No jetlag for me! My sleep schedule is the most normal it's ever been in a while. I've been sleeping around 12-1am and waking up around 7-9am since I've gotten here. My grandma told me waking up at 8am was really late...but, you proud? You would be if you knew how awful my usual sleeping patterns were. Maybe that's why I don't get jetlag.
Saturday I went to see the house my uncle (pictured above) and aunt bought and are customizing about an hour outside of the city. I guess in China there's this tradition where before you start constructing/remodeling (technically not "re" since it hasn't been done yet) your house, you set off a bunch of firecrackers inside the house. Something about luck and alerting the gods underground that you're going to start construction. So that was fun. The neighborhood was cute and had these little rivers flowing through it with clusters of lily-pads floating around in them. They bought houses with a couple other families they were friends with and are planning to come out here to chill once in a while to get away from all the people and noise in the city. My aunt brought up how staying out there might get boring too - uh yeah, welcome to the suburbs I grew up in.
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| Got my first two mosquito bites. No one else got bitten. Story of my life. |
My uncle and aunt kept referring to where we were as the countryside, which I guess it kinda was. We ate lunch at this little restaurant some farmers ran (pictures of the restaurant and surrounding area below). You pick out fresh fish and other random, slimy water creatures and they make it for you. Pretty decent. I've never been in this part outside of Shanghai before. It was nice laying out in the yard of the house earlier. Everyone I was with was so accustomed to city life.
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| Oh hi, remember me? I was alive a little while ago... |
Sorry this blog post is never-ending. Here's a shot of part of my aunt and uncle's apartment that my cousin took when he was messing around with my camera. He's the same age as me but will be coming to the U.S. to work on getting his Ph.D in Chemical Engineering at the University of Cincinnati! I went with him yesterday and wandered around a mall while he was getting interviewed at the U.S. Embassy to get his visa. Some guy on an intersection around there attempted to sell me learning materials that would teach me English. I told him "No, I'm alright..." and he told me it'd be good to know for a job. My cousin kinda just laughed at him and we walked away. Maybe I should have responded in English.
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| Clothes get hung up to dry in China. They have these nifty poles that lower/raise when you crank the handle on this little pulley system. |
On Sunday, I got to see my Grandma! (Okay, I just attempted to Instagram a picture of her really quick and she rejected me. You'll see her soon..) Then went to get my haircut by this guy my aunt always goes to. He remembers me from two years ago (and I guess actually a couple years even before then) and we're best friends. He was super busy and since four people wanted him to cut their hair before me, I went to this little boutique with my aunt and helped her pick out summer clothes. Then we went to Starbucks and I attempted to order a no-water chai but they might not have that here and I got the loose-leaf version of the tea instead. I was taking a picture of the menu and got yelled at.. But a tall iced coffee was 17 RMB so about $2.70. Most of the tall lattes were around 27 RMB so about $4.27. That's about how much the airports back in the States were charging. What.
Got my hair cut and way thinned out. The people in the shop kept commenting on how thick my hair was. The guy who first washed my hair was new and had only been there a week and was struggling and complaining so got made fun of by the other guys. I kinda felt bad. Whatever, Mom's genes. But yay, got rid of more than half my hair. My head feels all light and free!
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| Grr-face. |
Listening to: "Pictures" - Benjamin Francis Leftwich
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