Arianne K. Phillip, May 28

Kung Fu Class & A Two-River Boat Ride

This morning we had Kung Fu lessons. It was surprisingly very fun. Advanced students and teachers in Kung Fu exhibited a great performance in the art. They performed individually and against each other with different weapons of battle. My favorite performance was when all of the students performed with the wooden sticks. It was nice to see how they all moved in unison while performing. When it came time for us to learn the ten basic steps of Kung Fu everyone was thrilled to learn. I was mostly excited because I know I can go back home and say I learned Kung Fu from Kung Fu experts. We broke off into smaller groups and started to learn the ten steps. Originally I thought it was going to be easy, but in the middle of learning the steps I thought it was more difficult than it appeared. After a few practices I eventually got the hang of it. What I liked best about learning the ten steps was the precision of each step. Our teachers would literally correct us if one finger was out of place. I thought that showed the importance of each stance and uniformity. At the end we all performed group by group. It was funny to see all of the performances as we all tried our best to remember and complete each step correctly. Later throughout the day I started to feel sore in muscles I have never worked before. Even though it was sore, it felt great to work them out with those ten steps. I think I will continue to practice the ten steps every other day.

Later in the evening we went on a two-river boat cruise along the Yangtze River and the Jialing River. It was nice evening out with all of the exchange students and Chinese students and faculty. We all sat on the top deck and watched the sunset of Chongqing. On the cruise we passed a few buildings that were lit up. The view was spectacular; it reminded me of New York in a way. I was used to seeing these sites during the day, the real beauty is at night from a distance. I gathered with a few friends from Widener, other exchange students and Chinese students to play a few Chinese games we learned in class. That was the highlight of the cruise. It was nice seeing different cultures coming together playing games and enjoying each other’s company. Overall today was a wonderful day that would love to repeat again.

Liz Braccia, May 25

On Monday morning, instead of having our normal class in the classroom, we had a special class. We went to the gym to experience and learn martial arts. From the moment I first saw the schedule for the month, the martial arts class was one of the things I was the most excited for. My brothers were very involved in karate when they were growing up, so I was looking forward to seeing how it compared to Chinese martial arts. Their attire resembles traditional Chinese clothing. The material used is general silk. We first noticed that they had props like swords, long sticks, and spears, and we were very interested to see how they were going to use them. They had music prepared and they put on a performance. They started by not using any props. The moves were very sharp and intricate, and they did different kinds of flips. Then, they incorporated the props and showed how they would fight each other. After they preformed, we had the opportunity to learn the ten main positions in martial arts. I found it to be very difficult to get each position correct; however, I found it to be very interesting.



At night, we went on a two river cruise. One of the things Chongqing is famous for is the point in the city where the two rivers, the Yangtze and the Jialing, connect. There are many different cruise boats that sit on the river where people can have parties or go to dinner and travel the river to see the city. In order to conserve energy, the government has recently ordered large buildings in the city to refrain from using their big lights. The tour guides for the two river cruise felt compelled to apologize; however, I still thought the views of the city were beautiful. We were able to hang out with all of our new and old friends. The forecast had called for rain all day, so we were very fortunate when the skies were clear and temperature was comfortable.

Sheree Colon, May 22

Sheree Colon, May 22

A brief recap of my life in China

Thursday there was a basketball game between China and the international students. The international team won. There were cheerleaders during the halftime period; they did an excellent job with a cute little dance routine.

Friday we woke up extra early and went to see Dazu Stone Carvings. The place was ravishing with beautiful stone carvings all over. The carvings were set up along a “u” shape path so you basically walked a circle from beginning to end to see the carvings. Each carving held a story and the pictures carved in to the stone were the stories being told.

Friday night we surprised a classmate with a surprise birthday party. The professors, international students, and our Chinese friends all gathered with 3 cakes to share his birthday.

