A boat, a debate, and one speech later...

Hi everyone! I haven't posted in awhile because I don't have that much to say, but here's a quick summary (even my summary will probably be long...):

- Last friday, some friends and I rented a boat on Houhai, a lake in the middle of Beijing. It was pretty touristy (kinda like renting a boat at Central Park), but soooo fun. We brought a bunch of beers on board with us, and quickly discovered that none of us could really drive this boat (no relation to the simultaneous beer-drinking). Good times.

-Last Saturday, we went to Kro's Nest, our fav Pizza bar in Beijing, again to celebrate my friend Dylan's birthday. Afterwards we KTVed (karaoked). For those of you who have never had the joy of KTVing in China, it's very different than in the US. Instead of being in a big room with lots of strangers laughing at how bad you are at singing, you're in a private room with all your friends, crazy flashing lights, made-up (or sometimes real) music videos, and a personal waiter. KTV might be one of my top 5 favorite things about life in China. When you ALL come visit me, we will definitely go KTVing.

-Over the weekend, our hot water went out. Still not sure what was wrong but after 3 different visits by repairmen (who got our house super dirty with their big work boots RIGHT after our Aiyi- a cleaning lady- had come, so annoying). Now it takes about 10 minutes for the hot water to warm up, but at least it's fairly consistent afterwards. Today I had to pay our gas bill for the last 2 months, which totaled to about 15USD. Pretty good deal huh? Unfortunately I had to go to 3 different banks to pay the fee (because that's how you pay bills here apparently, just go to a bank) because none of them would take cash (I don't have a chinese credit card and my american one is almost never accepted).

-Had sushi for the first time on Sunday, and didn't get sick! #smallvictories

-Tuesday it rained and the weather was miserable. The day before, the pollution was moderately bad, but I decided not to wear my face mask (sidenote: the filters are starting to turn grey, which means it's actually working! so cool!). Due to this poor choice, I woke up Tuesday with a terrible sore throat. Then, I got pretty soaked on my way to class, despite my raincoat. In China, heat is nationally regulated so it doesn't come on until November 1st or 15th (the date is unclear) throughout the whole country. So right now it's not that cold, but at night it can be freezing because we have no heat. Anyways, once I got to school Tuesday morning, I was wet and freezing and shivered through  my first two classes. After that, I decided it was best to go home because I was too cold and distracted by my congested nose and scratchy throat to pay attention. It was a good decision. For the last three nights, I've actually slept 8 hours (unbelievable, right?!) so I feel much better now.

-Wednesday night was the presidential debate viewing party. It was super crowded and pretty fun because Obama did well. Post-debate, I scanned the internet to see what people were saying about it, and here's what I found:

• Serious article about the debate
• Social Media Analysis of the debate
• And a variety of memes about Mitt Romney's "Binder of Women":
• For the mean girls lovers
• The Binder's Twitter
• My favorite
• And the Game of Thrones reference

-Today I had to give a speech in Chinese on whatever I wanted as my oral exam for this module. I decided to talk about my Thesis topic, the Role of Social Media on Chinese Social Movements. I had to greatly simplify my topic in order to explain it in Chinese so I didn't really get to say all the nuances of my argument, but oh well. I think it went well. I didn't forget anything, but everyone looked pretty bored. Maybe I should pick an easier topic next time? Oh well! It's over!

Now I'm headed to Shenyang for the weekend with IUP! Should be fun, although I'm bummed I'm missing a Sean Kingston concert in Beijing tonight. :( But I'm headed home to the US for a short 5 day trip in 15 days!!!!!! wahhh!!!!!!! so excited to eat macaroni and cheese, butter, leavened bread, pasta, real pizza, tortellinis, steak, baked potatoes, sour cream, pancakes, blueberries, mexican food, mashed potatoes, and more! Basically I'm just going to go back to the US and eat for 5 days straight. It will be glorious.