2 Weeks in,...

I've officially been in China for over 2 1/2 weeks and I've been constantly bombarded with different realizations.

Realizing college is over and I'm not back after the summer (still feels like summer to me.)
Realizing that I am at the farthest point possible away from home.
Realizing that I need a more substantial income coming from something besides tutoring if I am going to be staying here in China.
Realizing that I should have stocked up on Deet before I came.

I think that 2 weeks is about the period when most people get homesick, but I just have to keep trying to stay productive and as bad as it sounds, not think about all my friends back home and all the other things that I miss.

So, now that the sappy stuff is out of the way...onto what I've been doing the last couple days.

Saturday, I took the subway out to this really remote area on the other side of Pudong river to an area where a subway stop that basically had no business being where it was. When I walked out, there was nothing around besides dirt, a few old buildings, dogs, and this subway station. It was definitely not somewhere people had a reason to go to, so why there was a subway station there was beyond me. However, the reason I was there was because I heard about this huge warehouse that had thousands of pieces of furniture and other old knickknacks. It was basically a huge auction house that after people passed away, all their stuff came to a place like this. This includes their heirlooms and some really old neat cultural Chinese stuff.
The only bad thing about this place is that it was huge and it was easy to get lost in plus this was the place where every single misquito in the world is born. A man came over and gave me this weird sweet smelling herbal stuff to wipe on my arms and legs to keep the bugs away, but I think all it did was attract them to me more and away from him. Anyway, needless to say my arms and legs looked like brail after I left. I didn't really get anything, just explored for a few hours, but it is somewhere I definitely going to visit again before I leave China.

I did get an old turtle compass that has the zodiac characters on it and some really neat symbols on the inside. Not sure what they are, but I'll try to find out.

Yesterday, my roommate and I had a housewarming party for me which was nice. It was basically a pot luck lunch/dinner. We were supposed to start at 2:00, but people just sort of came in and out all day and it eventually lasted until 2:00 a.m. with a constant table of food because of people showing up at different times and bringing huge dishes culinary creations.

Also, another first yesterday, I had my first food allergy. It was very mild, but I ate some Chinese spice that made my entire body turn red and blotchy, and it gave me a severe headache, but 20 minutes later it was gone. Really weird...

I have a couple job offers again, but I am think I'm being too picky and I think I'm just gonna do the teaching English job for Shane that all my friends are doing. Currently I'm tutoring Calculus, trigonometry, matrices, and Russian History to these Indian girls who go to University and I am struggling to remain just a little smarter than them in all these subjects. Strictly because it's been about 5-6 years since I learned these mathematical principles myself.

Goals for this week, 1) Get a job, 2) Go to three museums, 3) Start running again. (Some Chinese food is very very unhealthy and very very contributory to love handles)

Things I've learned....

1. Men grow their finger nails out disgustingly long to show their hierarchy status. Apparently, people who don't have to do do manual labor have longer nails, which means that they are economical elite.
2. This breakfast food that I thought was healthy that I ate everyday is one of the most unhealthy foods in the country. It's a ball of dough with meat inside. They deep fry it in oil, then prepare it to make it look healthier....sneaky....
3. Always kiss on the left cheek first when doing a European greeting. This German girl I was introduced to went to the left, I went to the right, and we got to know each other really well...
4. Starbucks is my new American Embassy.
5. I miss home.
6. Apparently, you have to register with the police department within 24 hours of landing in China. I had a very interesting conversation with some cops outside my apartment at 8am this weekend.
7. Even though the amount of money you spend on day-to-day things is less, it was far outweighed by the amount of day-to-day things on which you have to spend. i.e. food, transportation, supplies.

Sorry there aren't any pictures in this blog, but I'm going camera happy the next couple days, so get ready for a lot more pictures.

Love,
Ezra