Back again,
Jet lag seemed to hit me a bit harder this time around. I know I talked to a few of you at around 3am my time...and still wasn't able to crash till 5am. Anyway, still trying to figure out this whole host family thing. They're super nice, both the mum and the dad speak English really well, as does the daughter, Shirley. She's an English major, which will be helpful if I stick around my homestay. My room is also very nice, with a full sized bed, shelves, and cubbies; and it has AC (crucial to surviving Shanghai's late summer heat). They served a simple breakfast, yogurt, and a egg/cucumber sandwich (which was like a triple decker, not so sure why that was haha, hungry Americans?!). I'm really torn about whether to stay in the homestay or move to the dorms. I've heard mixed reviews on both, "stay in the dorm, you meet more people/have more freedom and can still learn a lot of Chinese" vs. "stay in the homestay, the families are so nice/you'll really challenge yourself with the language." I think my compromise is that I'll either wait a couple of days and see how things go, or I'll switch to the dorm and plan to frequently visit my homestay family to chat.
Other than the mild homestay drama, orientation starts today! We have a pretty packed schedule to introduce us to the campus, extra curriculars, classes, etc. I think I'm going to go hunting for a good noodle shop today for lunch, or at least some baozi (steamed buns with different fillings). Slightly terrified about classes starting. I feel as though no matter how many years I've studied Chinese, I'm still constantly building. Which is great because things never get old, but disconcerting because there's always going to be "one more thing." haha.
Hope everyone's doing well, don't forget to let me know what's up on the Hilltop :)
Jet lag seemed to hit me a bit harder this time around. I know I talked to a few of you at around 3am my time...and still wasn't able to crash till 5am. Anyway, still trying to figure out this whole host family thing. They're super nice, both the mum and the dad speak English really well, as does the daughter, Shirley. She's an English major, which will be helpful if I stick around my homestay. My room is also very nice, with a full sized bed, shelves, and cubbies; and it has AC (crucial to surviving Shanghai's late summer heat). They served a simple breakfast, yogurt, and a egg/cucumber sandwich (which was like a triple decker, not so sure why that was haha, hungry Americans?!). I'm really torn about whether to stay in the homestay or move to the dorms. I've heard mixed reviews on both, "stay in the dorm, you meet more people/have more freedom and can still learn a lot of Chinese" vs. "stay in the homestay, the families are so nice/you'll really challenge yourself with the language." I think my compromise is that I'll either wait a couple of days and see how things go, or I'll switch to the dorm and plan to frequently visit my homestay family to chat.
Hope everyone's doing well, don't forget to let me know what's up on the Hilltop :)
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