Back again!

Alright, it feels like it's been the longest week ever and I finally have some downtime to tell you guys about it!

So, went to Jingdezhen over the weekend as an EAP/UC planned trip so everyone on the program went...or at least was supposed to go. Three of my good friends OVERSLEPT and missed the plane. And yes, I DID try to call them before we got on the bus to the airport but there was no answer. One of my friends tried to get to the airport in time but just missed the plane...and it was tragic. And so of course, me, being the caring friend that I am, acted as the liason between them and the people running the trip and before they decided to board a 15 hour train ride from Shanghai to Jingdezhen, we were able to simply reschedule their flights to the next day, YAY. But anyhow, the first part of the trip was slightly stressful with all the chaos O_o.

Jingdezhen was...alright. It could've been done in two days but we were there for a full four days. Oi... But it was still fun. Jingdezhen is supposedly the porcelain capital of the world so the first day we made our own pottery and our own plate designs, etc. Remember doing arts and crafts in elementary school? Well nothing much has changed - everyone's still doesn't look that great, haha. Including mine! However, Ellen, being the amazing Chinese painting person that she is, made this GORGEOUS plate. I offered her $100 for it but she wouldn't accept =(. It was still fun though, and I got to throw clay (uh...is that the right term?). Makes me want to take up pottery...even though all of the clay things I made look like deformed cups.

The second day we went out into the countryside to a small village, Yaoli. It was pretty cool being able to see what a small village in China is like...not to mention the scenery...sooo pretty! We got to hike around in the hills and it was so nice! Although a bit touristy... Pictures will come later =).

The rest of the trip as a series of factories and museums highlighting the achievements in pottery and stuff. It's actually really cool how they made all this stuff. People who shape pottery are crazy! Especially the gigantic ones... And then all the carving and artwork on the outside. So pretty! But the most entertaining thing on the trip was the damn circle game... Andrew decided to teach the rest of us this STUPID game where you make a circle with your fingers below your waste and if you get someone to look at it, you can sock 'em. Yeah, my little bro has definitely played this game with me too... But yeah, that was able to provide hours of endless amusement...and it's still continuing to this day. How sad...lol.

Anyway, finally back in Shanghai for a relatively extended period of time - don't leave for Beijing until next Wednesday night. Already went to get our visa stuff taken care of and did some shopping yesterday (got three pairs of jeans and some Converse shoes!) I think I need to actually start doing work now... Boo...

Nobody writes me anything! You people suck! =P Just kidding <3