As I chugged my green tea latte this morning, thinking about how I was going to update my family on my month long travel study program in Shanghai, I decided I might as well continue posting on the blog I had during my junior year abroad in Beijing. So, yeah!
The plane ride was thankfully uneventful; from time to time I'd chat with the Chinese people sitting next to me, who were fascinated with the whole I-look-white-but-speak-Mandarin-with-no-accent thing. Getting out of the airport was painless, even with the man who tried convincing me that my $40 was too little to exchange and that he'd be happy to give me more money than the airport would. Unfortunately, someone else got the taxi driver who was blasting Lil Uzi Vert, but the cab driver I got ended up being an angel sent from heaven (I'll explain soon).
I was dropped off at my hotel (where I needed to stay because my flight was a day early) for which I'd found on booking.com for $25 because it appeared to be only hotel under $100 anywhere near East China Normal University that had wifi. I approached the front counter and the situation immediately looked dismal, as the concierge, who looked younger than me, immediately turned me away. I left the hotel and walked around in a mild state of panic. Luckily, Sprint has low speed international data, so I was able to use WeChat (basically a social media app that has a monopoly over social media in China) to contact the program TAs, Tang and Wei, who, in about 20 minutes, rescued me.
We went back to the hotel where I booked a reservation and it turned out to be a hotel that didn't allow foreigners to stay there. Tang, Wei, and I started to go next door to another hotel. On the way, a man on a motorcycle yelled in our direction, presumably offering us a ride, and we kept shooing off his persistent yelling. We went into the other hotel which also refused foreigners. Tang, Wei, and I stood outside the hotel, not completely sure on what to do. The motorcycle man started walking towards us with something in his hand. I looked to see what it was and about died; it was my passport. I looked at the man's face and realized that it was my taxi driver from the airport!! He handed me my passport, looking at me with utter dismay. It felt like god was disappointed in me. And dad, I know you're inclined to rip me a new one, but just know that the crippling embarrassment I felt under the glare of the driver hurts tenfold.
Wei and Tang found me a new hotel, on campus. We walked there through campus, which was beautiful. I commented as such, and Tang explained to me that ENCU is considered the most beautiful college campus in the Far East. He also described a bike app called Mobike, where you can rent a bike for 1 yuan (15 cents) for a half hour. You just open the app, which will display any unused gps-chipped bikes nearby, find the closest bike and rent it, and then drop it off wherever your destination is. Is that not genius????? Anyway. We got to the hotel, which Tang and Wei did not realize was actually the dorms I'm staying in for the summer until the concierge told us so, so basically I got to move in a day early. Once I settled in, I crashed at about 9 pm, woke up at 3 am, and went back to bed at 5am once the Benadryl kicked in. This morning I walked to the line of stores outside campus and bought shampoo and conditioner, a green tea latte, and my favorite street food, shou zhua bing, which very roughly translates to "pancake held in hand."
I'm about to go look for a place to work out, which I haven't done in a month, so keep me in your thoughts and prayers. All and all, it's good to be back!
Saturday, June 17, 2017
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Some things that have been happening
I've given up bothering to post things in chronological order, so I'll write about things in my life that have been significant to me in the past few weeks, or months, whatever comes to mind.
For the past three weeks, SYA China has finished normal classes and started the Integrated Learning Project. ILP is basically a chance for us to do research on any topic that has to do with China. We are required to write a 15-20 page paper on said topic, conduct six interviews with Chinese people, write a daily journal in Chinese, and have a presentation. This project is done in groups that are assigned to us. My group, the smallest group, consisting of Ben, Star, and Kai, got assigned art. We narrowed our topic down to contemporary political art. So far, this project has been interesting. Since classes are cancelled, we are expected to work in our assigned room for the eight hours that we would otherwise be sitting through lessons. None of the four of us have been known to be among the hardest of workers in SYA, yet we've managed to do a somewhat substantial amount of work. Ben has chosen to write the entire paper himself, while Star, Kai and I are putting together the presentation and looking for interviews. It's been kind of a challenge looking for interviews because Chinese people do not like talking about politics. We went up to someone in the 798 Art District asking if she knew any political artists, and she pointed us in a vague direction down the street and said, "Don't get caught." It was one of the less helpful things a person did for us. We ended up finding people to interview by telling them we were interested in contemporary art, leaving out the political, and we are scheduled to interview them next week. Our plan is to ask them a ton of questions having nothing to do with our topic, and then slowly asking them more questions about politics. Hopefully none of us get deported. Our eight hour sessions in Room 600 have been rather exciting. I have to say, Room 600 is probably the most sedating room in the whole sixth floor of Erfuzhong. I had Chinese and APES class in there, and I never had much trouble wanting to fall asleep. During ILP, however, it's been something else. Outside of doing work, we give each other relationship advice, look at online catalogs, and play with the whiteboard magnets. We're really productive both topic-wise and life-wise. I'll let you know the final result of the Art group after May 23rd, the day of the ILP exhibition.
On April 30th, my Uncle Sean passed away. It was the first time in my life someone I was close to passed away. I'm not sure I've quite come to terms with it yet as it's been quite surreal, and I only wish it was a dream from which I could wake up. It's been a difficult for my family, and I wish I could be at home with my relatives during this time. He was a truly wonderful person with a genuine heart and he was one of those people who everyone instantly liked once they met him. I feel that it's important for me to say something about this in my post because he was an important figure in my and many others' lives, and he deserves to be remembered.
