Update!

Wow. I have been an excellent slacker about posting. I find it hard to describe my experience in words. Life is good. Really good. Anyways, let's see. . .

I’m in panic mode right now. I have 24 hours to get ready to leave for a 16-day trip to Nanjing, Suzhou and Shanghai. I’m sooooooooooooo excited!!! Warmer weather! New sites to see! Train rides!

Last Wednesday night I had my first sleeper (overnight) train experience when Jim, Evan and I made the trek to the coast city of DaLian in NE China. Each car has 66 people in it and 3 bunks are stacked on top of each other. I had the top bunk!

DaLian was a gorgeous city! The three of us had some crazy adventures which I will share in-person. . . We were all pretty excited to see OCEAN!

Last Sunday, I spent 4 hours at the Summer Palace in the MOST GORGEOUS weather with my friend, Carrie. The entire complex was in bloom and the sun was out.


The highlight of this week was my family’s visit! I spent Monday night and all day Tuesday roaming Beijing with them! It was pretty surreal to be their tour guide for a day.

The loves of my life right now are my students. Every Wednesday, I get out of class at 11:30am, grab lunch and get on the bus for an hour-long trek out to a poorer section of Beijing. I volunteer at a school for migrant worker’s children. The school has 1100 students ranging from k-6th grade and the school receives no government support. The students are not allowed in the public schools because their parents do not have permanent residency in Beijing so without this school they would be left at home/wandering the streets while their parents work everyday. I teach English from 1:20-2:50 to two consecutive classes of about 60 students with no previous experience. None of the school’s teachers or administrators speak English. The curriculum for my class is entirely up to me. It is the scariest and most challenging thing I have ever done. I LOVE it. The kids are AMAZING. I look forward to every Wednesday when I get to see them.

So, that is a quick update. My internet isn't letting me post photos too easily right now. LAME.

I love this country.

I can't believe it. As of tomorrow, one third of my time in China is over. Where is time going?!? I love this country. I love the experience I am having in this country. There are so many quirky things about this country but I'd say I love 75% of them and the other 25% . . . I find ways to deal with them. For example, my campus is gated and all of the gates except for the main one (all the way on the other side of campus from my dorm) close at 11:30pm. I, unfortunately, found this out the hard way after studying off grounds late last Thursday night. I, definitely, had a 45 minute walk around the entire perimeter of the campus and through a back alley at midnight. It was laughable. I don't have to worry about such nonsense anymore, though, because we found a hole in the fence right behind our dorm! We're soooo sneaky.

I love the people. Yesterday, I walked down a back alley (not generally frequented by foreigners) with some of my friends looking for some quick lunch food. It was 3:30pm so all the restuarant workers were relaxing. In the first restuarant, the workers were watching South Park. In the second restuarant, the workers were watching the Fantastic Four. The last restuarant, the one we bought food from, was the best of them all. We ordered food-to-go and while they were preparing it they invited us to sit. The restuarant workers, a group of 5 middle-aged men, were so excited to see us. As soon as we walked in they began taking bets with each other as to whether we were American or Russian. We promptly imformed them that we were Americans. There reaction was to hand us a bottle of Bai Jiu (Chinese liquor-65% alcohol) for free. One of the men invited Leyton to take shots of it with him. Leyton rose to the challenge. He and one of the workers took 3 shots each. I got a kick out of the entire thing.

We had so much fun sitting in the restuarant with these men. They were so pleased to chat (and drink) with us. As we were leaving, one of the men lamented that he was not American. In his words, "Americans can drink so much more than us." I can't explain it but I loved the whole thing. The men were so friendly and generous. It's just one of many great experiences I've had.

I LOVE the crowded bus and subway rides when you're so packed that you don't need to hold anything when the vehicle slams on the brakes because everyone around you prevents your body from flying.
I LOVE the great food you get at the little hole-in-the-wall restuarants and vendors for less than an American dollar.
I LOVE the street vendors who sell everything from goldfish to balloon animals.
I LOVE the little kids who see me and automatically say "hi" and laugh and smile when I say "hi" back.
I LOVE that they give you a ticket for everything. It's so inefficient but it is great for a scrapbook.
I LOVE that you can predict whether it is going to be a clear or smoggy day by the temperature.
I LOVE that if I lived here for several years I would never see all the historical sites that Beijing has to offer.

