So I've just finished my first week in Harbin and my first week not speaking English. It's definitely been interesting and an eye opening experience. I've essentially been mute for the past week and have been extremely frustrated by my inability to communicate the simplest things. I have four classes that I'm taking, one is two days a week, two are three days a week, and the other is 4 days a week. They are all two hours long except for my four day a week class which is only one hour. I study about four to five hours a day, whether it is homework or random words and grammatical structures. I'm hoping that I'll get into the swing of things in the next couple weeks so I have some time to go and explore.

We went on a tour of the downtown area of our district when we got here. The Nangang district alone is probably larger than any city I've ever been in, so there is no shortage of shopping and entertainment options.

The other night we went to dinner with my friend's Chinese roommate and her friends and they took us to this huge German/Bavarian themed restaurant. All the waitresses were dressed in red and blue checkerboard dresses and the waiters in Leiderhosen. It was really strange. There was a slideshow with a ton of pictures of beer, even one with a ferret drinking out of a huge mug. I ate a chicken's heart there, I think I'll pass on that one the next time it's offered.