I have been in pain for about a week now. I've been in Kunming for around 2 years and I've never had stomach problems for this long before. I went to Richland 2 days ago and got check for parasites, etc and they didn't find anything. They gave me some medicine, but I still have bad 拉肚子. Not fun.

Good luck, I was able to get a CSC scholarship for 云南师范大学 and I have really enjoyed studying in Kunming.

www.icis.cn/web/en/pages/content.jsp?id=396&language=en

I know that many people now have scholarships through the Confucius Institute. Both the the Confucius Institute and the CSC are offering many scholarships to people all over the world and there is a good chance that you would get one. 加油!!!

I am from Minnesota and I can tell you a little bit about Hamline University, etc. I know it is an expensive private university and very high quality. I'm not sure about its rankings, but I do know education in MN is among the best in the U.S and Hamline is one of the top schools in MN. The University of MN is also a great school and is more famous than Hamline, but Hamline is probably ranked higher. In the winter it gets crazy cold, but the other times of the year are beautiful. The twin cities Minneapolis/St. Paul are really cool actually. There is a lot of stuff do there and has a great music and art scene. It is about an 8 hour drive to Chicago. As far as getting to other major cities like Vegas, Seattle, Los Angeles, etc it would take about 2 days to drive there. If you enjoy nature and doing things outside MN has everything you would ever need and the twin cities offer most things that any other big city would. The cost of living in MN is not too bad. You could find an apartment by your self for maybe 600+ a month or you could always live in a house with someone for maybe 400+ If you have any other questions you can email me.

chillininbeijing@hotmail.com

Good luck with your choice, MN is a beautiful place ^_^

I agree lots of angry farmers, etc but definitely some mafia as well my friend. check the news every once and awhile.

I am sorry to hear what happened as well. I've heard a lot about gangs and mafia, etc here in Kunming. It is an amazing city and I hope that someday soon all these gangs will not be allowed to do the things they do. I know the new mayor is trying to deal with these issues and hopefully things will get better. Anyways keep your head up and I wish you the best through all of this.