茶馆，美国足球，和 家庭。

These last two weeks went by quickly with anticipation for our trip to Beijing 北京. This is a good great thing considering this is midterms week, but let go back and recap everything up until now. 

Every few week for Chinese class we take a field trip to practice our language skills outside the classroom. The classes go to different locations and this time we lucked out and went to a local Tea Market 茶馆. It was fantastic. We had a list of questions we were supposed to get answered during friendly conversation while we taste tested all kinds of tea. Before coming to China I was not a big tea drinker. As a matter of fact, I hated it. They say going abroad changes you and this is one change I am happy to say I have made. I am now addicted to tea and drink it all day every day. Back to the tea market. This is a block full of small stalls and rooms full of tea leaves, tea pots, and people chatting over cups of hot tea 热茶。Going into the day I had my favorite and it was Oolong tea, coming out of the exercise I now have three or four or five favorites. While we sipped on tiny glasses of tea that are never empty, we asked our questions regarding different kinds of tea and types of customers, etc. Every time we brought up a new kind of tea, they made some of us to try. The picture below shows about 8 different kinds of tea steeping for us to try. Needless to say we all came home with something. Emily and I bought flower and fruit tea 化果茶, which is made of dried fruits and cherry blossoms. Peter came home with nearly 10 different teas, a tea canister, and lots of knowledge about the tea market (he even stayed an hour after class ended). The tea market is a place we will definitely return to.

Tea Market 茶馆 

Friday morning, Kevin and Elliot (fellow Ducks), Drew, Dan and I made our way across town to Bubba's Texas Bar-b-que to watch the UO vs. UCLA game. When we got out of the metro station I thought we had traveled back to the states because there were huge suburban houses lining the road. It was the first time I had seen a house in China that wasn't an apartment building or a small shack. I was in awe. We found Bubba's which is owned by Bubba, a Texan, who tapes football games as requested and plays them at scheduled times. He graciously taped the UO game and played it at noon which is good timing on his part since we all got lunch there. He even had a small UO flag hanging from the rafter next to the television. The game was awesome. A blowout. It made Kevin and I a little homesick wishing we could be in the student section at Autzen in yellow cheering for our team watching the awesome win. We had fantastic bar-b-que lunch followed by hours of playing "bags" (throwing bean bags across into holes in boards... Drew will kill me for giving such a measly description).

Suburbia in China?

UO kills UCLA at Bubba's Texas Bar-b-que
(Notice the small Oregon flag hanging to the left of the TV)

Saturday was another monsoon. It was unreal how much it rained and how hard the wind was blowing. We couldn't even make it to the metro station without getting drenched so we took a cab to downtown to meet up with Laura and head for the Fake Market. This is an underground market full of fake products at beyond cheap prices. Unfortunately, none of us were prepared for this excursion and forgot to visit an ATM before showing up. We didn't buy much, but we figured out what we wanted and the prices for when we go back. Laura and Emily did find some great movies, so after dinner we decided that instead of adventuring out in the storm, we were going to have a girl's night in watching chick flicks. Four of us crammed on one bed watching It's Complicated with Meryl Streep is an awesome Saturday night. Sunday was a lazy day and Monday was a crazy day. Both were filled with homework and studying and pretending to be productive at writing my papers. Tonight we had a program meeting where we received our itinerary for Beijing. The excitement made it even harder to be productive tonight. The only downer was that we were told we will be leaving the dorm at 6am on Friday morning. I don't think any of us have seen 6am since arriving in Shanghai, let alone on a Friday!! I hope to have tons of pictures and stories up shortly after our return next Saturday!

Side Note

I have been fortunate to grow up in an age where technology is so advanced that we are able to see each other in live time from opposite sides of the world. As soon as I knew I was leaving for Shanghai I made sure that my mom had a webcam. Before I knew it, Grandma and Papa had one, Chris had one, and thankfully Ellie's computer does too. I get to talk to (and see when she decides she looks okay) mom at least once a week if not more than that and maybe every other time I get to see dad if he isn't off hunting. I enjoy getting to see their faces while hearing their voices and I think it helps me keep from getting homesick. One of my favorite skype dates yet was when I got to see Grandma, Grandpa, Reilly, Wyatt, Molly, Kyle and Kayla all at one time. It made my morning and my week! Then the following weekend, just this past Sunday, I got to see Chris for the first time since he left this summer. Four months later I am happy to say I vaguely remember his face. While traveling across the US he stayed on the couch of a foreign exchange student from China. Giving gifts is an important custom in China and he graciously gave Chris a "face changing" mask. It is funny to me because everyone knows the image of that mask, but I have seen the actual event twice here in China. I enjoy every minute I get to spend on skype with my family and I am so thankful to the technology that allows me to do so.

My family

The first time I have seen his face since the beginning of summer and it wasn't even his face!