Random Encounters!

(Xiamen University! The main building, as seen from the lake)

(Another lakeside view!)

(From my seat on the rock, on an island within the lake! The tall building near the tree trunk is actually my dorm, the Cai Qingjie International/Overseas Student Building!)


This afternoon, I decided to heed all of my classmates’ (and professor’s) advice and get out a bit more. I have become a recluse that sits around doing homework all of my weekends and talking to my dear friends from home. So today, the weather was beautiful, there was a great breeze, and everyone in the U.S. was asleep – I decided to get out a bit!

I went to the library with friends, but the Chinese library wasn’t very different from our American University libraries! The main difference was that all of the books were in Chinese and everyone had bottles of tea instead of Coke, Pepsi, and Red Bull. :)


After I spent time there doing homework, I figured it was time to get out! I took my camera and took these pictures while I just wandered around campus. I finally settled around the lake to sit and read the last book I brought with me on this trip, The Tipping Point by Malcolm Galdwell. As soon as I sat down, though, I noticed a couple near me that was busy taking pictures of each other. I know the problem of having only separate pictures and wanting to get them together…so I offered to take their picture for them. All of a sudden, I found myself in their pictures, too :) They were so excited to meet an American and my next hour was basically commandeered as we spent a good deal of time asking questions between their broken English and my broken Chinese. It was fun and quite an adventure/learning experience! After exchanging e-mail addresses, I then went to go eat dumplings with Diana. Mmm, mmm – 饺子!


I am trying to get out more and meet more Chinese people before my last two months run up here. Hopefully this will still be quite interesting and I will learn more and more about the Chinese culture!

(The couple I ended up sitting with and befriending :) Their names were Zhao Long Xia and Lan Qin)

(We started getting random pictures together - this candid one was my favorite! I kept laughing at our inability to converse without mixing languages...)