February 17, 2012

First afternoon with my host family. My sister is incredibly quiet, an amazing artist, and likes Johnny Depp. This afternoon we ate dinner and then studied past 9:30. Tomorrow I think (there might be a translation flaw here) that we are going to a park, but the daughter (Fanny is her English name) has too much homework so she cannot come with us. After dinner the mother kept asking me if I could eat different things. “Ni keyi he niu nai ma? (“Can you drink milk?”) “Wo keyi” then with fruit, then with bread. “Wo keyi” “Wo keyi” “Wo keyi.” I think they are a bit flabbergasted that I don’t eat meat. For dinner we ate mi fan (of course), bean sprouts, bitter melon (chicken removed) cabbage in broth, and peanut-chicken mixture. While I was studying the mom brought me sliced and peeled oranges, then later beheaded strawberries! Pretty fancy. Only after I had eaten all but one strawberry did I realize that they were wet and had probably been washed in faucet water, so I will either get disgustingly sick or build up my immunity to China water. The apartment is very nice with lots of artwork hanging around. I have my own bedroom with night-sky-and-bat curtains.