Saturday was the most anxious day for me. I woke up, looked out the window, saw the rain and knew the weather matched my mood. I wasn’t excited to go meet a family and spend the day with them. I was so nervous, but I put a smile on and headed to the learning building to meet my family. I was put at ease when I was told another international member of our group would be going with me to the same family, a professor from Thailand named Mark. My Chinese family was a CTBU student named Aaron, his mother Elizabeth and his father Julian. The first thing I did with my family was go to Elizabeth’s job. She’s a middle school English teacher and when she told her students she would be having some foreigner friends over they begged her to bring us by to meet them. We visited two classes and the students were so excited to see us. They asked me questions about America and talked a lot of English with me to practice their pronunciation. It was nice to see how excited they were just to speak to someone not from China. After we left the school we crashed a wedding. It was so funny. The family at the wedding was so excited to have foreigners crashing their wedding. They said it was good luck. The groom greeted us personally and asked us to sit with his parents and the bride’s parents at a front table. The groom’s mother gave us rose pedals and asked us to throw them at the groom and bride when they walked down the aisle. It was so exciting. I never saw a Chinese wedding and to be at a wedding I wasn’t invited to front and center was amazing. We stood at the wedding for the marriage ceremony and left to get lunch when the party started. Lunch was nice, we talked about a lot of different things and my family was so excited to learn about me and what I like.

After lunch Aaron invited his cousin Amanda to go with us to the mall. So the 3 of us left to a place called Paradise Walk. We were there for a couple of hours doing what kids do and having a good time. We went back to Aaron’s house where I learned how to write Chinese characters including my Chinese name.

Then we ate dinner, talked some more, and before I knew it I was safe and sound back at the dormitory sad that it went by so soon.

Ryan, May 22

Ryan, May 22

Wednesday we had the food fair; the food fair is where all of the different countries that are represented in the program make a dish from their respective country. This is done so that everyone who is participating in the cultural experience and students from the university can have a taste of other countries’ food. Widener made pasta and PB&J, our group made a lot of food almost 8 pounds of pasta and it was all gone within 30 minutes. During the fair the students had prepared some games for everyone to have some fun, related to food and drinks. They had made up a drink consisting of vinegar and some juice and who could drink it the fastest, and a sandwich contest where one of the sandwiches were filled with mustard the rest had jelly, the crowd had to guess who had the mustard. These games were fun and had everyone participating. On Thursday we had class in the morning where we learned some more Chinese, there is so much that we had learned in these classes and we haven’t even begun to scratch the surface on understanding the whole language. After class we had some free time and went to do some shopping and prepare for the afternoon event. In the afternoon we played a basketball game against the school’s team. The game was extremely completive; we had referees and an official scoreboard for the event. The game was a lot of fun to be able to play with the schools team and for half time the school’s cheerleaders came and did a half time performance. The end result of the game was that we, the forgeries had beaten CTBU.

Lauren, May 21

Lauren, May 21

Our last few days here in Chongqing have been extremely busy, and filled with numerous activities. On Thursday afternoon, the international students and CTBU players competed in a basketball game. The competition was tough but in the end the international students’ team edged out a win against the CTBU players. Everyone even enjoyed a wonderful halftime performance by the beautiful CTBU cheerleading squad. The afternoon was fun filled and brought everyone together through friendly competition between the students.

On Friday, we visited the Dazu Stone Carvings. We had to get on a bus and travel over three hours until we reached the stone carvings site. We were accompanied by many CTBU student volunteers and two fabulous tour guides who provided historical information about the stone carvings as we saw them. The stone carvings were originally created to teach Daoism to the farmers in the area who were mostly illiterate. The officials in that area thought that the people would be able to understand better by using the “pictures” to explain some of the concepts involved with Daoism. The stone carvings were absolutely magnificent. There is such great detail shown in every ornate figure. Many even had traces of bright and vibrant colors that accentuated the stone carving. The Dazu Stone Carvings are an amazing piece of Chinese cultural history.

On Saturday, each student was sent on a home stay visit with a local Chongqing family. Many families were students and faculty members of CTBU. This would really give the students an opportunity to see a traditional Chinese family, home, cooking and activities. Many students were taken to historic places by their families, or taught to cook a traditional Chinese dish, like dumplings. Some people were even able to be taken to a wedding. This was an important exercise for the international students to be completely immersed into traditional Chinese culture. Although everyone had a different schedule, we can all agree it was an amazing experience.

