ABROAD IN
Tuesday, July 18th:This morning, my mom made me breakfast! I was a little surprised because I was expecting to have to buy my own breakfast that morning (when I asked the sister the night before, she told me to buy it the next morning). But, the mom came in the apartment about 5 minutes before I was going to leave and gave me some food. I had some raisin bread, 豆浆 (tofu drink thing), and a fried egg. I think I mentioned this in a post before, but my parents don't live with us, so they are often not in the house. After breakfast, I rode a bike with my little sister to the subway (she dropped me off). I was getting off my last subway line and walking up to the escalator when I heard someone yell my name. It was Anushka! We both live in the same neighborhood so we were surprised that we didn’t run into each other earlier; we probably rode the same trains too. We also ran into Josie and Justin as we were riding the escalator. For the listening part of class, we introduced our idioms, and for the speaking part of class, we worked in the textbook. The best thing is that I got no homework!!! At lunch, Alexandra and I got some more 水饺,and I was hungry so I got a fruit bar. After lunch, we went on a cultural excursion as a group to 老门东 which is this old street in Nanjing. Along 老门东 are a bunch of beautiful buildings and alleyways, so it was a lot of fun to go exploring around and to take cool photos. The architecture was super interesting; there was a lot of curved roofs and stone walls. Because we went during the afternoon when Nanjing is hottest, there weren’t a lot of people touring around. In fact, we were probably the biggest group there. So, we went along the empty shops and the small stalls of food. I bought this 15 yuan coffee ice cream which was really amazing, and we bought some 烧饼 from the street food stalls. After an hour and a half, we met back at the bus and drove back to the school. We arrived back at about 4:30 so Alexandra and I decided to fit in a fast mile on the track. It was extremely hot, so I was happy with my time. We got on the subway at about 5 where we bumped into Hayley and Justin. The subway came a few minutes later so we parted ways. I realized, on the subway back, that I had to buy a subway card because with a subway card every time I ride the subway the fare is only 1.80 yuan instead of 2 yuan. Because the subway is my main source of transportation I thought this would be a good idea. But, now that I’m thinking about it, I don’t think it saved me money because a subway card itself costs 35 yuan (which I didn’t know about before). So, I might’ve wasted money. Anyways, I was kind of struggling when talking to the customer service man because I thought the cards were free and then I could add money. So, at one point he switched to broken English that I really didn’t understand. Eventually, I just paid the man 85 yuan because he wasn’t understanding what I was saying and I think I knew what I was doing. 35 for the card, 50 for transport. Leaving the subway station, I luckily found an unlocked bike. The bikes here are free to use, but you need an app and a deposit to unlock them. After you unlock the bike with the app, you lock it back up and get your deposit back. Because I don’t have money on the app, I just look for unlocked bikes on the street to use. The bike ride saves me around 15 minutes in the heat so I am thankful when I find one. I came home a little late, around 6:05 which I felt bad about, because they normally eat dinner a little before 6. My little sister and my dad were both sleeping when I came home, and the dad only started making dinner when I came home. Also awkward moment: my dad during dinner said “Oh, you two should go out walking tonight!”. Simultaneously, I said “Yeah!” and my sister said “Uh uh”. We didn’t end up going out that night. Mid-dinner, the dad left to go drop off food to my mom at her store. After, my sister and I started talking some more, then just relaxed in our room together.
