ABROAD IN
Saturday, July 29th: This morning, for class, we all went on a hike up Zijinshan. I left the hose at 7:35 to the bus stop where I coincidentally bumped into Ines, Helena and Josie. We all were supposed to meet the class at a bus stop a few stops down. The other NSLI-Y kids met at the school at 8 and then all drove to the mountain, but because Ines, Helena, Josie and I all live at the base of the mountain, we just met everyone at the bus stop. We were on the bus talking, and accidentally went past the bus stop 4 stops. So, we had to take another bus back. The buses here come really frequently, so it wasn’t a big deal, but it was still an L. As we were waiting, we saw the cutest stray puppy dog. It was sooo tiny and adorable, so we took a ton of photos. Justin soon met up with us. It was already 8:30 and we couldn’t find Margie, so Helena called her, and it turns out that everyone was already at the base of the trail and already began the hike. We jogged over and quickly caught up with everyone. It turns out the Koreans also came with us on the hike, so Alexandra and I talked to some of the Korean teachers who were really nice. The hike was hard. Some of the stairs were so steep that I was a little nervous of falling backwards. At the top, I realized that it was same hike as when I went up with Justin, just a different trail. It was also sooo hot. Honestly, there was literally no dry spot on anyone’s shirts up on the hike, so we all took our shirts off. On way back down, Alexandra and I talked a little more with the Korean teachers. We were having good conversation, and after a while, they invited us to go and eat with them and the students. They eat on the 12th floor of the building at 12:30. Alexandra couldn’t go, but a lot of the other Americans could go so we all agreed. We got back to NJU at 12 so Alex, Sam, and I decided to go to the NanDa store to see if we could buy some more University clothes. We stopped at Thirsty Frog and I got the most amazing drink ever. I got a strawberry shake with boba added to it. It was so amazing. The boba made it amazing. I’m craving it as I write this blog post. Anyway, we headed back to the school soon enough and we found some Americans at the 12th floor of the University building where we were supposed to meet the Koreans. It was kind of awkward because there were 10 of us Americans, and the Koreans didn’t have enough bowls for us. So, we were all just kind of standing there, and a lot of us (including me) thought that we should just leave and not bother them because 10 people is a lot of people to feed. But then, the teacher invited the Americans and a few of the other teachers to go to a Korean restaurant nearby. I think he felt bad because he invited us and then we couldn’t eat. We took taxis in sets of 4 and eventually arrived at the restaurant. We got seated and immediately were served food. The Korean teachers prepaid for our meal (which we all felt really bad about), and bought us so much delicious food. The Korean food was sooo amazing. The teachers even said that it is nearly as good as the best Korean restaurants in Korea. We had bulgogi, kimchi, bibimbap, seafood pancake, and a bunch of other small foods. We all tried paying for it, but the teacher who paid wouldn’t accept. It was probably expensive too, feeding 10 Americans. Definitely a highlight of the trip. Food was good and the company was good. Also, the Korean teachers are so nice and funny. They like the Americans. They also invited us to go to church with them and the students, but I don’t think any of us could go. After lunch, I planned to meet Alexandra at her house to buy some tea and eat dinner with her, so we all parted ways. I went on the subway and got off at Alexandra’s subway stop and quickly exchanged some money at a nearby bank. After about 20 minutes, Alexandra’s mom picked me up, and we all went to this really sketchy but cheap bargaining mall where I picked up a fake designer purse for my mom for 150 yuan. I bargained it down from 180, which isn’t a whole lot, but I think it was a pretty good deal anyway. After, we went to this alleyway (kind of) where there were only tea shops. Alexandra and I really wanted to buy some loose-leaf tea to bring home, so I bought around 115 yuan worth of tea (about 16 dollars worth?). There was sooo much tea, and there was some really cool looking tea too so I bought some. I bought some rose tea (the tea was tiny roses – I had to buy it), some 茉莉花茶,红茶,and then some Nanjing tea that was grown here. It was really cheap for a tin so I bought 5 in total. After, Alexandra’s mom dropped us off at the stationary store where I bought 36 packs of .5 lead for .8 yuan each (literally 10 cents per pack of lead) and some stationary for some friends (everything is so cheap here). Afterwards, Alexandra and I stopped at this snack store where I bought a small pack of dried mango for too much money (9.8 yuan, which is about 1.4 USD, but its expensive for China), and then we headed home. Alexandra lives in such a nice apartment. It’s so modern and the view is amazing. There’s also pools attached to her apartment complex. Her family fed me a really nice dinner, and I had a really good conversation with the parents about my life in Seattle and life in Nanjing. Apparently, they also have a house in Australia?? After dinner, Alexandra and I decided to go on a run outside her apartment. She lives really close to the 长江 (aka Yellow River), and she normally runs along the river daily, so we decided to run there that night. Being able to actually be in China and see the Yellow River with my own eyes was such a cool experience especially because I’ve been reading about it all my life and have only seen it in photos. It was especially amazing because we could hear the 古筝 playing in the background, and tons of people chatting and walking around while we looked around and went running. It was an amazing night. Along the river at night, it’s really bustling. We were running in nearly pitch black, but there was still a ton of people we had to dodge and run by. It was a so-so run because I was tired and I got a cramp but it was a pretty night. I had to be home by 10 and it was already getting late, so Alexandra’s mom drove me to the subway stop and I took the subway home and then rode the bus to my house. When you can't Justin smolder :( #pnwsquad
