Thunderstorms are delicious.

Hey guys, guess what? It's my favorite weather! That's right, thunderstorms! Everyone kept saying that the weather in Beijing in summer was terrible, but I don't know what they were talking about, it's all been pretty good so far. Actually, I have been enjoying the weather (no sarcasm intended.) Yesterday it was really nice, better than in Orange County. Apparently it was because it was after a rain though, today was really smoggy and decently humid. However, I came here expecting to be swimming in humidity, and so I'm actually pretty happy. (The smog is pretty bad though.)

So catching up on yesterday, after my roommate woke me up (I've met her now!) I considered going back to sleep, but finally decided to call my parents since I didn't get a chance when I got back (you guys were all having fun without me.) So I went to the Ten Years After Cafe in the dorm complex that was really nice, and they had free wifi (though I just recently heard that they took 30 min for some toast and cereal. better not go there in a hurry.)

There was a really cute kid running around too, though there's kinda an endless supply of cute kids and small animals around here.

Afterwards I wanted to go the the UCEAP office to check in, but didn't quite know where to go, so I started heading back, when I heard English! Yaaay! There was a group of people standing outside the plaza area talking, and I went and asked if they were UCEAP students. They were!

Grace, Evelyn and me

Michelle

So we all ended up going to the office together, and were told that the mobile phones we ordered weren't in yet, but we could come back when Dong laoshi was in again between 4 and 6. 

So a few hours later I went back and got my phone (and a few other goodies from a pile of donations from previous students who didn't want to take it home.) Later I came down from my room to get food and withdraw from the bank, and met Grace along the way. We both needed to go to the bank and eat, so we went together to the bank, and then Grace needed to go to the office, so I went with her, and we met a bunch of other UCEAP kids there. We were told that everyone was planning to go out to eat together later, so we decided to meet up with them.

We ended up going to a mall a few blocks down the street.

Even though cars have the right-of-way in China, there are a lot of pedestrian bridges. This one was pretty legit.

Walking through the rollerskate park.

There were 15 of us. The food was really delicious.

So gooooood, and really cheap compared to in CA. (Reaaaaaally cheap.) We stopped by a giant department/supermarket store on the way back, then headed home.

For those who do. Lenovo.

That's when I fell back into my room and pulled my computer out for a few minutes until falling asleep at my desk, at which point I decided it was time to go to bed. Hurray for my first day in China! ✌