Mike Schaeffer, May 20

Mike Schaeffer, May 20

Playing basketball in China is certainly entertaining, especially pickup. The rules for pickup basketball are extremely different compared to my understanding of American pick-up games. The first time I ventured up to the courts with Nick B we were just shooting around not trying to anticipate any games or anything. When we walked through the gate it was as if everyone’s heads turned and saw two ghosts walking onto one of the open courts to shoot around. Then longer we were there the more people seemed to look over at us. Whenever I’ve shot around back in the States I’ve always understood that if you make it, you get the ball back until you miss. Then whoever gets the rebound throws you a pass in the lane for you to shoot a layup. Then the ball gets kicked back out to the person who just got the rebound. Not exactly the same in China. It’s more of a free for all. Another time when I was up at the courts a few Chinese came up to us and asked to shoot around. Next thing I know they’re fighting for rebounds on misses. Whenever we made shots they were still fighting for rebounds leaving us standing in the same spot waiting for the ball to get passed back out to us. Meanwhile the ball would already have left their hands and someone else was getting a rebound. It had a lack of structure to me. I give them props though. Whenever they would play they would give it 110%, no matter how good or how bad they were. I know everyone has heard the saying “white man can’t jump.” Well this may be true but the Chinese don’t leave the ground.

Mary Granson, May 20

Mary Granson, May 20

I was privileged to tour an orphanage for less fortunate children in China. The children were fed and clothed and had smiling faces. The children also were treated with kindness and given hope of being adopted by a family. They are given a family within the orphanage of a caretaker and other children. They develop friendships and relationships with others. No child looked abandoned. This was by far the most important site-seeing to me personally. I believe children are a country’s most valuable resource. It meant a lot to see that all their children are being cared for.

I later visited Dazu Stone Carvings. They were not anything that I expected them to be. I did not realize how large the carvings were or how beautiful. This is a very impressive piece of artwork. The carvings are in great shape for being over 3000 years old. The fact that the Chinese people, without power tools, created them is a great feat. I could compare these carvings to the stain glass windows of the many churches in the United States. Both have great meaning in religion and pride to the people of their country.

Arianne Phillip, May 19

Arianne Phillip, May 19

Today we went to class and learned a few words in Chinese. Our professor’s name was Vicki. Vicki’s lesson was on Chinese numbers, writing and recognizing Chinese characters, and learning how to bargain. I thought Vicki’s lesson was very useful because I went shopping later in the afternoon. Learning how to count in Chinese was also helpful in bargaining today.

I was quite excited when I arrived at the shopping center. The first item I picked up was a blue striped dressed. When I saw the sales person I said to her “duōshǎo qián (how much is it),” she then told me a price that I thought was too high so I proceeded to bargain it down. The store owner and I went back and forth on the price until I was satisfied with the price I was willing to pay. Before learning how to bargain in Chinese I needed help from my volunteer to buy my items, I felt accomplished to bargain in Chinese by myself.

After I came back from shopping all the international students went to a culinary arts school to learn how to cook Chinese food. This was one of the most amazing experiences I’ve been through on this trip. When we first arrived at the school a chef and his assistants prepared three main meals for us. Afterwards our group broke off into two teams and created two different dishes. In my group our first dish was made up of chicken, peanuts, celery, and a mixture of spices. We were able to cook all of the ingredients in a wok with the help of culinary students at the school.

Our next dish was spinach dumplings. A different chef demonstrated to us how to make spinach dumplings. First he poured spinach juice in the dough and kneaded it until the dough was completely green. Then he sliced the dough into long strips and pin-rolled it into small circular shapes. The last step was adding the spinach in the middle of the dumpling and closing the dumpling. The chef showed us three different ways to make a dumpling closure. I had fun making the dumplings and chicken dish. To my surprise I loved the spinach dumplings.

I really enjoyed making Chinese food today and I am happy that I can go back home and say that I learned how to cook authentic Chinese food from professional chefs.

Liz Braccia, May 19

Liz Braccia, May 19

Since the beginning of this week, we have been spending time learning about and experiencing Chinese cuisine. Although we have been eating a variety of different Chinese foods since we arrived in Beijing, we had the opportunity to see how the unique foods are prepared. On Tuesday, we went to a culinary school close to CTBU. We split up into two groups. The group that I was in began by watching one of the chefs prepare a couple typical Chinese dishes. One of the things I noticed was that oil was the ingredient to grease the pan and sauté the meat and vegetables. There were also many spices used to add flavor to the dish, such as MSG and pepper. After watching, each of us paired up with a chef and we were able to have a one-on-one cooking experience.




We were then taught to make dumplings and were able to make our own. Finally, there were long tables set up for us to try our creations.


Wednesday was the day of the food fair. This was a very special event in the CTBU study and culture tour. Every University from all the different countries had a tent set up with a dish specific to each culture. Students and faculty visited the tents to try foods from around the world. Our school made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and pasta with a tomato sauce. Eight pounds of pasta was cooked and it was devoured within an hour. I was able to try a cold ginger drink and a meat dish from Botswana. I also tried a signature dish from Thailand. I am so happy that this event was held and that I got to experience it. It was amazing to see at least five countries come together and spend time together as new friends to experience each others’ culture.

