Playing Catch-Up

Wow, tough week. A week ago, right after my first test (which was pretty easy), I rushed home, tossed some clothes in a suitcase, and sprinted through the subway to the airport so I could catch a mid-afternoon flight to Shanghai. Thankfully, I made it, and spent the weekend there with my good friend from high-school, Kevin Watford. We did a whole bunch of awesome things, which I'll save for another post. 

I had my second test today, which was a little harder since it included a 200-character essay at the end.... "describe your ideal job." Wasn't a fan of that prompt. But the real reason this week sucked is that I missed half of my classes. On Monday I was in Shanghai, and then on Tuesday I was too sick to go to class, so I had to play catch-up the entire week. Each week we have four lessons, then two tests on Friday, so on Wednesday and Thursday I had to do twice the work. But going to Shanghai was definitely worth missing class. 

My speaking test today consisted of me giving a 5-10 minute speech about why China shouldn't adopt America's welfare system for the unemployed. That topic is tough enough in English, so doing it in Chinese was a reallllllll treat. 

Tomorrow is our trip to the Great Wall of China, we're going to the Mutianyu section, which is not as touristy as the other parts. I'm going to try and get some pictures of Shanghai and the World Expo up soon. Meanwhile, here's some fun pictures:

A strange fruit my roommate gave me (not tasty)

Blue bread (面包? 包子?) Very strange.