Circles of Disappointment

(Above quote is credited to my lovely English friend,Rosie, who described Oreos as "circles of disappointment", which, they are most definitely NOT. They're delicious circles of chocolate goodiness and empty calories)

So, went to WuDaoKou today. Another district geared towards International Students. it's AMAZINGGGG. Love it! Lots of restaurants and cafes and... restaurants. I went with some English students in search for an English-Chinese dictionary, but who knew it was such a hassle to find one? So many salespeople! Every person would show me a dictionary and go, this also translates into Korean (even though I asked for an English Chinese dictionary). I simply stared blankly at them,nodded, and walked away. I'm tired of being mistaken for being Korean in my own damn country.I wish they'd elarnt o give us SPACE when we walk into their store/section. It's kinda difficult to shop with someone breathing down your neck and asking, "KanYiKan,mah?" No,lady, if I want to see it,I'll ask you myself,thank you very much.

Yesterday, I ventured out to SanLiTun, a district designated for foreign embassies. Kinda like Zamalek, very touristy with plenty of American/European stores. I found this lovely little restaurant/cafe,which was recommended in my little Luxe travel book. Speaking of Travel books,why does China not sell any travel books for China? Don't they ever think there are people who come to China UNprepared? (Like yours truly) Yes,I went looking for Travel books for China, but couldn't find any. Anyways,back to this little cafe, very cute, with Spanish music playing lightly in the background and Spanish wine (yum!) and free wifi! The prices were very much American prices,but worth it!

Going off topic, we were studying the pros and cons of bicycling (lesson one) and were talking about the pros and cons of taking the train and the taxis. We all thought taking the metro was a lot easier, but uh,NO.

It takes forever on the train because it waits like a minute at every station and I have to take a bus to the train station,so that takes another 15 minutes. It's such a hassle. I think I'll stick with taking cabs. They're only a few yuan more, like a dollar, if you split ti with other people. I think I'll only take the metro if I have the time and patience (which I'm thinking will be quite rare). In a way, Beijing reminds me of Cairo- traffic for the better part of the day and at the most random times of the day/night.

Hm,what else? I'm planning to hit KTV this weekend! So exciting! All my classmates will know I can't sing for my life, but its ok because all fo us will be very drunk and well, I don't have a lot of shame when it comes to singing. This semester will involve studying ahrd during the week and partying our butts off on the weekend!!! My mum was tellling me how studying in China would do me good because I'd come back to the States with better studying habits. However,I think my studying habits are quite good and work well enough for me!

That's it for now, I'll be seeing you peeps soon (next week,keNeng?)