Several weeks ago I was introduced to an English guy named Jack through some international friends. Jack and I somehow hit it off and we've been dating for a couple months now. Being with him has been good for me, as we usually spend our time going out on weekends exploring places that I'd been meaning to see this whole year, like the 798 Art District and the Summer Palace. Jack, like myself, has lived in several different countries. I've never really known anyone else who's never really had a place to call home, and it's kind of nice having met someone else like me in that way. Perhaps that's where we clicked. He took me to his school's prom, which was nothing like Salinas High's. There was a dinner there, instead of us going out beforehand. There was also virtually no one on the dance floor the entire time. Prom king and queen were voted on by the teachers. The music selection was G-rated, which was the most foreign part of it all. One thing that it had in common with US proms, though, was that everyone dressed quite well. Even though it didn't turn out to be the most traditional prom, I ended up being able to go this year with a lovely date, which was good enough.
There are seventeen days until I leave Beijing. Wow, even as I type that, my heart pounds. I'm not too sure what to think about the thought of leaving my life here and going to Indiana, or if I can even grasp it. Living here has become so normal that I just don't think about anything otherwise. Lately, the trees on my walk to and from the bus stop to school have been completely filled in with green leaves, just as they were when I arrived. Walking home nowadays is becoming a bittersweet daily journey. I'm wearing the SYA t-shirt and xiaofu shorts instead of pants now that it's almost summer, and my back is once again drenched with sweat against my backpack. Eight months ago, when I was in the same position, I was frankly miserable. I was battling the challenge of school, culture shock, and homesickness. Now, I feel more at home than I ever have in the states...maybe. I now get off at the huahugou bus stop and know that the stray dogs are never going to want to be pet, I smile at the kids running around the restaurants, and I wave at the store owners selling summer fruits. I now do this with a feeling of sadness, knowing that I'll never come back to this life in just a few weeks. I'm going home to yet another new start in Carmel, Indiana. I've got a job at a Chinese restaurant called Asian Cuisine, I'm going to travel down the West Coast, seeing my family in Portland and San Francisco, friends in Salinas, mom in SLO, and Emily in Santa Barbara, I've signed up for online summer classes, I'm meeting with my high school councilor the week I get back to schedule my classes, and I'm attending a college seminar at my high school which will help me with the application process. I've got all these plans, yet I still don't know what to expect. I should be used to leaving and starting over by now, but I don't think it's gotten any easier, but harder. I do know that I can't focus too much on the future. In this circumstance, the most important thing to do is live in the moment, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm going to sign off on this post, which frankly has gotten way too emotional, and work on my ILP presentation, on which I will kick ass as well as get an A+.
For the past three weeks, SYA China has finished normal classes and started the Integrated Learning Project. ILP is basically a chance for us to do research on any topic that has to do with China. We are required to write a 15-20 page paper on said topic, conduct six interviews with Chinese people, write a daily journal in Chinese, and have a presentation. This project is done in groups that are assigned to us. My group, the smallest group, consisting of Ben, Star, and Kai, got assigned art. We narrowed our topic down to contemporary political art. So far, this project has been interesting. Since classes are cancelled, we are expected to work in our assigned room for the eight hours that we would otherwise be sitting through lessons. None of the four of us have been known to be among the hardest of workers in SYA, yet we've managed to do a somewhat substantial amount of work. Ben has chosen to write the entire paper himself, while Star, Kai and I are putting together the presentation and looking for interviews. It's been kind of a challenge looking for interviews because Chinese people do not like talking about politics. We went up to someone in the 798 Art District asking if she knew any political artists, and she pointed us in a vague direction down the street and said, "Don't get caught." It was one of the less helpful things a person did for us. We ended up finding people to interview by telling them we were interested in contemporary art, leaving out the political, and we are scheduled to interview them next week. Our plan is to ask them a ton of questions having nothing to do with our topic, and then slowly asking them more questions about politics. Hopefully none of us get deported. Our eight hour sessions in Room 600 have been rather exciting. I have to say, Room 600 is probably the most sedating room in the whole sixth floor of Erfuzhong. I had Chinese and APES class in there, and I never had much trouble wanting to fall asleep. During ILP, however, it's been something else. Outside of doing work, we give each other relationship advice, look at online catalogs, and play with the whiteboard magnets. We're really productive both topic-wise and life-wise. I'll let you know the final result of the Art group after May 23rd, the day of the ILP exhibition.
On April 30th, my Uncle Sean passed away. It was the first time in my life someone I was close to passed away. I'm not sure I've quite come to terms with it yet as it's been quite surreal, and I only wish it was a dream from which I could wake up. It's been a difficult for my family, and I wish I could be at home with my relatives during this time. He was a truly wonderful person with a genuine heart and he was one of those people who everyone instantly liked once they met him. I feel that it's important for me to say something about this in my post because he was an important figure in my and many others' lives, and he deserves to be remembered.
Several weeks ago I was introduced to an English guy named Jack through some international friends. Jack and I somehow hit it off and we've been dating for a couple months now. Being with him has been good for me, as we usually spend our time going out on weekends exploring places that I'd been meaning to see this whole year, like the 798 Art District and the Summer Palace. Jack, like myself, has lived in several different countries. I've never really known anyone else who's never really had a place to call home, and it's kind of nice having met someone else like me in that way. Perhaps that's where we clicked. He took me to his school's prom, which was nothing like Salinas High's. There was a dinner there, instead of us going out beforehand. There was also virtually no one on the dance floor the entire time. Prom king and queen were voted on by the teachers. The music selection was G-rated, which was the most foreign part of it all. One thing that it had in common with US proms, though, was that everyone dressed quite well. Even though it didn't turn out to be the most traditional prom, I ended up being able to go this year with a lovely date, which was good enough.
