Jackson ITA4

I just got done Skyping for the fourth time with my ITA, Zhong Jun. It has been a very long time since we last Skyped. I had e-mailed him a couple times but he never got back to me. The reason, I learned tonight, was because his internet (which was already bad) completely gave out. However, when I came home from volleyball tonight and saw that I had a missed Skype call from him, I was very excited to get to do some catching up. We had a really great conversation. I can say without any doubt that his English has gotten tremendously better since the last time we spoke. Since the internet connection was also significantly better, it made for our best conversation yet! He told me about his new apartment, The Plaza off of Tennessee Street and his two Chinese roommates. He told me about how hectic his schedule is: 9-5 in the Lab, 5-6:30 in his English class. We talked about his plans to go home this winter and what all he would do (and eat!) while he was there. We also talked about just what exactly it is he does in his Bio-Physics lab. He is responsible for determining the different structures that different proteins have and what function their respective structures allow far. It all sounded like very fascinating stuff and I could tell that he was truly interested in this subject. Our talks then turned to something that BOTH of us are very knowledgeable and passionate about: food (glorious food), and travel. Although the USA is the only country Zhong Jun has ever been to other than China, he has been to extremely beautiful places in china. He showed me many pictures of the places he has been and even recommended many places for me to teach if I really wanted to get a good experience in China. Next we each took turns sending pictures of our favorite foods to each other. We agreed that we would meet Thursday or Friday for dinner at Far East Cuisine. I asked if it would be alright if I brought Fei with me, since she is the one who introduced me to the restaurant and she is also Chinese and he thought that was a great idea. After Fei agreed we all now have plans to eat dinner Friday night. I'll be sure to blog about it and let you all know how it goes :)