Good Food Day

I didn't blog yesterday. Sorry!

Yesterday I went to class. Tanner hung out in my dorm room and snooped in all my stuff.

We went to have jiaozi 饺子for lunch. Jiaozi are steamed stuffed dumplings, in America they are often fried and called pot stickers. It's a good lunch food, and you can watch the restaurant employees making them, so you know they are fresh.

We were going to go to a temple in town but by the time we finished looking around campus and eating lunch we didn't have much time. So instead we walked out South Gate and then around to West Gate. We did some shopping. We got bubble tea. Which is always served warm in China, unless you ask for it cold. Tanner thinks this is kinda weird. We walked around a mall near my campus. We bought Christmas gifts for our families. Then I decided I wanted American food. So we went to Peter's Tex-Mex for dinner. We had so much food. It was pretty good. I had so much fun. It's a really nice atmosphere in Pete's, we hung around and had a long dinner. I got ice cream! Real ice cream, I haven't had real ice cream in four months. It was delicious.

Today we are going to Wenshu temple. I've been once, but it was when I first arrived, so it will be nice to go with Tanner.

We have big plans.

Tonight my roommate Lisa and her Chinese friend Xiao Feng want to go out for Hot Pot with us. I usually like hot pot, but it might be too much for Tanner. We will see. Hot Pot is a metal bowl of hot spiced oil set into the table over a gas burner. It's not made with vegetable oil. You gently place meat and vegetables into the oil to cook, then dig them out and eat them. There is also a dipping sauce, which is heavy with oil. Lisa is a vegetarian. Vegetables are popular. But it won't be the same without meat. Lisa might not even like it since the oil has animal fat in it. I foresee disaster.

Then on Friday we have a lot of plans. At 5:30 the Sichuan University students who studied last year at the University of Washington are throwing a Christmas party. They planned games and a raffle, I like the Chinese students, I think it will be fun. It might be a little tough on Tanner, having to listen to a lot of Chinese mixed in with English. Then afterwards we are having a surprise party for Ben, who is going back to America sometime soon. He recently broke his ankle too, so it will be nice to do something for him. This will be just the students in my program and some friends of Ben's, so Tanner will get to meet everyone finally. We will have a good time. I'm sure after that most of us will go to a club or a bar.

Saturday at 1:30 in the afternoon we leave for our "Mountain Retreat." We are going to a nearby mountain, to a hotel/lodge in the pine forest. We are staying there through Sunday afternoon. We are going to eat good food, play games and probably drink a lot. Then on Sunday we are moving down the mountain to a Hot Springs. Sunday evening through Monday midday we are staying at the Hot Springs.

I will post photos later today. And Tanner can update tonight about China.