Third Post - Chengdu

Sam is a friend of Max Berson, a friend of mine from Grinnell. He has lived in China for two eyars and went to Berkeley for undergrad. He, Alex, and Rick, are all 25 y/o Americans who live here in Chengdu. You will hear about them a lot.

Yesterday I woke up early, around 7, and read in bed til 9, wrote a bit and then walked to the coffee shop to meet up with Alex. It was great to have 2 americanos, which cost a little bit less than a dinner for 3 people (40RMB), first coffee in three days. I started studying mandarin from a book I borrowed from Sam, read a few chapters and started to put some things together. Coffee is conveniently a cognate (kaifei) and the tones are slowly coming together. Then Alex and I went back to his apartment, he did some work and I played some video games, then we went to Subway with Sam. Subway was alright, very expensive in contrast with most places, I got a meatball sub, which they put lettuce and american cheese on, and the marinara was really thin so I had them add some bbq sauce which turned out well. Then Sam and I went to Trustmart, which I think is owned by Walmart. I bought a set of sheets, a lamp, a converter, toothpaste, etc. I also had to buy a plastic bag, a small step towards environmentalism in China. Then we came home, it was really hot so we just hung out in the living room for a while then we went over to Alex's house and played some Halo, I started writing chinese characters, which brought back memories of the chinese calligraphy class I took with Andrew Hsieh's wife back at Grinnell. Then we went out for dinner in the neighborhood and went back home to shower. Alex and Rick came over around 11, we drank some baijaio (firewater) and then walked down the block to Little Bar, where we had some drinks with some nice Tibetan ladies. We talked there for a while, Alex went home soon after, then we went by the convenience store and bought some beers and came upstairs and listened to music and talked for a while. Rick and the two Tibetans left around five and Sam and I stayed up talking til 615, the sun was coming up and I heard a rooster crow twice. It was the first day that I felt really glad I'm here, that my friends here are great, and that as long as you keep an open mind and a smile on your face, shit will be well. Also, keeping an ever-open ear for Chinese is crucial, as is keeping up the diligence of writing and studying every day. I try to use my new words more and more, and I know now that I made the right move. But the first day was a huge culture shock, and last night at the bar, I busted out the meditation I know the two Tibetan girls dropped their jaws and Rick and Sam were just as surprised that I knew some Tibetan. So things are really good, it was a bit uncertain at first but I think it's going to be great.