Too much to write about

Thanks for all of your thoughts!! I'm very appreciative! Yesterday didn't end like I wanted it to, either, but there were some good laughs. Last night at about 9 p.m., I returned to our apartment after our team meeting in Joelle's room. I flipped on the lights in the kitchen and saw something out of the corner of my eye. My heart sank, and I froze as I saw a juicy, medium-sized rat come out of the sink and run behind the stove burners. I stood there for a second and then screamed really loudly. Nobody could hear me, of course, so I dashed downstairs to Joelle's room where the rest of team was. I yelled about the rodent and the team ran with me to our apartment.

Inside the apartment, people got brooms and mops to battle the thing. The boys, Aaron and Jonathan, grabbed a box and stood about 5 feet away from the stove. I ran around closing all the doors, and the other girls stood there, too. Rachael, my roommate, was the bravest and she moved the burners around. We were ready. The rat leaped from the counter and ran straight into a door. Then it raced into the living room, where we all stood screaming our heads off. I ran and jumped on a side table and a few other people jumped on chairs. I can still remember very vividly the rat running in front of us. It headed for behind the air conditioning unit. We stared at the corner. Jonathan and Rachael finally moved the unit around as everyone stood poised for action or more screaming. The rat had disappeared, though, into a hole.

Rachael stuffed the hole with steel wool. She is so brave! Everyone calmed down a bit and went back to their own rooms. It was a crazy way to end a crazy day. I couldn't stop thinking about that rat, though, as I was trying to fall asleep. I kept picturing it running across the room. So I didn't get much sleep last night. But I guess it was a good team-bonding experience. Everyone's personalities really shone, too. Jodi, the official photographer of the team, captured the moment. Maybe I'll be able to share some pictures later.

This morning I taught one class. We continued to talk about idioms and proverbs related to money. At lunch time two girls from that class invited me to each lunch with them. I was so excited, and we walked a long walk to the middle of campus. I ate in the student's cafeteria, which apparently has a shady reputation. It was a surreal experience walking into a huge Chinese cafeteria packed with students, and all of them stared at me and the two students who were with Laura the foreigner.

The girls were so sweet and were the most enjoyable hosts. They bought me lunch. We ate rice out of a log-looking thing. We also had little pieces of chicken and egg that sat in congealed grease. But it wasn't really as bad as I expected. They also bought me a sort of milk-shake thing, which I could barely swallow. I'm not sure of the flavor. It was filled with red beans and big pieces of transparent black squishy things. I could only keep down a few spoonfuls. Then they made sure I was well-supplied with another glass of that drink "for later..."

We talked for nearly an hour. They are so young! One is 17 and the other is 18. They have very good English for being freshmen. I can tell they are pretty bright. Carrying on a conversation with them was pretty natural. And after lunch, they took me to the huge on-campus supermarket. The workers there wanted to know where on earth I was from. They even gave me a complimentary "lemon" drink, which is still sitting in my office. It was pretty fun. Then we wandered around the campus and big lake just chatting, as they said "this way, this way, please."

In the afternoon I had another class, which was good. Then we had to go to English Corner like we do every Thursday afternoon. I can never get used to it! The mob that is English Corner can see us approaching from a mile away. We have to brace ourselves for the onslaught. Then we get within hearing distance, and BAM!, there are automatically 30 students surrounding each American.

The crowds were diverted for a few minutes when everyone decided to watch a game of tug-of-war that was happening right next to us. It was slightly more entertaining than looking at the foreigners. There were 20 sweaty Chinese guys on either end of the rope. Aaron and Jonathan joined them. Everyone was screaming and cheering as one team collapsed on the concrete and the other stood victoriously. Then it was back to English Corner.

On the way home, our driver, whom were are quite fond of, sang some songs on the radio to Peking Opera. It was amazing. I asked if he could sing at my wedding someday. He got so excited and started laughing and shaking his head emphatically. He said he would. Then we got to Old Campus and everyone was in a slap-happy mood. The driver cranked up the Chinese techno music and we all started dancing to the crazy music. It was so funny and random.

Now I'm really overstimulated, but also very tired. I might go out the back gate to get some dumplings for dinner. Thank you again for your special thoughts. I continue to think about you! Oh, and I'm excited that I'm going to be a part of one of the studies for helping our fellow Chinese sisters learn more about the word. Maybe you can also be thinking of that.