t using the brush pens yet- just practicing characters with pencil and paper. For lunch, I tried Chinese Ramen Noodles and they weren’t bad. They have some weird looking flavors, but I think I got chicken. It tasted just like the ones at home.

Kayla, Justin, Rachel and I went to a Chinese DVD store. The DVDs are very cheap, just about a dollar. Kayla bought Dexter on DVD, so we will probably be watching that. After, we went and bought a hair straightener, and tried to find the restaurant that had the delicious food our teacher ordered for us. We couldn’t find it, but tried this hole in the wall muslim/kosher place. It ended up being really good and cost us each about 75 cents. There was a cat that kept rubbing up against our legs during the meal; it was very interesting. We stayed and talked for a while, then headed back and watched When in Rome that Kayla bought for 10 kuai, roughly $1.30. We were all tired and then went to bed. Rachel and I had trouble at first, realizing that we now go to bed at 10 and think nothing of it. Our usual bedtimes are 2 o’ clock am. I also thought that it was weird because I wake up at 6 everyday, when 8:30 used to be the death of me.

Yoga, McDonalds, and Warm Water

Thursday June 03, 2010
“Day 6- warm water”

This morning Rachel came out of the bathroom saying that she has finally gotten warm water in the shower. You can only get it out of the bath faucet, but that is better than nothing! Finally, warm water. :)

Class was a lot of fun today. The girls all got off a tangent with Liu Laoshi (Comprehensive Chinese Teacher) about how to get our nails done and how much it would be. It equals just a few dollars American. We were very excited. We decided to go tomorrow after class, and our teacher will come with us! Our teachers are wonderful.

We had our first Hulusi class today, which is a Chinese gourd wind instrument. Our teacher doesn’t speak any English, and we didn’t get a translator. He would put music on the board, and the 12 of us would play. It was very noisy. Our teacher would be off on his own in the corner practicing. He looked like he really didn’t want to do this.

We decided today to do the P90X Yoga that Michael had. It was pretty intense, but fun. Afterward, we decided we would make the trip to the city center for Mcdonalds. It was the greatest Mcdonalds I have ever had. We were all very, very happy. We went to one store to see if it was a Polo brand store, but it was just another Polo-like brand. I got a wallet there though, that would fit my Chinese money. We then went to Carrefore, which is a French Wal-mart. It was gigantic. It was Michael, Jeremy, Rachel, and I. There were about 4 floors, and the guys wanted to leave almost immediately (after finding fans for their rooms) but of course Rachel and I wanted to look around a bit. We ended up finding a children’s book section, and I bought some to help me learn.

Dynamic Yunan

Wednesday June 2, 2010

Today Class was a lot of fun. It is getting easier to listen and speak in Chinese for 4 hours. We went to dinner with the OU Journey to China group who is here for the week. We went to a really nice place where we had the Kunming traditional Cross Bridge Noodles. They give you a giant bowl with soup stuff in it, and plates filled with random foods, a lot of which we had no idea what it was. I took a picture, and will try to get them posted soon. Oh- they also put noodles in our bowl. It tasted really good, and I ate rose petals for the first time. Haha. The dinner had a small performance in it. The performance had 3-4 songs, girls dancing randomly, and guys randomly playing instruments. They were dressed in something like traditional clothing.

Then we went to what they called, “a bigger performance.” It was called Dynamic Yunan, and it was amazing. It was a show that was expressing the cultures of Yunan Province, which there are many. There was lots of dancing, drumming, and singing. They were all dressed in amazing costumes, and the show was just absolutely wonderful. There was this really cool little girl that was in it, and she rule the show for sure. The show is award winning at the Chinese Lotus Festival, or something like that. I definitely know why.

Let the Classes Begin

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Today was our first day of classes. We started with two classes of Speaking and Listening, and two classes of Comprehensive Chinese. The classes are only 40 minutes long, and one of our teachers said that in America our classes are too long, and she would fall asleep. Haha. Then we rushed to get to lunch, and pointed at other people’s plates to say what we wanted. Then we came back and I almost finished my book, and then we had Tea Ceremony class. Walking to Class, I met our Tea Ceremony translator, Jane. She was adorable and thought she had horrible English, though it was very good. She is a student majoring in Chinese Teaching as a Second Language. We first watched a powerpoint and video in a very hot room, which made it difficult for me to stay awake. Then we went to a room that we made tea in. Our teacher took us through the process of making the tea, rinsing, etc., and the proper hand position when doing so. When we were finishing up, the cd playing Chinese music started playing 90s American music. Including Enrique Iglesias’s “Hero”, the song that goes, “1, you’re like a dream come true. 2, just want to be with you, etc.”, and Backstreet Boys. We had a good karaoke session while making the tea.

After class we began in another round of Uno that lasted forever. We now call it “Yao” which is Kunming dialect for “One.”

My stomach has gotten worse, and none of my medicine seems to be helping. I am trying to figure out if it is something I am eating that is making my stomach hurt, but I am being careful to stay away from lactose- just in case.

After Uno, Rachel and Jeremy started throwing things at each other. This somehow turned into playing soccer with a towel in our living room thing, in which I was eventually tagged in. It was more like wrestling combined with towel soccer. It was a lot of fun, and our bodies were slightly beat up, especially our feet. We name it Chinese Towel Soccer. We weren’t really hungry, so Rachel and I just went to get snack food for dinner.