There are seventeen days until I leave Beijing. Wow, even as I type that, my heart pounds. I'm not too sure what to think about the thought of leaving my life here and going to Indiana, or if I can even grasp it. Living here has become so normal that I just don't think about anything otherwise. Lately, the trees on my walk to and from the bus stop to school have been completely filled in with green leaves, just as they were when I arrived. Walking home nowadays is becoming a bittersweet daily journey. I'm wearing the SYA t-shirt and xiaofu shorts instead of pants now that it's almost summer, and my back is once again drenched with sweat against my backpack. Eight months ago, when I was in the same position, I was frankly miserable. I was battling the challenge of school, culture shock, and homesickness. Now, I feel more at home than I ever have in the states...maybe. I now get off at the huahugou bus stop and know that the stray dogs are never going to want to be pet, I smile at the kids running around the restaurants, and I wave at the store owners selling summer fruits. I now do this with a feeling of sadness, knowing that I'll never come back to this life in just a few weeks. I'm going home to yet another new start in Carmel, Indiana. I've got a job at a Chinese restaurant called Asian Cuisine, I'm going to travel down the West Coast, seeing my family in Portland and San Francisco, friends in Salinas, mom in SLO, and Emily in Santa Barbara, I've signed up for online summer classes, I'm meeting with my high school councilor the week I get back to schedule my classes, and I'm attending a college seminar at my high school which will help me with the application process. I've got all these plans, yet I still don't know what to expect. I should be used to leaving and starting over by now, but I don't think it's gotten any easier, but harder. I do know that I can't focus too much on the future. In this circumstance, the most important thing to do is live in the moment, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm going to sign off on this post, which frankly has gotten way too emotional, and work on my ILP presentation, on which I will kick ass as well as get an A+.
Yunnan
Immediately proceeding the trip to Taiwan was our second school trip of the year, our two and a half week long trip to the Yunnan Province, located in the tropical south of China. We got to get on the train, escaping freezing Beijing weather and get off to a temperature of 70 degrees. Again, I wore flip flops. Life was good. Almost every night of that trip was spent in a clean hotel with decent wifi, which was a surprise to us all. We expected to spend many of those nights in a hut with dirt floors, for some reason. We did, however, spend two nights in rural villages with populated with minority groups, but even then, their houses were very clean and bathrooms sanitary. Our tour guide was an adorable former monk named Xiaoai, and it was his first time being a tour guide. The first few nights of that trip was spent in Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan. Kunming was just as, if not more, developed than Beijing. We visited a school for autistic children and, for APES, tested the water of the famous Green Lake, which was absolutely rampant with seagulls in a really pretty way, if you can imagine that. Xiaoai accidentally got us lost on the way to the lake and was very distraught and embarrassed, even though none of us minded. Ms. Turner got our her GPS and we found our way pretty quickly.
The next city we visited was Jianshui, a smaller, livelier town several hours away from Kunming. There, we lounged around, drinking milkshakes and milk tea and tanned in the hotel's courtyard. It felt a bit like Hawaii but without the beaches, which was still incredibly relaxing. One day, Jing, Lily, and I were drinking smoothies outside when a white man walked past us and did a double take. "Oh my god. Foreigners!!" Turns out this guy had been living in an rural village a half hour away from Jianshui for the past two years and had only seen one other foreigner, his boss. He worked for Driscoll and was from Santa Cruz! It was pretty bizarre meeting the only foreigner within hundreds of miles and finding out he lived less than an hour away from Salinas and worked in the produce industry. The saying "small world" has never been more accurate. The next trip was to the rural villages. We had to hike for three hours in order to get to the villages, and it was nothing short of miserable. Curse the nine injured/sick people who didn't have to make the grueling trip up the mountain. The torture was worth it, as we all had an experience like never before. We spent two nights with a family of farmers, where we slept on mattresses on top of wooden floors and ate dinner in stools one foot above the ground. The villages threw us a party, where the women performed traditional dances as we rather unsuccessfully tried to learn the moves.
After the villages, we went to Xishuangbanna, Banna for short, a small, lively city an hour away. The hotel there was our favorite hotel, as there were tons of amazing restaurants around the area and even a swimming pool. In Banna, we went to a local school where the students were completely different from Erfuzhong students. We sat through their classes, and they told us that if it weren’t for us coming, they would have been asleep through their lessons. They treated us to lunch and invited us to parties that they were having after school, on a weekday. Tons of the girls flirted with SYA guys, and several of the guys got proposed to. Upon adding several of these students on WeChat, I noticed that many of them had posted pictures of us, both ones that we took with them, and ones that they took from our own profiles. It was a bizarre and entertaining experience, and I don’t think I will ever meet students like them anywhere else in the world.
Following our lovely stay in Banna, it was time to go home. We tearfully had our last Dicos (basically a knockoff KFC chain that is everywhere in China but Beijing. We fueled ourselves on this restaurant throughout the whole trip), and bought instant noodles for the plane ride, much to Li Laoshi’s protests. Apparently Chinese people don’t like it if you eat instant noodles in public places because of the odor, so the good 30 or so of us probably didn’t exactly make a good impression on the people on the plane ride home. Overall, it was a trip to remember. We got on each other’s nerves, made memories with one another and with those that we met, and were able to take two and a half weeks off of school in the tropics. Still, nothing beat the feeling of home Beijing gave us when we got off that plane and smelled the pollution.
