Day 10

Yesterday was another sightseeing day. We went to Weifang, which is famous for its kites. I got Garrett an eagle kite from the shop we went to. After the kite shop was a traditional woodblock print shop. The cutest dogs in the whole world (ok, not the whole world, they weren't as cute Bruno.) lived with the artist and as I got antsy during the long (though cool!) presentation, I drifted out to play with them for a few minutes before returning to watch the demonstration. I ended up buying 4 prints. 3 for me and 1 for my parents. I've been trying to excercise self-control with spending since I blew through about 350 US dollars in Beijing. It's a lot of money and a lot of stuff to pack! So far, the only money I've spent in Jinan has been for the kite and prints.

Today was a work day with the Chinese partners. Ren Yan and I finished paper mache-ing our masks. Tomorrow, we paint. I left at 5 so I'd be able to find the fabric store in Jinan. What I thought was a fabric store turned out to be a baby bedding and towel store. Not useful. After a futile attempt at finding the store Ren Yan had told me about, I went to McDonalds for dinner. McDonalds. It was phenomenal. Fake cheese, real pickle. Oh my god it was great.

I'm feeling a little homesick. Not the same crippling homesickness I had for the entire summer in Jersey, just a feeling that if I were to get on the plane tomorrow and be back in the states by the end of the day, it would be OK. There are things I miss about the US that I just straight up can't duplicate in China. My friends. As much as I like the people here, there's nothing that compares to the way my girlfriends and I connect. I miss them. And I miss real cheese. Even quesadillas for every meal for a week. That's how I was eating right before leaving. Now there's variety in my diet and by no means is there a shortage of food. But they don't eat cheese around here. I also miss cooking for myself. And eavesdropping on people's conversations on the street. As I walked around Jinan tonight, my ears were searching for English. I kept thinking I was hearing it, but then it always turned out I was tricking myself. I also miss the way people drive in the states. You know...like there are rules! There's so much honking around here! It kills me!

Also, I just applied for my private loans and was denied. I'm fucked! Fucked! How the hell am I going to pay for myself now? I quit my job on the assumption that I would have sufficient loans upon my glorious return to the states. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck.