What were you grateful for this week?Air conditioning ????

What was the most challenging part of this week?The heat and sweating so much ????

Tell us about a “wow” moment you had this week. This week I got [my host family’s daughter] a gift for her birthday that she really loved.

Tell us about your week! This past week has been a solid one, filled with some pretty good food, as always! On Thursday, we celebrated [my host family’s daughter’s] 12th birthday! I absolutely love birthdays, so I was looking forward to it all week! For her birthday, I got her a bunch of my favorite American junk food. [She] loves junk food, so it was perfect. I got her lays BBQ chips, gummy bears, gummy rings, and some gourmet chocolate! Another one of my favorite days was probably when I got to go on a date with a Chinese guy from my gym! To be honest, before I came to China, I was really hoping I would be able to go on a date with someone natively from China. Why? For fun! And also I just was curious about the differences I would see with Chinese men versus American guys. I must say, I was very impressed. Louis (the guys I went on date with) was such a gentleman. He was also an amazing listener, and just really sweet. For our date, we got some delicious duck and some drinks at a local restaurant, then we walked around Shanghai for a little while. I will say, boys are boys though! He was pretty flirty! I hope I can go out with him a few more times before I head home!