Sunday, April 19, 2015
Visiting places and such
Since it's been three months since I've last posted, I think I might just write multiple posts, so my fans don't have to overwhelm themselves reading a 100 page book of everything that's happened (there's been a lot). I almost decided to just give up on this blog because I'm lazy and a failure and I'm having too much fun to care about whether or not you people want to know what's going on in my life (kiddingggg. But I am lazy and having fun). BUT I'm here! On my computer, ready to update you cuties on what's going on, since I finally have down time now that the semester is over. I know that's confusing, since it's only April, but I'll explain more on that later. Oh, I'm also in the Gansu Province, which is a 16 hour train ride away from Beijing. More on that later too.
By the way: I organized my photos by location under my "links" tag in my blog, which in case you haven't been able to figure out is on the sidebar, is miakayserphoto.tumblr.com. Now you can see photos based on their location and get a glimpse of what I've written in the form of photographs <3
When I was coming home from our second school trip of the year, I began to write a post in the "Notes" app on my phone on the plane, but I obviously didn't get to finish. I'll continue from there.
By the way: I organized my photos by location under my "links" tag in my blog, which in case you haven't been able to figure out is on the sidebar, is miakayserphoto.tumblr.com. Now you can see photos based on their location and get a glimpse of what I've written in the form of photographs <3
When I was coming home from our second school trip of the year, I began to write a post in the "Notes" app on my phone on the plane, but I obviously didn't get to finish. I'll continue from there.
A couple weeks after my last post, Jing, Lily, and I spent a night in Shanghai for independent travel. We booked our own plane tickets and hotel; it was very independent. Shanghai is not what I remembered it being like when I lived there 11 years ago. I mean, I WAS only five years old, but I don't remember it feeling like living in a New York City/San Francisco-fusion type of place. I hate to admit it, but the trip wasn't very "cultured". We had planned on getting a genuine Chinese dinner, but Sky High, an '05 classic, was on HBO, so we ordered room service. There's not much about the city that reminded me of China, besides the cab drivers. Honestly, the cab drivers all over this country are the same. They audibly and irritatedly sigh when there's traffic, and they get annoyed when you play your own music with your portable speaker. So rude, right? I digress.
There was many things about that trip that made it really memorable, despite it being only one night. I got to revisit one of the cities I lived in during my childhood, not to mention one of the most "happening" cities in the world. I had the best sushi I've ever had in my life, courtesy of Jing's dad's friend, who lives in the city. But I think the coolest part was the independent aspect of it. The three of us explored the city on our own, without the help nor guidance of adults. Not only did we make it out alive, we had an amazing time. The only complaint I had about it was that the entire trip costed nearly a total of $400, but I think it's my own fault that i spent $200 of that on a "genuine fake" Prada and a Louis Vuitton purse for my mom and myself. The process of buying these purses felt similar to that of a drug deal. Lily kept in contact with her tour guide from when she had visited Shanghai with her parents, and the tour guide referred us to a purse guy. He rode his scooter to our hotel, the Renaissance Yu Gardens, and rode next to our cab to his stash. The stash was located in the very back of a restaurant, in a shed. Originally he had wanted $510 dollars for one purse, but after 45 minutes or so, me and lily made a deal with him, buying a Chanel clutch and the two purses for $300 total. The purses are so cute, and they are pretty spot on, as they are factory rejects because of an erroneous stitch. I'm telling you, it was worth it. In summation, it was a great time, filled with lots of walking and window shopping and some actual shopping, but I don't think Shanghai beats Beijing. There's just something about Beijing's polluted, crowded, dusty, busy atmosphere that I find totally charming.
Jackson and I decided to end things. The distance was too much of a challenge for us, and we decided it was better if we continued on in our lives, focusing on our own futures rather than each other's. We are still good friends, and we will be for a long time.
I know in my previous blog posts I've discussed an interest in living here when I'm older, but right now I'm at the point where I DO NOT want to go home. I don't think I can properly enjoy life in the suburbs, in a place where I've never met anyone, after I've lived in one of the biggest cities in the world with nearly all the freedom to explore, meet new people, and take pictures (by the way, I have been taking pictures. I just need to find it in me to upload them so you people can stop demanding me to do so.) that I could ask for. I even asked my dad if he would let me stay another year, letting me attend one of the international schools. My super mean, rude, unfair dad said that no, all because he and the family wanted me to stay home for one more year before I leave for college. I hate my life! Just kidding, again. I'm looking forward to enter into western civilization once again, starting a new school once again, and making new friends, once again, but I'm not looking forward to reverse culture shock.
Not a ton happened after the two weeks of independent travel. At least I don't think a lot happened; it's been a couple months. There was one day where I riding the bus home from the gym and was scouted to be an actress by an old woman wearing a lot of makeup, but I so far haven't heard back from her. I'm counting on her for my big break. Other than that, third quarter ended peacefully and Chinese New Year break commenced on February 18th.
