arrival

i'll keep this short and supa-sweet

flight: delayed in LA and San Fran but somehow made it here on time. SO LUCKY to have a middle seat empty between my aisle seat and my window neighbor... i basically slept the whole way! minus that part where i spilled soup (mattttt). becca- there was a movie with james mcavoy playing and i thought of you. window neighbor was very friendly and wanted to share about his first time in shanghai. maybe too friendly? i heard some "massage parlor" stories that weren't really for my ears.

taxi: driver also so friendly! we had a pleasant, if not broken, conversation all the way to the university, and when we got here he even called my resident director for me. a somewhat confidence-boosting moment in my chinese language career. learned how to say automatic and manual transmission, ha!

dinner: michelle (director) met the later-arriving students and took us for sichuan dinner. the owners of the restaurant were cuties and they had two precious CATS who sit on the beer boxes awww. first time trying "mala niurou" aka numbing-hot beef. delish. and tingly. shoutout, manisha

roomiez: mary (from gw! dong laoshi de zhongwen ke!) and sue (our chinese roommate, from guizhou, very nice and definitely taking the language pledge seriously). i have a lot of basic vocab to learn (turn off/turn on/hot water/etc).

well it's 11 pm and i feel wide awake, but i am hoping for otherwise when i crawl on to my rock-hard bed. not that i am complaining. this appt is a palace and fudan is hoppin'. quite the collegiate feel. VERY EXCITING.