My dad is a funny man

My dad writes the best and funniest emails. If you're reading this now (I'm pretty sure you are or will be in the near future) thanks, dad. You really cheer up my day. And, if you're reading this and mom's home, please tell her that I talked to Bei Bei today, and we're planning on going to dinner on Monday! Bei Bei's English is so good now! I am terribly embarrassed at the poor state of my Chinese, but I think I'm improving. My Chinese buddy Echo told me so :)

Today was great because we had class and the quiz was easy and Chinese was interactive. However, we couldn't find anywhere to eat breakfast because we had been banking on the cafe being open (it wasn't), so I ended up drinking warm milk tea and eating cookie/cracker things with one side of chocolate and one side wheat. They were good, but dessert in the morning is weird and unnatural, even in Asia.
A quartet of young musicians who are training at some of Beijing's best music universities, played for us today. We were in a classroom that didn't seem equipped to fit them and their music, but I think the best was made of the awkward setup. It sounded like classic Chinese music, and something about it made a part of me feel really comfy, like something fit where I hadn't realized a hole had been. The instruments were as follows (in no particularly professional order):
1. wooden flute thing
2. Chinese violin, which was a piece of wood shaped like a tin can with two string connected to it, played with a bow like an American violin, except the bow strikes in between the strings instead of above them
3. a harp that was played with it lying back against a table, almost played like a really graceful keyboard. her fingers kind of just skimmed the surface, like she was ticking the instrument
4. an instrument kind of shaped like a viola or cello, which faced outwards like a cello but was balanced on the player's lap. it kind of looked like a mango halve, with the fleshy part facing out
The most interesting part of the performance, or at least the most eye-catching, was the harp player's hair. It was cut in this femmebot kind of shape. The precision was a bit alarming. A short, crisp bob and straight, thick bangs. But the odd perfection wasn't the most shocking. What was most interesting was the shine. I've never seen hair so shiny in my entire life. It looked like it had been polished, like a shiny piece of onyx (I'm guessing, because I've heard people refer to those stones as black and particularly shiny). I'm not the only one who noticed - at least six or seven others commented about it after the performance was over, and at least three of them were guys who noticed. That's saying something.

I also went out for sushi tonight and invited my Chinese buddy Echo to come along too!!! I'm loving it. It was so fun! And I went grocery shopping, kind of, but I really just bought some green tea, chocolate cookies, and a chewy snack I remember fondly from childhood.
Today at lunch we talked about eating brain and swallow spit (swallow, like the bird). Tomorrow, the Great Wall!! Race you to the top!