the cold has finally come

It's finally starting to feel like November here, and of course in good form I got a cold. It was been getting better pretty quickly though, so don't worry, I don't think there is any more Chinese medicine in my future. It is still only in the 50's, but it feels cold because it is still really damp so it gets in your bones.
Not much interesting has happened this week, but today was a pretty good day. I had my last midterm today, writing class. We had to write a 200 character story about this picture of a girl falling through a hole in a bridge. I thought mine was pretty good, but I'm glad tests are finally over. After that Laura and I rode bikes to Starbucks for a coffee tasting Tabitha had set up. Tabitha is doing her research project on coffee culture, so she had set this up for that and just invited us to come along. It was the first time I had actually ordered coffee at a coffee shop in China and the first time I had been in Starbucks since coming to China and sadly it felt really good. It reminded me alot of home and I ordered a Vanilla latte my special way and they got it right. Our coffee tasting was pretty good too, but I didn't really learn anything new. I did discover that most Chinese people do not own coffee machines. If they do make coffee at their house it is always in a French Press, so that is how we drank it today. Also, in the bathrooms they had these really funny signs that kind of epitomize Chinese to English translations, they are never quite right and you never quite know what they are talking about. This one was on the toilet paper dispenser and if you can't read it, it says: "Protect the Environment, Save the Bumph." The correct translation is "Protect the Environment, Use less toilet paper."
After that I went swimming in the cold pool. However, I also got a present which made every time I have to get in that freezing cold water worth it. It wasn't really a present because I had to pay about 100 kuai for them, but that was not the point. Today I got to pick up a new black swimming suit (which is still a little small in the butt, but fits much better) and a big red swimming parka that says CHINA on the back! It also says YINGFA, which is the brand.
Also, my mom said she wanted to see pictures from the ceremony, so here they are. One is of my back, receiving the award while a bunch of people take pictures of me shaking the hand of the Dean of the Overseas School, who I have never met before and one is of me sitting at our table looking through my loot. I am wearing my medal and the thing open on the table is the plaque they gave me. These are some pictures of the race that I didn't have before from the board they put up at the school about the race.