China

Mother left today, ending my stay in luxury at the Shangri-la, which we both agree is the best hotel we've ever stayed in. I am now in my dorm room, and have mostly unpacked. Thank goodness I have Freegate, a program to bypass China's firewall, as blogger is blocked in China. This afternoon we had a meeting for all new students, which was done in Chinese. About half the people in the room had no idea what was going on, and I only understood the gist of what was being said. The second half of the meeting, with a policeman, had an interpreter. The policeman told us horror stories of foreigners being killed in drunken brawls and bad traffic. I went for an early dinner just after five at the canteen, which is much like the ones at Nankai, and is still dirt cheap. I couldn't finish all my food for only 4.70. I am enjoying a bit of solitude in my room. I'll probably watch one of the DVDs I bought in Tianjin.