YAY! i got my first REAL paycheck. :O)

but why's there so much taxes?

the fed tax
the social security tax
the medicare tax
the CA state tax
and the voluntary disability thinge

boo... they take so much money out of my paycheck.

hehe ... it's ok! Life's good.  ^_^

Bye bye, China.

The trip to China was very fun and educational, not just learning Mandarin but understanding the cultural differences in different part of China.  It was nice to just travel for 2 months not having to worry about anything and just relax before I have to start work again.

Constructions are everywhere in Shanghai even in the dorm we were staying in. They were doing construction right outside our door and in our classroom. Look at this hole:

Day 1                                  Day 2                             Day 3

I kinda miss my Chinese class. well, it was boring a time but at least it was chill. :O) no hw just a 500 words essay for final. hehe...

my calligraphy class:

my ugly calligraphy             my teacher drew this in 2 min :oO

yummy 'xiao long bao'      yummy fish head                  ummm...lambs are so tasty

It feels so weird coming back. i just feel like i disappeared for 2 months. hehe... can't wait to see everyone again. :o)

Shanghai is very fun! :o) Chinese class is ... ok. a bit too long for my attention span (3 and 1/2 hours long and it starts at 830AM). yawn Z_Z Calligraphy and Chinese Painting are really fun but it's only once a week.

i was shocked to hear that it's 95ish degree in Berkeley. That never happened before. it almost sounded like Shanghai is having a better weather than Berkeley.

The foods on campus is super super cheap. Unlike Berkeley where the DC and GBC try to ripe us off, the cafe on campus is almost half the price compare with resturants that are outside. I can get breakfast for less than 1RMB (15 cents) and lunch for 7RMB (less than $1). Even when we go to the fancier resturant, it's only about 50RMB ($6.50).

foods are yummmmmmmmmy. ^_^

i miss Beijing tho. i think i wanna come in 2008 during Olympics. :O)

I started class today!!! :o) it was pretty nice. They put me in 9th grade Chinese. I like it. Everything is in Mandarin and simplified characters. The dorm is pretty nice but jiaotong daxue is over 100 years old, so the stuff in the dorm is supper supper old.

well, time for shower and explore the city a bit. and btw, we talked about alcohol in class. :)