Anyways, that's a taste of my life here. What else have I been up to? A lot. Highlights:
Last Friday night, everyone in the program went out for karaoke--a staple of Chinese nightlife. We had an awesome time! Here's a little taste:


This weekend, we went to the Temple of Heaven, which according to the literature is the largest existing ancient architectural complex in the world. I have no idea what that means. It is a gorgeous park that houses the temples which the Emperor worshipped in several times a year. Here is the main temple:

Here's me being goofy (a rarity) in the park:


Other than that, I've been studying and having a great time with everyone in my program. Our hall is just ridiculous. We have A LOT of fun together. This is just an average night in the dorm:

Gotta love it!

Procrastination 101

Definitely should be doing work right now. . . BUT that's no fun! Procrastination is an art and I'm perfecting it. At least that is what I tell myself. . .

Class, class and more class was the theme of this week EXCEPT on Wednesday when all of our classes were cancelled!!! Cancelled class = opportunity for adventure! Thus, at 6am on Wednesday Eddie, Courtney and I got up and made the long haul to ShangFang Mountain, a Buddhist escape, about 75 km outside of central Beijing. 3 hours and 2 subway lines, 3 bus rides and 1 unlicensed taxi ride later, we arrived! We were excited about the hike to the top of the mountain where you can enter Yunshui Caves.

The hike was RIDICULOUS. The hike consisted of these steep stairs that went straight up the rock face and looked like something out of Lord of the Rings. Here is a view of the steps from above:

It was completely worth it! The caves were incredibly cool. They had a series of Buddhist sculptures lit up in neon lights all throughout. One of the caves was dedicated to depicting the 18 layers of Buddhist hell. It was really creepy, especially since the cave was completely silent and devoid of any other life besides the 3 of us. Here's a picture of some of the non-creepy sculptures lit in green lights:

By the time we were out of the caves, the weather turned pretty chilly and all 3 of us were ecstatic to return home by dinner time. Just in time for homework!

Groundbreaking news of the week occurred yesterday (Saturday). I climbed the Great Wall of China at Badaling! It's the most touristy section of the wall but it was still completely breathtaking. It was also, probably, the most surreal thing I have done yet. Standing on the Great Wall with thousands of other tourists was pretty unreal. Here's me on the Great Wall doing my "signature" pose, as the boys "fondly" call it:


Today, was pretty cool. My professor took me and a couple of the other kids out to see a weekend antique market and the Beijing City Museum. Now, I'm tired and I have a bit of work I could afford to focus on. Ready. . . go!

Happy New Year?!?

The year of the pig came in with a bang. LITERALLY. This weekend was the Chinese New Year and during the holiday anyone is allowed to send off fireworks. The big ones. Thus, the past couple of nights and especially, New Year's Eve has been a symphony of non-stop explosions and lights. The only way I can attempt to describe it is: a July 4th fireworks show on crack. I've pretty much been feeling like I was living in a war zone. According to news reports, at least 150 people went to the hospital on account of fireworks on New Year's Eve alone. Eeeek! I enjoyed the fireworks from the comfort (and safety) of my 17-story dorm which overlooks most of the city.

To celebrate New Year's Eve I was invited to the home of a Chinese couple that serves as a host family for American students in China. They were incredibly gracious. My "mom" made a feast that took her two days to prepare. I was able to help her make jiaozi (dumplings), the traditional new year's dish.

They were delicious! However, part of the new year tradition is to hide a lucky dried date in one of the dumplings. Someone has to eat the dumpling with the date in it. Let me preface this by saying that the jiaozi was the last dish served and we made about 4 dozen dumplings. There were only 6 of us eating. I did my best but I eventually relinquished the task of finding the lucky dumpling to everyone else. My efforts were documented though:


On New Year's Day, Leyton, Jim and I went to Coal Hill and Beihai Parks. The parks were overflowing with families enjoying the warm, sunny weather. The highlight of Coal Hill was the view of the Forbidden City from the top:

Beihai was just incredibly gorgeous! It is right on one of the Imperial Lakes in the middle of Beijing. It was refreshing to see so much green. Here is a view of the park when you enter:


Today, we went to Miao Hui (Temple Fair). It is a gigantic New Year's carnival that goes on for a week in one of the temple parks. It was absolutely packed! Forget personal space. Thousands of Chinese families were wandering the park.

The carnival featured games, karaoke, trinkets and crafts, performances, parades, and interesting characters:

The star was really normal-looking compared to some of the other weird creatures wandering around. The highlight of the festival was definitely the food. Every kind of Chinese food imaginable was available. It was the most delicious food I have had since arriving in Beijing. I'm sorry to say I was not brave enough to try some of the food offered. For instance, scorpion, squid, intestine and beetles on a stick:


Happy Year of the Pig!

