Day 12

Today was another hot day. I went to the lab this morning, and a graduate student, Shen, asked me right away if I would assist him today with his experiment. He is testing the effects of Silicone sprayed on soybeans to see if it will increase yields like it has in other plants. His first task was to test the amount of soluble protein in the leaves of various silicon treatments. My chemistry knowledge impressed Chen and made it a lot easier to understand the chemicals we were using and the molar math behind it, so thank you Mrs. Nicholson! I helped him to weigh out specific amounts of leaves, so he could grind them into a paste and put in test tubes. Then, we went to the old lab in order to use the centrifuge, a machine that spins items very fast, to separate the liquids and solids in the test tubes. I then helped him to extract the liquids out of the test tubes and prepare the solution for protein testing. We basically created a solution that dyed the plant liquid. Then we used a spectrometer, a machine that calculates the exact wavelength of a color, in order to determine the amount of protein in the samples. This took us up until lunch.
After lunch and our traditional afternoon break, I returned to the lab and assisted Chen again. The graduate students have put a sign-up sheet up in the lab, so they can take turns having me help them with their experiments. Chen’s day was today. This afternoon we weighed out more leaf samples to determine the amount of nitrates in the leaves. I didn’t get to help too much because right when it got interesting, Lily came rushing in to grab me for dinner. Professor Li had invited me to go out with him, some other faculty, and the recent graduates from my lab. We went to a very fancy restaurant where we had our own private room in the back. In fact, it was so nice that the traditional lazy susan in the center of the table, that allows everyone to eat what they want without having to pass the food around, was motorized so it turned automatically. I didn’t like the food very much. It was basically comprised of all the foods I dislike and realized I disliked after tasting it, such as mutton, green peppers, whole fish, yogurt that tasted (and probably was) rotten milk, cantaloupe, and apple juice, which ended up being apple vinegar. I was not impressed by the bathrooms though. I have discovered that here in China no matter how fancy anyplace is, it has squat toilets. They are basically holes in the ground (with porcelain if they are really nice) that you squat over when you have to go to the bathroom. Luckily I didn’t have to go bad enough to have to use it.
Dr. Li is very nice. He has a nine year old daughter who was born in the United States when him and his wife were living there. Dr. Li said he got his PhD in Alabama, and then moved to South Dakota, where his daughter was born. They moved back to China shortly after. He wants me to teach her some more English, and I said that I would be happy to. He is even planning a trip to the US in September to visit Alabama, and then attend the World Food Prize Symposium in October. After the dinner, Dr. Li drove Lily and I back to the lab because I had left my bag there in the rush to leave. Then, I came back to my apartment. It was about 10pm when I finally got here. Hopefully tonight I sleep better tonight. My air conditioner has not been working right, so it has been very hot in my room, but tonight there is a breeze coming in my window. Plus, I haven’t heard any drunk people yet, so I think I will be able to sleep tonight!