First day of classes & I'm exhausted already

I had my first classes today. Actually I only had Chinese today, but because I want to switch from regular part two to intensive beginner, I got to sit through nearly four and a half hours of class. I get to do the same tomorrow. Lucky me. It's really not that bad, but it does make for a long morning. And I may have to do the same thing three days a week until I can officially make the change. Granted, that change will be in about two weeks, but in the mean time it could make things difficult. I really like my professor though, so I think I can handle it. We shall see. Tonight, after I finish up posting to my blogs and fighting with facebook, I need to study because in the class I'm trying to switch out of, we have a dictation. I'm only still trying in this class because I'm not one hundred percent sure I'll be able to switch and I don't want to fall behind more than I already am. I suppose only time will tell. For now, just cross your fingers for me.

After class, I went to lunch with some others to a little hole in the wall out of west gate. It was pretty good - 9 kuai for a nice plate of chicken chow mein. Then I came back to the dorm and discovered that the power was out, which made using the bathroom interesting because it has no windows. Then I read a chapter in my pleasure reading book and passed out for about two hours. It was a much-needed rest but I had only intended to sleep for one hour. That's what I get for failing to turn my alarm on. I'm hoping for a better night's sleep than last night. I don't know what got into me but I couldn't sleep very well. I didn't actually go to bed until almost two and then I felt like I only slept for a couple hours at a time until I woke up about fifteen minutes before my alarm went off at 7 a.m. It kind of really sucked and I'm really feeling it now. I hope I don't fall asleep studying! lol

Once I woke up, the power was still out so I went over to the library to get my card and use the wireless for a little bit to check e-mail, send a paper and mess around for a bit. All of this I did successfully, and even ran into Tiffany and made plans for dinner, then headed back to the dorm. Just as I was walking up the stairs, the power came back on, which made me very happy. I stopped by J.P.'s room and borrowed the green book to copy vocab for the dictation tomorrow and then went to copy it. After returning the book, I listened to music and played sudoku for a bit. At 6:30, I got a call from Tiffany saying she had almost forgot to call me and that she had already headed out to eat. She told me where they were headed and I caught up. It was nice and chill, just Casey, Meredith, Gary, Tiffany and me. I ended up splitting Kungpow chicken and a spicy eggplant dish with Mer and Casey. It was definitely more than enough for the three of us, which was great because splitting the price meant it was only about 8 kuai a piece. :) I love eating in China. Haha, we joke periodically that going back to the states is going to be painful because everything is going to seem SO expensive. That's a long way off though so I wont worry about it.

When I got back after dinner I grabbed my laptop and went to the downstairs lounge, where I can use an ethernet cable to connect to the network instead of just relying on the wireless, which doesn't seem to like my computer very much. It was exciting because it was the first time I was able to use Skype to talk to my mom. I don't think I ever gone so long without actually hearing her voice before. I just realized that right now and that seems very weird, but it's true and I think the same goes for my sister. Almost a whole month without actually speaking with them and hearing their voices. And I think that's really special. I hear some of the other TBCers talk about their parents and their siblings and I really am beginning to see just how unique our family's relationship is. It makes me very thankful for it.

Before I finish up here, just as a side note to everyone - I think I'm going to have to give up on facebook as a means of communication. I can see people's posts, read my inbox, see my requests but responding is pretty much impossible. Actually, accepting any requests at all is out of the question at this point. Occasionally I get lucky and can respond to a post....I think if answered one so far and I don't remember with my inbox. I'm seriously considering just suspending my account until I get to the states. I'll wait a few more days and see if something miraculously changes, but I doubt it. But, anyway, that means if you really need me to respond to something, PLEASE send via e-mail! Either mmwindspirit56@yahoo.com or mkmay@loyola.edu are working very well and I can get back to you in about 24 hours. Alright, thanks! I'll write again soon, and with a little luck I may be able to post some pics here. :)