Going to Meishan (February 27)

On my way to Chinese class, I saw some people in suits standing on the sidewalk doing some sort of dance or exercise. They were listening to a song and moving around. I assumed they were realtors since they were standing in front of a realty store. When I entered my building to go to class, I noticed that the electricity was out. I walked up the dark stairs and heard someone behind me. I asked her in Chinese, "No electricity?" and she replied in English, "No, there was a fire in the elevator, so they shut it off." I realized then that she must be another foreign exchange student and felt stupid for having asked her a question in Chinese. Anyways, she kept going upstairs as I was leaving the stairwell. The fire in the elevator caused the electricity to be shut off in the entire building, including our classrooms. This meant that my Chinese teacher couldn't use the "blackboard". Our classrooms have computers that allow our teachers to write on the "board". If the electricity is off, the teacher can't use the "board". After class, I returned home, packed and took a taxi with Emma, Christie and Bjoernar to cooking class. In our class, we learned how to cook fish flavored pork, Kong Pao pork, and egg and tomato soup.

Cooking class


Christie looking at her recipe





Our teacher tasted my food and gave me my grade. I got a 4.7, 5.0 and 5.0 for my dishes. They would have all been 5.0 had I not forgotten to put the tomato in the egg and tomato soup. I felt like an idiot for forgetting that, but in my defense we cook the dishes one right after the other and I get confused as to what I need. Anyways, when I was given my grades, I then took a taxi to the bus station and bought a ticket for Meishan where I would be visiting Mabel.

On the way to the bus station





The bus left around 5 pm from Chengdu and arrived around 6:20 pm in Meishan. Mabel was waiting for me at the bus station. She drove us to her parents' apartment where her mother had prepared chaoshou (dumpling-like food with meat inside) and xiaojidunmogu (chicken with mushrooms, vegetables and noodles). It was delicious. After eating, Mabel and I went to an internet cafe to meet three of her friends. we spent most of the time talking about ourselves and our lives.

Internet cafe

Jia Jie and her husband

(from right to left) Jia Jie, Mabel, Xiao Mu, and myself

Xiao Mu and Mabel





Since Mabel wanted to show me what Chinese barbecue is like, the five of us went to the restaurant around 10 pm. They ordered the food, and shortly thereafter, the waiter brought out our sticks of grilled meat and vegetables, which was also delicious. Mabel and I returned home and got ready for bed. I took a shower (or tried to). In China, many of the showers don't have curtains and are not separated by anything, so it was just difficult to figure it out. Mabel and I stayed up until 1 am talking about education/universities and living costs in China and the U.S..