The Great (fire)Wall of China

I guess my blog is officially blocked here by the Great FireWall of China (a common term used to describe sites blocked by the gov't) because as I sit in a cafe with a full wireless connection I still can't pull up my site :( So I hope all is ok w/ it and if you have any feedback about it let me know.

So the novelty of my blondeness took a hit today when I met my first classmate, Elin: a tall, beautiful blonde from Sweden. We picked her up on the way to registration and immediately bonded over the mutual sentiment of feeling stranded out at Fudan University which is quite far from all the action of Shanghai's city center. We were both duped into the Fudan program by the prestige everyone talked up to us rather than mentioning its location in the boonies of Shanghai. Maybe not boonies, there is a Sephora (woo-hoo!) and great shopping complex across the street from me but zero nightlife w/in a 25 min radius unless you count Karaoke. Anyway, Elin and I are great friends already as we got to know each other over lattes and internet in a really cute cafe near our apts and university. Speaking of apts..let me just say THANK GOD I chose luxury apartment. I now see why they call it that b/c poor Elin got stuck with the local apartment. I think I would have been on the next plane back to CA (or anywhere for that matter) if I had just arrived and they led me to where she is living. The poor thing tried to get a luxury apt but they told her they were all filled (which is odd b/c I am the only living organism I've seen in my complex besides my security guards). Her place smells and is quite dingy and exactly what you would think of as a local chinese apt. Ick! But Elin and I chatted about our love for wine and the cool places we've been to already in Shanghai. She doesn't have any friends here but came w/ her boyfriend who is an engineer on a ship off the coast of Angola. He works 5 weeks on the ship and gets 5 weeks off and comes here during his 5 weeks b/c his company pays for it and its the same cost as going back to Stockholm. Not a bad deal for them.

Elin and I are off to downtown for my first shopping trip. YAY!! Classes still haven't started but we have an orientation dinner at a typical Chinese restaurant tonight...oh boy. Maybe I'll have my first class tomorrow???

XOXO,

Nicole