Ants in Pants?

(Cady)

Hello everyone!

So, today Nick figured out that we leave Hangzhou exactly three weeks from yesterday. Wow. It's amazing to me that we've already been in Hangzhou for over two weeks, and even more astonishing that we are leaving in what now seems like a very short amount of time. We're switching host brothers and sisters this Friday too! It's very bitter-sweet I think. I'm going to miss Eve a lot. I have now taken to calling her Pinky because she's rather cute and small and in love with the color pink. On the other hand, I really like my second host sister, Doris. I haven't had the chance to spend a lot of time with her yet, even though she's in class five with me. Actually, I'm the only member of Team China that's going to be in the same class for the entire exchange which also has it's good and bad points. I'm happy with the situation though because I'll still be able to see Eve every day and I'll be able to become closer with the classmates I'm already friends with. Not to mention there's still some kids in my class that I've never even talked to. That may sound ridiculous, but keep in mind that there are about fifty kids in each class, and not all of them are outgoing enough to just come up and talk to me. I'm making progress on that front though, never fear.

I think the weekend has been thoroughly covered, seeing as how Em did the blog for yesterday and we spent pretty much the entire day together. Although it was just a weird coincidence that we both had pancake disasters on the same morning. I'm not sure if anyone mentioned this, but we did make it to KTV on Friday night, which was lots of fun. We'll definitely be back for Ella's birthday and possibly sooner if time allows. It's pretty much the perfect night out, well for Nick and I at least. Seriously, a private room where you hang out with your friends and sing all night long- what more could we ask for? Anyways, Em ended up sleeping over last night so this morning was one big getting ready for school party. Since we had a "guest," we ate breakfast at home instead of on the road, which ended up making Eve late to school. I mention this because it's really quite funny what happens when someone is late to Hangzhou High School. There are class meetings every Tuesday during eighth period where the kids who were late to school throughout the past week have to sing songs for the class. It's really very funny, though some kids are very embarrassed by the ritual. Eve says that since I was late today too (even though it's not on record) she's going to make me sing with her tomorrow. So be it. Speaking of Eve, she just came running up to the third floor with a large cup of milk tea for me that her little brother brought home. It's like my prayers being answered!

Anyways, our first class this morning was Chinese. We focused on shopping, which would have probably come in handy before going yesterday with Emily and Ella, but better late than never. Then we had private PE which turned into another day of cheerleading. Hey, I thought it was pretty fun. As I may have said before, we're all pretty good at laughing at ourselves when it comes to that sort of a thing. Then we used some weight training equipment, did an ab workout, and finished with some strength training on the mats. I told our gym teacher that we're going to bring her back to America so that she can whip us into shape every day. Lucky for us, lunch was next- we always feel very ready for lunch after private PE. Then English corner! There were actually a lot of kids waiting for us today when we got there, which was naturally very exciting. As Em mentioned, we met the kids who are coming to America. They all seem very curious and outgoing so I think that they'll find socializing at DS only minimally scarring. Oh, I'm only kidding, I know they're going to have a blast in America. We'll make sure of it. "Team America" (not to be confused with the film), as we informed them they would be called from now on, is made up of Ivan, Alice, Sam, and Bob. Two girls and two boys- sound familiar? A group of girls from my class came to English corner too, including both of my host sisters. Crazy Michael who refers to everyone, including Terry (though we informed him today that only Team China could speak to her that way), as "sexy" showed up too. Good turn out today- hopefully it continues to grow.

After that it was once again time for afternoon classes. I had to explain the term "ants in your pants" to my desk mate, Garbo, because I was particularly energetic today. I only spent one period journaling because Garbo and I talked all through Geography and History. The first because she, along with the rest of the class, never pays attention during Geography, and the second because we ended up having so much fun during the first. Then eighth period was running class which is where the entire sophomore grade runs two laps around the track and then splits off to have PE. So badminton, as usual. Free Mori with Eve and Drew after school. I have a cinnamon walnut roll for tomorrow morning. Tonight we mixed things up a bit by going out to dinner. Eve's parents took us out to dinner at a fancy restaurant along West Lake. The food was fantastic, and the waiters at this obsessive-compulsive way of filling up your teacup literally the second you drained it. Now that's what I call service. For my family's reference, I had shrimp, scallops, and crab legs tonight all of which I enjoyed very much. Now, I'm a pretty bold eater but shellfish has never really whet my appetite. As Em said this morning though, I am now completely unfazed by anything edible at this point, and I actually enjoy pretty much everything I try. I've been playing with the idea of trying the whole fried scorpions on Hefeng Street because, honestly, what's more badass (can I say that on the blog?) than eating scorpion?

Well, I will leave you with happy thoughts of exotic (and maybe kind of scary) food. As always, I hope all is well in Massachusetts. Is it still a winter wonderland? All I have to say is hah hah. See you all in three weeks!