I got a package!

Hurray my name was on the board today and I got a wonderful gift in the mail from the parents :) It was like Halloween come early. Chocolate is actually really expensive here, since it's all imported, so I'm glad I have a mianfei stash now. Though I should really be laying off the sweets... you would think since being here I've been eating more healthy, but I actually have been snacking more since it's just so darn cheap! I should really be better to my body but it's funny how I can rationalize things since I'm in a different country.

This weekend there was a trip to the Great Wall but more people signed up than could actually go, so I gave up my spot to a friend in order to spend the weekend chilling in Beijing with Cheng. So while my friends were hiking 10km up and down that darn wall, Cheng and I were getting our feet massaged at Sanlitun :) We both bought fake Adidas shoes on Friday and then wore them all around on Saturday, so I think the massage was well deserved. Fake shoes just aren't as comfy as the real thing, although they still look cool.

We wandered around the shopping mall across from the Sanlitun bar street and it was pretty much like Easton x10. Bigger, more stores, awesome architecture... of course we didn't want to buy anything since you get get stuff at the Silk Market for cheaper, but it was still cool to walk around. It's still under construction so give it five years (assuming China's economy continues to improve) and it'll be a huge attraction. Oh, not to mention it has some of China's best Western food restaurants, including two burger places and Element Fresh, where I'm going to have to go in a few weeks when I'm really craving a salad. And we had Coldstone! Guess how much.

Go on, guess how much. Consider that your average icecream cone from the supermarket costs 4 kuai at most... but that most Western food places have prices comparable to their actual American prices...

Ok I'll admit it: I spent 27 kuai on a small scoop of banana ice cream with cake and chocolate fudge and whipped creap inside. It had to be done! I could not resist! And now, never again!

Next week is midterms already and I'm pretty depressed. That means the semester is already half over?? I feel like there just isn't enough time here. China is just so... big. Huge. Enormous. And there's so much to see. But I know that I have to go back to NYC is January and face the real world, or at least graduate and then face the real world. The more days that pass the more I'm dreading it! I want to stay in this crazy Chinese world of not working, eating lots, learning Chinese, having random conversations with people wanting to practice English (except for the weirdo on the bus, he was not cool), and basically not facing reality. Don't make me go back to American dollars, pleeeeease!