So it's been really busy here recently. Classes have gotten much tougher and require a lot more studying than they initially did. Now that we can read and write characters we have to start memorizing about 30 per lesson and we do two to three lessons a week. So that means we're learning up to 90 characters a week on top of learning the meaning, history, and pronunciation of those characters. But I'll try to catch up what's been going on these past couple of weeks in this short blog.
The bamboo raft was definitely well worth the 165 Yuan. We all woke up early the next morning to get ready because the bus to take us to the bamboo raft ride was supposed to pick us up at 8:20. We went down to the hotel's front desk to talk to them about booking our tickets back to Chongqing because we wanted to make sure that this time we got soft sleeper tickets. Well after a big long ordeal they ended up wanting to charge us somewhere around 430 Yuan which we knew was way too much cause when we looked it up online it should have been somewhere around 275 Yuan. So we decided to just go back to the train station later that day and do it ourselves, meaning the others in my group talk and I just encourage them since I'm not advanced enough to talk about anything like that in Chinese yet.
So the "bus" which ended up being a small van picked us up around 8:35 because they had a difficult time finding the hotel we were staying at. We get into the "bus" and there are two Irish people, two Germans, and two other Americans. At first it was kind of awkward because we were crammed into such a small space with people we didn't know but after a few minutes into the ride I started talking with the two other Americans and having a good conversation. I forgot to mention that Guilin is even deeper into the rain forest than Chongqing and it's still the rainy season. So it's pouring down rain and we're on our way to the bamboo raft ride down a large river. They take us down these small back roads that have entire sections wiped out by the rain and we're in this tiny bus. Needless to say we're all getting thrown around in the back and getting to know those we're sitting by very well from being thrown around onto each other. Well after a good 30-45 minutes of that we finally arrive at our "boat ramp." The rain was still coming down really hard so we weren't sure if we would actually get to go down the river. Well, the Chinese like their money and definitely did not want to have to return their money so they decided to go for it. They herded our group onto a rickety old bamboo raft with a small engine strapped onto the back with some bungee cords and tape and off we went. Two hours later, we arrived at we thought was the town, Yanshuo, that we were traveling to. But we weren't so lucky. They put us in these small van like vehicles with no sides other than a little bar to hold onto and then took us for a 30 minute treacherous ride along the river's cliff side. We finally arrived in Yanshuo two more bus rides later.
We then stayed in Yanshuo and walked around for a few hours. It was actually a rather disappointing city other than the magnificent mountains all around it. Not to mention it was still raining and we were soaked from our raft ride because the "cover" over our heads had holes all over it. So we decided to go ahead and grab our bus back to Guilin and go out and chill that night. It was about an hour bus ride back that I was only awake for 5 minutes of which was the very beginning and then I woke up and we were back in Guilin.
That night we were all really tired so we decided to just go out to the night market, grab some food and then head back to rest up. The night market was surprisingly nice. It was about half a mile long row of tents set up on a sectioned off road that had all kinds of trinkets and souvenirs. After that we just went back to the hotel, watched some volleyball and soccer on TV then hit the hay. The next day, Tuesday, we didn't do all that much because we had to catch our train back to Chongqing. This time we made sure we had soft sleepers. So after going back to a restaurant we really liked we packed our stuff up and headed to the train station. This time without much trouble and only a little staring we got onto the train and found our compartment. Wow, what a difference from the hard sleepers. Here we had four beds, with about four inch thick mattresses, feather comforters, two feather pillows, a door that closed off our compartment, and air conditioning. It was amazing! We left around one thirty in the afternoon so that we wouldn't have to spend the night and then a whole day on the train. This way we got most of the ride over with in the beginning and then when we woke up we were back in Chongqing. We played cards, napped, ate some train food and made a video of our Guilin experience. So overall, we now know that for any long train ride a soft sleeper is very much needed if you want to arrive to your destination well rested.
So that was basically two weeks ago now. I haven't blogged as much as I wanted to so I can't remember everything we've done since then, because it feels like it has been more than two weeks. After we got back to Guilin a bunch of us contracted some form of stomach bug whether it was from the food, water or something else we're not really sure but it wiped us out for a couple days and made it very difficult to focus in classes.
The next weekend (June 18-20) we didn't really do all that much. We went out to a nice area of the city called Jeifengbei Friday night and walked around to see the city at night because it's lit up all along the river. The rest of the weekend we basically stayed around the dorm and caught up on sleep and tried to let our stomachs get back to normal. A couple of us went on a big cooking spree that way we could control what we ate more carefully. We found a place that had really trustworthy chicken breasts so we've been cooking all sorts of chicken dishes.
Then last week we didn't really do anything other than classes. On Friday our group leaders took us to the art show at Chongqing Fine Arts School. There were some crazy sculptures and paintings that showed the more modern culture of China. Friday night about six of us went to KTV (karaoke) and sang for about 4-5 hours. It was so much fun. We just picked any English song we could find and sang at the top of our lungs. We had our own room with our own bathroom and we could be as loud as we wanted all night long. It was definitely a nice relaxer after a long week of classes. Saturday night we all stayed up till 2:30 A.M. which is when the American soccer team played in the World Cup. I think we kept people in our hall up late due to all of our cheering and booing.
This Sunday was probably the best day of the past weekend though. One night when a bunch of us went out we met a group of Chinese college students who study at the Fine Arts School here in Chongqing. They insisted that we come see the student's art show at the old campus so Sunday that's just what we did. We met up with them in the afternoon and went and looked around the campus which had art work all over. It was a really cool campus and a much more modern feel than the school we are at. They then took us to a cafe where we had some coffee and snacks. They were so interested just to talk. We all went around and introduced ourselves. Us Americans introduced ourselves in Chinese and the Chinese introduced themselves in English which was a really neat experience. I couldn't always understand them but they were very patient and had a couple fairly good English speakers in their group.
