Hey y'all! Hope everyone is doing well. Life in Beijing is still great. Although, I did have one slight scare. The other night we went out to a restaurant/bar and I had to use the bathroom. First, I must explain what the bathrooms are like in China. Most toilets are not toilets at all. They are holes in the floor cleverly named "squatty potties". I personally am a fan of squatty potties because you don't have to touch anything. However, after a few beers it can get harder to squat and keep your balance..Anyways, back to my almost horrific story. After I had gone to the restroom I tried to open the door to get out of the horrible smelling squatty potty but this door wasn't budging. I tried to remain calm but that was tad bit hard when there was no way out of the bathroom and I didn't know how to say "help I'm stuck in a squatty potty". As I was banging on the door I kept wondering how long it would take before my friends came and got me. Of course, after about 5 minutes of freaking out about how my last few breathes of life would be spent in a squatty potty I managed to get the door unlocked. And go figure all I had to do was push this button. Once again the Chinese have out smarted me...

This weekend was much needed after my first week back in school. But don't worry mom and dad, I have been doing many other cultural immersion activities other than meeting Chinese people at bars! Today my friend Sarah and I woke up early and went to the National Art Museum. Yes, you read that right. Lauren Kaufman went to an art museum. I channelled my inner Lindsay Fritts and had a great time. The exhibit was all artifacts from ancient civilizations. There was also this amazing circular room with 20 ft walls and the wall was made out of stone carvings that depicted the entire Chinese history. Pretty cool to say the least. The theme of the day though was definitely pointing. Neither Sarah nor I speak Chinese very well (no offense Sarah!) so finding the museum was a little tricky but thank god pointing is a universal language. Maybe one of these days I'll learn how to say left and right...oh and help I'm stuck in the bathroom.

The weather has been verrrry chilly. It is snowing once again. One of the worst parts about it being cold is none of the restaurants have heating so we all have to eat in our jackets. Between eating with my big puffy jacket on and using chopsticks it is quite a sight. I know I keep mentioning food in every post but I seriously just can't get over how good and how cheap everything is. The other night we went to Korean BBQ which is just a little different than Fat Matts. The meat was soo amazing but it was definitely my most expensive meal yet. A whole $11!!!! That is practically unheard of considering a meal on campus is not even $1.00.

I found out yesterday my dad got invited to give a talk in Beijing in June so I will probably get to see him and by then I'll know this city like the back of my hand. Really hope it all works out. Well I need to stop procrastinating and learn some Chinese characters. Oh the fun never stops!

Here's to another fabulous week in Beijing..and not getting locked in to a bathroom. Love y'all!!

Lauren
柯若兰

Snowy night in Beijing


National Art Museum
My boy Confucius