We just got back to the hotel after hanging out with Katie for a long time tonight. Today we went to class, then came back and studied/napped as usual and then went to Katie’s place to hangout. We left the hotel at 6:30, but there was MASSIVE traffic that we got stuck in for one hour, when it should’ve taken about 5 minutes to get to her place. There was a HUGE storm today, with RIDICULOUSLY close lightning & thunder and heavy rain, so the streets were flooded and there were lots of accidents and things like that. The storm was crazy…it was definitely the closest I’ve ever been to a storm. You know how if you count the number of seconds between the end of the lightning to the onset of thunder, that indicates how far away the storm is? Well today, there was no delay. The thunder started even before the lightning ended, so we knew the storm was SUPER close. At one point, I think I saw the lightning right outside our window and the whole room flashed, that’s how close it was. And every time the thunder sounded, I thought a cannon was being fired across the street, that’s how close it was. It was insane. Me and Joanna took videos of the storm through the window, because it was that crazy. Anyways, moving on with my story, the storm ended in about an hour and the sun came out again, but by that time the streets were ridiculously flooded and there were a lot of accidents. So, we were stuck in a taxi for about an hour. Well, what better opportunity to practice my Chinese? So, I struck up a conversation with the taxi driver, who seemed really surprised. I guess a lot of people don’t talk to their taxi drivers here. But it was fun. He was actually really nice, and I think he liked talking to us. He started talking to us more after I introduced myself to him. I just told him my name and that I am from America studying Chinese at Fudan. I also told him I liked his flower (he had a little toy flowerpot on his dashboard) and asked him what his favorite color was. He was funny. He said he had a daughter who owns a restaurant, and his favorite color is green, like mine. I also asked him if he liked watermelons (as you can tell, my vocabulary is pretty limited so I’m forced to make conversation in the most random ways) and he said he’s indifferent to them. And then he said girls always like fruit, and they make our skin look good. I didn’t understand that…must be some sort of Chinese logic. I also asked him if he spoke any foreign languages, and he said no, except that he knows how to say “Thank you” in English if that counts. Anyways, speaking to him made the hour pass pretty fast. I think the taxi drivers here can be quite engaging if you give them the chance. After we got to Katie’s, we had dinner. She prepared some lettuce, cheese, salsa, meat, chips, and beans, and we made ourselves taco salads! MMmmmmm delicious! It was soo good. I love eating at her place…dinner is always fresh, and NOT oily. Anyways, after dinner, she made cookies! They’re called black forest cookies, so they’re chocolate w/ cranberries and white chocolate chips. They were super good too….a little too sweet, but still super good. While we ate the cookies, we watched Beauty and the Beast in Chinese (we couldn’t find the remote to switch it to English) and also played cards. I learned how to play a new card game called Nerts (I don’t know if that’s how you spell it). Basically, it’s madness. There’s no other way to describe it. It’s just pure chaos, and confusion, and requires so much brain processing. There’s just so much going on, and you’re trying to go as fast as you can and get through your cards before everyone else does. It’s craziness. So that was pretty fun. After cards we all just laid around and talked for a while, but we started getting super sleepy and I almost fell asleep there. We took a taxi back to the hotel, and that’s where I am now! Yup…today was a good day. Tomorrow’s gonna be rough though…I’ll probably sleep tonight around 1, and then have to wake up tomorrow at 7am -__- My body is not happy.
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