All Things Random

I have been cast as an extra (with lines!?!) in a made-for-TV Chinese mini-series. Thus far, this EASILY qualifies as the MOST RANDOM thing I ever could've imagined happening to me while I was in China. The director of my program at Bei Wai is well-connected in China and casting directors in Beijing have come to rely on our program as a reliable source of "lao wai" (foreigners) aka "white people". Yesterday, the casting directors arrived and chose those of us who fit the parts they needed. Several kids in my program were chosen. I'm slated to be one-half of a "loving couple". Anyways, if I commit I will spend a whole day on the set in early March filming and the production company will pay me for my time. Is it weird that I may appear on Chinese TV?

Last Saturday, I went with several kids in my program to see the famous Yonghe Lama Temple (Buddhist) in Beijing. It was absolutely gorgeous! The temple was overflowing with people praying because of the upcoming holidays. The smell of the incense they burned was a relief from the typical city smells of Beijing.

The highlight of the temple was the Maitreya Buddha. It is a statue carved in 1748 out of single trunk of white sandal wood. It is 85 feet tall! It took them over a decade to move the Buddha to Beijing from Tibet. It is in the Guinness Book of World Records. Technically, you are not supposed to take photos of the statue but being the lao wai that I am I did take one photo:


On Sunday, I went with 3 of my friends to see the Forbidden City, the former home of the Chinese emperors, that is now known as the Palace Museum. The complex is huge! We spent over 2 hours walking around and we easily could have spent more. I was most amused to find out that the complex now houses a Xingbuke (Starbucks). It is hidden within one of the souvenir shops but every lao wai we saw had a Starbucks cup. I'm sad to report that I was no different. I bought a mocha. I left the City with the firm conviction to one day have my own forbidden city. HA!


We've had two birthdays within the past couple of days. On Sunday, my RA turned 24 and to celebrate we went bowling. Needless to say, I did not win.

On Monday, Stephanie turned the big 21! The whole crew went out to eat at a fantastic Japanese restuarant where we all chowed down on sushi. The ritzy restuarant (by American standards) cost us a whopping $13 a piece. Miso anyone?


Other big news: Classes have begun! This week we have 3 1/2 hours of language every morning. My class has 2 other people in it. I don't think I've ever gotten so much personal attention. It's a little rough getting back into the groove of studying after almost 2 months off. Here is Stephanie and I being the best Chinese students we can be on our first day of class:

I am honestly, really happy to have started classes. It feels like I'm finally transitioning from the tourist mentality. I'm living here for the next 15 weeks!

A Picture Can Tell a Thousand Words. . .

Today, several us got up early to venture to Fragrant Hills Park and climb Incense Burner Peak where you get a great view of Beijing. The weather was gorgeous for our 1 ½ hour hike to the top. The sky was bright blue (a rarity in Beijing)! The trail was a little bit more intense than most of us expected. We were happy when the trail looked like this:

Most of the trail, however, looked like this:

The view of Beijing was awesome!

We felt incredibly accomplished when we reached the top!

At the peak, they were serving a Chinese delicacy, which I am unlikely to EVER try. THOUSAND YEAR OLD EGGS! It is an egg, which they boil and bury for about a month. The eggs are then harvested and seasoned. Yum . . . ???

In other news, I went to the Beijing Zoo on Thursday and saw pandas! This panda was my favorite:


Biggest cultural adjustment so far is squatters!!! Western toilets are hard to come by. Toilets have thus become a big topic of conversation for the group. Yay!

Paparazzi, Mao and Boyfriends

I saw Mao . . . this morning around 10 am. He died in 1976. The experience was surreal. Let me explain.

Today (Wednesday), the 13 of us journeyed to the famous Tiananmen Square (for the 2nd time), which lies in the center of Beijing along with the Forbidden City. In the center of the square lies Chairman Mao Memorial Hall (Mao’s Mausoleum). It is gigantic and heavily guarded. Below is a photo of the statue that marks the gate to the Hall:

After waiting in line for several minutes with hundreds of others coming to pay their respects, I was granted entrance. The entrance chamber had a huge statue of Mao, reminiscent of the Lincoln Memorial, covered in flowers placed there by those come to pay their respects. From there, in dead silence, we filed into the room where Mao Zedong’s body lies in rest. His body has been preserved for 30 years and they raise it every day for public viewing. The room with his body then feeds into a store with all the Mao merchandise you could EVER imagine (watches, cuff links, lighters, pens, jewelry, posters, etc.). The whole experience was ridiculous.

Tiananmen Square itself is astounding. It is HUGE. It is the largest square in the world (built to hold one million people). The square is bordered on the East side by the Great Hall of the People (home of the National People’s Congress), on the West side by the National Museum of China and on the North Side by Tiananmen or the Gate of Heavenly Peace (the entrance to the Forbidden City). It essentially is the seat of China. I am pictured with the Gate.

