Yes guys, I'm alive

Sorry it's taken a little while to blog, but at least when I blog you know they're good haha

Where did I leave off last time?

Oh yeah, we finally have friends here!!

Before you go any further, prepare yourself. It's a long blog, but obviously well worth the read.

Thursday:

So Thursday was our last day of orientation, finally haha Overall it was just super repetitive but not too shabby considering all we did was eat and do role plays. Which by the way, Rene (our training manager) raveddd about to everyone else, guess we're just that awesome. After we finished all the regular orientation stuff, we finally were going to be getting our city tour of Dalian!!!

They let us go back and change out of our bidniz suit and we were ready to see Dalian. Sharon met us in the residence lobby and then a Shangri-La mini-van took us around. It was pretty sweet. They took us to Bing-High Road, which was awesome and then we drove through the square that Richard and Dennis had taken us to the night before. I managed to get a picture of the open book monument thing I was talking about in the last blog (if you still remember, it's more like a giant skate ramp, but it's meant to look like a book). We mainly drove around but we were driving up this beautiful mountain side and we would stop off and take pictures. We stopped at the zoo, only outside didn't go inside :( that's where heather decided to run at a group of pigeons in hopes that they would all fly away, I think only one pigeon moved hahah guess the pigeons here don't care about that stuff #ChinesePigeons #TypicalAmerican 

After the zoo, we went to tiger beach and were taking pictures with statues there, because well, it's fun haha but everyone loved Ann there and we're taking pictures of her haha she was the only one of us with shorts on and loved that she was white, it was awesome! Thennn we went to another park/beach/area-thing and we were taking pictures all around and we decided to take a picture of us jumping together. Sharon is trying to take the picture while we keep jumping, literally crowds of people come over and take pictures on their own cameras of us doing this, then we finally got a good picture and people started coming up to us and asking to take pictures with us #CelebStatus #PeaceSign it was soo much fun cuz they were all excited and so were we!! Oh and we were doing the typical Chinese peace sign in the pictures haha after that we got back in the van and stopped off at another picture place and it was so pretty!! Thennnn we went to CarreFour, aka the Walmart in China. You know what can be worse than a Walmart-type store in china? A Walmart-type store in a mall in China. DEAR LORD. That was quite the experience, I think I blacked out there because there was just chaos and we didn't know what to buy and were so confused. But hey, I'm alive! Our adventure to CarreFour concluded our city tour.

We're the foreigners in this picture. #Weird

One of the places we stopped at! 

CarreFour, yikes

Sarah, Heather, Dennis & Richard!!

FIRST LEGAL DRINK!

After, we quickly dropped off our purchases and went to icafe and stuffed our faces haha 

Of course being in China for six months means you will get fat if you don't work out. So luckily Richard knows some people at a gym that's about a 10-15 minute walk so we went there and took a tour of the gym. Let me tell you, it's uhhh-mahhhzing. Back home this gym would probably cost like $100 a month, but we're getting it for like $40ish a month, and the only reason is because Richard knows someone who works there and got us a huge discount, must be because they know we're celebs. haha #kiddingbutnot Anyways after signing up for the gym, Richard and Dennis took us to this coffee/bar place, which was very hipster-y haha It was fun though, we just sat around and talked! OH and I finally had my first drink since I've been 21!!!! WOOO!! Corona with lemon haha They gave us lemon because they didn't know what a lime was when we asked for one, but it was still delicious, and it was free because Ann bought it for me! Thanks Ann!!! That concluded our Thursday night :)

Friday:

Well Friday was the first officially day! Except not really, because we do a week in the other department before we actually get started in our department. My department is front office, but today I was in food and beverage. I worked in icafe (where we always have dinner since it's a buffet and I love food). Basically all day I bussed tables, served drinks, and went around to all the tables to give them a special tempura shrimp.. in heels.. Kill me now. All day bussing tables in these heels was the worst. I think these pantyhose are ruining my beautiful feet haha

Oh and how could I forgot that I got my uniform for my first rotation?!? I knowwww, it’s because I look god awful in it haha There’s only one color that just does not suit me in any way, and what color is it you may be wondering? It’s red. What color is the uniform jacket? Red. #OfffffCourse It took an hour to get a uniform that fit me because I am not built like a typical super tiny employee here. #Curvy After trying on about 4 different sizes, I finally find a shirt and jacket that fit me, buttttt the skirt is tighter than an emo-kid’s skinny jeans. I mean we’re talking, corset tight haha Sooo they extended the skirt and made it bigger #fatty

After working in icafe, got off at 4 surprisingly haha, I went back and napped, but oh wait there’s construction going on so I didn’t really, but hey laying down after wearing those heels all day felt fantastic. Then finally at like 6 we ate dinner at… icafe haha #Tradition

Earlier in the day, all four of us were ready to finally go experience some Dalian nightlife, but after dinner we were all just ready to sleep.. so we did! Finally caught up on some sleep!

Saturday:

In the morning, we had a meeting with Wei Wei (the graduate student in charge of this internship) and Denise (who is also in charge of the program, not a grad student though) who were visiting to make sure that everything was going all right. We got to hear about the other interns and how their hotels and internships are going, it was nice to see some familiar faces! We had lunch with them at icafe and then went back to the apartment and hung out for awhile because we were waiting for Richard so he could take us to the gym (yes, we need a chaperone).

AND YES, I actually worked out. In China. I have a membership. It’s pretty official.

After about dying at the gym, we all went back and showered and then were starving. We were talking to our friend Dennis who was at Pizza Hut with his cousin’s daughter.. mmm Pizza Hut… Yeah that’s what we thought sooo Dennis waited for us at Pizza Hut and that’s where we had dinner haha It was the best Pizza Hut ever. You should have seen the menu! They had everything!! They had seafood pizza, steak, Chinese food, it was awesome! Totally worth it, got a little taste of home J So we had big plans to go out, but we were just so exhausted from the week, but coffee sounded delicious. Dennis took us to this little coffee shop only 5-8 minute walk from the hotel and we got the “Dennis.” It’s not actually called that, but it’s his favorite drink. What is the Dennis? It’s Half coffee-half tea with a little milk, and IT IS SO GOOD! Oh and it also gets you SO HYPER!!!!!!! After that we were pumped up and ready to go out! Dennis went back home, and we went to the apartment and got ready for a real night out!

Ann, Heather, and I met Thomas, the German guy that works at Shangri-La, outside the apartment lobby and we took a taxi to where all the bars are (taking a taxi there was unnecessary, but oh well).  We went to the foreigners bar called JD’s and it was actually not very crowded, but Thomas set us up with a bottle of rum and some coke. (They buy it by the bottles in China.. I like the way they think! Haha). Let the drinking commence! After a couple of drinks, we decided to make the dance floor useful. Ann and I started dancing like foreigners and then a bunch of people joined in and our job was done! Yes, we started the dance party. #ClassicInternMove We actually didn’t stay out too late, but we took a taxi back to the apartment at like one! #SuccessfulNight Then we all passed out in our beds haha 

On our balcony!!! 

haha with the statues