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Friday, July 28th: I woke up really early again (6:15) in the store to walk to the apartment and buy food. My mom bought me some 黑米粥 and some gao (idk what it is really) and a hardboiled egg. It was a good breakfast. I really love that gao bread thing. I think I might get some tomorrow. Anyways, Justin’s phone was busy so after waiting 5 minutes I decided to walk to the subway station myself. I was almost at the bus stop when Justin called me and said that his brother could drive us. I started walking back to the neighborhood center where we normally meet when the dad drives us. 10 minutes later, Justin and his brother stopped next to me on a motorcycle. Apparently, Justin’s brother didn’t know he was picking me up until they were almost there, so Justin got off the motorcycle and let me get on. He went to go find an unlocked bike because we all didn’t have the app. I pointed one out to him (I found one earlier in the morning), so he took it and we left. Justin’s brother and I zoomed up ahead while Justin was riding way in the back. Even though they are extremely dangerous, motorcycles are kind of fun not gonna lie. The ride was a little longer than 5 minutes. Justin called me while I was on the motorcycle and told me that his bike broke, so his brother quickly dropped me off at the subway station while he went to go get Justin. A few minutes later, Justin came back with his brother and we both got onto the subway to get to class. We were about 3 minutes late, but I was still earlier than my teacher, so it ended up being ok. In class, we watched a movie and learned more in the textbook. The movie was this famous one called “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon”. For lunch, Alexandra and I decided that we would quickly get out of the school so we would have time to exchange money. We first went to the Nanjing University Store where I bought a baseball cap and a University sweatshirt. I’m so happy about the sweatshirt because it was the last Small. They told me last week they ran out of that sweatshirt size, but they found a new one. New shipments don’t come in until September, so I was pleased. Right after, we went for lunch at the cafeteria where we got Shuijiao dumplings on the 2nd floor. I also got a strawberry vanilla ice cream bar. After, we quickly rushed to the bank, where 2 unfortunate things happened. 1) I got killed by Jessica for Assassin and 2) The bank workers were on lunch break, so we didn’t have time to exchange our money. It was a sad moment. But, it’s okay because Jessica bought me iced tea after she killed me. We came back to class at 1:30 where we had carving stone class. We each got to carve our own Traditional Chinese stamp. I carved my name in mine, and I’m excited to try it out when I get home in America. This was my favorite cultural class so far; it was a cool experience to physically get to carve your name in a stone with a chisel. After stone carving, we had community service which was to clean the Nanjing University Library. We didn’t really have directions on what to clean, so a lot of people kind of goofed off, unfortunately. We officially ended school at 4:30, so instead of going to the gym, I decided to hang out with some friends after school. Peter, Alexander, Alexandra and I quickly went to 龙江 to check out the fake Yeezys and to buy some Coco. I didn’t have a lot of time because I had a movie to see that evening with my sisters, so we were only there for about 45 minutes. I got a big cup of Pearl Milk Tea at Coco because I felt like it. After, I went back home on the subway and relaxed with my sisters until we decided to leave for the movie. We went out to this really really good ramen place. It wasn’t like Japanese ramen, but it was soooo good. Maybe better than Japanese Ramen? It was really cheap, the noodles were a good texture, and the broth was delicious. At the restaurant, I had a few good conversations with my sisters about travelling and the Maldives. My older sister really wants to go there one day. Oh, also, the lady who worked at the noodle shop was kind of surprised when she saw me. When we walked in she started asking my sisters questions about me as if I didn’t understand Chinese, so when I answered “Yes” for myself, she was like “Wow! Your Chinese is so good!” Also, my sister asked if I wanted chili oil on my noodles and I replied “一点“ which means a little, and then the lady working at the store was like “Whoa, she said 一点”. We then walked to my mom’s store to pick up my sister’s glasses, and my mom braided my hair. After, we walked to the subway station and took it to the movie theatre in the big mall. Despicable Me 3 was actually really cute. We weren’t expecting it, but this movie was one of those 3D movies with the seats that move/spray you. So, we got sprayed with water at some parts, and blown with air, and our seats moved and rattled. It was fun at first, but then I kind of got sick of having the side of my face drenched with water. Overall, good movie. After the movie, we headed back home and rested. It was late when we got home, so I wrote some blog posts until about 12 then fell asleep.