This year's spring break was fairly special, and a tad bit emotional if you must know. This is because I got to visit Taiwan, the country/Chinese province (no one knows) in which I was born seventeen years and 31 days ago. This visit was my birthday present, meaning it was first time in years that I've not been given any material possessions, and I think it was my best birthday present yet. I got to see tons of family members, many of which seemed to remember me quite quickly, despite the time that had passed. My now 14 year old cousin, Sheryl, shot up and is now a few inches taller than me, and I think I'm officially a foot taller than my Grandma, Apo. Seeing Apo was one of the most joyous feelings I've gotten in the several months I've been in Asia. Because she did live with us for a few years in the U.S. to take care of my brother, Luc, and I, it was only four years that I had last seen her, but it was four years too long. As cliche as it sounds, tears came to my eyes when I saw her. It's just such a surreal feeling to see the person who raised you after a few years of being apart. Nothing about her changed, maybe except for the fact that she traded her wire-rimmed glasses for a pair pink, plastic rimmed ones. She was just as mischievous as ever, constantly offering me wine and telling me to bring my diapers with me wherever I went, and her hearing aids still made piercing noises every couple of hours. We spent a few days in Miaoli, a small town in Taiwan where my Grandpa was from. The New Years festivities were modest. We went to a few different temples and had dinner with my grandparents, aunt and uncle, and Sheryl at my grandparents' house. We all watched America's Next Top Model with Taiwanese subtitles on the international channel, which wasn't even done out of courtesy for me. They just all love that show, which worked out, because so do I.
It's hard to explain the feeling of home that I received being in the island nation. It had been forever since I went back, but it felt like only a few days since I was last there. Some streets were even familiar to me. We went to Apo's cousin's house one night, and my great aunt gave me a cake because she remembered how much I used to like cake when I was little. I also saw my second cousin, who had stayed with us for a couple weeks in the U.S. during third grade, which was a pleasant surprise. She is now married, and I got to meet my new, adorable one and two year old cousins. On the final morning I was in Miaoli, before I left for Taipei, my aunt, Sheryl, and Apo and I were having breakfast at a restaurant where I met my mom's half sister, who I didn't know existed before this trip, and I noticed Apo lost in thought. "Apo, what's on your mind?" I asked. She smiled sadly, and said, "Oh, just thinking about how much I'm going to miss you and when you can visit next." It took everything in me not to burst into tears and hug her across the table. I'm not too sad, though. I know I'll see her, and Taiwan, again soon.
I arrived in Taipei via the slow train and was met with a colleague of my mom's from the school where she taught at until a little after I was born. She brought her 18 year old daughter who I used to play with back when we were five and seven years old. They showed me around the city I was born, and by the end of the day I was exhausted and retired to the apartment where I was staying for a couple nights. My mom's friend was out of town and offered me her place for two nights. The next day, I met up with my friend, Melody, a girl who goes to one of the international schools in Beijing, and we went to Ximending, a part of Taiwan that was alive with street performers, western and Taiwanese restaurants, and clothing stores. It was a really fun day, especially since I had hongbao money from my relatives to spend. I might mention that the Taiwanese dollar to USD is 30:1, so needless to say, everything was INCREDIBLY cheap. Melody and I had a spectacular lunch of pasta, paninis, milkshakes, and crepes for less than $25. The best part of the entire trip was that I got to wear shorts and flip flops for the first time in MONTHS, something that as a Child of California, I'd never previously had to experience.
I'll end the post here, so you can take a break. To be continued......
Saturday, January 17, 2015
bob in beijing
happy new year! yes, I'm over two weeks late and way overdue in writing a new post. it's getting harder to come up with new things to write about only because I've become so accustomed to living here that I forget that this is supposed to be a huge life changing experience rather than my every day, normal lifestyle. i can recite my weekday schedule in my sleep:
wake up at 6:15,
eat fried rice/knockoff honey nut cheerios that Ma Ma put out for me,
head down the elevator and out the gate to meet lizzie at 6:45,
walk to the bus stop,
get to school at 7:30,
cram for tingxies till the bell rings at 8,
persevere through the school day till 3:30
either: go to my internship, the gym, water color, or stay at school to study,
get home around 6-8 in the evening
do homework till 10:30, because I can't stay up later than that or else I will crash,
and repeat.
I'm so familiarized with the bus that I can sleep the whole eleven stops home and wake up when we arrive at Hua Hu Gou, my bus stop, simply because I feel like I've arrived. it's like a sixth sense.
getting to see my dad for break was great in many reason. the obvious reason was that I finally got to see him after 4 months. we also got to meet up with some old Taiwan friends that my dad nor i haven't seen in years, except he actually remembered who they were. one of his friends lived in the suburbs of Beijing, if that's what you could call it, and it very closely resembled Las Palmas, a gated community where a few of my friends in Salinas live. it was the first time I had been inside a house in four months, and it was very weird. the experience of being in a western house, I mean. the house itself was glamorous!
we also got to see a few parts of Beijing that I had been meaning to see for awhile. we went to houhai, which is where lakes were frozen over enough that people were ice skating. i forced a heartbroken miles, whose wonderful girlfriend,dehlia, had to go home because she was a semester student, to finally leave his apartment and have Peking duck. I had never had Peking duck before, but I must say, it was delectable. we also went to ritan park with brown and crispy, post-Hawaii Jing, where a bunch of locals were relaxing and we slid around the frozen pond with a bunch of little kids and their parents. we struck up a conversation with a older Chinese man writing calligraphy the ground with a giant paint brush-like sponge dipped in water. we spoke to him in Chinese (including my dad, who to both of our surprise, was able to retain a lot of the Chinese he hadn't used in at least a decade) and he asked where we were from. we said we were Americans and he began to speak to us in English, and just to show off, Spanish. we were joking and laughing with him and all seemed well until he started telling us about how the US embassy denied him citizenship and therefore he planned on bombing the embassy. after that we inched away from the conversation to ate at a local restaurant. we also were able to get some great bargains at the silk market. my dad spent about 15 minutes arguing with a saleswoman who was asking for too much money for three "north face" jackets that he was getting for Cory and my brothers, and ended up getting the three jackets for a total of $50. his persistence was quite admirable and effective, because the sales woman was begging for him to give her at least 10 kuai back, and out of the goodness of his heart, he gave it to her. she was unbelievably lucky that happened, for my dad is a serious, cold hearted, relentless businessman.