Then they insisted on taking us to hotpot which is a Sichuan Province specialty. Basically there is a big burner in the middle of the table which they put a big pot on. This pot was divided into two sections, a crazy spicy mixture and a not so spicy mixture. They then heat up the pot and bring out all the food we ordered....raw. We then can put into whichever side of the bowl we want and cook it. It's actually a really cool idea and gives you a lot of flavor and truly freshly cooked food. The only downside is that the Chinese eat some very different food than we are used to. To add to my list of strange foods I had cow stomach, some sorts of fungus, possibly dog (we're not sure), and other meats that we don't know. But because they bought all of this food for us it would be extremely rude to turn it down. The only thing I turned down was a little fish that looked like it should have been swimming still. Although the cow stomach was not very pleasing, the rest of the food was actually really good. I've now eaten lots of different types of fungus, horse ear, cow stomach, duck, duck tongue, chicken tongue, chicken foot, chicken innards, possibly dog and I'm sure there has been some other stuff that I just don't want to know what it was. So I'll leave you with that until next time. :)
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Guilin- Part 1
My trip to Guilin was by far one of the most amazing experiences I think I will have in China. The train ride to Guilin was definitely an interesting journey. Our train was delayed an hour which wasn't the worst thing that could happen because we were running a little late anyways. But once we got to the train station and found our platform to board the train we stood in the waiting room for a good hour. To start off this "wonderful" train experience everyone is trying to tell me something about my suitcase, which not even the second year students I was with could understand. The people just kept asking for money and pointing to my bag so at first we were scared it was too big since a few of us packed our stuff in it. It turned out to be a scam but it resulted in getting the attention of many other people waiting for the train who then began to blatantly stare at us. This wasn't just a stare for a few minutes, it lasted the entire time we waited for the train. Eventually we tried to get them to stop by staring back but they would only break their stare and then proceed to stare again once we had stopped.
Then the train rolled into the station and it was a complete madhouse. Everyone stood up and rushed to the doors that hadn't been unlocked yet. As soon as the workers began taking tickets and unlocked the doors everyone in the back began pushing forward and I honestly thought I was going to get knocked down and trampled over at one point. Someone had spilled something wet on the floor and I had my backpack and my luggage on me so it was very difficult for me to weave in and out of the people to avoid being trampled. I still don't understand why the Chinese are so hurried for stuff like that because as soon as we were through the doors and walking towards the train they all slowed to a walk and just casually got to the train. It's not like they wouldn't get seats, we all already bought tickets and you're guaranteed your seat once you buy the ticket so it doesn't make sense to push and shove like they tend to do. Maybe someday I'll figure that one out but for now I know just to hang back for a couple minutes and then I can get to the train without all the pushing and shoving.
Once we were on the train we knew not to expect anything too nice since we weren't able to get soft sleeper compartments. Well it was a good thing we didn't expect much because we didn't get much. There are six hard sleepers to a compartment, three high, with a towel for a blanket and a thin piece of cloth they called a pillow (mild exaggeration). We found our compartments and within twenty minutes of the traveling (around 10:30 at night) they turned off all of the lights on the train. Well we are college students, going to bed early is not something we tend to do. So the girls came over into our compartment and we all just sat on the two beds in my compartment and talked till late in the night because we needed to be exhausted to be able to sleep on the hard sleepers. We all finally were tired enough to sleep so we went to bed. I slept off and on all night due to sounds, smells, and the trains stopping and going. Well, sunrise rolls around and they start playing some sort of Chinese chant music very loudly over the trains speaker system. Needless to say my attempt at sleeping any longer was futile. Once we all woke up around 8 a.m. we had to kill time until 6 p.m. that day when our train FINALLY rolled into Guilin.
Guilin was well worth the train ride experience. As soon as we get out of the train station I could see these beautiful mountains all around and in the city. It was gorgeous and unlike anything I've ever seen except in pictures. We then took a very cheap taxi ride, less than 2 USD, to our hotel so we could shower and clean up since we had been on a train for almost a full 24 hours. The hotel was so much better than what I expected. We got two rooms for 13 USD per person a night which is amazing. We had a sofa, two beds, and double pain windows to block out all city noise. The beds had feather comforters and pillows and one of the softest mattresses I've ever slept on. We decided to go explore this new city though instead of nap, which was very tempting. Mostly we wanted to find somewhere nice to eat. We were given $250 for the trip and we intended to live pretty well for this brief time, especially after the train ride experience. We were walking down a street full of restaurants and trying to find something that looked good. One lady ushered us into her restaurant and gave us a menu that the second years had a difficult time reading and I didn't even attempt to seeing as I haven't learned any food characters yet. Well our server recommended something and we just said yes and crossed our fingers. They brought out Kung Pow Chicken, sweet and sour pork, and eggplant. We all instantly fell in love with the restaurant. The people there were so nice and they had the best sweet and sour pork. After stuffing ourselves and paying $2.50 a person we were on our way to explore the city more.
We walked around for a while and just got a feel for the city. We could tell Guilin was a city that was getting used to tourism though because they had a lot bakeries, Italian restaurants, and coffee shops. After getting a coffee and some different cakes we went back to our hotel to share the food and try the different flavored slices of cake. After that we were all so exhausted from the lack of sleep on the train we decided to just go to bed and start the next day bright and early.
