Today, being God’s day, I decided to make it a lazy Sunday. Roommate and I were feeling a little beat from all the excitement of the past week, I think. Yesterday we took another walk, this time around our neighborhood, and I discovered a nice strip of shops the next (very large) block over with a bakery and cafe that sells boba. And then there was also last night, which lasted into early this morning. It was a real shame because I finally had conquered my jet lag the day before.

The night started at about 10 p.m. when on our way out, one of the students from Penn State called to confirm our meeting time and place. They had suggested earlier the Sanlitun area, which is directly on the other side of town from where Chris and I live, also on the third ring. Neither of us had ventured out that far yet, so Matt from Penn State told us to meet them at the subway stop. He informed me that he was a tall-ish white guy, which in my mind, seemed enough for identification. Alas, when Chris and I finally got to the other side of town nearly 45 minutes after the appointed time, the subway stop was deserted and there was no tall-ish white guy named Matt from Penn State. Taking a gamble, we grabbed a taxi to the Adidas building Matt had mentioned. Sure enough, there was a street lit up by bars. After wandering up and down yelling “Matt” at every possible foreigner we passed with no luck, we plopped down at an outdoor table and ordered a couple of Tsingtaos. Chris continued to mention Matt in some nonchalant way every time a tall-ish white guy walked by. No one even paused. And then—success! (more…)