This morning I awoke with the startling realization that there was no WiFi in the hotel. Of course, this happens to be the morning when I wake up at 6:00, so I have nothing to do except study (boo-who). For a good 30 minutes, I thought it was because I left my VPN on, and I thought the government had kicked me off WiFi. Thankfully my roommate informed me that her phone also did not have WiFi, so we Gucci.
I ended up propping my door open so I could snag someone who was going to walk to breakfast. Katey was the first person to walk past my door, so I went to the 餐厅 with her, and on the way there we saw three cats. Of course, I had to get a picture with them.
For breakfast, I had a bowl of French fries (no shame). Also, people were apparently waiting for me to get breakfast with them, which is super nice, but as awkward since I wasn’t at the dorms this morning. Isaac ended up calling me, and I couldn’t really understand his Chinese, so that’s my bad.
My host mom texted me this morning and informed me that they signed up to be a host family again. Their new student arrives in July. She said she hopes they’re as great as me, but tbh I set a really low bar, so we’ll see. I kind of hope their Chinese is worse than mine only because I want to remain their number one, but that’s just me being selfish.
Class was per-usual. I’m really liking Yang Laoshi, and the class is actually one that I can understand, learn from, and respond to. Our drill two teacher actually complimented me on my Chinese. It was really nice hearing that since I’m not actively taking classes.
For lunch, I had a bowl of noodles: 10/10.
Newspaper class is still rough, and I wish I could write about what happened in class, but to be honest, I could not tell you even if I tried.
I had my first 一对一, which I spent asking the teacher to help me read the newspaper article. It’s about the 301 trade agreement. In the end, she told me to go and read an English article about it so I can know what’s going on. Plus one self-esteem.
I spent the rest of the afternoon doing homework, and suffering over the new vocab. I have no idea why this lesson isn’t sticking the same way yesterday’s was, but I think it’s because I’m hitting the wall.
Korey wechatted me and asked if I had dinner plans, and I said no. We decided to just go to the 餐厅 around 6:30, but on the way down, we saw a group of people who wanted to go to 火锅. I didn’t really mind where we went, but I assumed that it wouldn’t take longer than an hour to eat at a restaurant.
I was so wrong. We were there for three hours, and while the food was AMAZING, I had too much studying to do to be out for three hours. I feel so bad because I told my roommate I couldn’t see the opera with her because of homework, and then I go and run off to have a three-hour dinner with my classmates and their roommates. It was completely unintentional, but I wish I hadn’t gone, or I had gone to the opera with her.
When I got back, she asked when my birthday is, and then I asked her when her’s is. Since it’s coming up, and she like hot pot, I offered to treat her for her birthday. I guess this is my apology of sorts.
I studied for another two hours before giving up. Hopefully, I’ll wake up early enough to review tomorrow. Honestly, the 听写s have me so screwed.