Bright and early ended up being around 11 a.m. for my friend and I. We went to wake up the girls so we could all go out and explore the city some more but one of them wasn't feeling well so they decided to stay in and sleep some more. My friend and I did some research online and found one of the main areas in Guilin and decided to take a taxi there to do walk around and do some shopping. We stayed in the area for most of the afternoon and after trying on different clothes and realizing that Chinese clothes tend to not fit our bodies we wandered around.
We happened to wander into a place called the Seven Stars Scenic Park. Named for it's seven major mountains and their peaks, it was gorgeous. We paid the 30 yuan entrance fee and walked around the park for a good two and half hours and still barely saw half of the park. As we were walking we saw a sign that said "Caution, Fierce Monkeys." At first we didn't see any monkeys but as we continued to walk around we saw some drop out of a tree. It was pretty cool to see wild monkeys walking around the park that was right in the middle of the city. As we were watching them walk around the ground a woman walked by with a shopping bag full of food and the bigger of the two monkeys took off running for it and tried grabbing it. The woman simply pulled the bag up and drop kicked the monkey. My friend and I were laughing hysterically as the woman kicked the monkey away and it ran after a good kick to the face. After that we made sure to avoid getting too close to the monkeys because who knows if they would have thought we had food on us.
By this time we were trying to think of different things to do for the rest of the evening since the girls were doing their own thing that day. We remembered that on our way from the hotel we saw a theater called the "Dreamlike Theater" and that the show started somewhere around seven. So we decided to go back to the hotel, research the show, clean up, and go to the show if it looked good. The show was well known in the area and supposedly sold out every night. We decided to spend the 150 yuan and go see it. After waiting 20 minutes past the shows starting time (Chinese people aren't very punctual) we saw one of the best shows I have ever seen. It had all kinds of crazy acrobatic tricks and told the story of Guilin and all of its prominent features. My friend actually got pulled up onto the stage by the intermission show's clown and got to participate in a few magic tricks.
After that we went back to the hotel and met up with the girls. They had gone out and bought tickets for a bamboo raft ride for the four of us the next day. So we got that figured out then the girls decided to stay in the rest of the night. My friend and I still hadn't had dinner so we went out to the Italian restaurant we saw earlier that day and ordered two pizzas which was so nice to have since I have basically only had Chinese food and while I like Chinese food I also like variety. The bamboo raft left early the next morning so we decided to head back to the hotel, watch some world cup, and hit the hay to rest up for the next day's adventure.
Then the train rolled into the station and it was a complete madhouse. Everyone stood up and rushed to the doors that hadn't been unlocked yet. As soon as the workers began taking tickets and unlocked the doors everyone in the back began pushing forward and I honestly thought I was going to get knocked down and trampled over at one point. Someone had spilled something wet on the floor and I had my backpack and my luggage on me so it was very difficult for me to weave in and out of the people to avoid being trampled. I still don't understand why the Chinese are so hurried for stuff like that because as soon as we were through the doors and walking towards the train they all slowed to a walk and just casually got to the train. It's not like they wouldn't get seats, we all already bought tickets and you're guaranteed your seat once you buy the ticket so it doesn't make sense to push and shove like they tend to do. Maybe someday I'll figure that one out but for now I know just to hang back for a couple minutes and then I can get to the train without all the pushing and shoving.
Once we were on the train we knew not to expect anything too nice since we weren't able to get soft sleeper compartments. Well it was a good thing we didn't expect much because we didn't get much. There are six hard sleepers to a compartment, three high, with a towel for a blanket and a thin piece of cloth they called a pillow (mild exaggeration). We found our compartments and within twenty minutes of the traveling (around 10:30 at night) they turned off all of the lights on the train. Well we are college students, going to bed early is not something we tend to do. So the girls came over into our compartment and we all just sat on the two beds in my compartment and talked till late in the night because we needed to be exhausted to be able to sleep on the hard sleepers. We all finally were tired enough to sleep so we went to bed. I slept off and on all night due to sounds, smells, and the trains stopping and going. Well, sunrise rolls around and they start playing some sort of Chinese chant music very loudly over the trains speaker system. Needless to say my attempt at sleeping any longer was futile. Once we all woke up around 8 a.m. we had to kill time until 6 p.m. that day when our train FINALLY rolled into Guilin.
Guilin was well worth the train ride experience. As soon as we get out of the train station I could see these beautiful mountains all around and in the city. It was gorgeous and unlike anything I've ever seen except in pictures. We then took a very cheap taxi ride, less than 2 USD, to our hotel so we could shower and clean up since we had been on a train for almost a full 24 hours. The hotel was so much better than what I expected. We got two rooms for 13 USD per person a night which is amazing. We had a sofa, two beds, and double pain windows to block out all city noise. The beds had feather comforters and pillows and one of the softest mattresses I've ever slept on. We decided to go explore this new city though instead of nap, which was very tempting. Mostly we wanted to find somewhere nice to eat. We were given $250 for the trip and we intended to live pretty well for this brief time, especially after the train ride experience. We were walking down a street full of restaurants and trying to find something that looked good. One lady ushered us into her restaurant and gave us a menu that the second years had a difficult time reading and I didn't even attempt to seeing as I haven't learned any food characters yet. Well our server recommended something and we just said yes and crossed our fingers. They brought out Kung Pow Chicken, sweet and sour pork, and eggplant. We all instantly fell in love with the restaurant. The people there were so nice and they had the best sweet and sour pork. After stuffing ourselves and paying $2.50 a person we were on our way to explore the city more.
