The First Week-

I have been here for a week now and I am enjoying myself immensely and I feel that I am almost over adjusting to the 13 hour time difference although it may take me a while to get used to the fact that everyone is a day behind me.  As I am going to bed, you folks are all still a few hours away from waking up.  The only positive aspect of being jetlagged is that I have been waking up around 5:30am every morning and going for a run on the track that is just outside our building (which means I am usually in bed by 9:30 or 10pm).  Our group of 11 people are living in a small building on the grounds of the Guanghua boarding school.  Our rooms consist of a bedroom, a living room and a bathroom.  Due to my delayed arrival to the school, everyone had paired up with a roommate and I was the odd one out so I am lucky enough to have a room to myself.  The rooms are pretty nice and the thing I am most excited about is that the shower and hot water work really well so I will not have to endure any bucket showers this time around in Asia!  

My bedroom

My very own water cooler 

The view from my bedroom window

The living room which includes a delightful internet hook-up

I felt it was necessary to include a picture of the bathroom

The Amazing water heater which allows for a solid 10 minute hot shower

We also get 3 meals a day provided by the school which have been delicious so far.  We usually get eggs, warm soy milk and fried bread.  Lunch and dinner usually consist of rice with 3 or 4 entrees to choose from and either a banana or an orange.  I am pretty sure I may never want to see white rice again when I return to the states but I think I can survive for 4 months. 

Breakfast

Wontons!

Eggplant, rice and duck  (or that's what we wanted to believe it was)

Here is the usual setup for our meals and my new friend Danielle