There was some pasta and sauce left over that was not cooked. After the festivities of the food fair were over, a couple of our Widener students cooked a typical Italian-American family dinner and we all ate together. It was a great chance for us to all come together and enjoy a home cooked meal.


The morning before the food fair, a couple of us woke up a little earlier than normal and went for a hike on one of the mountains on the CTBU campus. There was a cleared path to go up and down the entire mountain. The different views were amazing. We were able to see all of the CTBU campus and many buildings in Chongqing. It is very common for people to scream and yell as they climb the mountain. It signifies how high they are and the large open areas around them. I also found it amazing that at a couple different points on the mountain there were people selling fresh goods and different vegetables. Climbing that mountain is a typical and daily routine for some of the residents in the area. I am very glad that I got to experience the University from that perspective and I hope to do it again while we are here.

Nick Beaton, May 18

Nick Beaton, May 18

China is a country that is literally under construction. Before I traveled to this country I heard a statistic that in order for the economy to meet electrical demand China puts online one new power plant per week. I thought the economic expansion idea was rubbish and over exaggerated. But now that I have had the opportunity to witness the scale of construction these ideas have changed. The scale of the building projects is absolutely mind blowing. There is so much building underway that to make the statement that there is more buildings going up than the whole city of Philadelphia is not an over exaggeration. From the bus we viewed one development project where the contractors had just completed about 30 very large buildings. Next to this they were constructing about another 18 buildings while simultaneously in the process of digging the foundations for another 20 buildings. These sorts of sights can be seen all throughout the city of Chongqing. Whenever I go to the center of the city, which is called “Jiefangbei”, I take a 360-degree look at my surroundings. The view is always breathtaking because as far as the eye can see there are massive buildings across the horizon.

My personal favorite component of Chinese construction is their mix of old and new methods. For example, near the edge of the city limits we witnessed the construction of a segment of a superhighway. The crews were in the process of constructing a massive 4-lane industrial highway complex. There were multiple pieces of industrial equipment throughout the worksite, but all the workers we viewed were using shovels. There must have been about 100 people leveling a roadway gradient by shovel. Furthermore, the way for the construction crews accessed the worksite was a bamboo ladder. The manpower is so abundant in China that their methods are radically different from American construction. I sure would like to see a union boss leader’s face if he saw a bamboo ladder on an American worksite.

The Chinese culture and daily operational methods are vastly dissimilar to the American way of life in more than just construction methods. This is obvious in their mundane daily tasks. For example, the trash disposal methods alone are extremely different. In the States restaurants place their trash in receptacles and it’s illegal in most cases for them to give away their discarded food. However, China is a bit different. From what I have seen, the restaurant employees place their trash in loose heaps on the sidewalk. Then the peasants come along and select whatever items they want, like food or plastic (which apparently they receive .5 Yuan for each bottle). Then in the morning armies of people who are employed to sweep the streets came along and remove the remaining rubbish.

Cesar, May 16

Cesar, May 16

I thought today was just another day, wake up and do the activities. But it was not meant to be a normal day, fate had a different story to be acted. While sleeping in my bed, I heard a loud sound on the door, I was still dreaming so I was scared and I woke up. But surprisingly it was just a friend knocking on the door, and so I went to greet him and he says, “Someone is looking for you,” I was still sleepy so I didn’t really know what to do and so I asked, “Who is it?” and all of the sudden a person appears in front of my eyes. Memories start flashing in front of my eyes about the times I had spent with this person and so I said hello and gave her a hug.

She was a friend that I met a year ago and I thought I would never see again, because she had left the US and gone back to China. My face suddenly came with a smile and I was happy, I thought this person to be a thing of the past, and to never be seen again but this day was to be a joyful day. Then we went out to eat and we talked about the past the future, goals, dreams and we had such a great night. It was just like being back at school going out to eat and having fun and being happy people. This date is May 11 of 2011.

5-15-11

Today was the day we would go to the panda reserve in Cheng Du, and the Beijing opera. This would be the first time I would see a panda, I was expecting it to be like any other animal, but while looking and watching I realized how these animals have survived, they are slow, have a lot of diseases, and predators and still they are alive. As I watched them they looked calm and always hungry, and very sleepy. As I was walking down the reserve I was hearing people and they were talking about the red panda, but they were saying it was a giant red raccoon. I was laughing inside.

