i've got that good-day-swagger

Today has been a pretty much perfect day for me, and it's always so nice to have a whole day go your way. This morning I gave my first test ever, a final exam for my undergraduate Oral English class, and it went pretty well. Sure, some students failed, but when you don't ever try or practice, your English is not going to get better, it's just how it works. I've heard that we can't really "fail" the students, so we'll see what the bosses say when I turn in Fs for a few of mine.

During class, I got a message from Amy saying that we got tickets to see Harry Potter a little before 5 p.m., which is right when people would have gotten out of the midnight showings in the States. I was so excited that we actually got tickets, and for opening day, because I didn't want to wait! After class I got fresh-made sushi from a little place down the street for so cheap, and the lady there knows me so I can just walk in and she knows what to start making, which is nice. I also got one of their 30 cent (U.S.) rice balls, which are stuffed with meat and veggies and she puts little faces on the outside with ketchup--today I got a very cute pig. I got to talk to the mahja and after lunch I finished tallying all of the grades for the undergraduate class, so now all I have to do is put them in the chart for the university and send them off!

I was too excited about the movie to stay in my apartment, so I went outside to our meeting spot a few minutes early and waited for Amy, Jason, and Julianne. The traffic was terrible, as usual, so we got to the theater right on time; we saw the movie at the IMAX theater on the fourth floor of the Wal-Mart building downtown, and Amy already had our tickets, so we just had to buy snacks.

Chinese movie theaters are a bit different. We weren't allowed to enter until 10 minutes before the showing. However, you are given assigned seats, like at a live theater or a concert, so you don't have to fight to sit with a group of friends. The tickets were about as much as they would have been at home, but the snacks were cheaper--I got a cute little Coke and popcorn for less than $3. The popcorn is caramel, as opposed to movie theater butter style, but it's okay. People brought all kinds of their own snacks, I could smell the various meats and fishes throughout the movie. They didn't dim the lights when it started, the screen just turned on with a loud bang and the IMAX commercial started. Being able to feel my seat shake makes me a little nervous, especially since I knew there were three floors underneath us, but you get used to it. The movie was in English with Chinese subtitles, so the Chinese people laughed at different parts sometimes. They also got really giddy literally ANY time anything vaguely romantic was happening, which was fairly often, if you've seen the movie. (I don't want to give anything away!) They were on their cellphones the whole time, and they definitely don't silence those suckers; hearing Chinese pop songs and the Nokia theme provided an interesting contrast to some of the more serious moments. They're up and down, crawling over each other and whispering, sometimes repeating some of the English words and phrases from the movie. Overall, though, it was SOOOO fun, because seeing a movie like that is something I've always done with friends. I'll still be here when the last part comes out in July, and I'm definitely seeing it at that theater. I'll try to get some pictures of the posters and advertisements to put on Flickr.

Since it was just about dinnertime when we got out of the movie, and since there is a McDonald's right next to Wal-Mart, we all had a delicious American fast food meal and talked about the movie. There are so many American food brands in China, but most of them taste a little different than at home, like Coca-Cola; McDonald's is one of the few things here that tastes just like home, so it is one of the most satisfying meals to have. My favorite over here is the double cheeseburger meal, and their portion sizes here are still normal/medium, so I don't feel like I'm eating too much. So delishores (this is how our Chinese students pronounce the word, and they actually know no other words to describe food but this one)!

Waiting for the bus took forever, but we knew it would, and it was actually empty when it came so we were all able to get seats! This is a miracle when coming from downtown after 5 p.m.!

I meant to post all week on another Chinese cultural topic, and yesterday, which was the three month anniversary of my arrival here, but that can be another time. I'm going to sleep so well tonight!