July 26th: I woke up in the store from an alarm that my mom set for 6 am and walked back to take a cold shower at the house. As we were walking back to the house to grab my backpack and wash up, my mom bought me this very very delicious street food. It was rice with a layer of sugar coated on it, wrapped over a youtiao. It was one of the most amazing things I’ve eaten. It was delicious and only 3 yuan (.4 USD). I left the house at 7, and waited for Justin for 7 minutes. He wasn’t answering his phone, so I just left. I was walking next to the bus stop when a motorcycle stopped next to me, and there was Justin and his brother. Justin got off and we walked together to the subway! Surprisingly, we were on time. For cultural class today, we had our last calligraphy class! We made our final piece and it was a little sad that this was our last class. I enjoyed calligraphy class. My end piece was not very good, I messed up on my first stroke. It hit me and my friends at that point how fast this Summer has gone. I still remember our bus ride to catch our Chicago flight like it was yesterday. Ahhh. Anyways, after class, I went shopping with Ines, Helena, Josie and Emma at the Nanjing University Store. We realized that we need to spend a lot more money. Every student is given 900 yuan on their student card, and we can use that 900 yuan not just on food, but on souvenirs and snacks at the market connected to the University. The cards were technically supposed to be just for food, but we can scan them at so many other places. Of course, I’m not going to use all of that 900 yuan on food (one meal is about 10 yuan), so I am spending it all on sweatshirts and shirts from the University. I bought a baseball cap and a Nanjing University shirt for myself that totaled to about 80 yuan, or a little more than 10 dollars USD. CHEAP!! After shopping, I came home early because my sister and I were planning to watch a movie that night. At the apartment, I knocked on the door, but no one answered. I kept knocking and ringing the doorbell but no one was answering, so I called my sister who was at Xinjiekou shopping. Turns out that the air conditioning was still broken, so we were going to sleep in the shop again. My dad came by and opened the door for me so I could grab my stuff to bring to the store. After I grabbed my laptop and brushed my teeth, we went downstairs where I expected us to walk back to the store. But, my dad hopped on a scooter motorcycle and said hop on! So, we rode about 1.5 minutes to the store on a motorcycle. I had a lot of fun in the 1.5 minutes probably because that was my first time on a motorcycle. Also, it’s a little dangerous because no one wears helmets here in China when they ride bikes or motorcycles, so I was glad that it was a short ride. Anyway, once I got to the shop I skyped my family in America and worked on my IOPP that was going to be the next day. We were planning on watching a movie that night but something happened with the tickets (my mom was yelling at my little sister on the phone), so we couldn’t go. My sister told me that we would go tomorrow to see Despicable Me 3. We relaxed for a bit and ate dinner in the shop. A little later, my friend messaged me and told me that the moon was supposed to be red that night, so my sister and I went walking to a nearby palace to check out the moon. I saw it on the way to the palace and it was tinted a little bit red. My sister couldn’t see it though because she forgot to bring her glasses. At the palace, we couldn’t see the moon, but we still walked around a bit in the dark. I was craving boba, so we stopped at Coco where I had just enough money. I really need to exchange my money, I have 2 mao left. After coming back to the shop, my mom asked if I wanted to get a haircut. I mentioned it a couple times before when I was doing my hair before leaving for school because it was getting really long. So, I agreed and we walked out of the store and went next door to get a haircut. I’m not sure how much it cost, but I think it was around 15 yuan? (2 USD) The lady cutting my hair was nice, and we had some good conversation. Later that night, I kept practicing for my IOPP the next day. I was a little nervous and was having trouble memorizing my presentation, but I eventually finished up and went to bed at around 11:30.
