(this photo belongs to day-before-yesterday)

Summer break officially ended yesterday.

Bright side: On Mondays I only have one 1-hour class, so nothing felt different. Introduction to Mandarin for Non-native Speakers, or something like that. My schedule just says LCC 111-1. We spent most of the time introducing ourselves but also learned a bit about tones, and how to say "teacher." It's probaby going to be my favorite class.

Afterwards I went to lunch with friends and we made plans to all meet up again at 5 so the girl from California with relatives in Hong Kong could show us a city that's closer (only three stops away on the MTR) than ones like Central.

However, that left us with...umm...a lot of time. Probably close to 4 hours of nothing. We wandered around campus for a bit until we found some newspapers to read. Nothing particularly cheerful, although one of the giant pandas on loan to the Atlanta zoo gave birth to a baby, and maybe twins, but it could take another day before they know for sure. I tried purchasing fruit juice (I didn't know what kind of fruit it was, so I was excited) but that vending machine broke so...lemon Coke.

Then the sun felt too warm, so we went to a dorm and sat and talked and glanced at our watches.

Finally the time came for our excursion. We went to a shopping center and stopped by a huge supermarket so people could buy assorted stuff. Then we took the light rail farther into the city and ate at a little restaurant where the food wasn't bad. A little bland, even after I added soy sauce (and good thing I checked which bottle the soy sauce was in, because I almost doused my food in vinegar. I couldn't tell from the label because it seems like all the restaurants put their condiments into blank containers manufactured by Ovaltine. Well, blank except for the word "Ovaltine." I don't get it).

Then we wandered around the shops a bit. I don't like this city as much as the others I've been to; it's smellier and dirtier. So it really surprised me to see a bakery with gorgeously decorated cakes out on display. Fancy arrangements of fruit and powdered sugar and chocolate...mmm...

The city also had several pet shops for some reason, the first I've seen. We kept our distance, but we could still see the cutest pomeranians and poodles in the display window. Aww...

When our legs started feeling tired we headed back to campus and went our separate ways. I stayed up a bit later (still trying and failing to fit in with the local schedule) talking to friends and my roommate before falling asleep to the sound of pouring rain.