gotta love field trips

So, I didn't end up going to the flag raising. We decided to delay a week because so many other people have to go for a class and we kind of just want to not run into TBCers. However, Kathleen and I did go with Martina and her host student to the capital museum, which is about an hour away from campus by way of subway. It costs nothing, but you have to reserve tickets online ahead of time, otherwise you can't get in. It was a lot of fun to walk around and look at all of the artifacts. Plus, you could take pictures of pretty much everything; you just couldn't use a flash. I hope to go back because it's huge and we could only spend a few hours there because of a mandatory meeting at two. Upon returning to campus, I found out that my class was not really cancelled and that I had to basically run to class. Luckily, no one knew until we were all already late for class.

Then today my film class had a field trip to the museum of chinese cinema history. I really enjoyed this museum as well, although I dont necessarily get a whole lot out of it because there is much more in Chinese than there is in English to explain exhibits. Still, the costumes they had were pretty awesome and we did get to see about fifteen minutes of an imax show for free (the show is supposed to cost 50rmb). From visiting these two museums and from my classes, I'm finally beginning to understand just how omnipresent the government is, or at least seems to be. I'm not sure yet how to best express what I'm experiencing and witnessing. All I can say right now is it's unlike anything I've ever known and I'm glad that I chose to come here because it really is eye-opening. I think deciding to study abroad in China is one of my best choices so far.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I'm planning to go to the art market with Kathleen. And then on Saturday I'm supposed to be going to the dirt market with Adriane. I'm not a hundred percent sure about what either of these markets have, but I'm excited to explore. Next weekend is our Great Wall trip too. :)

It snowed again today and I remembered to take a picture of it this time. I think it's kind of unusual for it to snow three days in a row. Granted, it's not much more than an inch but precipitation here isn't exactly a common occurance, especially snow. Although I've been enjoying it, I hope it starts to warm up soon because it's bitter outside and walking to and from class always leaves me pretty much numb. I guess spring will be here soon enough. I should probably try to go to bed early tonight because I've been so tired lately. Later!