Tuesday, July 25th : I’m writing this diary date a few days late and I can’t really remember what I did this night. There was a pretty sunset this night, so I opened the window and took some photos. Later that night though, I remember that the air conditioning broke. Nanjing is in the 100s, so we need air conditioning. The mom told me that we should all sleep in her clothing store because there is air conditioning in there. I was a little suspicious at first, but I decided that it would be an experience to sleep in her shop, so I agreed with no hesitation. Her store is a 7ish minute walk away so it was convenient. The shop is tiny, though. It’s one of those hole in the wall shops that are filled with clothes on either side of the store. It turns out we were sleeping on the floor, which was okay. It’s not sketchy anymore because I now know where the parents sleep. They sleep here on the floor! I get it now. We laid out this mat and blankets for us to sleep on. The Dad was really nice and went back to the 100 degree house to sleep because there was no room. We played card games on the mat until it was time to sleep. Also, there’s no bathroom/sink at her store, so I had to brush my teeth and change into my pajamas beforehand. As we laid down to sleep, we were all lined up and a little squished on the mats on the floor. My mom planned to have a worker check out the air conditioning the next day.
Monday, July 24th: I woke up before my alarm at 4:10 am for the sunrise hike. I thought I missed my alarm, so I swung out of bed and checked the time. Low and behold, I still had 5 minutes of sleeping. I woke up officially at 4:15 and got ready. I didn’t think the hike was going to be strenuous (more like a stroll) so I just wore my Vans, which was a mistake. I tip toed out of the apartment at 4:30 and there were a few stores open, but it was quite barren. It was not hot in the morning which I was so thankful for, but it was pitch black. We began our hike and the sky began to get brighter rather quickly. The sunrise was set to be at 5:14, and Justin’s brother said the hike would only take about 20 minutes, so I wasn’t worried. But, the hike was way harder and way longer than we all expected. The hike was literally set after set after set of stairs. There would be a set of a few hundred stairs. You’d think you were done, then there would be another set and another, so it was really tiring. At about 5:30 am we reached this flat area where there were bathrooms. We still had about 20 minutes to go after that (which we didn’t know about). We continued, and I was debating heading back down the mountain because the sun already rose and there were just more and more stairs. But, we kept going. I am so glad we didn’t head back down though because the view was beyond worth it. The view at the top was amazing. We stopped at this lookout area at a cable car stop, and we figured out that you can take a cable car up (but not that early). The light pink/purple/orange haze was still there even though it was already around 6 am. I could see the entire city, and all the bodies of water. At the top, we ate some bread and drank some coffee and yogurt. It was a 10/10 morning. I’m so glad I woke up early for that. Walking down the mountain took much less time, and by the time I got back to the house, I had 10 minutes before I had to leave for school. Luckily, Justin’s dad said he would drive us. I quickly took a cold shower and ran out the door to meet Justin and his dad. We got to the subway and surprisingly got to the University with time to spare. After speaking and listening class, we had taiqi class for cultural class (for lunch I had 18 水饺 - it was worth it). The taiqi routine keeps getting longer and longer and I’m struggling to remember everything. After taiqi, some of the students went to the city wall (but it was literally 100 degrees and I didn’t feel like sightseeing), so I went with some others to check out a nearby mall. It was a nice mall, but I didn’t buy anything. There were some shirts for 20 yuan though (2-3 USD). Oh, wait I did buy Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans with Alex. Also, I bought some ice cream for 3 yuan at McDonalds. Overall, fun afternoon with fun people. I came home for dinner and while I was eating, I talked with the Dad about Muslim culture (they are Muslim). We didn’t talk a lot about it, but we talked about the different things they do as Muslim people and about Mecca a little bit. It was cool. The Dad is really sweet and was smiled hugely when he realized I understood what he was talking about, and he seemed excited to share his culture. He also talked about his old hometown a little bit. Later that night, I relaxed and did some homework and preparation for my IOPP. Also, Emma bought masks for really cheap to block out air pollution, so I bought one from her haha.
