Long story short:
Wake up: 7:46, bless the soft sofa bed
Breakfast: meat, bread, fried dumplings, 粽子, and a fried egg
Confusion: I thought that we would be staying at the first apartment for both days, so I was really confused as to why my host mom kept telling me to bring my bag. It took me too long to understand what was happening.
On the road again: We left the apartment around 9:30ish and had a thirtyish minute drive to my host grandparents’ house.
New people: My host grandparents are lovely, but I can’t understand a word they are saying to me. My host grandmother seems like a very forward person, and it’s kind of intimidating. She showered me with gifts (a massive bag of Chinese snacks and a kick ass painting she did), and I feel like she thinks I’m ungrateful because I didn’t know how to express my gratitude. I’m not; I’m very thankful for the gifts, but I was kind of intimidated, and don’t really know what else to say other than 谢谢.
Let’s go to the beach: We had a ten minute drive to the beach (which looked more like a shipyard turned into a beach). It was really dirty, and quite frankly I don’t want to think about what I touched while there, but it was fun none the less. I rode a water bicycle and took some “artsy” photos with the help of my host mom. For some reason, Chinese people wear their regular clothes to the beach and then change into their bathing suits when they arrive. We spent ten minutes looking for the restroom (I knew where it was but I didn’t say anything because I was kind of skeptical about getting in the water). Also, why do we even bother to put children in bathing suits if we give them see through bathing suits? I don’t understand. (Some parents let their toddlers run around naked.) Also, the water is so murky that you can’t see more than an inch, so I ended up tripping on a sharp rock and cutting my hand. I then stepped on the same rock trying to come back and stubbed my toe. Oh whale.
连云老: My host parents told me to the place where they got married. The place is actual a really historic street, but instead of explaining, I’ll let the sign do that for me.
Lunch: Some kick-ass noodles, wanton soup, and fried dumplings
Showering: We went to my host mom’s middle school friend’s house to shower. Her daughter was super cool; she played the guitar and we sang Taylor Swift together. She also let me play their piano and pet her cat. Their house was lit. (The shower was also nice).
Dinner: We stopped back at my host grandparents’ house for an hour before heading off to dinner. This was a literal family reunion as there were probably thirty people in this room. At one point, I was roped into playing a card game that was never explained to me. They just kept asking me if I understood what they were doing, and I was like: no. I couldn’t see any apparent pattern, so rip me. But getting to the actual dinner, there was so much food. Also I was still full from the lunch I had only two hours ago, so I didn’t really eat much.
Watermelon: I’ve been served watermelon 6 different times.
Wot: We had to wash our face and brush our teeth outside in the dark because of renovations in my host grandparents house.
