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Friday, February 6, 2009

Oh it's good to be back. So much to share!

Of course there are all the big adventures where we go to visit the Temple of Heaven and Shanghai and that sort of thing. Sorry I didn't write about Shanghai! Internet there was very sketchy. You'd think that one of the most developed cities in China could afford free internet, but apparently not. It was like 8 bucks a day to use the internet. Lame!

So let me start there. A couple of the memorable things about Shanghai...

• They had the best 小笼包 I have ever had in my life. omg so delicious! I wish i had more... mmm...
  
• Two guys came up to me when we were looking at the Bund (basically the port in Shanghai) and asked me to take a picture with them. I was so flattered! They spoke very good Chinese, but I didn't get to practice Chinese with them very much. Oh well. That's okay.
• I started hanging out with Scott a lot more. Scott is a guy in my Chinese class (IR major) and I just got to know him a lot better. We get along very well and he takes good care of me. More about him later.
• Scott and some of my idiot friends dropped a jar of honey out a 14 story window. Like i said... idiots.
• We did lots of shopping. Fun stuff!
• We visited Old Shanghai and lots of gardens and things. They're all so beautiful. Can you imagine having your own personal lake in your backyard? God gorgeous.

Then we returned to Beijing where we celebrated the New Year! Oh how exciting it was. Chinese New Year in China is quite the experience. On New Year's Eve we set off a bunch of fireworks outside our dorms. There were so many different kinds and it was so beautiful to see them go up. We went to HouHai Lake which was frozen over. We hung out at a bar till it got close to midnight and then we went outside and watched the fireworks. We jumped into the middle of the frozen lake and watched the fireworks go up all around us nonstop for at least a half an hour. It was breathtaking. It was just amazing to stand there and see the physical evidence of people's happiness that there was a new year approaching. It was just gorgeous to see the sky lit up with dots of colored light and so many people running around and celebrating the beginning of something new. Scott didn't have a wonderful new years... he fell into the lake as we were jumping down and was soaked from his knee down. Now remember that this is the middle of January and it's freezing. So his feet and pants were frozen the poor boy! But he stayed out there. And then I proceeded to crush his heart by turning him down... but things have worked out in the end. Now it's something we laugh about and something we'll do better next time.

After New Year's evening, we just went back and got ready to celebrate the actual New Year's day. We went to the temple to pay our respects, but it was too crowded and you had to pay to get in so we just ditched it and decided to go to the Olympic Stadium instead. Scott and I just walked around and talked and admired the Bird's Nest and Water Cube. They look very cool in person as well. Quite the feat of Chinese engineering. Then we just spent more time together and talked things out. The next day, my aunt took us out to lunch at a delicious buffet. We went ice skating with her friend's son Jack who was very accomodating towards us. That was fun. And then the last couple days in Beijing were just filled with class, hanging out, visiting the last few places we hadn't visited before (Temple of Heaven), and last minute shopping. I really loved my time in China but I'm definitely glad to be home too. It's so nice to be able to understand people and not have people expect you to speak Chinese just because you look it. Whew!

So my love life (again) has changed significantly. Steven and I broke up about a week and a half ago. I told him I could potentially be interested in another guy and he was upset and didn't want to have to deal with me and my indecisiveness anymore. So he broke up with me. And that's all for the better. Scott was chasing after me and while I was with Steven, I couldn't say yes to him. And although the timing was really bad since it looks like I'm just jumping from one boy to the other or maybe that I'm cheating on my boyfriend or something, that's not the case. Steven and I had our problems that we never really approached head on, and now they're not problems anymore. Scott really cares about me and he's so much better for me than Steven ever was. There's just the difference in the way he cares and takes care of me and makes me feel better about myself instead of making me feel guilty all the time.

Scott is such a sweetheart. He's completely different from Steven. He's much more confident and self-assured, and I have no idea why he likes me. I'm just completely baffled. But he does, and he shows it in his actions, the way he teases me, his words... he makes me happy. He treats me well and while the timing is completely wrong, we're going to try a relationship. We get along very well and I love his family. They're from Argentina so they're very physical and boisterous. It's a lot of fun to be around them. He gets along well with mine too; my parents like him which is such a change from Steven. He gets along with my friends, another big change since Steven would never really try to get along with the other people I loved. While he's an IR major and i'm a Biology major, we have enough in common to get along and our personalities compliment each other very well. We talk things out and he's a very honest and trustworthy man. There's so much I could tell you about him, but I'm sure you don't want to hear about that. Just know that I'm happy. :)

The spring semester starts in a couple of days. I know you guys have all been in school already, but it's just about to start for me. I've got a busy schedule with 18 credits, Freshman Fellowing, Dupont-ing, and general hanging out-ing. Busy busy busy!

Miss you guys! Hugs and kisses all around

~Gealina

Labels: China, Gealina, Home

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