Day 5: July 31, 2011

Hi everyone! I didn't realize that I would be updating this blog everyday, but it's kind of comforting and helpful for myself, like personal journal. Who knows if I will continue it everyday for the rest of the time I'm here; I might get busier after my first week of classes. But for now these posts are helping me cope with my new environment.

This morning I went to church. Jing Jing took me, and stayed for the mass with me. It was really exciting to go. The church was beautiful; I didn't take pictures, but next weekend when I go again, I will get a few shots of it. The mass was nice, and it was very comforting. No matter where you go in the world, the Catholic mass is basically the same everywhere, and so it was really comforting to take part in something familiar to me while I am so far away from home.

After church, Jing Jing and I went home. She made us some lunch, which was fangbian mian (type of noodle), xiao bai cai (baby bok choy) which is soooooo gooood, dofu (tofu) which isn't as bad as I thought it would be, mantou (bun), and dongwa (wintermelon) which is also sooooo goood! There was also some mogu (mushrooms), but I didn't eat them because I don't like mushrooms, and something I can't remember the Chinese name for, but it is like small shrimp. I thought it was worms when I first saw it, and got freaked out because it was in my noodles, but I still ate the noodles. Then I asked and realized it was the small shrimp and felt a lot better about eating my noodles.

I studied for a few hours, and then I went to BLCU to meet Zhang Laoshi (my Chinese teacher from UMW). She treated me to dinner, and it was very good again. The restaurant we went to had Hunan cuisine, a place in southern China. We had some spicy potatoes, fresh cucumbers and tomatoes, scallion pancakes (which are really really good), sticky rice balls (which are one of my new favorite Chinese foods), fried eggs, and the lotus plant, which surprisingly was good and sweet. Once again, I ate too much. Every meal I feel like I eat so much!! I have probably gained 5 pounds already, and I just got here last Wednesday! But it's hard not to eat a lot, because they keep giving you more and more food and tell you to eat more, so it's hard to decline. And everything is really good too.

So when I was done having dinner, I took the bus back to my home. Then I stopped at the grocery and picked up some water, milk for tomorrow to go with my leftover sticky rice balls, and some chocolate. When I got home, only Jing Jing was here. Since then, I've been studying and preparing for tomorrow's lesson, and now writing this blog. Here are a few pictures to appease you all until next time!

My family's cat, Chao Chao

A view of my apartment building from the bus stop

A picture of what the lotus plant looks like that I ate

Day 4: July 30, 2011

Today I went to the Great Wall with other students. When we got to the Wall this morning around 10, there were tons of people there already. Native Chinese people had stalls set up on both sides of the road full of chopstick sets, t-shirts, furry communist hats, Mao paraphernalia, jade bracelets and figurines, and much more. A few stalls sold cold water and other drinks, in addition to ice cream and snacks. Then there were also stalls with tons of fresh fruit--apples, bananas, peaches, mangoes, and a lot of things I didn't recognize or didn't have enough time to look at.

After we passed all of these things, we reached the set of stairs leading to the Great Wall. It seemed to take forever to get up the steps, and it was really hard work. If you want to get in shape, just climb the Great Wall everyday and you'll be fit in no time. Even when we finally reached the top of the stairs and started along the Wall, there were even more steps! The Wall went up and down, with some flat spots in between, but mostly it felt like we were trekking up and down steps the whole time. It was a great experience though, and I hope to go back someday. I took lots of pictures, so I'll put some at the end of this post.

When we finished at the Great Wall, we came back to BLCU and I went to lunch with my group from Lotus. There were lamb kabobs, a chicken dish, vegetables, lamb soup, beef, and noodles with meat and vegetables. There was also some tofu and thousand year old egg. I had some noodles with vegetables, and white rice. The noodles were kind of spicy, but still very good.

After lunch I went to the Lotus office and called my parents. Then I headed back to my host family's house. Since then I've showered, checked the computer, and taken a little rest in my room. I sometimes don't even realize how tired I am until I sit down or lay down in my bed. Then all of a sudden my eyes are closed. I guess I'm still getting used to the time change and all the stuff I'm doing.

Until tomorrow!

p.s. I forgot to mention yesterday the most interesting thing about dinner. The meat they had was donkey!
I think mom is cooking something now. I wonder what the most exotic thing will be tonight!

View from Great Wall

Great Wall

Blueberry Monkey on the Great Wall!!

Day 3: July 29, 2011

Today I had my first class. It went pretty well, I guess. My teacher spoke in Chinese the whole time, and kind of fast, so it was often hard to understand what she way saying. Other than that, I think it went okay. I am surprised that I’m the only American in my class. There are a lot of students from Italy, a few from Japan, one from Indonesia, one from Hong Kong. When I was done with class, I walked around and went to a supermarket. They had really interesting things, like a lot of different kinds of meat. I saw some pig feet and chicken feet, and a lot of things that I didn’t recognize. Then there were a lot of spices and beans/seed type things in large barrels. I found some Skippy peanut butter, and some cereal like Cornflakes and Cheerios. The containers were similar to that in the US, but there was Chinese writing on them too.

