So I went to the grocery store outside of the east gate where the McDonalds was, and got my sim card for 45RMB and a 100yuan calling phone card. I went outside because I had my laptop in my backpack and the grocery store guard told me in order to go in and shop I needed to leave my backpack behind, which I didn’t want to do. Good thing they sold sim cards near the entrance so I didn’t have to put my backpack down with strangers.
These were for sale at the grocery store ^_^





After buying the phone card, I looked across the street for the internet café but I couldn’t make out the words. Plus, the internet place (CERNET) opened at 10am and it was already 9:45am so I wanted to get my internet first, but clearly, it didn’t work.


I feel so stressed out right now. I realized that all day yesterday on the plane I only had 2 gingerales and I brought with me an unopened Sprite from the plane. I finished all of the water I brought along with me, so I went downstairs to the first floor where there was a mini convenience store in the same building as my dorm. I bought a 2.2Liter bottle of water for 4 kuai. I was going to buy a 5L water bottle but the guy said it was 18 kuai! Which doesn’t make sense because if a 2.2L was already 4 kuai, the 5L should only be 9 kuai ( I didn’t do the math).

I found my name and Andrew’s name on the registration list posted outside of the Register’s office. It told me where I am supposed to go to take my placement exams, but in order to go into the classroom, I need to pay my tuition.

I’m so stressed out. I don’t have a phone, internet, money, barely any water and food, and toilet paper. I’m also supposed to pay room and board in 2 days. I need to get online so I can have my dad transfer all of the money over to my M&I bank so I can use the check card I brought with me. I think it also functions as a credit card, but I am really not sure so I don’t want to use it. AHH I don’t even know what time and what day the placement exams are…it didn’t say on the board. So confused…not happy…about to cry. Everyone seems to have everything together and here I am, can’t get anything to work and is broke and doesn’t have any form of communication to call back home and get things sorted out. Not only that, everyone in this building closes their door so I have no friends. P.S, grocery store officers don’t let you bring a backpack in…stupid… stupid TV won’t turn on either…oh wait it works now. Chinese MTV? Sean Kingston music video?

Oh and also, while I was looking at the information on the registration board, it said that dorm 4 is only 6-7rmb a day and all the other dorms were about the same price. I calculated it out and turns out that this dorm, building no. 17, may be the most expensive living place because it is around 9-10 US dollars a day.

I kept waking up last night. I went to bed at 8:45pm, then woke up at 1:25am and couldn’t sleep. I fell back asleep for an hour then woke up at 2:30am. Then I really couldn’t sleep because that would mean that it was 1:30pm Minnesota time. I was going to watch The Office on my computer and I was afraid that it would be too bright and wake my roommate up so I watched Garden State on my ipod. The movie was almost over and then the ipod ran out of batteries.

After I got back to my dorm and failed at the internet and everything else, now I’m hit with the air pollution of China. I was only outside for maybe an hour and my eyes feel sticky and my nose is yucky and my hands just feel gross. GAHHH… I’ve done all of the things that Andrew told me to do and where to go, how to pay how to get internet, but even with all of those tips, I am failing because nothing is working.

Hmm…you know, if my phone really does die because I can’t successfully unlock it with the new sim card, I can get a new phone