Saturday, July 23rd: Wow, it’s already the 23rd! My Summer is going by so fast. My sister and I, in the morning, decided to go to this famous bookstore that I wanted to check out. She told me she often goes there with her friends, so we decided to go this morning at about 9 am because we were both free in the morning. We took the bus there; it took about 20 minutes? The book store was soooo big and it was so gorgeous. I’d seen it in photos but it was way cooler in person. The bookstore is in this old underground parking garage. The owners rebuilt and remodeled it, so it’s really pretty inside. There are so many books of all genres, and they are all in Chinese. I bought “The Fables of Love and Death” by Oscar Wilde (for about 3 dollars USD) in Chinese because it was fun to read even though it was hard. We spent around 2 hours there reading books and looking around. I also bought this really nice book bag for 38 yuan, which I was debating whether or not to buy. But then I realized that that is around 5 dollars USD, so I bought it. I also bought some things for the family. After, we rode the bus back home for lunch, and I planned to leave right after lunch because I had to go to see a movie at the University for class. But, it turns out it was cancelled. There was no service in the underground bookstore, so I wasn’t able to get everyone’s calls. I eventually got them when I got home, so I got the message and didn’t go to the movie. Some of my NSLI-Y friends went to see Despicable Me 3, but the movie started at 12:50 and it was already 12:45 when I got home, so I decided to stay at home and hang with my sister. I pretty much relaxed and worked on my presentation for a few hours. My old host mom asked if my family wanted to go swimming that night, but it was already late (like 5ish) and my old host mom still wasn’t home from work. Also, Justin invited my sister and I to hike with his family at 紫金山 at 7 and I really wanted to go with him because I really wanted to see the sunset, so I called my old host mom and told her I couldn’t go that night. I felt really bad about cancelling plans on her, though. But, timing didn’t work out, and we could always reschedule swimming. Also, my current host mom and my younger sister weren’t sure what we were going to do about dinner if we went swimming, and they thought it was really hot outside, so I don’t think they really wanted to go either. We decided to go another night. For dinner, my dad made this really good noodle dish with stew. We’ve had it before and I love it! We ate in the bedroom because it was cooler in there (there’s no air conditioning in the kitchen/bathroom). As we were eating, we watched the Chinese version of “Wipeout” and also watched some boxing on TV, where my Dad asked me a few questions about boxing in America. After dinner, my sister and I went walking up 紫金山 with Justin and his family. The sunset was so gorgeous. That night was one of the best nights here in Nanjing. The weather was perfect, it was good company, and it was overall a 10/10 night. We climbed to this lookout point, and got to see the whole city lit up at night. Studying abroad is amazing. As we were walking back in the pitch black, Justin, his older host brother and I decided that we would wake up early the next morning to watch the sunrise. We all decided that we would meet at the middle school at 4:30 am the next morning. I quickly got home and fell asleep early.
Saturday, July 22nd: I woke up this morning way earlier than I thought I would. I got up at 7:45 am on a Saturday?! I decided to do some laundry. This family asked me to wash some of my own laundry, which I’m fine with. But, I’m used to using a machine, so I was a little slow at handwashing. Also, the washing room/bathroom was hot and humid because there’s no air conditioning in that part of the house, so being in there for a long period of time was kind of hard. I washed some clothes and threw them in the dryer. After the dryer, the clothes were supposed to be hanged outside, so I hung them downstairs outside (they probably dried in 5 minutes to be honest). My mom made breakfast this morning because she slept over, so I had a 烧饼 and some rice cake meat dish. I was a little annoyed though because during breakfast my mom told me (nicely) that she wants me to speak one day in Chinese and one day in English. I just responded “Uhhh ok….”, but it’s not going to happen. I am determined to speak only Chinese in this house, and only speak English if she’s wondering how to say something in English. I am not going to converse in English because I won’t improve my Chinese that way. I talked to Margie about it. Anyways, I relaxed on my bed and posted a week’s worth of blog posts until 11:30 am when I had lunch. The mom left at about 9 am and the Dad came at about 10:50 am. After eating some 面条 (noodles) for lunch, I ran out the door at 12:05 to make it to class at 1. It was extremely hot on the way there, I was feeling maybe high 90s to low 100s. I was fast walking too because I was nervous that I was going to be late. So, I was super sweaty on the subway and when I arrived at the lobby. I got there 10 minutes early so I didn’t really need to rush. Luckily, I brought an extra shirt that I was planning to run in, so I quickly changed before we left for our cultural excursion to make food. Our class that day wasn’t actually studying with books, but it was to go to a cooking class. Our bus ride was long but we went to this really cool cooking school in this sketchy neighborhood. It’s called 新东方, which is this cooking school in Nanjing. In China, if you don’t test well in the 中考, the test that determines your high school, you literally cannot attend high school. A lot of people revert