whoa whoa whoa... so you're telling me it's October???

I feel like I begin every blog I write with, “I’m sorry it has been so long since my last update...” or something like that.

So... to keep with tradition... I’m sorry it has been so long since my last update!

I have had more problems with connecting to the internet in the last 3 months than I have in my entire life. I will save you the boring details… but I am thankful I can finally post this long overdue update!

We are now starting in on our fourth week of classes here at our university. We had heard horror stories about our teachers and the workload in our classes. I didn’t really believe them until now. Our teachers started slow (for which I am very thankful)... but now that we’ve been in class for a month, they are becoming more and more intense. We are responsible for memorizing a pretty large amount of Characters and vocabulary. Sometimes I am thankful I sit by the window, just incase I need to let my mind escape for awhile. But, that is usually about when my teacher calls on me to answer a question or speak a dialogue.

I signed up for an art class that begins next week. I thought this would be my first semester without one, so I was thrilled to find out I could take it. The class will teach different styles of painting and calligraphy.

Dr. Frost and his grandson came to visit us a couple of weeks ago. It was so good to see familiar faces! It was also great timing, because my hard drive crashed the week before and he was able to bring me a new one along with the software I needed. Lesson learned: back up your computer as often as you can... especially when you have multiple files of homework you’ve done on there. I will be rewriting some assignments very soon.

I have had so many problems with my computer in the last few months of being here. As it turns out, the internet at my school isn’t compatible with Apple computers. I’m thankful that Sarah uses a PC so I can at least use her computer to send emails and use Skype.

We’ve been able to visit some really great places in the last couple of months.
We just had a 7 day holiday from school for National Day. My friend invited Sarah and me to her hometown for the weekend. It was a “small town” of about 900,000. We spent the first few hours at the annual air show. It was cold, rainy, and we were surrounded by children who had never seen foreigners before. It was a little overwhelming, but once we returned to our friend’s family’s home, I was very happy to be there. They were so hospitable! Her aunt and uncle gave us their bedroom for the night because they thought it may be warmer for us to sleep in. They took us to eat Hot Pot (as does everyone) and it was alright... once they brought out the vegetables. The first course included brains, intestines, stomach, eels.. etc. I did, however, discover my love of peanut milk during this meal. When the meal was finished, we went with our friend and her cousins to play ping-pong at this training facility. While my skills are steadily improving, I was brought back down to earth when I saw an 8ish-year-old boy (who was probably training for the olympics) practicing with his coach. I will never consider myself “good” at ping-pong again.

The highlight of the trip was definitely Saturday night. We saw our first sunset in exactly 3 months. It was so refreshing to get away from buildings and smog and breath the countryside air for a couple of days. There was a sky full of stars to wish us a happy half-way point. The thing I have missed the most (besides my friends and family, of course) has definitely been nature. I am not meant to live in a city of 30,000,000+.

When we returned from the countryside, we spent the next couple of days of our vacation at some of our American friends’ home. We ate at the Papa John’s next to their place and it was just delightful. While I have grown to love the food and the people here... I am thrilled to have a Western weekend every once in awhile.

I was able to Skype with my friends from The Table while we stayed at their house. Sunday was our three month mark, and I am so glad I could spend it with some of the people I love most (even though they were enjoying some pancakes RIGHT in front of me...)

My newest pursuit has been to replace the boots and the sweatpants I lost in my suitcase. It is getting colder (the locals say there are only two seasons in our city... summer and winter, and I can definitely see winter on the horizon) and I am regretting some of the losses my missing suitcase provided me with. I tried to shop for boots and sweatpants in the underground (the cheap stores) but as the salespeople have said, I am just, “too big”. I’m not giving up though... mostly because I only have running shorts to sleep in and these nights are becoming more and more frigid. The next time I see a girl as tall as me, I’m just going to walk up to her, introduce myself, and ask her to take me shopping where she buys her close.

One last thing before I go ahead and post this...
We were fortunate enough to experience the famous Peking Opera on Monday night. I had never heard a Peking Opera before. If you haven’t... please... youtube it. It was quite the experience. I left early... two and a half hours after it began. I am glad I was able to experience some of the art of this culture... but I think this may have been my first and last time to watch the Peking Opera.

I will attempt to be more consistent in updating my blog. The combination of a computer that wouldn’t turn on, faulty internet connections, and a busy schedule have kept me from making it this far on my to-do list.

Thanks for thinking of me and Sarah.
Enjoy the beauty of a Southwest Missouri Autumn for me...

Anna

ps- I tried to post some pictures, but it isn't working. I'll try again soon.