all in all, it was a great trip, despite being harassed about college stuff in taxi rides. I guess I missed my dad a lot, because I found myself shedding a tear or two in the cab ride home on the airport. of course, I would never admit that to him. wait, this blog isn't public, right?
after a week of getting free cab rides, it was time to go back to school. classes resumed as if we never went on break, therefore, the stress kicked in immediately. my last visit to the retirement center where I taught English was this Wednesday, and it was a bittersweet goodbye. the community center had an afternoon luncheon for me and the three other teachers, where about half of the about 35 students gave a goodbye/appreciation speech for us. a couple of the old ladies and dudes even sang us some songs, and they all wanted us to sing a song, so jon, amy, kit, Kevin, and I sang a disastrous arrangement of Halo, by beyonce, which was the only song on my iPod that all of us knew, and we received about three claps from an audience of confused old people. I'm going to miss teaching those guys, especially ms. Wu with the musty breath who gets within inches of my face every week and persistently INSISTS I come to her house again.
as for the future, I am going to Taiwan for Chinese New Year break! I'm staying with my relatives, the majority of whom I have not spoken to in eight years. prior to those eight years I spent a joyful summer living with them, so hopefully things will pick up from where they left off.
random things:
this is how safe beijing is: I was riding the bus to the subway this evening when a woman on the bus told the ticket collecting lady that she found a purse in the seat in front of her, instead of stealing it. if only that happened with my poor wallet.
there's a new subway stop two bus stops away from my house, instead of 8 bus stops away!!! this is exciting because it cuts out about 30 minutes from my commute on the weekends. the floors are so new and slippery that I can ugg skate down the halls.
my new daily lunch is called shou zhua bing, which basically translates to "wrap that you grab with your hands." it's basically this really greasy Chinese taco with ketchup and some meat that I assume is pork, but I can't be sure about that. it's better than any taco you get in the world.
host family update:
so I found out that shu shu's works as a driver for the army. by army, I really mean security guard who doesn't have a gun, because there are pretty much zero guns in china. not even the police officers have them, I hear.
me and billy talk once a week, pretty normal of a 13/16 year old brother -sister relationship. he spends 99% of the time in his room. I asked mama what he's up to in there, and she said he just plays chess by himself. all. the. time. pretty lonely if you ask me. I spent all my free time as a thirteen year old at my friends' houses. maybe I'm just an old geezer, but I feel like that's how most 13 year olds should be living.
it snowed for around .5 hours this week. it was on Wednesday, and started and ended during our weekly assembly in the math room. everyone was excited about it, not just the Californians and Hawaiians. it's so far been the first and only time this freezing weather has been exciting.
that's about it for this month. stay tuned for another post in a few weeks/months/decades.
wake up at 6:15,
eat fried rice/knockoff honey nut cheerios that Ma Ma put out for me,
head down the elevator and out the gate to meet lizzie at 6:45,
walk to the bus stop,
get to school at 7:30,
cram for tingxies till the bell rings at 8,
persevere through the school day till 3:30
either: go to my internship, the gym, water color, or stay at school to study,
get home around 6-8 in the evening
do homework till 10:30, because I can't stay up later than that or else I will crash,
and repeat.
I'm so familiarized with the bus that I can sleep the whole eleven stops home and wake up when we arrive at Hua Hu Gou, my bus stop, simply because I feel like I've arrived. it's like a sixth sense.
getting to see my dad for break was great in many reason. the obvious reason was that I finally got to see him after 4 months. we also got to meet up with some old Taiwan friends that my dad nor i haven't seen in years, except he actually remembered who they were. one of his friends lived in the suburbs of Beijing, if that's what you could call it, and it very closely resembled Las Palmas, a gated community where a few of my friends in Salinas live. it was the first time I had been inside a house in four months, and it was very weird. the experience of being in a western house, I mean. the house itself was glamorous!
we also got to see a few parts of Beijing that I had been meaning to see for awhile. we went to houhai, which is where lakes were frozen over enough that people were ice skating. i forced a heartbroken miles, whose wonderful girlfriend,dehlia, had to go home because she was a semester student, to finally leave his apartment and have Peking duck. I had never had Peking duck before, but I must say, it was delectable. we also went to ritan park with brown and crispy, post-Hawaii Jing, where a bunch of locals were relaxing and we slid around the frozen pond with a bunch of little kids and their parents. we struck up a conversation with a older Chinese man writing calligraphy the ground with a giant paint brush-like sponge dipped in water. we spoke to him in Chinese (including my dad, who to both of our surprise, was able to retain a lot of the Chinese he hadn't used in at least a decade) and he asked where we were from. we said we were Americans and he began to speak to us in English, and just to show off, Spanish. we were joking and laughing with him and all seemed well until he started telling us about how the US embassy denied him citizenship and therefore he planned on bombing the embassy. after that we inched away from the conversation to ate at a local restaurant. we also were able to get some great bargains at the silk market. my dad spent about 15 minutes arguing with a saleswoman who was asking for too much money for three "north face" jackets that he was getting for Cory and my brothers, and ended up getting the three jackets for a total of $50. his persistence was quite admirable and effective, because the sales woman was begging for him to give her at least 10 kuai back, and out of the goodness of his heart, he gave it to her. she was unbelievably lucky that happened, for my dad is a serious, cold hearted, relentless businessman.
