Never Been So Glad to Take a Shower

August 29

Well here I am. All unpacked in my dorm in Xiamen. All of my flights were good, without any major problems. All my luggage made it, which is always a treat. The plane rides over were kind of surreal in a way. I was sitting there trying to realize that I’m actually going somewhere and it’s not someplace familiar in any way. The other students in my group all seem nice and first impressions have been formed. Some I like and some I’d rather not carry on any particularly long conversations with.

Although my travel over here couldn’t have been more smooth, I would not say it was at all relaxing. I’m not even sure how long I’ve been up at this point, but until about 20 minutes ago, it had been that same amount of time since I’d had a shower. Have I mentioned that it’s absurdly, heinously hot? So, it was absurdly hot and we were all jet-lagged and we had to do a sort of scavenger hunt around the city/campus which reminds me of a Chinese version of OSU the way the city and campus intertwine. Anyway, all I can say is, after hours upon hours of travel immediately followed by hauling 100 pounds of luggage up 5 flights of stairs (which, might I add, I am looking forward to scaling multiple times a day), followed by hours upon hours of wandering around shops and random places in Xiamen in the overwhelming tropical heat, I have never felt so disgusting and nasty and tired in my life (well, I’ve probably been more tired, but definitely not as gross).

I kept thinking to myself as we walked through the streets, “At least after sweating all day walking to and from class we’ll be able to chill out and swim in the ocean.” This leads me to bomb shell number one: yeah, um, China pollutes their water so badly that you pretty much don’t want to get in it…ever…unless you want poop and herpes water running all over you. But, I do hear there’s a swimming pool somewhere.

So, after wandering the streets and all that, we made our first 15 minute walk to where I believe the majority, if not all, of my classes are going to be. Oh, and it was ridiculously hot outside. We had a Chinese dinner and talked about some introductory stuff for the semester and headed back to unpack, shower, and rest; shower in a European-style shower (which I don’t mind at all, you just have to get used to stooping over a toilet when you’re showering), and sleep on box springs since the Chinese don’t use mattresses. My hope was that I would also be able to get online and in contact with friends and family. Bomb shell number 2: oh yeah, those computer labs and internet cafes we told you about? Yeah, those are about a 15 minute walk away and you have to pay to use them. And the internet in your room, you have to pay for that too if you want it, but it will take a while get set up. Great. So to all of you who have been wondering where the H I have been, I’ve been wallowing in self-pity.

Bomb shell number 3: right, yeah, um, by the way, in case you were wondering, you know how the Chinese take school really seriously? Well, Xiamen University has a 10:00pm curfew Sunday through Thursday and 12:00am Friday and Saturday. ..oh, and you have class on Saturday.

Mother of Pearl.

So, I’m trying to take this all in and focus on the positives. The campus is gorgeous; I’ll put pictures up as I get them, since the photography hike I was going to do is definitely not happening in the sick heat. I’ll have internet in my room at some point, in which case I’ll be able to Skype everyone and all that. And, I am in China, which most people don’t get to do. So I’m hoping by the time 10:00 rolls around tomorrow night I’ll be too tired to be pissed off and I’ll sail away to dreamland on my non-bed.

Love you all.