On Tuesday, I went to Tiananmen Square for the first time with Leyton and Stephanie. I felt like a celebrity. We were the only “foreigners” to be found in the Square. Most of the people in the Square were Chinese citizens visiting from other provinces who were unaccustomed to seeing “white people.” The three of us were stopped 4 or 5 times so that we could pose for a photo. One family of 8 had us pose for a picture with them. Most people, however, did not ask us for a photo. They just snapped one with their cameras or cell phone cameras as we walked by. I have my own paparazzi!?!

This afternoon, after Tiananmen Square we were all taken around several of the major shopping districts in Beijing. I am standing in the oldest market street in Beijing!

We also visited the artist district, known as Liuli Chang, and the Silk Road Market. The Silk Road Market is impossible to describe. It is 6 floors of every product you could imagine. It has aisle after aisle of knock off purses, shoes, scarves, clothes, etc. Everything is sold through bargaining. There are no set prices. It is incredibly overwhelming. Every shopkeeper called me to their booth with “pretty lady” or “blue eyes.” Some would grab me and walk me to their booth. Their other technique was to ask me which of the 2 boys (Leyton and Matt) adventuring with me was my boyfriend. Despite my claim that neither of them was my boyfriend, they would proceed to tell Leyton or Matt why they should buy me something. It was entertaining. I will definitely be returning to the Market to stalk up on gifts to bring home!

Side Note: Communication from China is really easy besides the ridiculous time difference! Skype, AIM, facebook, and email have eased the adjustment. It is definitely weird being so far from everything you know and love. Leyton (my twin) and I marvel at modern communications! ( We're pictured with one of the phone booths found all over Beijing.)

Four Months Has Begun!!!

Jet lag is awful! I just need to get that out there. My schedule the past couple of days has been so wacky and I’ve pretty much been tired CONSTANTLY. And the boys don’t tease me about it at all . . .

Quick Recap:
So, the plane ride was pretty uneventful. Long and smooth. I did get upgraded by a complete fluke though!!! Holla for economy plus!! Another added bonus was I sat next to Sam—a “baller” and “Rhodey” aka a George Washington University student from Rhode Island who is in my program. He kept me from going insane during the 14 hours.


About my program, there are 13 students total and only 3 girls, including me. The boys aren’t too happy about the ratio. I think we may be the only study abroad program in the entire world with such a ratio. It makes things . . . interesting. We all live on the same hall in the International Dorm and we share a coed bathroom. My room is ridiculously nice! I was pleasantly surprised. I was also incredibly amused when I arrived because of the Chinese translation taped to my door. All of the students were given a translation. Mine read “Jiuhou tu zhen yan—the truth comes out after alcohol.” A little bit of Chinese fortune-telling perhaps?

Eating, eating, and more eating! We’re in the orientation period and every lunch and dinner we get taken out to another AWESOME restaurant. You have NOT had Chinese food until you have had it in China! It is soooo good! And I’m becoming a badass with chopsticks!


You do see some interesting food though. . . Yay chicken’s head!


Monday morning at 7:25 am the crew watched the Super Bowl live. It was so wrong on soo many levels. Pajamas, coffee, Chinese commentary and commercials?!?!


The night life here is ridiculous! Last night, the “dream team” aka the 13 of us went clubbing at Propaganda. Here’s a bunch of us in one of the VIP booths:


Beijing is incredible and the next couple of days is devoted to “discovering Beijing.” We have a ridiculous scavenger hunt to complete. Given my limited Chinese abilities this should be an adventure . . .

Chinese Buttons?!?

Ahhh!!! I'm in China!!! I can't read the buttons on this computer (they're all in Chinese)!!! This post was achieved through trial and error and perserverance!!!

I will update with details (and photos) of my escapades as soon as they connect the internet in my dorm room and I can read the buttons!

Need a Topic of Conversation? Study Abroad!

Seriously. Study abroad is the greatest conversation topic. It's been my fallback for the past 3 months. Everyone has an opinion or a "helpful" hint. Like today, I went to the drug store to pick up toiletries and medications for the trip and the cashier was SOOOO excited for me. It's crazy! I better make some awesome memories in China so I have things to talk about when I get back.

Alright, so yeah, this is my attempt to chronicle the next 4 months of my life in China. My flight leaves on Thursday and I AM NOT ready! I have piles everywhere and an inefficient amount of lists. My procrastination skills in my academic life are clearly starting to affect my everyday life. Anyways, I'm going to stop procrastinating now and go do some more packing!