Hello from Hangzhou, China! I made it! I have been here for only a few days but it feels like I've been here for a lifetime, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

The trip here was filled with lots of, excitement? suspense? Not sure quite what the right word is. My parents and I were finally able to, the night before, fit all my stuff into the suitcases. But then, at 5 in the morning at Reagan National Airport, it turns out each of my suitcases was five pounds over. I thought they'd make us pay maybe $50 dollars or something. No... turns out the price for ten pounds overweight is... $700!! Which I still don't understand, at all. So then while Mom and I figured out what to take out (turns out my toiletry bag was ridiculously heavy) my Dad ran around the airport trying to find another suitcase so that I wouldn't have to pay such a ridiculous fee. Luckily we came to the airport early enough that none of that was a problem and I thought I was home free. But then, my airplane wound up having some sort of mechanical problem, the gas was at a weird level or something, we had to go back to the gate and wait around for a while. I only had one and a half or so hours of a connection in Chicago so my time was short. Finally it was deemed the flight would be canceled. OH NO! Talk about the worst possible timing for a cancelled flight. Luckily there happened to be another flight leaving at 8:40 (which gave me exactly 10 minutes to find my Shanghai flight) which had nobody on it -- and my bags all made it. All I can say is that what a stressful first 6 hours of travel.

The flight to Shanghai itself was actually pretty okay. There were a lots of other Midd kids and CET students on the flight so it was entertaining and made the time by go quicker than it might have otherwise. Landing in China was the most confusing period -- because we were exhausted, and very disoriented. But a bunch of roommates were there waiting for us (not mine - she was in class) and then we took the bus back and we sang some and I slept a bunch and it was very entertaining.

Hangzhou is said to be the most beautiful city in China and also the hottest. IT IS SO HOT!!!! I think the heat index is over 100 degrees. I have never sweat so much in my life (T.M.I.) Luckily our roommates all also think it's ridiculously hot so I dont' feel so wimpy complaining about it. I'm still trying to figure out how to use chopsticks. I make a fool out of myself at almost every meal (including today's breakfast when I dropped my baozi and gave up on eating it- Ariel woudl like me to add the bowl also turned over due to the force at which I dropped my baozi) They do also have spoons at every meal - and I first thought my roommate was only using them to be nice to me - but actually they use it to help them eat all sorts of food. So maybe I'm getting the hang of it. I haven't starved yet though, which I take to be a good sign.

I will write more on the next post but wanted to let you all know I am doing well, miss you all a lot, and am trying to live up as much as I can every day. Classes start Monday which I'm kind of excited about - because I miss my routines. Once I figure out how to get blogspot and facebook things will be updated more often - since I won't have to rely on friends (thanks, Ariel!) to use their computers.

Love you all and please add me to your skype: elise.w.cohen.

Elise/ 孔文莉／ Kong Wenli

TOP 6 THINGS TO TALK ABOUT NEXT BLOG:
1. Yeshi! (Night market!) = 30 yuan = $5 = all 10 seasons of Friends
2. Room! Shower in the room! Air conditioning! Balcony!
3. Trying to talk to cell phone representatives! Bank representatives!
4. How white my skin is! How that's pretty! How I am REALLY white!
5. Trials and tribulations to get facebook! Blogspot!
6. Chinese name! Kong Wenli! Meaning!

You're only [a few] days away..!

So this is my first blog, ever. I saw Julie & Julia the other day (FABULOUS movie by the way - I'll be the millionth person to say Meryl Streep is the most talented actress around) and was inspired by the way Julie Powell's blog "moved" so many people. Now I'm not trying to impress any publishers to make my blog into a book deal which will then turn into a movie but I do hope I'll be able to keep up with this blog enough to keep everyone informed about my studying abroad in China! Aah! So enjoy, comment if you like, and know I miss you!

So I am leaving for China in almost exactly 2.5 days. I am proud of the fact that I am actually still breathing and doing okay, even if I have a LOT of packing left to do. The house is kind of a disaster zone - I've been taking up my parent's chairs and the washer/dryer, as well as the entire upstairs hallway. But I figure I'll be done very soon.

I think part of the reason I'm feeling pretty great about going abroad is due to how amazing language school was. The picture is of all the San Nianji's (I'm on my computer right now that doesn't recognize/read Chinese characters) or third year's this summer. I never thought spending 4 hours in class plus another 6-8 hours (more or less) doing homework and learning characters would be as fabulous as it was. We all agreed it was due to our teachers, who were forced to live with us, eat Atwater food (which got worse and worse as the summer progressed), and hang out with us all the time, that made the most difference. I plan on meeting up with as many teachers as I can after Hanzghou when I go to visit Beijing/Shanghai. I'm definitely thankful for that experience, and for knowing that I won't make as huge a fool out of myself as I might have had I not been through that intensive immersion experience.

But for now, everything's pretty much ready. I (or more like my Dad) bought the paper back Deathly Hallows, so I'm hoping that tides me over for the majority of the flight. Let the games begin.