Countdown to Yunnan: 1 day

It's been a busy week. Every week is a busy week, but this week especially. I had a topic proposal report due on Tuesday (for the essay/presentation 5th years have to give at the end of the term, entirely in Chinese...), homework to do, dictations to study for, and a test tomorrow (right before we leave T_T) We're leaving for our long trips this weekend; I'm going on the Yunnan trip and we're leaving on Saturday at 6:45 AM, bright and early. I've also been preparing for that. I am going to Carrefour (家乐福. French Walmart. I <3 Carrefour!) with Jenn Fung today. I go there a lot. I just went yesterday with Kate, and now I'm going back today. I just can't get enough apparently.

I'm pretty excited for this trip. I love traveling. We're going to be doing a lot of hiking on this trip, so I picked up a pair of a semi-hiking/outdoorsy shoes yesterday. I need to get an extra battery and another memory card for my camera. I'm going to take a loooooottttttt of pictures. My neck will be sore the entire time, but it will be worth it! We're going to Kunming, Dali, Zhongdian (Shangri-la!!), Napa Village, Tiger Leaping Gorge and some other places in between. I'm not even sure, but who cares! It's going to be great!

I'm getting back from the long trip on the 30th and right after that is the is National Day in China. It's very special this year because it's the 60th anniversary of the PRC, so China is going all out. It's a pretty big deal over here. There are posters EVERYWHERE; the government has put a lot of effort into the anniversary (even more than the Olympics. Pretty hardcore). I have have a break until October 5th for the Mid Autumn Moon festival. 吃月饼的时候！Time to eat moon cake, and lots of it. Even Starbucks sells moon cakes here.

Originally, I was planning on going to Shanghai for the break, but train tickets are all sold-out, or hard to come by. Everyone wants to travel during the break! It sucks, but there isn't much I can do about it. I guess I will just hang around Beijing, and work on my essay and powerpoint presentation for Chinese class. I have to write about my travels in Yunnan and give a presentation to boot. And of course, all in Chinese.

So, remember the new washing machine that I was oh-so excited about in my last post?

WELL, despite it being new, it SUCKS and doesn't work properly. So, in preparation for my trip, I've been hand washing my clothes for the past three nights. It's a good work out, but it leaves my hands really dry. Not to mention, it just eats up a lot of my time ;p I should probably start studying for my exam tomorrow. I met with my tutor earlier and she went through a lot of the stuff that I have to know with me. I love my tutor! She's really patient with me, and she's just adorable and super nice.

Here are some pictures I promised from last time:


Both these pictures were taken at Hou Hai (后海). I love the colors of both these pictures. I feel happy and cheery every time I look at them :)

I probably won't be posting until I get back from Yunnan (with AWESOME pictures), so look for new posts then!