Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful and relaxing holiday. I'm sure you all have wonderful plans. Needless to say, I was sad that I was going to miss the 4th in the States this year. It's always one of my favorite holidays because I love fireworks and spending time with friends and family. Fortunately, we managed to make our 4th of July seem a little closer to home while in China today.

The boys went out on a scavenger-hunt today and managed to find a grill. Not only that, but they also found hamburgers and brats! So we had ourselves a real cookout! It was so great to eat right off a grill. The smells alone brought me back to the US. Along with the hamburgers and brats, they also went all out and bought 4 huge bags of ice, all the condiments and there was even some American beer. It made my day.

Tomorrow we have a day trip. I believe we are going to a Confucius Temple and also a garden. It will be nice to have class somewhere other than here on campus. Oh and to my family. I learned some new things in Chinese today. I learned how to say your jobs. So here goes some of my Chinese. It would be easier if I had the tone symbols on the computer, but I don't, so bare with me. I believe I can now write a whole paragraph in Chinese! I'll write it first then translate.

"Wo jiao Stacey. Wo shi Meiguo ren. Wo jia yigong you wu ge ren: baba, mama, jiejie, meimei he wo. Wo de baba shi shang ren. Wo de mama shi zi xun shi. Wo de jiejie shi gon wu yuan he wo de meimei shi daxuesheng. Wo zhun xin lang shi kuai ji. Wo shi da Huadong Shifan Daxue de liuxuesheng."


So what I just said was "My name is Stacey. I am American. I have 5 members in my family: Dad, Mom, older brother and younger sister. My dad is a store owner. My mom is a counselor. My brother is a governmental office worker and my sister is a college student. My fiancé is an accountant. I am an overseas student studying at East China Normal University."

Some of the words don't translate perfectly. When my professor asked me what my family members do for jobs, he told me that the Chinese don't have names for some of those jobs. So Dad's job translates into something like "a seller", mom does "consultation of people", Jason is an "affairs of society office worker" and Joe's is "a money handler". Anyway, I thought that was pretty cool.

My Chinese professor is awesome. Unfortunately in a few days Kendall and I will be leaving him to be integrated into the other class. For some reason ECNU thinks that after 7 class periods Kendall and I should be up to par with the rest of our group who have been in Chinese class for 7 weeks! So tomorrow I am going to go talk to Professor Ni about this because we are so far behind the rest of the class that I have no idea what we are even going to do. But anyways, back to my Chinese professor. Today during break we had a hilarious conversation. Please try to imagine Professor Li speaking with broken English with the Chinese accent. It really was quite funny. It went something like this.

: Stacey, what American DVD TV shows do you like?
Stacey: Ummm... I don't think I understand.
Li: You know... like... do you watch... what is it called.... Des-per-ate Housewive?
Stacey: Ha-ha no no, I would rather watch Grey's Anatomy.
Li: Grey's what? (He walks up to the board which means I need to spell it for him)
Li: Grey's Anatomy. I will have to find that one! What about um... 6 Friends? Do you like that one?
Stacey: Oh you mean "Friends"? Yeah, that is a good one.
Li: Oh, I think that one is very funny. Right now I am watching Lost. It is... how do you say it... addiction. I cannot wait until next season is on.
Stacey: Addicting? Yeah, that is what I have heard. I don't really watch it.
Li: So, when you live in the States, do you have the lives of "6 Friends"?
Stacey: What do you mean?
Li: Do you not work and have lots of money?
Stacey: No, that isn't possible. Our TV shows are really fake.
Li: Oh, because I couldn't believe it! I was like, "Where did all of this money come from! They never go to work!"

Anyway, I hope you found that as humorous as I did. It just goes to show that other cultures adore our culture and believe everything that they see on TV. It also showed me just how ridiculous our TV shows can actually be... as addicting as they are.

Ohhhh someone is lighting fireworks outside! Sad day, I couldn't see them, but just hearing them was enough for me.

Mom, thanks for your 3 emails today :o) And thank you for your prayers for the upcoming trip. You're right, God provided for the plane ride here, so he will provide for the train ride as well.

Just a random thought that I had in the shower today though... I think the Key Department prepared me quite well for this trip. I have gotten used to sitting and doing nothing for about 8 hours of my day from working there, so the plane ride really wasn't that bad and hopefully the train ride will be just as easy. Thanks John, Mike, Dan, Lauren, Tori and Krista for all that you so lovingly taught me :o) P.S. I miss you guys!

Anyways, back to you mom. Yes, I have been losing weight. Eating with chopsticks makes me slow down when I eat... plus we walk about 15 miles a day and I probably sweat about 2 pounds off per day. Getting in great wedding dress shape :o) Ummm no one is getting any packages. Most likely, unless you wanted to spend big money, it would have to be shipped by boat and that takes a few months I was told. Don't worry about food... I'll be okay. Besides, with the heat it probably wouldn't make it too well. That's too bad that Becky got called into work. These are her precious camping weeks and you are right, she doesn't like to leave. I wouldn't either! If you see her, tell her I said hello. Ummm no I have not heard from Jason. But what's new? I never hear from him when I am in Michigan, so I shouldn't expect to now! Thanks again for cleaning fishy. He's a nice pet. Not nearly as noisy as Cherpie. I'm glad Dad got him all squared away. Oh and I know it was stupid if me to take the cab ride by myself, but we also have been encouraged to do that. We have been told that if we don't face our fears and speak Chinese and venture out by ourselves then we are not immersing ourselves to the fullest. I tried to get someone to take the ride with me, but no one wanted to leave yet and I was not willing to stay in the bar any longer. I made it back safe and sound. Although, I do think the cab driver took the long way to get more money out of me. They tend to do that to foreigners.

Anyway, I am heading to bed. It's been a long day. I will "speak" to you all tomorrow. Love you lots!

P.S. Hidalgo's, I found Jack's name in Chinese today. It is spelled Jieke and it is pronounced Jeeahkah. Just thought you would like to know :o)