"Life Begins at the End of Your Comfort Zone"- N.D. Walsch

I found a random notebook at the campus store today with the title of this blog written on it... I thought it was really fitting to my experience here. Living abroad for a year away from all of my loved ones in a strange country is certainly out of my comfort zone, but so far I am loving every minute of it!!!

Today started out really great: Egg pita for breakfast followed by a couple hours of Frisbee... Lunch was also very enjoyable: McDonald's, that's right: McDonald's.... A short ride away from campus on the bus or 三轮车 (literally "three wheeled car"= a small rickshaw cab) is a Micky D's complete with Big Macs french fries and milkshakes. The menu also includes many types of chicken sandwiches because as Ben puts it "the Chinese like their fried chicken." (KFC is also very popular, actually the locals joke the KFC stands for Kaifeng Cai [菜 , cai= dish) I ordered the Big Mac meal with curly fries, yes curly fries, and everything was YUMMY!!! the cost of the meal was 20 RMB (about $3.30)

This afternoon Ben and I met with Leanna, my classmate from Akron who is studying at 河大 this year. She was tired, as her flight arrived late last night in Zhengzhou, but was eager to go around campus and find something to eat... I am happy that I at least know a few people here in China, and very glad that I chose to go on this adventure. However, classes start Monday and real life begins!!!