Monsoon Season Has Arrived

The last week and a half since the Qingdao trip has flown by. Some cool/interesting things that have transpired recently: a few bball games against Yantai U. students, the discovery of "Child Labor" (a Korean restaurant that only employs kids under 12), the discovery of a great jiaozi guan (dumpling restaurant), exploring the night market more, a new Chinese culture class that we have everyday taught in Chinese by a professor at Yantai U., discovering a Korean bakery that has real bagels and bread, and the coming of monsoon season. By monsoon, I seriously mean monsoon. It has been pouring for a week straight with practically no periods of sun. This past Friday we literally couldn't make it to class because there were 2 feet of water on the ground. You practically have to swim to get around. I've never seen anything like it. Tonight on our cab ride home we drive through a few feet of water on the road. Haha, luckily we didn't stall out and made it back to the dorm alright. The forecast says we're due for some better weather next week so hopefully we'll get some. On Friday we took our last test of the program (not counting the placement test that we took at the beginning of the program and the final exam). Another thing that transpired over the last week or so is the plan to go to Korea in between the Summer and Fall programs. Charlie and I are flying out from Yantai to Seoul and then back to Beijing for the fall program. We found out that we have to leave the country and reapply for a visa since the Chinese government changed their rules. I'm excited to explore Korea and see my friend there. It will be a nice break from the summer program which will definitely be needed. In the coming week I will talk more about what has been going on recently and change the blog around a bit with more links/pictures/different YouTube clips.