all in all, it was a great trip, despite being harassed about college stuff in taxi rides. I guess I missed my dad a lot, because I found myself shedding a tear or two in the cab ride home on the airport. of course, I would never admit that to him. wait, this blog isn't public, right?
after a week of getting free cab rides, it was time to go back to school. classes resumed as if we never went on break, therefore, the stress kicked in immediately. my last visit to the retirement center where I taught English was this Wednesday, and it was a bittersweet goodbye. the community center had an afternoon luncheon for me and the three other teachers, where about half of the about 35 students gave a goodbye/appreciation speech for us. a couple of the old ladies and dudes even sang us some songs, and they all wanted us to sing a song, so jon, amy, kit, Kevin, and I sang a disastrous arrangement of Halo, by beyonce, which was the only song on my iPod that all of us knew, and we received about three claps from an audience of confused old people. I'm going to miss teaching those guys, especially ms. Wu with the musty breath who gets within inches of my face every week and persistently INSISTS I come to her house again.
as for the future, I am going to Taiwan for Chinese New Year break! I'm staying with my relatives, the majority of whom I have not spoken to in eight years. prior to those eight years I spent a joyful summer living with them, so hopefully things will pick up from where they left off.
random things:
this is how safe beijing is: I was riding the bus to the subway this evening when a woman on the bus told the ticket collecting lady that she found a purse in the seat in front of her, instead of stealing it. if only that happened with my poor wallet.
there's a new subway stop two bus stops away from my house, instead of 8 bus stops away!!! this is exciting because it cuts out about 30 minutes from my commute on the weekends. the floors are so new and slippery that I can ugg skate down the halls.
my new daily lunch is called shou zhua bing, which basically translates to "wrap that you grab with your hands." it's basically this really greasy Chinese taco with ketchup and some meat that I assume is pork, but I can't be sure about that. it's better than any taco you get in the world.
host family update:
so I found out that shu shu's works as a driver for the army. by army, I really mean security guard who doesn't have a gun, because there are pretty much zero guns in china. not even the police officers have them, I hear.
me and billy talk once a week, pretty normal of a 13/16 year old brother -sister relationship. he spends 99% of the time in his room. I asked mama what he's up to in there, and she said he just plays chess by himself. all. the. time. pretty lonely if you ask me. I spent all my free time as a thirteen year old at my friends' houses. maybe I'm just an old geezer, but I feel like that's how most 13 year olds should be living.
it snowed for around .5 hours this week. it was on Wednesday, and started and ended during our weekly assembly in the math room. everyone was excited about it, not just the Californians and Hawaiians. it's so far been the first and only time this freezing weather has been exciting.
that's about it for this month. stay tuned for another post in a few weeks/months/decades.
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Break
I'M ALIVE. I survived my first semester in China. I came out with a few bumps (a B in history) and bruises (a C in math), but I nevertheless gained a lot of experience and insight into life, I hope. Here are some things I've learned over the past three months and three weeks:
- Money isn't the most important thing; happiness is
- making friends from different countries gives you perspective on different cultures
- it's better to stay indoors starting mid-November or you'll get frostbite
- endure the hot, crowded bus during the summer because you'll appreciate the warmth by December
- wifi isn't that important either, apparently
- Home Plate is the best Texas BBQ restaurant in the world
And that's all I can think of at the moment. Home Plate is really amazing. Upon interning at Nice HQ, I've been eating a lot of Western food because the company reimburses our lunch and dinner breaks. This probably isn't good for my health, since all I eat is french fries and greasy hamburgers, and the gym has been closed for renovation for about a month now and will be closed for two more weeks. I've decided that I'm going to let myself go until the gym opens so that working out will be more of a challenge for me.
First semester is over, which means all the semester kids are home, or in Isabel's case, are going home. This also means our class schedules are going to be completely arranged, which is nice for me because I'm moving down in math, AGAIN, and I won't be the only one with an out of wack schedule. Having nine people go home is a weird thought. This journey, adventure, trip of a lifetime, whatever you want to call it, is over for them. They may never see the gates of Erfuzhong, buy fried rice from down the alley, study at Cafe Bené, or ride a taxi across the city for ten US dollars ever again. Saying goodbyes at the SYA Christmas party was very sad, but I'm sure we'll all see each other again at some reunion in the future. Oh and I played the Chinese banjo at the Christmas party for the music recitals. It was scary and my hands were shaking and sweaty and I hope I never have to do it again but it was kinda fun.
A few days ago, while I was eating breakfast, my mom came up to me and said she was going to send me a picture on WeChat of some medication that she wanted my dad to get from the states. The picture was captioned in Chinese, and I think that because of that, she expect me to be able to understand what the medication was, despite the fact that the box in the picture was labeled "PRENATAL MEDICATION". So, yeah, my host mom is pregnant. You may ask, what about the one-child policy? Is she going to be fined? Is her husband going to be kicked out of his commune? You also may not ask these things, but I will answer these questions because there is a lot of American ignorance centered around the infamous policy. My mom does already have a 13 year old son, but his father is not the father of the fetus currently baking in my mom's uterus; her boyfriend is. Because her boyfriend doesn't have children, she won't be fined or be forced to get an abortion, and he won't have to lose his job. Oh, and also, you can have two kids in China as long as you and your spouse are both only children! Yaaaay!