to this school if they don’t do well on the 中考, apparently, but it is also a good school to become a cook if you genuinely want to. Also, there is an English campus to this school, so you can either study English or cooking at this school. As we were walking up to the lobby, we were welcomed and greeted by these high schoolers who attend this school. They were all wearing chef outfits which was cool to see. Also, when we first arrived, there were these adult chefs who were using this edible icing/liquid (?) and painting on plates. It was super cool; it was art, really. We walked through the hallways where there were cakes on display that were intricately designed, and looked delicious. We walked up a couple floors into this kitchen where there was this long dining table set up for us and watermelon slices. We all sat down and presented a little bit about American cuisine in front of around 25 people. I thought that our presentation was supposed to be in English, but it turns out it was supposed to be in Chinese so I randomly talked about Chinese food culture in America, and how especially in Seattle there’s a lot of Asian-fusion food. I also talked about holidays and how my family eats some Chinese food during Christmas. I don’t think I talked very well because I made my presentation up on the spot, but I don’t think it mattered too much. After teaching some of the students English phrases, we took some photos then headed upstairs to make some 包子. The best part was our uniforms. We all got chef uniforms to wear, and we even got hats. Alex and I forgot to take a squad pic with everyone though which we all thought was a missed opportunity. In our uniforms, we were taught by some chefs how to make these rose decorations out of clay. After trying it ourselves, we also got to 包包子 (wrap baozis). It’s so hard to wrap a baozi. At the end of wrapping it, you have to make this pocket. Wrapping 饺子 is so much easier. Overall, going to the school to make food exceeded my expectations! It was a ton of fun. There was one awkward moment, though. I was asked to do a quick interview while I was making my rose, so I decided to do it. She was filming me on this livestream. The thing is I had no idea what she was saying so I was just nodding and laughing when she laughed. Then she asked me a question and I was really confused because it sounded like she said Shui (as in water) but she really said Shei (As in who), and so she was really asking me who I would give this rose too. But, I didn’t know she was asking me a question so I literally responded 对 (which means correct). On a livestream!! She dressed like a professional person, so the livestream wasn’t to her friends, it was probably to a group of other people who were watching. She looked confused and she turned to the fluent speaker next to me to translate for me, but then I immediately understood what she meant, and said I would give it to my family back in America. Ha. Anyways, after we came back to the school it was already 6:30 pm, and it takes me an hour to get back home. I thought because my family normally eats at 6, and I didn’t want to bother them and make them save me food, I would eat at the cafeteria for dinner with some friends. Sam, Shaimu, Peter and I all went to the cafeteria to grab some dinner. We quickly finished, but it was still fun to hang around with them. After dinner, I headed back on the subway with Sam where I eventually left him to transfer lines. At home, after resting a bit, my sister and I played some cards with my host mom. It was actually a really fun time, and a lot of the games they play here are similar to American card games. I didn’t know the games at first, and it was a little hard to understand the directions in Chinese, but after watching for a minute, it was easy to catch on the stuff that I couldn’t translate. It was a lot of fun though, and I got to connect with the mom and my sister a bit more, which I was happy about.
Friday, July 21st: Today I woke up at 6:35 normally, but my mom slept over last night because my sister is out of town. She made me some good breakfast; I can’t really describe what it was. It was kind of like that Mongolian (?) bread and peanut sauce dish, but no peanut sauce. That type of bread with egg, some spice and some chili oil inside it. It was pretty good! Also, I had some 豆浆 which was also not bad. This morning, I went outside to wait for Justin, and he brought me some breakfast! It was some extremely yummy bread. It was so good. It was the oily, flaky kind with sesame seeds on it. Soooo good. He biked while I walked to the subway. Again, we met Sam in the SAME SUBWAY CAR. We all walked to school. In class, we watched a movie! The second part to the first movie we watched. I really enjoy that movie. It’s about the Warring States Period, and it’s all in Chinese, but I can get the general idea of what is going on. For lunch, we had to be back really early, and some of us were going to eat lunch with the Koreans. Turns out some of the Koreans couldn’t come, so I went with some other NSLIY-ers to this restaurant nearby (we only had 40 minutes and the cafeteria was too far away to walk). I got some 水饺but I wish I got these hand-cut noodles that looked amazing. Next time I will! Turns out that some of the Koreans could go out to eat, so Alexander and Saimu went with them! We didn’t know that though. Also, I discovered something amazing. Green bean fruit bars. They sound so gross but they are so good. The best thing is that they are only 1 yuan. They are also pretty healthy. After lunch, we met back at the classroom for presentations about our experience with Chinese. I prepared something the night before, so when I was presenting I started reading off