We walked around for a while and just got a feel for the city. We could tell Guilin was a city that was getting used to tourism though because they had a lot bakeries, Italian restaurants, and coffee shops. After getting a coffee and some different cakes we went back to our hotel to share the food and try the different flavored slices of cake. After that we were all so exhausted from the lack of sleep on the train we decided to just go to bed and start the next day bright and early.
Bright and early ended up being around 11 a.m. for my friend and I. We went to wake up the girls so we could all go out and explore the city some more but one of them wasn't feeling well so they decided to stay in and sleep some more. My friend and I did some research online and found one of the main areas in Guilin and decided to take a taxi there to do walk around and do some shopping. We stayed in the area for most of the afternoon and after trying on different clothes and realizing that Chinese clothes tend to not fit our bodies we wandered around.
We happened to wander into a place called the Seven Stars Scenic Park. Named for it's seven major mountains and their peaks, it was gorgeous. We paid the 30 yuan entrance fee and walked around the park for a good two and half hours and still barely saw half of the park. As we were walking we saw a sign that said "Caution, Fierce Monkeys." At first we didn't see any monkeys but as we continued to walk around we saw some drop out of a tree. It was pretty cool to see wild monkeys walking around the park that was right in the middle of the city. As we were watching them walk around the ground a woman walked by with a shopping bag full of food and the bigger of the two monkeys took off running for it and tried grabbing it. The woman simply pulled the bag up and drop kicked the monkey. My friend and I were laughing hysterically as the woman kicked the monkey away and it ran after a good kick to the face. After that we made sure to avoid getting too close to the monkeys because who knows if they would have thought we had food on us.
By this time we were trying to think of different things to do for the rest of the evening since the girls were doing their own thing that day. We remembered that on our way from the hotel we saw a theater called the "Dreamlike Theater" and that the show started somewhere around seven. So we decided to go back to the hotel, research the show, clean up, and go to the show if it looked good. The show was well known in the area and supposedly sold out every night. We decided to spend the 150 yuan and go see it. After waiting 20 minutes past the shows starting time (Chinese people aren't very punctual) we saw one of the best shows I have ever seen. It had all kinds of crazy acrobatic tricks and told the story of Guilin and all of its prominent features. My friend actually got pulled up onto the stage by the intermission show's clown and got to participate in a few magic tricks.
After that we went back to the hotel and met up with the girls. They had gone out and bought tickets for a bamboo raft ride for the four of us the next day. So we got that figured out then the girls decided to stay in the rest of the night. My friend and I still hadn't had dinner so we went out to the Italian restaurant we saw earlier that day and ordered two pizzas which was so nice to have since I have basically only had Chinese food and while I like Chinese food I also like variety. The bamboo raft left early the next morning so we decided to head back to the hotel, watch some world cup, and hit the hay to rest up for the next day's adventure.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Now it Really Begins
Sunday was a lazy day for the most part. We got up lazily and just ate a late breakfast and then hung around the dormitory, studied, and just goofed off. Then a friend and I decided to go for a run because we had been wanting to all week but hadn't really had then energy to do it. So we finally got dressed, stretched and started our run. We soon learned the meaning of "mountain" campus. It's not like Western's hill. These really are mountains and the buildings are just built into the side of these mountains. After about a good five minutes of running we decided to stop as we were halfway up a very long set of steps. Instead of running we opted for a good brisk walk. Well, the walk soon turned into sitting and watching the school's soccer team play an opposing team.
The exercise day wasn't totally wasted though. After getting bored watching soccer we kept walking around just exploring the upper part of campus that we had not seen before this time. Remember SISU is built into a mountains and their is one BIG mountain right behind the campus called Gele Mountain. Well as we're exploring we found a small trail and decided to hike it for a little while. I think that's one of the few moments I've had now where I think "wow, I'm in China!" We were hiking up this mountain with bamboo all around us, birds cawing in the trees and all the while the city of Chongqing was behind us in all its glory.
As we continue to hike we realize just how big this mountain really is. After a good hour hike, with a few rests here and there, we finally made it to the top of Gele mountain. And boy was it worth it. Even though we couldn't get to the main overlook because we didn't bring money with us, we could look out from the peak and see the beautiful city of Chongqing, if you have a good enough imagination to see through the smog after the first few buildings. But it was still majestic in its own unique way. After getting our share of gawking at the beautiful landscape we headed back down the mountain which was only about a 30-45 minute hike. To reward ourselves for the hard work we went with some other people into the shopping area called Shapingba and treated ourselves to some McDonald's. Mmmm....it had been over a week since I had had any food closely resembling American food. For the most part the McDonald's chicken sandwich tasted the same but the chicken was just a little different. But the fries were glorious. I don't plan on treating to myself to McDonald's too much but I'm sure I'll give in at some point again.
The rest of the week has been pretty uneventful. Classes are crazy intense. We have class from 8 in the morning till 12 with only a couple 10 minute breaks in between. Then we have a three hour break which apparently all the local students use to go home and take a nap. That usually ends up being food and more study time for our group though. After a three hour break we go back to class from 3-4:30. And each teacher is always sure to assign a lot of homework. Some of it is written but often it is homework to go out into town and speak Chinese with locals and just practice our Chinese. Which is proving to be an awesome way of learning, though embarrassing at times because I can be saying the correct word but with the wrong tone so they will have no clue what I am saying. But we are all definitely improving as each day goes by, including our character writing skills.