By the way, I FINALLY got around to posting pictures on my photo blog. These pictures consist of those from the sports event, my trip to the countryside, Shanxi, and some random adventures around Beijing. If you happen to read this post on the day that I post it, you'll only get to see half of the pictures I've been meaning to post, because Tumblr won't let me post more than 100 pictures a day, so I recommend you check them out tomorrow, unless you're so impatient that you have to see them today.
There's four more days till Christmas, but I wouldn't be able to tell if it weren't for calendars. The Christmas spirit here is pretty bleak, but at least my dad will be here in less than a week!!
Thursday, December 4, 2014
It's freezing
It's been more than a month since I've last posted and I've never felt guiltier about it. My lateness is due to a combination of busyness and laziness and trying to get over the cold. As a child of California, I believe that the cold part is a solid excuse. The weather has officially transitioned from sweating weather to sweater weather to three layers of sweaters and pants weather. It is currently 28 degrees with windchill and the only other time I ever felt weather colder than this was the one time I visited Cory's parents and extended family in Indiana five years ago, and the weather was 5 degrees for one day, so I guess you could say that the weather here is preparing me for what's to come next year. Despite this adjustment and the fact that bus on which I am writing this post has a woman standing in front if me whose hair is statically attracted to my face, I'm starting to see myself live in this city in the future more and more over time. I guess I really do belong in major East Asian cities after all.
Speaking of living here, I might have a potential career opportunity! Well, probably not, but the thought is promising. An SYA alum came to talk during our weekly Wednesday assembly. He started by talking to us about his experience as a 00' graduate of SYA China. The six floored Erfuzhong building wasn't there, and he had to be in classes 1/2 the size of most of our classes. He said that at the time there was only one Starbucks, which was 40 minutes away from school. This would have been a nightmare to me, as I find myself at the Starbucks in Sunlituan every Sunday in order to study and do weekend homework. Very un-Chinese, I know, but I get a lot of work done that way. Besides, I get to see fun things like a man discreetly spitting on the floor and wiping it with his foot. Anyway, after SYA, he came back to Beijing on vacation and, for whatever reason, found himself staying here. He now works as the head of the international part of the headquarters (I think) of a photo sharing app called quite similar to Instagram called Nice, and he came to SYA to recruit young, hip interns who spoke at least a little bit of Chinese and. I emailed him my application, which he requested to be in the form of an app in the App Store. Here was my application:
I know, I'm unbearably, side-splittingy hilarious. I assume that he received my try at comedy and liked it, because he emailed me and two of my peers this afternoon letting us know that the headquarters of Nice are "very excited to have [us] come and join the team," and for us to come in on Saturday at 11am, free taxi ride and food included. I'm doing things for teenage diplomacy, America! In case the term "teenage diplomacy" doesn't ring a bell, it's referred to in the CNN interview with SYA that took place about a month ago. You can watch the video here and watch me eat noodles at 0:41.
My mom told me that I have significantly improved at speaking Chinese. Before, she had to repeat herself multiple times and I had to fight to get a sentence out. Now we can easily have conversations. Today, we had day one of the notorious yanjiangs, which are these speeches that SYA students have to do every year, twice a year, about the topic of their choice. I found myself able to get through the 3 minute speech pretty easily and confidently aside from a bit of stage fright. To add onto small victories, I am able to appreciate crowded buses because they are much warmer than standing outside.
A few of my less narcissistic moments come from my experiences with going out in public with Lizzie. This girl draws in the Chinese like honey and bees. One time, we were on the bus to school when the bus came to a lurching stop, and the man in front of Lizzie grabbed ahold of her in a hug-like fashion for about 10 seconds longer than necessary. A few minutes later, I caught him taking a picture of her. I gave him this "Really?" sort of look and he smiled sheepishly. Last weekend, Lizzie met up with me at Starbucks and a photographer parked himself in front of us, continuously taking pictures of her. She literally had to put her hand in front of her face in order for him to stop. I feel like I'm friends with a celebrity. China, man.
Christmas is three weeks away. You may think that I'd be pretty sad about it, since I live in a country that doesn't exactly celebrate the holiday, but you are WRONG. There are parts of Beijing that really emphasize the Christmas spirit, and I think I feel the spirit more here than I ever have in California, probably because of the cold. Sunlituan is one of these parts. They actually have a Christmas tree! Well, a Christmas trees composed of Swarovski crystals, but I'm pretty sure that that's just as festive.
Besides, Father comes on the 27th of December for a week, so all will be well!
I've still been going to the Deshengmen community center to tutor the elderly. I went to dinner at a restaurant with a hasty woman who rushed me through my meal and took me to her house for just 15 minutes in order to get me home early enough to do homework. Her house was proabably one of the fanciest I've ever seen in Beijing. Well I've only actually been in about 5 different houses in Beijing but this one was pretty dang fancy. Here's a picture of the woman, in her somewhat humble abode, who insisted that the chandelier made the photo:
We sang and played a few songs on the piano together and she served me coffee after insistently asking "coffee or tea?" in adorably broken English. On our way to the bus stop, as she clutched my arm borderline painfully so I wouldn't end up in the street, we talked about Chinese history to study for my history test the next day. Experiences like those are some that I sometimes keep forgetting that I will never have in the US.
DOG UPDATE: I keep getting the question "How's Alex?" Unfortunately, we had to give Alex away. We all agreed that the poor dog peed everywhere and cried far too much for any of us to keep our sanity.
If anyone from home has any more questions, feel free to contact me and I will compile answers for these questions in my next, hopefully soon post!
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