So much for me wanting to try and post daily about my trip here, but whatever.
So where to start? The classes are going ok, the teachers that I have for the oral and verbal classes are both decently young. One looks like early 30s and the other in the mid 20s. The thing that amuses me is that I get just about the same sort of reaction (out of a small class at least) from teachers in China as I do as in the US. By that I mean I seem to be allowed to joke around or be late and they seem to be pretty cool with it. A lot of the kids in both my classes would probably tell you that I'm the teacher's pet, but hey... whatever helps me out. My verbal teacher is decently cute too so it helps make class a little more beariable. I find it great that I only have to pass this course to get my certificate, but on the other end I like being a perfectionist so I still am trying to get As in class. But other than that I just try to make class fun and interesting for all of us... keeps us awake easier. The only downside about classes is learning chinese everyday as opposed to every week. My brain feels kind of crammed, that and the teachers like to call on me a lot to answer things because I "understand" what they say. Oh well, only 4 more weeks so hopefully I'll keep it up and do well... but it helps that both teachers think I'm cute  ... No citizenships for them though! lol
Now the other part of the trip has just been plain out partying for the most part. The first week was a little insane since we went out like every night but this second week wasn't as bad. Thus far I've been too wu dao kou, wong fu jing, shou shua jian, ho hai, and just around Bei da (Beijing University).
The food here is rather cheap compared to American food. I can usually get a pretty good sized meal for like 12-14 yuan which is like $1.80 and my lowest one yet was 6 yuan ($0.75). But there have been nights I've spent a lot... I think my most was around 65 yuan for this steak meal ($8.12). But that was by far the most I've spent on a meal and the portions are pretty nice size for the price.
Shou Shua Jian is the bargaining market and I've been there twice already. It's amusing to me that me, being from a small town, am able to bargain a lot better than some of my friends, but maybe that has a lot to do with me being out a lot and being pretty frugal with my money. I've gotten a yao ming jersey, Mao Bags(yep, the chinese president), Louis Vuitton wallets (I'm a man of my word right luke  ), Pumas, Von Dutch hats, and a few other trinkets... all of which is REAL... real fake (lol). But that has definitely drained my money... the thing is, most of the things at these stories are insanely cheap compared to the US, but in China $10 US is like enough for almost a week for a local where as it's good for MAYBE a day in the US.
As far as going out I've only gone out to night clubs thus far. I have yet to go to a Karaoke bar, but I'm sure that'll all change soon. I have definitely drank more alcohol on this trip than I ever have in my life... which really isn't much at all. I usually have one alcoholic drink a night and I don't even finish that... I did however have my first shot... I had a B-52 (mostly sugar from what I hear) and I had like a 1/4 shot of Henneessy but I haven't gotten wasted or anything.... just enough to be a social drinker. The clubs I've been too thus far are Pilgrim(empty), IN (basically empty), Vics(Best Club in Beijing, 50 yuan cover since I went with a friend who has a friend who's VIP), and Pure (where I AM A VIP... thanks to Sam (big white guy that's loaded)).
Other than that I just spent the last 2 days celebrating birthdays with 2 of my friends, Happy B-Day Phil and Angela!
Now I'm just going to chill here with my relatives... hope to update more later..
Peace! | 
