Saturday, September 22, 2007 -
Kunming... business as usual
Well I've settled into classes and it's really been business as usual! I have 18 hours of Chinese class a week, but only 12 hours transfer, so it's kind of a gyp. Anyway! Not much has been happening. I'm in the process of getting my residence permit and student ID, and taking it easy... napping and doing homework then eating lots of yummy food and watching 90 cent dvds! The only exciting thing I've done lately is get my hair done! I usually judge a salon by the products they carry so walked into the salon next to one of the movie theatres that advertised a lot of American and European brands. I talked to some people there for a while, explaining what I wanted in Chinese. After we all consulted, we were in agreement of what I wanted and then the craziness began! They got me some tea then had an average of 3 people working on my hair at once, with the manager watching over them and a couple random workers watching. At one point I had 7 people chattering around me and lifting up sections of my hair, debating what they wanted to do... I had so much foil in my hair I could have simultaneously picked up HBO and blocked CCTV! Well after the color was done I got a head massage and then the manager guy who they simply called "ershisan" (that's Chinese for the number 23) gave me a trim and straightened my hair while practically the entire store watched. It was hilarious but it was great... I've heard and seen some horror stories with Chinese salons, so I'm glad mine turned out all right! I ended up getting blonde highlights with a couple red pieces underneath to add some punch.
Since then, it's been pretty chill, we got some mooncaks in class which I thought was a pretty sweet idea until it turns out that Yunnan's specialty mooncakes have bacon in them! BLAAAAAAH!!!! CAKES ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO HAVE OVERLY SALTED HAM IN THEM! haha... but it's China, and it's crazy.
Christina and I have been clothes shopping but man... girls in China apparently don't have hips so it's ridiculous to try and find pants! I've picked up a couple tops and hoodies that look super Chinesey but I don't care... I think that some of the stuff they have is awesome... just not this:
unless you're a 14 yr old wannabe punk or something! Other than that, all that's happened is Christina and I wearing Jay's hats, Bailin and I building forts in the dorm, and watching the Europeans plan to play the game where you run around "shooting" people with bananas. I don't know, it's just life in China!
Here's the obligatory picasa link!
<3
elisaLabels: hair, kunming, mooncakes
Monday, September 3, 2007 -
Getting Settled in Kunming
Well, the weather in Kunming is pretty fantastic, just a bit chilly though... it's 63F right now, which is what it's been for the majority of the day. I've met just about everyone from the Vermont group, and they're all really chill. Christina, Jay and I have hung out with them a couple times, and I see plenty more in the future!
It took us just about a week to get our internet set up. After asking 5 different people then taking 4 trips to the computer store, Christina and I can FINALLY be on the internet at the same time! We've unpacked all our stuff and are pretty comfy here. We have a big room, desk, bay window, awesome view... if our internet was faster, it'd be perfect!
On Saturday morning, Christina and I went to Salvador's Coffee House for breakfast and wifi when Larry called saying that they were heading to the hot springs around.... now. So I hightailed it back to the dorms while Christina skyped with her smooshy wooshy bear. We piled into a van and had some lunch before driving to the mountains just outside of town. When we got out, we were at a resort-ish place and it was drizzling a tad as we checked in. The steamy pools mixed with the cool rain was great! Since I didn't have a swim suit (just wore shorts and a tank) I only planned on getting my legs wet but yeah... that did last long since BOYS LIKE TO SPLASH. haha... it was for the best though, I finally got in at the rose petal hot spring and it was amaaaaazing! After the inevitable rose petal fight, we went to a tea spring (that looked like pee!) and after the boys cooled off in the regular pool, we made our own laowai (foreigner) spring and had the staff turn on the water in an empty pool for us. We frolicked there until a little girl with massive boogers came in and we all ran out! We finished off by going to the radioactive mint green pool and then headed back to Kunming.
School is pretty good thus far. My classes are at a challenging enough level without being horribly hard. In the fourth week of classes we get to choose 2 extracurriculars, so hopefully I can get in some nifty ones! That's about all there is on my end so far!
as always, here's the link to this batch of pictures!
<3 e.
