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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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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