Wednesday was the last day here for one of our trip coordinators, Cheryl. She is my favorite of the adults on this trip. I'm sad that she had to leave because she was a lot of fun to talk to and hang out with and we all called her Mama Cheryl. So as a parting gift we took her out to eat to a restaurant that is actually under a bridge that crosses over a waterfall. You're probably thinking it's this beautiful restaurant with a nice clean tables, big windows and excellent service. To be honest that's what I thought by the way some of our group members described it. No, that was not the case. It was a dirty cement restaurant with dogs just wandering around, short plastic stools for chairs, and just holes for the windows. Some of the food however was still wonderful and totally worth the minor let down. Not to mention eating under a bridge with a waterfall right outside the "window" was still pretty awesome.
Thursday was a regular class day as well. But after classes three of my classmates and I went to the train station to buy some train tickets for our trip this week. Because of the Dragon Boat Festival we have almost an entire week off of school. Originally our group leaders had planned on flying us to this beautiful place whose name I can't spell. But the airport was at an altitude of 13,000 feet and some people on our trip have bad asthma so they decided to cancel the trip and instead they are giving us the money they set aside for the trip and letting us do our own thing. So four of us are going to a place called Guilin. It's supposed to be one of the most beautiful places in China. It has crystal clear lakes of water at the bases of this huge set of mountains. I'm so excited to see it. It is a 19 hour train ride which is going to be interesting. We tried to get a soft sleeper compartment which is REALLY nice but not terribly expensive here in China. However, because language barrier we accidentally got hard sleepers. Which are basically as many cots as they can fit shoved into one compartment. And we're split up into groups of two unfortunately. But it will be an experience that's for sure. We leave tonight (Friday) and ride the train over night. So all I have to do is get through this last day of classes and then I'm free for the week!
The exercise day wasn't totally wasted though. After getting bored watching soccer we kept walking around just exploring the upper part of campus that we had not seen before this time. Remember SISU is built into a mountains and their is one BIG mountain right behind the campus called Gele Mountain. Well as we're exploring we found a small trail and decided to hike it for a little while. I think that's one of the few moments I've had now where I think "wow, I'm in China!" We were hiking up this mountain with bamboo all around us, birds cawing in the trees and all the while the city of Chongqing was behind us in all its glory.
As we continue to hike we realize just how big this mountain really is. After a good hour hike, with a few rests here and there, we finally made it to the top of Gele mountain. And boy was it worth it. Even though we couldn't get to the main overlook because we didn't bring money with us, we could look out from the peak and see the beautiful city of Chongqing, if you have a good enough imagination to see through the smog after the first few buildings. But it was still majestic in its own unique way. After getting our share of gawking at the beautiful landscape we headed back down the mountain which was only about a 30-45 minute hike. To reward ourselves for the hard work we went with some other people into the shopping area called Shapingba and treated ourselves to some McDonald's. Mmmm....it had been over a week since I had had any food closely resembling American food. For the most part the McDonald's chicken sandwich tasted the same but the chicken was just a little different. But the fries were glorious. I don't plan on treating to myself to McDonald's too much but I'm sure I'll give in at some point again.
The rest of the week has been pretty uneventful. Classes are crazy intense. We have class from 8 in the morning till 12 with only a couple 10 minute breaks in between. Then we have a three hour break which apparently all the local students use to go home and take a nap. That usually ends up being food and more study time for our group though. After a three hour break we go back to class from 3-4:30. And each teacher is always sure to assign a lot of homework. Some of it is written but often it is homework to go out into town and speak Chinese with locals and just practice our Chinese. Which is proving to be an awesome way of learning, though embarrassing at times because I can be saying the correct word but with the wrong tone so they will have no clue what I am saying. But we are all definitely improving as each day goes by, including our character writing skills.
Wednesday was the last day here for one of our trip coordinators, Cheryl. She is my favorite of the adults on this trip. I'm sad that she had to leave because she was a lot of fun to talk to and hang out with and we all called her Mama Cheryl. So as a parting gift we took her out to eat to a restaurant that is actually under a bridge that crosses over a waterfall. You're probably thinking it's this beautiful restaurant with a nice clean tables, big windows and excellent service. To be honest that's what I thought by the way some of our group members described it. No, that was not the case. It was a dirty cement restaurant with dogs just wandering around, short plastic stools for chairs, and just holes for the windows. Some of the food however was still wonderful and totally worth the minor let down. Not to mention eating under a bridge with a waterfall right outside the "window" was still pretty awesome.
Thursday was a regular class day as well. But after classes three of my classmates and I went to the train station to buy some train tickets for our trip this week. Because of the Dragon Boat Festival we have almost an entire week off of school. Originally our group leaders had planned on flying us to this beautiful place whose name I can't spell. But the airport was at an altitude of 13,000 feet and some people on our trip have bad asthma so they decided to cancel the trip and instead they are giving us the money they set aside for the trip and letting us do our own thing. So four of us are going to a place called Guilin. It's supposed to be one of the most beautiful places in China. It has crystal clear lakes of water at the bases of this huge set of mountains. I'm so excited to see it. It is a 19 hour train ride which is going to be interesting. We tried to get a soft sleeper compartment which is REALLY nice but not terribly expensive here in China. However, because language barrier we accidentally got hard sleepers. Which are basically as many cots as they can fit shoved into one compartment. And we're split up into groups of two unfortunately. But it will be an experience that's for sure. We leave tonight (Friday) and ride the train over night. So all I have to do is get through this last day of classes and then I'm free for the week!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Endless Possibilities
Insane driving, breathtaking landscape, over crowding, smog, and constant honking are just a few things that come to mind when I think about the city of Chongqing. The city is massive. I knew Shanghai was big but since I get to explore Chongqing more I get to see all of the different areas and just how big it really is. During a 45 minute taxi ride I saw nothing but city. It just seems to never end. I used to think New York City was big but compared to Shanghai or Chongqing I would gladly navigate in NYC over navigating here. But it's a new place that I can't wait to explore more and more hopefully everyday.