that, but then I realized I didn’t really like what I wrote so I just winged it. Everyone else didn’t prepare, so it wasn’t stressful. We finished early, and I noticed that Wu Laoshi was kind of stalling and not a lot of people were paying attention, so I felt kind of bad. Class soon ended though, and we had about a 30 minute break before our cultural singling class started. It was the perfect amount of time to kill my next target for assassin – Alexandra. I had to kill her 2 feet next to Margie with an umbrella. The whole time she thought Sam was trying to kill her, but it was really me. So, I made it to top 4! My next target is Hannah. Anyway, for singing class, we sang another classic Chinese song, and learned it for an hour. We each sang it in groups in front of the class. After class, I took the subway home with some friends. Later that night, after dinner, my host sister told me that we were going to go walking with my old host mom and my current host mom. I was really excited because I miss my old host family a little bit. We left the house around 7:45 where we walked to my old host apartment and greeted my old host mom. We walked around 紫金山 and went to this pretty lake. It was still hot at night, and it was nearly pitch black. It was nice to get out of the house and to walk around. The only thing is that the mom, for the 2nd time, brought up that she wants me to speak English with her daughter, which is technically not allowed in the rules of this program. The whole point of me coming to China was to improve my Chinese, and that’s not going to happen if I speak English all the time. Ughh. It annoys me a little bit because she’s mentioned it multiple times and I don’t want to speak English. Anyways, we walked back home afterwards and ate watermelon. I relaxed and skyped my mom. I’m glad it’s Friday.
Thursday, July 20th: After waking up to the sound of my alarm, I washed up and ate breakfast. It’s a little weird; in order to get to the kitchen and bathroom, I have to walk through my sisters’ room. So, I try to keep really quiet when I get up. My older sister left with her friends to another city really early this morning, so I found some breakfast that they left on the table for me and my little sister. My little sister and I were the only ones in the house. I was planning to meet Justin at 7 at the school, so I quickly finished up some weird fried sausage and an egg. I met Justin at the middle school where he had a bike. We got to the subway station at around 7:20 and caught the subway. After transferring, we were on a subway train talking when I saw Sam out of the corner of my eye bopping his head to music. It’s so weird that we were on the exact same subway car at the same time. Anyways, we walked with him where we also found Josie. We got there with a few minutes to spare, so I was early for class! During the breaks after class, we talked with the Koreans for a little bit, then went to the store to buy some crackers. Alexandra and I are trying to eat healthy for cross country season, but today we didn’t care, so we bought some unhealthy but yummy snacks. Before lunch, I had to kill my assassin target, which was Mae, on the stairway. So, on the way to lunch I killed her with my deodorant. Hahah. I really want to win this game. Also, the Korean boys are kind of hitting on some of the Americans. They are asking for nearly everyone’s wechats. Apparently, their school schedule here is so strict. They aren’t allowed to go into the city (they only go twice into the city as a group). All day, they pretty much have class, have break, study, and sleep. They also don’t get to use their phones until they go to bed, apparently. Anyways, for lunch, we headed to the cafeteria where I got some fried rice for 10 yuan (little bit expensive) and then I got a fruit bar for 4 yuan. I love those fruit bars. We headed back at 1 for our meeting with Margie where some people delivered some more IOPP’S. Obrian (idk how to pronounce/spell his name), kind of like a coordinator for the China trips, arrived today so he listened in. IOPPs ended in an hour (we didn’t finish all of them so we are going to continue on Monday probably) and we did some Chinese Handicraft for the cultural part of class. We made some Chinese knots, which turned out really pretty. Handicraft was supposed to go until 4, but we ended in literally 20 minutes and just relaxed until about 3:10 when he let us out. I had to head home early that day because I had to go to get registered at the police station because I am a resident. I headed back on subway with Justin (I found another unlocked bike!!!) and my family and I left for the police station. Turns out that we were a few days late, so we have to go to a farther station now. My host dad said he would go because I have class. We came back, and it was about 5:30, so I decided to take a small nap before dinner. I was sooooo tired. I didn’t really get to sleep, it was kind of like I was half-asleep? Dinner was soon called and we had some fried fish and some rice and some bean meat dish. It was good! The food my dad makes is really good. After dinner, he gave us each half of a small watermelon to eat, and I started to do my huge amount of homework. My sister, out of the blue, asked what my homework was. I was extremely glad she did because it stemmed into this long conversation about a lot of different things. The watermelon kind of split everywhere which we laughed about and we connected over the watermelon. I am currently on my bed taking a break from homework, but I still have a lot more to do. Ahh. 2 presentations tomorrow, one 听写 test, a worksheet to do, and I still have my big IOPP to prepare for. Probably just going to relax tonight on my bed.
