Today also began with another great breakfast at the hotel. After we ate, we took a bus to the Central University of Finance and Economics. The ride was an hour and half to the campus. When we arrived we saw thousands of students switching classes, which was a little overwhelming. At 10:00, the group listened to a lecture discussing smartphones, supply chains, and e-commerce in China by professor Yao. I enjoyed learning about the differences between the US and China. For example, Chinese supermarkets are smaller and customers buy smaller quantities of food compared to Americans because many Chinese people living in the city ride bikes, rather than large SUVs. Also, I Nilaani noticed that there are hundreds of bikes unlocked in the streets. We learned that these bikes can be checked out by scanning a QR code and only cost a few cents an hour!
After class, the group headed to lunch. We were very excited to try the dining hall of CUFE. Could it really be as bad as Market Central?!? Instead of walking around and finding food, we had tons of dishes on our tables when we arrived. Although I love trying new foods, this was the most difficult meal for me to eat since I’ve been in China. There were many dishes served that I knew I didn’t like, for example eggs and pumpkin. The blueberry mashed potatoes were also difficult for me to try. This was not my favorite meal, but I was so thankful that I was able to try everything. We also socialized with local students at lunch. It was really fun getting to show them apps that we use, such as snapchat!
Next, we walked around the modern looking campus and took a look inside the library. The library was beautiful and it had a cool feature that allowed students to check for available seats on different floors. The group then walked outside to see the students at P.E. class. The boys and girls were separated while they played tennis, basketball, and volleyball. We got to play jump rope games with the university students! Our group took turns running into the big rope. I was a little surprised that college students jumped rope or even had P.E., but it was really fun.
After driving back to the hotel, we went out to dinner as a group again. The dinner style was the same as it was for lunch. Many dishes were placed on the table and I was able to try a little of everything. Nilaani and I agreed that our favorite dishes were the fresh salad and watermelon because the food that we’ve been eating has been heavier that what we are used to eating.
The night ended with Nilaani, Jordan, and I going to a cute smoothie shop and talking for hours about puppies. A perfect way to end any day!