Tuesday, September 12, 2006

I hate the phrase "This is China's most famous _____." Unfortunately, this seems to be my roommate's favorite one. Every where we go, he points at things and says, "Do you have this in America? No? This is China's most famous steamed bun making machine." It makes me want to grab him and take him to Cub Foods and ask, "This is Green Giant. Do you know Green Giant? No? Really? This is America's most famous frozen green bean producer." In other news, I have started studying the Chinese Bamboo Flute. My teacher is this Chinese Yoda combo, and when I went for the first time yesterday all he said was,
"You have come to study the di-zi." I am so bad that when I practice I wear ear plugs.
Yesterday after class I had a terrible headache. We have been in class now for over a week, and I no longer respect 8 am orgo students at NU. I'm sorry, but try 8 am class except it's the professor and you. Then teach the class in Chinese. I am terrified of Mondays and Thursdays. In other news, people say that my Chinese is improving, but all I am is one huge ball of frustration. I suppose "slowly, slowly" as everyone except my teachers believes. This weekend I went to Su Zhou with my roommate. We visited two famous gardens, here is a washed out photo of me in the "Humble Administrator's Garden" and a picture of Su Zhou's main street at night.