Apologizes for these sporadic posts - Weebly doesn't work in China on some wifi!
Wednesday, July 19th: This morning, after waking up at 6:35, Justin called me and asked if I wanted a ride with him to the subway station. His dad was driving him to a subway stop a little farther from our normal subway stop, so we wouldn't have to walk the whole way. Of course, I accepted. One thing that was weird this morning was that I had to buy my own breakfast. Technically, it is required for my host family to make/buy breakfast for me, because they are literally given money to pay for my meals (which includes breakfast) so I was a little out-of-place having to buy my own breakfast. I don’t know where my mom lives, so I don’t know how breakfast is going to work. I guess we will see. Anyway, I grabbed breakfast at this shop nearby. I got some 黑米粥, which is this black rice drink. I caught a couple of workers at the store staring at me. Especially when I open my mouth and speak Chinese, it’s weirdly normal to get a lot of stares. A few days ago, Justin (who is Chinese) and I were walking to the subway, and he even mentioned “A lot of people stare at you”. It’s easier to blend in in China if you are fully Asian, I suppose. Anyway, after grabbing some breakfast, I ran to a car that was parked on the side of the road that I guessed was Justin’s. I saw a teenage looking boy in the back fiddling with his hair, and automatically knew it was Justin, so I hopped in. The traffic was horrific. We would have gotten so school earlier if we just walked to the subway stop, but it was sweet of Justin’s dad to think of us. We were stopped in one place for around 12 minutes, so the dad just told us that we better get out of the car and just walk. We were less than 10 minutes late to class. During break, the Americans talk with the Koreans, who are also on break. Only a few of them can speak English, but some of them are extremely good at Chinese. Even fluent, maybe. I was talking to one of them, and he's going to 南京大学 next year! Also, us Nanjingers are in the middle of this dare game. We are all split into groups, and the group with the highest points wins. The dares are funny, like shotgun a boba tea, exchange shirts for a day with a teammate, etc. Our teammates used some of the Koreans to win us some points, and it was hilarious. Also, we got out assignments for Assassin today. I was assigned to “kill” Mae, aka tap her with an object in a specific location. As a group, we decided we were going to play Assassin, which is a tag game, kind of. Everyone is assigned someone to “kill”, an object to “kill” them with, and a location. You have to kill them at that location. I was assigned to kill Mae with deodorant on the stairs in our building. I’m planning on killing her tomorrow. Anyways, we all went to lunch at the cafeteria on the 2nd floor. I got some beef cold noodles with Alexandra, Alexander, Peter, Mae, Sam and Saimu. We didn’t have culture class today, so we got out at 12. A lot of us met up to go to 夫子庙 ‘s (Confucius Temple) big market that Camilla recommended after lunch. We all took the subway there, and completed some dares along the way. We sang a little on the subway, and a few people shot-gunned some boba tea. At the market, I bought this black velvet scrunchie (which Sam tried to bargain down for me from 2 yuan to 1 yuan hahah) and there some people talked to us in Chinese. When they asked my friends where they were from, and they said America, they pointed to me and said “You too?”, and I responded “Yes!". They were a little in disbelief (?) because they said “Really?". After, we had a conversation about mixed Asians. I enjoy using my Chinese and talking to people on the street, but I’m a little skeptical about talking to strangers here because some of my friends have had weird/creepy experiences with random strangers here. We left and were walking around when I found this sketchy stationary store, but lead was only 1 yuan for a pack (13 cents USD) so I bought 10. I think I’m going to go back and buy a lot more. We walked around 夫子庙 for a little afterward (s/o to Alex for carrying my water bottle). I bought a 22 yuan watch (3 USD) and some VERY yummy street food. There's this really good snack that Alexandra bought that is fruit on a stick covered with sugar. It was amazing but they ran out of the strawberry kind so I didn't order any. All of the NSLIY students here are so hilarious and fun; we are all really close so it’s going to be such a sad day when we all leave each other. Anyways, it was getting late, so we all went back home. I didn’t have to go as far because my subway stop was really close to 夫子庙. Also, I found an unlocked bike on the way home – SCORE!! For dinner, I ate some delicious 面条 noodles at home, and went walking with my little sister around a temple near our house. It was fun and the temple was really pretty. I got to better know my sister a little that night also, so it was nice. |
Andrea 施安雅17-year-old XC runner and boba tea lover living in Seattle but studying abroad in China. Also, I have a cat! Archives
August 2017
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