In the afternoon we went to the opera, I thought it was going to be like other operas I`ve seen in the past, the first part was the normal loud singing and typical opera. But I thought that was it, but actually it kept going to another act, and another act and another. Each act was different than others and very exciting the best part was the hand puppet it was very cool, the way he was able to move his hands and the motions of an animal eating a little rabbit. That was the best part, I enjoyed it very much, I did not think it would but it was very good.

Nick Caponigro, May 16

Nick Caponigro, May 16h

Since my last blog many things have been accomplished and the first week was awesome. The people here are so polite, it is amazing. Our partners are awesome as well; they do everything they can to make sure that our stay in Chongqing is as comfortable as possible. In this blog I will talk a little about out time in Chengdu and our market trip to the Metro.

On Saturday morning we arrived at the Panda reserve in Chengdu after one of the best breakfasts I have ever had in my life. The panda reserve was awesome. I have never seen a panda bear in person before so I was very excited to be there. The pandas are funny because they just lie around and eat bamboo all day, it’s great. Also I have never even heard of a red panda before so I was interested to see what they looked like. For those of you who were the same as me having not seen or even heard of a red panda before: they look like a raccoon, with the tail and all, but they are red and black instead of the normal color of a raccoon. After the reserve we went to an opera in Chengdu which was very interesting. I am still trying to figure out how they were changing clothes and masks right in front of our eyes without us seeing it happen. It wasn’t like a traditional opera that you would think of with the loud singing the whole time; rather it was more like a magic show with the colors and the illusions that were being displayed. It was very cool.

We went to the market today to get our ingredients and products for the international food fair that is being held this week. We are cooking pasta with red gravy (I refuse to call it sauce), and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, hopefully they will be a big hit. The market we went to was cool because it had all western style products so finding what we needed was fairly easy. The food fair is on Wednesday this week so someone else will be writing about it and will let everyone know how it went.

Lucia Piscoglio, May 17

Lucia Piscoglio, May 17

Today was a very busy but interesting day. We all attended our Basic Chinese Course at 9:30 am, this class goes over the simple yet useful words of Chinese. For example, bargaining for gifts for yourself or family members; well I know this will be most useful for me! We also went over basic conversations that could take place at any time and the teacher is very interactive with the class which makes the class that much more interesting. She allows us to do skits in front of the class of possible scenarios and we get to work with our partners so that we can better our language skills.

Afterwards, around two o’clock we all loaded up onto the business with all the international students headed for a culinary school in which we prepared and observed some basic dishes of the Chinese culture being made; for example, dumpling and a spicy dish of chicken and peanuts. Surprisingly, they turned out pretty well and we all inhaled our food. The best part of that experience was making the dumplings, which were actually pretty difficult. The first step was pouring some spinach juice into the dough and then rolling the dough until it became long and skinny. Secondly, we cut up some pieces and flattened them into circles. Then, we took the actual stuffing and placed it in the circle and then squeezed it shut. Unfortunately, ours did not turn out looking like the dumplings you would get served, yet we all enjoyed making them!

Mary Granson, May 12

Mary Granson, May 12

Well where to start… Being in China has been a bit of a culture shock. It’s the little things that go unnoticed at home that you miss the most. Not being able to order my own food, use a normal toilet, or shower without a toilet in the center got me off to a rough start.

Chongqing has been amazing so far. It’s indescribable. All of the students have been so welcoming and helpful I couldn’t ever thank them enough for all they are doing. They go that extra mile to make sure everything is okay. The entire experience is great. CTBU has been very helpful by giving tours of the school, the city, and by holding classes each morning. We have learned about Chinese families, the culture of Chongqing, and had a Chinese lesson. The students set up a time for some outside activities using the themes of Mario, Plants vs. Aliens, Tetris, and Angry Birds. It was so entertaining. The students are very competitive when it comes to games! Afterwards, we all went out a karaoke bar. We had a private room and could order drinks. Almost everyone sang, especially the CTBU students, they loved it.

Honestly, being here has been life changing. I’d be lying if I said life here was easy. I am constantly looking for the good: family values, friendships, and parental love. I keep finding myself feeling compassion towards the people of China because they do not have the choice to live any differently. The company and conversations mean more than anything. I find it hard to believe that we’re on the same planet. China is an entirely different world.

