After getting a late start, Mark and I went directly to his classes at 8AM. Mark divided the class into teams of �Dog� �Cat� and �Mouse.� He told each team to make up test questions to ask of the other teams. The test was supposed to cover certain pronunciation, the movie �The Natural,� and baseball. Many of the questions the teams made up were about baseball.
During the next class, Mark told me to take over while he retrieved some graded papers from the office. I divided the class into teams.
During the next classes I stopped next door in Than�s classes to speak about my impressions of China both before and after I came. The classes seemed very interested in what I had to say.McDonalds
It was around this time that I noticed that the Chinese students were bringing in warm tea in clear bottles with flowers at the bottom of them. This seemed very strange.
I had lunch with Mark at McDonald�s. Mark got a chicken McNuggets while I got a cheeseburger, a Fanta (orange soft drink) and some fries. I saw a map which showed 26 McDonald�s in Shanghai.
We came back to the guesthouse and figured up the total amount needed for my trip to Beijing. I used up a lot of my money paying for the plane tickets.
Sometime that afternoon I went by myself to exchange $200 for Yuan. I went to the Friendship Store. Waiting on the teller seemed to take a long time. I saw a Chinese soldier in full camouflage fatigues standing nearby. I thought about taking his picture, but chose not to.
After I got back Mark game me a tour of the men�s dorm. They sleep 6 to a room on bunk beds. The beds are lined up against the wall. Then there is a few feet�maybe 4 or 5 feet, then a line of desks. The electricity is turned off at 10PM at night and doesn�t come on until the next morning. The students are not allowed to have heater or air conditioning (fans�etc.). They were having trouble with frostbite last winter. I felt really bad for the students. I�m considering taking up a collection for wool socks to send back with Mark.
We returned to Mark�s room. I discussed with Mark and Than about instrumental music in churches.
For supper we (Mark, Than, and I) took Lilian out to eat at Pizza Hut in People�s Square. We wanted to thank her for helping us with the plane reservations. We had a long bus ride to the Pizza Hut. We didn�t tell Lilian where we were going�only that it was a secret place that only Americans knew about. (HA). We got to Pizza Hut which is in an upstairs part of a building. It is near a KFC (probably in the same building). We got a number and waited.
We were seated after a several minutes. We decided to get a large and medium meat lovers pizza and a pitcher of Pepsi. Than, Mark, and I thought about going out and getting a few cans of Pepsi to put in the pitcher to save money instead of getting another pitcher of Pepsi. In China there are no unlimited refills.
The pizza came. It was good, but a little light on the tomato sauce. Still it was good to have a good American style meal in the middle of China.
I got up to use the rest room. Inside the urinals I noticed there was ice. I also noticed the squatters inside. I wanted to get a picture of the squatters, but I didn�t have my camera and there were people inside the restroom.
I got back to the table and asked Mark �What�s the deal with the ice inside the urinals?� He said it was where they store the ice for your drink. I told him inside the bathroom was a really good shot of the squatter and I wanted to try to get a picture of it. I went inside the restroom with my camera, but unfortunately there were people inside. I went back and waited for the restroom to become empty. After a few minutes I went back inside. Finding no one inside the restroom, I took a picture of the squatter.
Afterwards we left Pizza Hut. Than had to get back to the school to grade papers. So Mark, Lilian and I went about the task to find a Chinese flag. We went to several places. Many were charging a high price for such a small flag. Some even charged a much higher price when they saw we were westerners. Lilian said it would be best if we waited outside and let her go in an ask the price of a flag. We finally found one for 25 cents. All this walking for a 25 cent flag! And the flag is a piece of junk. It could easily unravel.
I got back to the room and found Chris doing laundry. I packed for our trip to Beijing. We were to leave at 8:45AM tomorrow on China Eastern Airlines. The flight was to be 2 hours.