Last night our group was taken out to eat to a very nice hotel by the vise president of the department we are studying in. It was a buffet style setup which is the first that I've seen since being in China. I feel like I've been pretty good at trying foods that I typically would never consider in America. One example being last night when my classmate offered me part of his pig ear. It was spicy, like everything in the Sichuan province, and very chewy. I can't say that I liked it but I'm proud of myself for trying it still.
Friday was our first day of classes. We had our speaking and listening class. They are all going to be difficult but in their own unique ways. Learning how to pronounce the different sounds and getting used to the different tones is proving to be very challenging. In listening class our teacher hardly spoke any English from the very start which as I expected it to be but the language is just so much different than anything I've ever heard. One word can have so many different meanings depending on the tone used with it. For example, the word Shi (pronounced Shur) can either mean "ten" or "is". I'm excited for class again on Friday though because I'm already learning so much since everything we use can be used in daily life here. I can say all of my numbers already and am starting to get a few phrases down.
The teacher who brought us here isn't actually teaching any of my classes. I thought she would be teaching all of our classes because that's what she did for the students on the last trip. I like this setup better though because we are being taught by graduate students studying English. So we are all continually teaching and learning from each other.
Saturday a few of us decided to go to the Zoo here in Chongqing to see the Pandas. It was about a 30 minute taxi ride from SISU to the zoo which ended up being about 30 yuan. I keep forgetting that things aren't really that expensive here. 30 yuan is only about four dollars. And then that was split between the four of us so we each only paid 1 dollar for a 30 minute taxi ride which is crazy compared to American taxi prices. The Pandas were so cute! We were watching one Panda that had eating the bamboo leafs down to a system. He was just propped up with his back against a tree and his stomach was just sticking out. It reminded me a lot of the movie Kung Fu Panda. He would rip the leafs off with his teeth and then hold them in the side of his mouth while he ripped more off of the branch. Once he had enough he would use his hand and twist all of the leafs in the side of his mouth together. We called it a bamboo burrito. He just kept repeating the process until he was done with one branch then he would move on to the next branch. I could see why they are endangered, they didn't seem to care about any survival skills other than eating.
After leaving the zoo we went exploring and found a huge shopping center that had a Wal-Mart in it. It was weird to see a Chinese market because everything was so different than what we have in our Wal-Marts. We were all really tired by this point and decided to catch a taxi ride home. When I told the taxi driver where to go and showed him my card with our school's name on it he said he knew where it was. Well after a 50 yuan ride we were even farther from school. He stopped and told us we were there and none of us had any clue where we were so we decided to get out and try to find a different taxi that hopefully knew where the school is at. So then 40 yuan later we finally arrived back at the school. And thus ended our adventure for Saturday.
Last night our group was taken out to eat to a very nice hotel by the vise president of the department we are studying in. It was a buffet style setup which is the first that I've seen since being in China. I feel like I've been pretty good at trying foods that I typically would never consider in America. One example being last night when my classmate offered me part of his pig ear. It was spicy, like everything in the Sichuan province, and very chewy. I can't say that I liked it but I'm proud of myself for trying it still.
Friday was our first day of classes. We had our speaking and listening class. They are all going to be difficult but in their own unique ways. Learning how to pronounce the different sounds and getting used to the different tones is proving to be very challenging. In listening class our teacher hardly spoke any English from the very start which as I expected it to be but the language is just so much different than anything I've ever heard. One word can have so many different meanings depending on the tone used with it. For example, the word Shi (pronounced Shur) can either mean "ten" or "is". I'm excited for class again on Friday though because I'm already learning so much since everything we use can be used in daily life here. I can say all of my numbers already and am starting to get a few phrases down.
The teacher who brought us here isn't actually teaching any of my classes. I thought she would be teaching all of our classes because that's what she did for the students on the last trip. I like this setup better though because we are being taught by graduate students studying English. So we are all continually teaching and learning from each other.
Saturday a few of us decided to go to the Zoo here in Chongqing to see the Pandas. It was about a 30 minute taxi ride from SISU to the zoo which ended up being about 30 yuan. I keep forgetting that things aren't really that expensive here. 30 yuan is only about four dollars. And then that was split between the four of us so we each only paid 1 dollar for a 30 minute taxi ride which is crazy compared to American taxi prices. The Pandas were so cute! We were watching one Panda that had eating the bamboo leafs down to a system. He was just propped up with his back against a tree and his stomach was just sticking out. It reminded me a lot of the movie Kung Fu Panda. He would rip the leafs off with his teeth and then hold them in the side of his mouth while he ripped more off of the branch. Once he had enough he would use his hand and twist all of the leafs in the side of his mouth together. We called it a bamboo burrito. He just kept repeating the process until he was done with one branch then he would move on to the next branch. I could see why they are endangered, they didn't seem to care about any survival skills other than eating.
After leaving the zoo we went exploring and found a huge shopping center that had a Wal-Mart in it. It was weird to see a Chinese market because everything was so different than what we have in our Wal-Marts. We were all really tired by this point and decided to catch a taxi ride home. When I told the taxi driver where to go and showed him my card with our school's name on it he said he knew where it was. Well after a 50 yuan ride we were even farther from school. He stopped and told us we were there and none of us had any clue where we were so we decided to get out and try to find a different taxi that hopefully knew where the school is at. So then 40 yuan later we finally arrived back at the school. And thus ended our adventure for Saturday.