After I walked around, I went back to the university because I had a tutor at 2. We met at the cafeteria and he reviewed the lesson I did earlier that day with me. I had to translate things, answer questions, and make my own questions and statements. Then we practiced speaking in Chinese and conversing for a little bit.

When my tutoring was done, 我回家。(I went home.) 妈妈（mom）and 姐姐 (sister) were home, and we talked a little then 我休息。(I took a break/rested.) 爸爸(dad) came home around 7 and Jing Jing made dinner. We had 馒头(mantou=buns), 青菜(qingcai=green leaf vegetable)，土豆 (tudou=potato)，汤跟蛋和黄瓜 (tang gen dan he huang gua= soup with egg and cucumber)。Everything was delicious, especially the potatoes.

Tomorrow I am growing to the Great Wall (长城). Then on Sunday I am having dinner with my Chinese teacher from the US. I will post pictures of the Wall tomorrow.

明天见！(See you tomorrow!)

Day 2: July 28, 2011

Today I woke up at 3:30 AM to a fog-covered sky. Beijing has a permanent cover of smog over it. I haven't seen a blue sky in two days, and I already miss it. It's kind of cruel, because while you can't see the sun very well, it's extremely hot and muggy.

It was a rough night, to say the least. I really missed everyone at home and things about the US that I guess I take for granted. I tried to fall back asleep, but couldn't, so when it was finally a reasonable hour, I got out of bed and got ready for the day. My host family's daughter, Jing Jing, took me to school this morning. I had a placement exam at 8AM, and she was kind enough to take me there, which I really appreciated.

The test seemed pretty easy, and I was done quickly, so after that I roamed around the campus to familiarize myself with everything. After that, I decided to head over to my program's office. I rode the bus all by myself and didn't get lost!! People here are crazy drivers--worse than New York. They really don't care if they run you over, and it seems as if there is constant beeping.

When I got to my office, one of the program coordinators went with me to exchange money and buy a bus card. Every time I have to interact with Chinese natives I am just shocked by how much I don't know of the language. In school it is different because we only stick to certain topics that involve words I know how to say. But here in Beijing it's a real challenge to understand anything, especially since people talk so fast.

After I got some money and bus card, we had a welcome lunch at the office and a small orientation before a few other students who have been here a few weeks joined us for a trip to the Capital Museum. I would have enjoyed the museum a lot more if it wasn't for the hot, long trip to get there, and the fact that I was carrying a backpack full of books and papers.

When we got back from the museum, I waited for Jing Jing to meet me and we went out for dinner. I got some really good soup with noodles, tomato broth, tomatoes, some other vegetables, and eggs. Then we took the subway home and went to the grocery. On the way home, we stopped at this little side stand where a man made a copy of my family's house key for me. When we went up to him he was putting new pedals on a child's bicycle. It's amazing the kinds of things you see on the street, the random services offered and the interesting food sold.

There are hardly any Americans or white people here. But strangely, I don't feel out of place. It's so interesting to be in this situation where you don't know what anyone is saying. People go about their daily business and don't even give you a second glance. I wish I was fluent in Chinese so I could understand what they are all talking about, but for now I hope that fluency will come in time.

To end my day, I took a shower in the interesting bathroom here. The shower isn't in a separate room. You walk into the bathroom and there is a sink to the left, a toilet in front of you, and to your right is the shower head. The water just runs across the floor and down a drain on the other side of the room near the sink. It was kind of confusing when I saw it, and I had to do a double-take. But it works fine and it gets you clean, so nothing to complain about. Again I think it just brings to the forefront the differences in our cultures and the fact that some can live with what most Americans would consider less luxury, but find it perfectly suitable.

Until my next post, here are a few pictures of what I've seen so far.

Day 1: July 27, 2011

I arrived in Beijing today after a long 14 hour flight. Surprisingly I didn’t get scared on the plane, when originally I thought I was going to freak out. The actual scary part was when I got out of the airport and had to go meet my family. I was excited but terrified.

I was so scared when I got to the home because it wasn’t what I expected. I pictured the whole family there to welcome me, but I was greeted by the mother only. She was nice and welcoming, and offered me tea. I almost forgot that I was in another country because the airport seemed so normal, but when I reached the house it freaked me out because everything is so different here. But that’s not a bad thing, it’s just something I’m not used to yet. I called my mom and almost started crying because it was so overwhelming when I got here.

But after introductions, I got to see my room. There are anime posters everywhere! We went to try to exchange money, but the banks were closed. I spent the rest of the day settling in and meeting the rest of the family. My host father seems nice as well, and the daughter is a year older than me and can speak English pretty well, so that will help a lot if I have questions. The family I’m staying with also has a white cat, which is currently sitting on my bed as I write this xD.

The first day hasn’t been too rough. I did get a little sad when I thought about how far away I am from home, but I know I can get through it. Tomorrow I’m going to take a placement test to figure out which level of courses I will be taking while here. Then an orientation with my program and an outing. Hopefully the day won’t be too stressful. Wish me luck!

Hello!!

Hi everyone! I'm just setting up this blog so I can document all my experiences and adventures when I go to Beijing at the end of July through August. Look for weekly updates and pictures dealing with my travels and studies!