*7/22/09 6:25pm Day 18: Eclipse!*

Today was the eclipse! It wasn’t that cool…well, it kinda was, but we couldn’t see anything. It was SUPER cloudy and overcast this morning, and it’s been raining/lightly drizzling all day. So the sky was already gray when we went outside. But anyways, I woke up at 8am to watch the eclipse with my MMK team, and we walked over to a field at Fudan to see it. But it was too wet on the grass, so we ended up all crowding (along with another like 1000 people) under a building’s overhang. The eclipse was supposed to happen at 9:36, and it was cool seeing the sky get darker and darker as the sun got covered up more and more. But that’s basically all we saw – the sky getting dark. It went from light gray, to dark gray, to black, and then back. It was kinda cool cuz at the total eclipse, everything was completely dark and it looked like nighttime again. It made me want to sleep. After that, we had class at 10:30. A businessman named Morley Su talked to us about business ethics and how it affects our faith, which was really cool. Most of our lectures are given by Fudan professors, so they don’t believe in G, but it was cool because Mr. Su did. So he told us a lot about his life and how G has given him direction in terms of business ethics and also about what we are called to do if we ever face the same situations in our jobs. It was a pretty good lecture…I liked it. The only thing is he went over his time, so he ended at 12:30 (he was supposed to end at 12), and we didn’t have time for lunch. So we all agreed to order McDonalds because they deliver. I ordered a hamburger meal. It was pretty good…well, as good as McDonalds can get. I felt like it was better than McDonalds in the states though. And instead of apple pies, they have mango pie!! I tried some of my friends’ and it was REALLY good :) I think they also have pineapple and taro pies too. I wanna try them all :)Anyway, the afternoon session was Prof Wu Chengqiung about China’s economic development since 1978. It was pretty interesting…I think it was the most clear lecture of this whole program. All his points were nicely laid out and easy to follow, so I paid a lot more attention today. He also had really good English, so he was easily understandable. But the topic was still…ehh. I’m still not interested in all the economics and stuff, so it’s harder for me to stay engaged.
After class, I went to hang out with my MMK team for a bit. We played cards and shared pictures with each other (from the MMK project and all our hangouts). It was really fun…I always have the best time with them. I think I’m actually closer to them than I am to my study abroad group….I think I like my MMK team better, so I feel like I can be myself around them a lot more. I kind of love them :) But they’re leaving in 3 days!!! :(

Anyways, now I’m back at the room and doing some work. Me, Joanna, and Nikki are going to work on our project later tonight so hopefully we’ll be able to finish by Friday, when my mommy comes!!! I’m very excited for her to come :) I just wish my whole family could’ve come. But it’s okay…we’ll have lots of fun because Joanna’s mom is coming too, so we’re going to have a lot of mother-daughter bonding time :)