Friday, June 4, 2010
First Glimpse of China
China Summer 2010
WKU Chinese Flagship Program
Monday, May 31 – Shanghai: World Expo Center
Today we went to the World Expo Center. When I first found out that we were going there I thought it was something that was always there and in one building. Wow was I wrong! I found out that it only occurs every few years and then only for six months in the chosen city, which I'm sure most people already knew anyways. I think it’s really cool that we came through Shanghai and got to experience such a neat experience. There were so many people that it was almost overwhelming at time.
We took the subway there and I was literally standing on only foot at one point because it was so packed. I’ve never really been claustrophobic but at one point the air stopped blowing and the doors were still closed and I started having weird breathing problems. Then once we got to the expo center there were ridiculously long lines and the people would literally run whenever the line moved at all. Manners weren’t much of an option. It was just a lot of pushing, shoving, and yelling.
Being in the expo center was phenomenal. Everything was beautiful and it was crazy to think that Shanghai had only built that area for this six month period and the it was almost all temporary. These beautiful buildings that other countries constructed had to be torn down in only a few months. But I can see why it is such a big deal, the place was amazing. We walked around from about 8 AM until 2 or 3 and then decided to come back to the hotel because we were all so tired from walking around all day plus we are still recovering from jet lag. Then I came up to my room and wanted to take a short one hour nap but I ended up sleeping from 4 to 9:30. Then I grabbed a snack and went back to bed. Jet lag was intense on this trip.
Thursday, June 3 - SISU, Chongqing
We are finally at the final destination at Sichuan International Studies University (SISU) in Chongqing. The rest of the Shanghai went surprisingly well. I wouldn't say that it ever got boring but there were a few times where we didn't know what to do because we didn't have a lot of time to figure out where everything was since we were only staying there for a few days.
Our flight into Chongqing yesterday was really nice. It took about two and a half hours which wasn't bad. They gave us some interesting Chinese plane food (mostly just bread stuff) and a few drinks. We then took a bus to SISU and all of the students that volunteered to help with us were SO excited to see us. It was a really nice welcome, they were all smiles. The bus ride here was breath taking. We are definitely in the mountains, more so than I expected even. There are just these beautiful high rise mountains everywhere. Not only are they off in the distance but we are also right in the middle of them. I can't wait to hike to the top and see the view of the city that everyone I talk to talks about.
We did our first English Corner tonight. English Corner is basically supposed to be a two hour time period where we as a group go out to a place called Sun Square on campus and just speak English with Chinese students. We wear bright yellow shirts that say "do you want to speak English?" in Chinese on the back of them. This was by far the coolest experience I've had in China yet. So many people came out to talk to us. They were all so eager to learn about what we're like, what America is like, and to tell us about their culture. It was absolutely amazing. I basically spoke with a group of girls the entire two hours. Their English names were Tina, Amaretto, Candy, Ann, and Tina. I actually got invited to a Journalism celebration on Sunday night by Amaretto. I agreed to go, figuring it could be a once in a lifetime chance to go to a Chinese Journalism Celebration. So that will be interesting.
I learned a lot about some of China's famous celebrations. The Dragon Boat Festival is coming up soon. It's all about a poet who was trying to reform a corrupt Chinese government but his poetry wasn't getting through to the government so he drowned himself in a river to get the attention he wanted. He was very liked among the civilians though. So now he is famous and they celebrate him by feeding fish from big boats with a head of a dragon on the front. They feed the fish so that they won't eat the poet's body which they believe to be at the bottom of the river. It's a really cool thing, and I love learning it by experiencing it. It's just such a cool experience overall, difficult at times, but totally worth it.
WKU Chinese Flagship Program
Monday, May 31 – Shanghai: World Expo Center
Today we went to the World Expo Center. When I first found out that we were going there I thought it was something that was always there and in one building. Wow was I wrong! I found out that it only occurs every few years and then only for six months in the chosen city, which I'm sure most people already knew anyways. I think it’s really cool that we came through Shanghai and got to experience such a neat experience. There were so many people that it was almost overwhelming at time.
We took the subway there and I was literally standing on only foot at one point because it was so packed. I’ve never really been claustrophobic but at one point the air stopped blowing and the doors were still closed and I started having weird breathing problems. Then once we got to the expo center there were ridiculously long lines and the people would literally run whenever the line moved at all. Manners weren’t much of an option. It was just a lot of pushing, shoving, and yelling.
Being in the expo center was phenomenal. Everything was beautiful and it was crazy to think that Shanghai had only built that area for this six month period and the it was almost all temporary. These beautiful buildings that other countries constructed had to be torn down in only a few months. But I can see why it is such a big deal, the place was amazing. We walked around from about 8 AM until 2 or 3 and then decided to come back to the hotel because we were all so tired from walking around all day plus we are still recovering from jet lag. Then I came up to my room and wanted to take a short one hour nap but I ended up sleeping from 4 to 9:30. Then I grabbed a snack and went back to bed. Jet lag was intense on this trip.
Thursday, June 3 - SISU, Chongqing
We are finally at the final destination at Sichuan International Studies University (SISU) in Chongqing. The rest of the Shanghai went surprisingly well. I wouldn't say that it ever got boring but there were a few times where we didn't know what to do because we didn't have a lot of time to figure out where everything was since we were only staying there for a few days.
Our flight into Chongqing yesterday was really nice. It took about two and a half hours which wasn't bad. They gave us some interesting Chinese plane food (mostly just bread stuff) and a few drinks. We then took a bus to SISU and all of the students that volunteered to help with us were SO excited to see us. It was a really nice welcome, they were all smiles. The bus ride here was breath taking. We are definitely in the mountains, more so than I expected even. There are just these beautiful high rise mountains everywhere. Not only are they off in the distance but we are also right in the middle of them. I can't wait to hike to the top and see the view of the city that everyone I talk to talks about.
