uneventfulness

Sorry I haven't posted lately. Frankly, there's not really much new. I can't believe it's the last week of September (basically). Classes are really good, though. It's nice to have some routine to my day. Haven't done much outside of classes. I spend a lot of time wandering around Jinan... I'm excited because I think Carey might be coming to visit me in October! Also, I think Professor Rob LaFleur (my minor advisor) is coming sometime in October as well to climb Mount Tai. So, it'll be nice to see some more familiar faces! I'm going to keep this one short; I have some reading to do. Later, gators. 

-m.

life so far

Sorry I haven't posted lately. Been busy. Classes have started; they are AWESOME. :) I finally have a cell phone and an address for mailing post, too! 

Send your love to:

Mandy Lee

International Dorm Rm. # 2625

Shandong University

27 Shanda Nanlu, Jinan 250100

P.R. China

Will post more later! I actually have to go study :(

more.badassery

Another slow Saturday. Classes start in a few days and I'm pretty excited! Today I decided to be ballsy and wander around town by myself, ended up having lunch at a wonton joint, it was absolutely delish and soooo cheap. And it's almost dinnertime and I'm still good from my late lunch! Therefore I've decided to eat a small dinner at the night market tonight that opens up in front of Shandong University's North Gate around 9pm. I am a badass. Today, I've eaten the equivalent of $1 USD: The wonton soup I had was 6yuan, and tonight when I get this chopped pork sandwich, it's 2yuan. SO CHEAP & deliciously filling. 

Also, I have been doing all of my laundry BY HAND.

I'm talkin' several denim jeans, bath towel, delicates, t-shirts, socks, the whole she-bang.

I'm a badass :)

schoooooooool

Lots of stuff to do today. Gotta buy my books for class! I have a schedule now- (finally). I'm actually quite pleased with how I placed. :)

Monday: Class from 8am-12am

Tuesday: Class from 10am-12pm, Class from 2pm-4pm.

Wednesday: Class from 8am-12pm

Thursday: Class from 8am-12pm

Friday: Class from 8am-12pm, Class from 2pm-4pm.

Not too shabby. Fridays are going to be long but they're not killer. I'll make do.

In other news, last night was the Great Britain's last night here in Jinan. Everybody got together and gelled, talking, laughing, reminiscing. I had a really good time with them- they leave tonight at 11pm. Today at 4pm they're putting on a performance, singing songs (in chinese- since they came here not knowing a word of it) and performing skits. Should be hilarious. I'm going to miss them.

Hard to believe I've been in China for a month. I feel a wee bit different, but I can't quite put my finger on what it is. I'm starting to feel more like a student at Shandong U, though. Even though I'm constantly surrounded with international students, I like exploring Jinan by myself when I can, visiting my sites and such. It's absolutely wondrous. More later. Much love.

<3

money.making

Sometime in the middle of last week, somebody knocked on my door. It  happened to be one of the dorm's "fuwuyuan" (which is "serviceperson") and she very politely asked me something about a phone call, some company, a record, and a bunch of other confusing things. I tried to understand her, but I eventually ran down to Andrew's room to get some translation help. After a million awkward questions, we finally reached an understanding:

There is a teaching company who is looking for English-speaking students to record reading their teaching dialogues for Chinese students to listen and study from.

The serviceperson was trying to ask me if I would meet with them. I was like, "Me? Why me?" Slightly nervous, I grabbed Andrew and we agreed to meet them. The service person told us to meet him downstairs in the cafe in about 45 minutes. So we waited, and made our way downstairs.

We meet this middle-aged Chinese man. He introduces himself and his partner, grabs coffee for us, and sits us down. Basically, they wanted to know if we could go to a recording studio and read their dialogues. He pulled out a bunch of textbook scripts and we read through them slowly, alternating the male and female parts. He was delighted. Andrew and I were getting kind of sketched out because it just seemed so random. It wasn't fishy or anything though, my gut said things would be fine. So we made plans to meet again.

Andrew and I were naturally blowing things out of proportion in speculation. OH NO WHAT IF THEY ARE RAPISTS AUGHHHH and the such-like. However, I figured, if anything, they were more worried that we weren't going to show. They wouldn't be able to "hurt" us or anything, seeing as we're Shandong students and there are other students that know where we are at all times, etc. 

Anywho, fast forward a few days, and here I am right now at Wednsday at 3:40pm. I just got back from the last recording session. I also now have 600 yuan in my pocket. SCORE.

Let me tell you, those dialogues were hilarious. To spice things up, we read some of them in silly accents. I don't think they minded too much. Two days of about 5 hours of reading = 600 yuan (roughly 100 USD): 600 yuan goes a LONG WAY. 

Hopefully I'm going to get a proper recording of the polished product to take home. Haha.