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Our second to last language class was today and it was like being in a shop. We practiced buying and selling products before eating lunch with our new friend Eric. Eric has had a very interesting career here in Chongqing teaching English classes at the university. It was very inspiring to hear about his life and to see how accustomed he has become to the culture after just 2 years. Not to mention how fluent he is! He is studying to take a Chinese test to prove his knowledge and is a very popular person here on campus. It was nice to talk to some else who speaks English and who can share some of the same feelings since he has had similar experiences. 

After lunch we made our own Chinese dumplings! Dumplings are a common food here in China. Making dumplings is similar to making noodles. You just flatten them out, stuff them and seal the edges. Sounds easy but there are a lot of details you have to pay attention to. You have to make sure they are the right thickness, you get just the right amount of filling, and you use the proper pinching technique to close the dumpling. After all, of our hard work we were able to feast for dinner! 

Tiffany, Isaac, some of our language partners and I ventured down to look for Mah Jong sets in the stores. I just went for the walk but I ended up getting a travel set! I think it will be fun to show my family how to play and make them dumplings. Apparently Mah Jong is banned on campus for the students because of the gambling that can be attached with it. When played for fun it is quite addicting! After our ventures and our wonderful, hand made dinner we sat through a lecture on more Chinese history. Then Jessica, Mrs. Rietman, and I skyped with a class at USI. It felt good to share with students who could potentially come here and experience this too!

We had our first signs of thunder tonight! I think it's a lot louder than what I've heard before but it still makes for great sleeping weather! 

Things I learned:
- Chinese, Math, and English are the most important subjects in elementary schools. 
- There are not very many, if any, part time jobs for students. Parents help to pay for school or they have scholarships or contracts. 




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