We did our first English Corner tonight. English Corner is basically supposed to be a two hour time period where we as a group go out to a place called Sun Square on campus and just speak English with Chinese students. We wear bright yellow shirts that say "do you want to speak English?" in Chinese on the back of them. This was by far the coolest experience I've had in China yet. So many people came out to talk to us. They were all so eager to learn about what we're like, what America is like, and to tell us about their culture. It was absolutely amazing. I basically spoke with a group of girls the entire two hours. Their English names were Tina, Amaretto, Candy, Ann, and Tina. I actually got invited to a Journalism celebration on Sunday night by Amaretto. I agreed to go, figuring it could be a once in a lifetime chance to go to a Chinese Journalism Celebration. So that will be interesting.
I learned a lot about some of China's famous celebrations. The Dragon Boat Festival is coming up soon. It's all about a poet who was trying to reform a corrupt Chinese government but his poetry wasn't getting through to the government so he drowned himself in a river to get the attention he wanted. He was very liked among the civilians though. So now he is famous and they celebrate him by feeding fish from big boats with a head of a dragon on the front. They feed the fish so that they won't eat the poet's body which they believe to be at the bottom of the river. It's a really cool thing, and I love learning it by experiencing it. It's just such a cool experience overall, difficult at times, but totally worth it.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Preparation
I got accepted into the Study Abroad Program to China!! I was so excited to hear the news because I had not heard anything about it after I sent in my application and then one night I received and email that included my flight itinerary and some of the final costs. At first I was confused because I had not even heard if I had been accepted but I guess that was just my "acceptance letter." I will fly out on May 29th, start classes on June 1st, and then fly back to the states on July 27th. So now I'm in the process of renewing my passport, getting a Visa, and the multitude of other tasks the program requires educationally to prepare for trip. Now I will be saving every penny I find from here on out because I want to be able to travel a lot while I am over there and that will all be extra money that's not included in the cost of the program. I am so excited to be immersed into the Chinese culture and experience all that this program has to offer!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Well I definitely missed my goal for posting every two weeks that way I don’t have to write so much in one sitting. Life has been so crazy recently. Between school, work and a personal life on top of all of that I rarely have a decent break. But I can’t complain really, I enjoy being busy. I’m definitely not sick like I was during my last post. I have been healthy for the most part since that last sickness.
The opera that I was part of was one of the most fun things I’ve done in a long time. I was able to meet a lot of new people and make new friendships from being so close to the cast. I was in a couple of shows when I was younger but I don’t really remember them so this was what I consider my first “acting” experience. It was very time consuming. I had heard how much energy and time shows take but there is no way to really know how it feels until you’re in one. I only had a small part but it was still a lot of rehearsing and trying to get everything rehearsed as best as possible. Nonetheless, it was a great experience and I’m so glad that I was part of it and I hope to be part of another show someday.
On a more school related note: I was presented with an opportunity to study abroad in China this summer through the Chinese Flagship Program here at WKU. One of the main reasons I have not yet studied abroad is because of the cost and the loss of normal credits earned. But because this is a summer program it will only add on to the normal amount of credits I would earn during the normal semester. I sent in my application and applied for some different scholarships to help pay for the trip but even if I don’t get those the trip is still very affordable for what it offers. I’m still waiting to see if I got accepted into the program but I’m hopeful.
The last major event was Spring Break. Which was just what I needed. My friends and I went to Delaware, Philly, and NYC. It was one of the best and most needed vacations. In NYC I was able to go see one of my new favorite shows called “Next to Normal.” After the show I got to talk to the cast a little as well which was amazing! The next day Hannah and I were able to get tickets to “Memphis” as well which we were very unsure of but it ended up being phenomenal! We were all exhausted by the end of the trip but it was absolutely worth it.
That’s about all that has been happening recently. I look forward to what the rest of the semester has in store for me.
"When you feel like giving up, remember why you held on for so long in the first place."
~ Unknown
The opera that I was part of was one of the most fun things I’ve done in a long time. I was able to meet a lot of new people and make new friendships from being so close to the cast. I was in a couple of shows when I was younger but I don’t really remember them so this was what I consider my first “acting” experience. It was very time consuming. I had heard how much energy and time shows take but there is no way to really know how it feels until you’re in one. I only had a small part but it was still a lot of rehearsing and trying to get everything rehearsed as best as possible. Nonetheless, it was a great experience and I’m so glad that I was part of it and I hope to be part of another show someday.
On a more school related note: I was presented with an opportunity to study abroad in China this summer through the Chinese Flagship Program here at WKU. One of the main reasons I have not yet studied abroad is because of the cost and the loss of normal credits earned. But because this is a summer program it will only add on to the normal amount of credits I would earn during the normal semester. I sent in my application and applied for some different scholarships to help pay for the trip but even if I don’t get those the trip is still very affordable for what it offers. I’m still waiting to see if I got accepted into the program but I’m hopeful.
The last major event was Spring Break. Which was just what I needed. My friends and I went to Delaware, Philly, and NYC. It was one of the best and most needed vacations. In NYC I was able to go see one of my new favorite shows called “Next to Normal.” After the show I got to talk to the cast a little as well which was amazing! The next day Hannah and I were able to get tickets to “Memphis” as well which we were very unsure of but it ended up being phenomenal! We were all exhausted by the end of the trip but it was absolutely worth it.
That’s about all that has been happening recently. I look forward to what the rest of the semester has in store for me.
"When you feel like giving up, remember why you held on for so long in the first place."
~ Unknown
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