Lauren Reap, May 13

Lauren Reap, May 13

Shortly after arriving at Chongqing Technology and Business University, the International students and teachers and many CTBU student volunteers participated in an afternoon of games, music and fun. The CTBU staff spent most of the morning setting up for the event. When the international students arrived on the field, we were greeted by our gracious Chinese hosts with smiles and dancing. We were then split up into four teams; Birds, Mario, Plants and Tetris. The Widener students, along with other students from Canada, France, Botswana and Thailand were divided amongst the teams, so each team was filled with diversity and special talents.

There were five different contests that each team competed in. They were Tetris, Angry Birds, Tug-of-War, Plants vs. Zombies and Super Mario. Tetris began with ten team members transferring a marble into another container using chopsticks. Once that was completed, the team members would run to a rectangular outline where they would proceed to build a Tetris board using cardboard cut outs. It was timed and each team received points for having the fastest time. Angry Birds is similar to dodge ball. Two teams competed against each other. One team stood inside the circle while the other stood outside. The team on the outside would try to hit the people in the middle with a soft ball. If you were hit with the ball you were out. The team who knocked out all the opposing teams players in the fastest time won. Tug-of-War was just as you all know it, and by far the most competitive event of the day. Plants vs. Zombies was an interesting game that we learned. A team lines up and runs toward three doors placed a few yards away. You have to open the door, if there is a zombie behind the door you have to run as fast as you can back to your line without getting tagged by the zombie. If there is sunshine, you take the sun and run back to your line. The team with the most sunshine wins. Super Mario was an obstacle course race between two teams at a time. First the team members had to jump in a sack approximately twenty feet. Then spin around a pole three times and run and jump onto big pads. Finally, you had to jump two hurdles and go under one. The team with the fastest time to get all of their members through won.

The sporting event was an amazing afternoon, and gave all the students a chance to spend more time together in a fun and friendly environment. Prizes were also given out for outstanding participation by everyone. Even some of the teachers took part in the different games. Everyone was a winner in the end!

Sheree Colon, May 13

Sheree Colon, May 13

Every day here at CTBU we try new foods, learn new words, see different buildings and visit different sites, but most importantly create moments during the day with people I know we will never forget. The people here make the time here unforgettable. They are so excited when we attempt to speak their language or ask questions about their culture. They’re pretty much always excited when they are around us. After going through a bit of a culture shock in Beijing I am finally starting to adapt to the differences over here. The volunteers at CTBU make everything so much fun. Casual conversations and simple meals at the cafeteria with our buddies make the day go by so fast and it’s so much fun.

Today was a good day and I feel like it just started, even though it has come to an end. I wake up every morning with a “good morning buddy” text from my partner here at CTBU and get a good night one every night. I definitely think I will have a good night because today went well. A little bit of shopping with a fun-filled dinner and some ice cream for dessert made everything so perfect.

The most interesting part of today was the Hot Pot dinner we shared as a group. We walked to a nearby restaurant and walked in to a new kind of meal. Hot Pot is very popular in Chongqing and very delicious. They had tables’ set-up with a hot pot in the center. The hot pot was literally a little pot inside of a big pot on top of concealed flames to keep it hot. Inside the pots was oil. The little pot was a non spicy pot and the big pot was a spicy pot. The table was filled with raw food and you could put the food inside the hot pot, either in the spicy pot or in the non spicy pot, and in seconds your food would be ready to eat. Your plate had oil in it and you would put your food inside the oil to cool it off. You also had the options to put garlic in your bowl to add a little flavor to the oil. The oil and garlic really helped, especially with the spicy foods. There was a variety of food to choose from so there was definitely something for everyone to eat.

It was something I never did in the US and it was nice trying something new with our CTBU friends and other foreign exchange students in the program. The food was good and definitely spicy, just how I like it.

The restaurant kept the food coming and we laughed and joked talked and learned more about each other throughout the meal. During the meal we were surprised to learn that the restaurant dances for their guests every night. The dance was lovely and we just couldn’t resist joining. Mike was the first brave soul to jump in the line of dancers. The people loved it and laughed and clapped and cheered him on. We were all smiling and having a good time. When the next song came on Mikes buddy grabbed me and we joined Mike in dancing and just seconds later everyone was standing up dancing laughing and clapping. Dinner couldn’t have been more fun.

Its nights like tonight that I am reminded how lucky I am to be here with such great people and glad to say I have new friends that I know will last a lifetime.