Adjusting to Chengdu

It's now been 4 days in Chengdu and I'm starting to adjust slightly. I didn't expect it, but there's not exactly a ton of adjusting to do. Going in I absolutely had the wrong idea about what China is. That being said, here's a rundown of how Chengdu and Gainesville differ.

1. This city is seriously massive. I don't think I had a grasp on how large the number 9.75 million was until now. Downtown (as seen below) is a total jumble of skyscrapers that you just get lost in, and they don't stop. I'm about a 10 minute drive from downtown and still all I can see when I walk out is huge buildings. Absolutely gigantic.

2. Food. They eat Chinese food all the time here, no joke. But the thing is, about 95% of the food I've had has been great. I've realized that the more normal the food looks, the crazier and worse it actually is. So now if it looks weird, slimy, or totally unidentifiable I pretty much go for it and end up with a smile on my face. As an fyi - yes I've eaten meat and yes I like it; the beef is delicious. There's a ton of places to go grab food and its all cheap as hell. A typical dinner costs me about 90 cents. Nothing fancy: just go in, sit down, point at characters and say "ji ge" (translation: that).  Of course, sometimes you get some crap. My roommate brought me back some grub, this is what it looked like...

To be continued, gotta go to class!