Class is in session.

This Sunday was the beginning of what is going to be a very difficult academic semester. My first classes did not start until Monday, but we had an Academic meeting on Sunday, to hear a little from all the teachers and receive syllabi and our textbooks. Also, the teachers took this opportunity to assign homework. Yes, we hadn't even started classes and we were assigned homework.
Later that afternoon was the opening banquet! All the CET students loaded into a charter bus outside of school and headed for the Marriot Hotel, which was about at 10 minute ride from CNU. The Marriott is apparently a hotbed for American activity. Within the lobby was a Subway (oh the memories from WFU) and a Baskin Robins. Also outside of the Marriot was a "Big Burger," which I hope to get back to after I get tired of eating Chinese food everyday. Don't get me wrong, the food here is amazing (except for the fish...), but I had kung pao chicken at my last 3 meals (people ordering for me), and that gets kind of tiring. I've been hearing that some people get sick after going back to the US because of all the dairy that is used in our food--some sort of lactose intolerance (or so I was told). But anyway, the Marriot was incredible. Everything was marble or shinny. The banquet was very delicious and had all kinds of food and more importantly, the wait staff was amazing. In China there were no real restaurants about 30 years ago, so the whole incredibly-horrible-service phase is still in high gear. If you like yelling at waitresses across the room for extra bowls of rice, then this is your kind of place.
The evening took a big turn for the worst when I got back from the banquet. It was homework time. So, before class had even started, I ended up doing six and a half hours of homework, all of it just for my Chinese language class. This is going to be a LONG semester. Despite the overwhelming amount of homework, I really like my professors. My Chinese professor is a young Chinese woman who speaks very little English, but is very good at conveying her points with hand gestures. My 21st century Beijing Professor is the faculty advisor for our trip. She's from Guilford College (Greensboro), and is about as exciting as a bag of rocks in a room filled with bags of rocks. She is very knowledgeable though. My Philosophy professor is amazing. He's originally from Beijing, but has taught at Clemson for about 8 years I believe. He uses a lot of humor in his discussions and is incredibly intelligent. Here's a quote from when he was explaining the criteria for writing a paper: "If you write, 'because the Bible says so,' then I give you an F. I hate that. Or if you say, 'Confucius is full of bullshit,' I also give you an F."
I hope that I can make it through this semester without going nuts from all the work, but if not, at least I'll be a crazy person who can speak Chinese. Wish me luck. PS I'm going to try to work on the postcards today. I haven’t really had much time to write them yet, but I haven’t forgotten. Zai Jian.