Vroom Vroom

Still in English mode after visiting with a new friend, so I thought I’d write a little more.

It’s a lovely night, if a little warm. Oddly enough a guitar-playing foreigner has parked himself outside the dorm and I can hear him now. How nice. He was out earlier in the day, and now again. He must have just arrived. Pretty cool.

On another artsy note, my teacher told me about a hangout not far from here that I’m going to check out. She said there are both Chinese and foreigner painters, musicians, and things. Sounds cool and only a short bus ride away.

My roommate hasn’t returned from the hospital yet. But I asked my suite-mates and they don’t seem very concerned. She hasn’t called. To be honest, I’m a little worried, but I suppose we know she’s not alone so that’s ok.

I went to the Auto Expo with my teacher this afternoon. I think she was pretty disappointed. There really weren’t that many people, and we were both too intimidated by the fancy ladies in sequins to actually even sit in a car. But my teacher did point out that some of the cars were available for a test drive if you had held a valid license for longer than 1 year. She’s had her’s for 4 months, so no test driving. (Wouldn’t that have been crazy? Racing around in a BMW in a Chinese convention center?) I could tell she was a little disappointed — the crazy singers/dancers did not really appeal to her and she couldn’t find any of her friends. So, I bought her some delicious ice cream. I think we both felt better after that! Yum!

Tomorrow I’ve been invited to a woman’s home for a language exchange session. I’m pretty scared. I know she has a 2-year-old, so I picked up some english/chinese picture books. Maybe I’ll bring some exotic western food too. I’m really intimidated… I hope I don’t make a complete ass of myself. My teacher introduced us, and I don’t want to embarass her either. How stressful.