Puppy!!!!!

I know it's been three years since I last posted, but don't worry, I'm alive and well and surviving despite the hazardous levels of smog sitting outside the apartment. This won't be too extensive of a post, as not much has happened in the past two weeks.

Soo my host mom did up getting me a dog, for some godforsaken reason. Well, a good reason is that she knew that I liked dogs, but she sure as heck doesn't and neither does Billy. Fortunately, they seem to like the little Jack Russell terrier, which Billy named Alex. I had JUST sat down to do my homework when I heard my mom repeatedly calling my name, telling me to come out of my room. Annoyed, I opened my bedroom door only to have turned my mood around and see little Alex resting in my mom's arm. When I held him, he was shaking a bit, but as soon as I put him on the ground, he started manically dashing about the house. Here's a picture:

This was one of two pictures that turned out well, because the energetic thing could not seem to hold still. Here is a series of the graceful attempts:

He's three months old and kind of precious. He sleeps with me on my bed, because if I put him anywhere else he creates shrill yet heartbreaking noises until I cuddle him again. I really can't complain.

Last weekend, I went to the Bird's Nest with my family to watch one of the more unusual gargantuan mechanical animal performances I've seen. It was called "French Mechanical 'Longma' [dragon horse] Performance in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the Establishment of China-France Diplomatic Relations." It was right outside the Nest in the Olympic park. Hundreds gathered to watch a giant mechanical spider walk through fake snow which battled a mechanical dragon horse for about 5 minutes. I didn't exactly see the significance of the two animals and France and China, but it was somewhat entertaining. The dragon horse disappeared and we mostly saw the giant mechanical spider doing weird things with its legs while it snowed bubbles for about a half hour.

I don't think the French nor the Chinese thought the performance out too well because, to the horror of many Chinese people surrounding me, the fake snow started seeping under the banisters and many people left halfway through the performance in hopes of keeping their feet dry.

I stayed a little longer because I didn't care about getting my feet a bit damp, but we left early anyway.

I also had my first solo excursion to a different district. For history extra credit, students were to go to the place where the last Ming Emperor hung himself. It sounds eerie, but it happened around 300 years ago so anything that happened that long ago isn't scary. I had to find my way from the subway to the park where the memorial was. It took me 45 minutes to walk a distance of about 2 miles. I couldn't have done it without the help of the 11th person I asked for directions, a middle aged Chinese man who happened to be going the same way as I was going. He didn't really understand that I knew how to speak Chinese until about five minutes into our walk, when he figured it out and stopped silently pointing where to go and started enthusiastically telling me about the history of the area where we were walking by until he sent me off into the park. 

Every year, SYA students have a tones competition, which is this competition among all the students to write the correct tones on phonetic Chinese words. This year, me and four other students wrote all the tones perfectly. I wasn't that surprised about winning because of my incredible advantage over everyone as being a native speaker without an accent. I'm still happy because we got cool shirts that we can wear with our uniforms, as well as an unspoken superiority over everyone else because of our shirts.

Jon and I wearing our prizes. They read, "Zhùyì shēngdiào," or "watch your tones.

By the way, my hair isn't that long anymore. I got a haircut and cut off about four inches, which, in my mind, is basically the equivalent of a foot. It was a 68 kuai haircut, or a little over $11, and I got my own private room which had a tv in it.

I think I'm going to try out for the cheer team at Westfield High School next year. The tumbling is significantly more serious than it is at Salinas High, as at SHS I was the only one on the team who had a back handspring while everyone on the WHS team has a back handspring, the majority of them having a back tuck. If those terms make no sense to you, just google them. I would try out by sending in videos of me doing whatever they want. I hadnt practiced any tumbling in the past year or so, so Jon (who is extremely enthusiastic about me trying out and decided that he is going help me practice tumbling with me whenever I practice, as well as learn the routines I need to know for tryouts) and I went to the soccer field to practice. We practiced on the turf even though there was a full blown soccer game going on with the Erfuzhong students, who never complained once.

I can officially say that I'm happy here. The ache of missing home has dissipated, and I've found the good in this place. I've embraced the bus rides to school. The convenience of this getting from place to place in this city is something I will literally never find anywhere else in the world. Hua Hou Gou Apartments and Xinjiekouwai Street are now my home, and I feel more independent here than I ever have. There's something about not having to ask for a ride to go places and only having to pay a few cents for easy and reliable transportation that is comforting. Sure, I'm a little paranoid about having my belongings stolen, but it's highly unlikely that it will happen now that I'm aware of what I need to do to protect them. Also, I've gotten in the groove of schoolwork. I can now do all my Chinese homework and studying done on the way to school and still get 90% and above on my tingxies. As for the rest of my classes, it's been pretty easy to figure out a schedule.

The puppy is crying for my attention now, so I've got to go. Yeah, that's right, I have priorities!