Courtney in China, Letter 06

Dear United States Inhabiters, 

The past couple of days have been spent exploring the Jai Tong campus  and Shanghai. We found the student center that has games, pool tables, ping pong tables, a gym, and a karaoke floor. There are about 5 "canteens" or cafeterias to eat at. One is even called the Western Canteen because it serves western food like onion rings and chicken nuggets. I have found a few items that I can tolerate, but the smell of the food in the mornings is starting to get to me. They literally eat the same thing for every single meal! It is crazy!!

Yesterday we went into the city of Shanghai which is about 1.5 hour subway ride. There are only three subway transfers though, so it's not that bad. We walked around the times square of China and found a Hershey's store and a M&M store. We ate at Pizza Hut that night - seriously like the BEST pizza I have ever had!! 

Today we went to the "Fake Market" where they sell all the knock off brands and stuff and it was underground and a total maze. It took forever to find everyone again. It was fun! 

Class is really hard, today I literally did not understand any word that she said. Luckily my roommate is a Molecular bio major and can explain everything to me. Tomorrow for the 4th of July we are going to some opening social for the International Students and then to a Bar-B-Q that people from the University of Michigan are hosting. Luckily we don't have classes on Fridays! YES! Then on Saturday Dr. Bridgewater and her husband are planning an Amazing Race challenge for us to do. They are dividing us up into 4 groups and emailing out the first clue in the morning and it somehow involves us going to different places around Shanghai and the first team gets a free dinner - that should be fun, everyone is excited!

The exciting news for today is that my clothes that I washed Tuesday morning have finally dried! There is a laundry room on the first floor that has about 6 washers and 2 dryers. In order to use these machines you have to go to the front office and pay to get a token for each. I was able to get a washer token with no problem, however, the dryer was another story. I went to ask them and said "dryer money" doing hand motions and everything, but the lady had no idea what I was saying. Another woman came and I thought she was understanding me because she was saying all this stuff in Chinese so I was smiling and nodding. The original lady then handed me 2 dollar coins and started laughing. They DID NOT WORK in the dryer. So about half an hour later I went back to the same people to try again and brought more money thinking I had the wrong amount and they started laughing, took my money and handed me a token-like thing (it looked like a button) and I tried it in the machine and it didn't work. So finally I just decided to hang up my clothes outside like everybody else. Unfortunately, it has rained everyday except today, so finally my clothes have dried and I now have more than 1 shirt to wear! 

I will never take dryers for granted again! 

Hope you guys have a fun 4th of July! I will miss going to Central Park or watching 1776!