Post # 5

Ni Hao!

My chinese lesson for today, in the spirit of Valentine's Day: 我愛你 - Wo ai ni - I love you

so I have been in China for a little over two weeks, and as my mother said: the vacation is over! I am really enjoying being here but now since classes have started and I am working at my internship, play time is over. Here are some interesting things I have learned thus far:
1. no one, NO one, NO ONE speaks English. It makes day to day interactions somewhat difficult but also very comical.
2. vegetarianism is not common in China, in fact most people don't understand it. "Bo rho" literally means "no meat" in chinese, and it has become my favorite saying.
3. Chinese people love cheesy American music, I have danced the YMCA and the Electric slide on many occasions.

And here is an update on life:
Last Sunday (02/08) A group of us went out to dinner to Hot Pot, which is where you get raw meat/vegetables and put it into a boiling pot of sauce/stock, it was extremely spicy which I did not like, but it was fun to try something new.
Then on Monday night a group us attempted to go to downtown Beijing to watch the Lantern Festival which celebrates the last day of Chinese New Year. Unfortunetely we got extremely lost and never made it to the festival. Instead we got dinner in Tiananmen Square and watched the fireworks. All throughout Chinese New Year people had been just setting off fireworks in the street, but since Monday was the last day they could legally set them off, people were going nuts. The picture is the group of us wearing light up horns. Since it is the Year of the Ox, they were selling the horns for 5 kuai, which is a little under 1 US dollar. Of course we had to buy them and wear them as we walked around. We got alot of weird looks and alot of people wanted to take pictures with us "the maigoren" (Americans). It was a fun time.

Tuesday I had Chinese class and I picked my Chinese name: 玫瑰 (Mei Gui) which means Rose. We are only allowed to use our Chinese names in class, so I have mastered drawing those two characters.
Wednesday I went on an epic adventure to my internship. I am going to be teaching English at a school for Migrant Worker's children. From the little I have learned, the migrant worker community in China takes up a large portion of the population but lacks a good education system (among other things, that I can elaborate on back home) It takes about an hour by bus. It is on the outskirts of Beijing. I met with the current English teacher and she introduced me to the kids. I will be teaching Grade 5 which ranges from 7-12 year olds. Some of them know a little English. I am going to start teaching on Monday, so look out for updates/pictures then.
Thursday and Friday, I stayed local and went to my classes. Then on Saturday (Valentines Day), my programs took us to the 798 art district. It is a large space of old factories from World War II that have been turned into art galleries. It is really cool because alot of the buildings still have machinery and on the walls they still have old Mao sayings. Most of the art was contemporary but it was very interesting. I am definitely going back to see some art and do some shopping.
Today I went with some friends to the Silk Market. IT WAS INSANE. It is a 7 floor building that sells everything imaginable. Pearls, silk, tea sets, Mao t-shirts, scrolls, fake Ugg boats. I got a North Face jacket for about 110 US dollars, and of course another fake Coach wristlet ( I have an addiction, I know).

I am sorry that this is super long, but I want to write down as much as I can remember for my ownpersonal use. Hopefully I have made ten minutes of work/school less boring for some of you!

Post # 4

Views from the Great Wall


Hey, Sorry its been so long but the internet is not really working too great. I have decided that I am going to try and post every Sunday morning here, so that is Saturday night US time, so look for updates and photos then. So far things have been going really well. I have settled into my room at Beida (Peking University) and have started classes. My chinese class has 5 other people in it and the teacher is really nice so it should be a lot of fun. As of now, I can say hello (Ni Hao) and how are you (Ni Hao ma?). I have two other classes that I am taking, Chinese Arts and Culture, Chinese Political Reforms, they meet once a week, so I have not had them yet.
So a recap of the last week:
Last Monday (Feb 2) the entire group I am with went on a study trip to Chendge, a city about 3 hours from Beijing. On the way there, we stopped and climbed the GREAT WALL!! It was amazing! We stopped and ate lunch on the wall and took lots of photos. Then from there we arrived in Chendge. The next day, we visited the Summer Villa, which was like the Hamptons House for the Emperor. He went thereto escape the hot Beijing summers. We then had a group lunch and visited two Buddhist temples. They were really cool, and the second one we went to is an actual working temple that is home to the largest wooden Buddha in the entire world. The next day we just drove back to Beijing and got settled in for classes to start.
Then yesterday (Saturday Feb 7) a small group of us took a day trip to Tianjin, which is a city about 1 1/2 hours from Beijing. We took a high speed train to get there, it went over 200 mph, it was crazy/scary!! Tianjin is the third largest city in China, but it is still being built up. We browsed down a street called Ancient Culture Street, where they sell China related items, like tea sets, calligraphy and knock-off designer bags. I got a fake Coach bag for a little under 20 dollars ( I need to improve my bargaining skills). Then we got lunch and searched for a famous Tianjin bakery. It took us a while, but we found it. It was really good, they had twisted fried buns and donut holes.
So those have been my travels thus far. Other than that I have been just hanging out in Wudakou, which is the area around Beida. It is a really built up area with tons of restaurants and shops. (not to mention tons of KFC's. I dont know why, but they are really popular here!)
I have been getting used to Chinese food, it is really good, just hard to order because the menus are all in characters! But no worries, I have found a place that sells peanut butter, so I am set!

Post # 3

I MADE IT!!! I am in CHINA. I have been here for three days and it has been amazing. I am staying at Peking University, which is a little to the Northeast of Beijing. The campus is beautiful (pictures to come) and the teachers are super sweet. I am here with about sixty students, about 30 from my school and then the rest are from all over the country. I am going on a three day study trip to Chengde which is a town a little outside of Beijing. And then on Thursday I start my classes. I also will be starting my internship in the middle of Feburary. I am going to be working at a school for Migrant Worker's children, and I am going to be teaching English! I am pretty excited.