Today was a long day, but thankfully I have no homework tonight, so I should be able to go to bed soon. The day started out rough...super early and super polluted. I couldn't tell if it was overcast or polluted, so I didn't think to grab my umbrella this morning. I had a slow start and then ran off to my first class of the day. I had so much trouble staying awake and paying attention. After class, I went to the CIEE office to work on my homework during the time between my classes. The teachers there were nice enough to brew some coffee for me -- but I had to grind the coffee beans myself! Imo, a small price to pay for a cup of coffee. Towards the end of my break it started raining, I borrowed an umbrella from a friend so I could run out and grab some lunch.

After lunch, I headed off to my second class of the day. Writing class isn't terribly interesting. It just kind of seems to drag on and on and on. She gave me a packet to fill out for homework, but it isn't due until after the holiday break. Next up was Hanyu class. By this time, I was starting to slow down again...and I was hungry. We spent the whole class reviewing the homework assignment from the night before, so it wasn't too bad. I have a lot of work to do for this class for Thursday. He assigned several book exercises. I also have to interview 2-3 Chinese people on what they think is the ideal job and why and have that to turn in for Friday. At least Friday starts the National Holiday week!

Next after Hanyu was my tutoring session, which I had to move from Monday since I didn't make it back from Xi'an in time. I didn't really have any homework to do and I didn't want it to be a boring session, so I amused my tutor by performing magic tricks for her. She liked them so much that she insisted on recording one on her phone so she could show her friends. I had her help me translate a few sentences into Chinese so I can work on improving my language skills so I can eventually give street magic a try! It was a really good session and we ended up talking about a whole bunch of things; from magic to food to cities to acupuncture....it was all over the place. I feel like I got a lot of good practice in :) I also told her for my next tutoring session a few things I want to learn so she has some idea on a few things I want to work on.

By the time my session ended, it was pouring rain. I had no jacket, no umbrella and was wearing flip flops. Nothing to do but suck it up and walk back to the dorms. I got really lucky and halfway through my walk back, a BeiDa student ran up to me. She asked me where I was going and offered to share her umbrella with me. I was really surprised. We started talking a bit during the walk. She is a 3rd year student at BeiDa studying law. Apparently she thought I was a freshman and couldn't believe that I was a year older than her (which means I am addressed as "师姐” (shi jie) by her). Besides law she is also studying Japanese and likes anime. Her Chinese was so fast! I had trouble keeping up with what she was saying but I was able to hold up pretty well. She spoke a little English too, so between that we were able to communicate pretty well. She ended up walking me all of the way back to the global village and we exchanged phone numbers^.^ She was really sweet! I hope I get to meet up with her in the future :)

After returning to the global village, I skyped with my parents before running out to the convenience store to get a pack of instant ramen. It was so cold and muggy, I needed something hot and wasn't in the mood to go to a restaurant to get something to eat. Hung around the dorms for a while and talked to class mates. I ended up talking a lot later than I was expecting, but since I have no work to do tonight, I'm fine with that. I need a break sometimes I guess. I hope this weather gets nicer because I'm totally not in the mood to do my Hanyu homework tomorrow. I was hoping to start it to night, but no luck! Guess I'll just have to hop on that tomorrow. Also my vacation for National Holiday starts on Friday, so I want to sit down and start planning out a few things that I want to do with my time off. I have 5 days in Beijing and then 4 days of hiking/living in a rural village in the Shanxi province. I'm super excited!