0 Comments
Monday, July 17th: On the morning of the 17th, I woke up to the sound of my older sister’s alarm (6:35 am). The night before, my older sister told me she would come with me to the subway. She works at 新街口 which is a big shopping center in Nanjing, and it is where I transfer subway trains, so I thought she would just get off there. However, I didn’t know she was “teaching” me how to get to NJU until we were at 新街口 when I asked if she was going to get off. I already knew how to get to NJU using the subway because I did it all the time before arriving to this family, so I felt really bad when I realized that she had woke up early for me to show me the way to NJU. I asked her if she wanted to get off (after I told her I knew how to get there) and she was like “Oh no, it’s ok! It’s too early anyway”. Ahh I felt bad. But, it was good bonding time. She was saying how it’s ok that she came with me to the subway because she’s “like my mom”. It’s kind of sad, the real mom isn’t home a lot, so she was telling me how her little sister often depends on her, and how she is like the mom to her sister. She then went on to talk about how in America kids are more independent, and how parents may not care as much if kids went on subways alone, etc. But, I don’t really think that is true. My parents don’t want me to go alone on the subway and get lost. Also, I think kids here take the subway so often, and are often left alone too. But, then I responded by telling her that my mom is Chinese, and we had a little conversation about that until we reached the school. At school, we were assigned homework to introduce an idiom the next day. Not too hard. Also, today the Koreans arrived ahaha. There are about 40 Korean high school boys that arrived and are studying at Nanjing University (NJU) on the same floor as us. When the Koreans and the Americans get together, it’s so funny. We all have this handshake that we do together when we see each other, and everyone knows it. Anyways, after 4 hours of class, we went to lunch. We got 水饺s which are dumplings. I also got a fruit bar for 4 yuan. We headed back for Taiqi class. That day, taiqi was a little boring. Everyone was kind of sleepy. I tried hard to memorize the routine today – I think I am getting a little better. After Taiqi class, I went running with Alexandra at the gym. I ran a solid 5k so I felt pretty good. I went home afterwards because it was late. The only thing is that it’s so hot every day, so walking with a heavy backpack and a bag is pretty tiring. I enjoy the subway though I get to see people and it’s more bustling, which I like. Later that night, my host dad made me some really good noodles and stew. There were two chicken heads and chicken feet in it. You could make out the beak and the eyes, too. I tried eating a chicken foot. It wasn’t bad, but I physically was struggling to eat it. When my mom came home hours later, I wanted to tell her how I thought it was hard to eat. So, I said “很难吃“ which literally translates to its hard to eat. But, the connotation to that is that it tastes terrible, which is why it is hard to eat. I quickly realized my mistake and corrected myself, but I was told my mom really likes eating chicken feet so I felt bad leaving it unfinished in my bowl. My mom also brought home some more peaches that night. While my sister and I were eating dinner, (before my mom was home and after my dad left) my sister brought up this lake near the house, and I asked if she wanted to go walking to it. She agreed, so after dinner, we went walking. Coincidentally, we ran into Justin and his host family on the way to the lake, so we all walked together. We switched directions and decided to walk to 紫金山 instead of the lake, though. I’d been to 紫金山 before, but it was still pretty and I had good conversations with Justin and my sister. After coming home, I showered and did some homework.
Sunday, July 16th: A lot happened today! I switched host families. I woke up at 7 am on Sunday because my new host family came to pick me up at 8 am. My old host mom gave me a hug and said she was going to miss me. But, I know I’m going to see them all again because she still apparently has gifts for me? It was weird because my host sisters didn’t really get up to say goodbye to me; they kind of just sat in their room which I thought was a little rude. Anyways, my new host mom commented, “Wow, you have a small house!”. And at that moment I knew what my new family was going to be like. As we walked back to their place (it is literally a 4-minute walk from my old host house), I didn’t get the same welcoming vibes as my previous host family. They were kind of reserved and not as warm. But, when I got up to the apartment and my mom gave me a plate of fruit and new slippers. My house is a little bigger and I even get my own room! I was unloading my things in the wardrobe and about 30 minutes later, my mom and my older sister left for work. So, it was my little sister, my older sister’s dad and I left in the house. I’m thinking my mom got divorced after having a kid, and had another kid. But, she still is close with the first husband? The current dad (dad of my little sister) is on a business trip, but my ex-dad still hangs in the house and brings my mom food at work. It’s a little weird. Also, my parents don’t live with us. They live and sleep somewhere else. I have no idea where. I asked my little sister “Oh, where do they sleep, somewhere near?” and she vaguely said “Yeah, somewhere near”. But then again, she is kind of vague about a lot of things and kind of reserved. Anyways, I literally stayed in the house all day. I just stayed in the closed room with my little sister as we did homework. I was hoping that they would ask me questions and take me walking or something, but they didn’t. I conversed a little but not a lot with my sister that day. We shared photos, and I showed them photos of my family. After taking a nap, my little sister told me she was going to watch TV on her computer. I was still doing homework but I wanted to connect with her, so I sat down next to her and did my homework while we watched TV together. The dad left at some point during the day after we ate lunch. I didn’t even know when, I just walked to go to the bathroom and he was gone. By dad, I mean my 27-year-old sister’s dad, aka the ex-dad. I don’t know where he goes during the day though because I don’t think he works. He makes my little sister meals, and apparently, he used to be a chef. I asked my sister where he goes in the day, and she told me she isn’t sure. It’s all a little sketchy. Anyways, the dad came back a while later with groceries and started making dinner. He made some rice, tomato/egg soup and some meat dish. After dinner, Justin and his younger brother invited me and my little sister to go to Fuzimiao and walk around after diner. It was a lot of fun and it was good to talk to Justin. Fuzimiao is so pretty at night. It was so crowded, but that’s what made it a lot of fun. As we walked around, I bought ice cream for my sisters at KFC. There’s amazing KFC ice cream here. After taking the subway and then missing the bus, we decided to take a cab home (it was around 10 at night). At home, I finished up some homework then went to bed. I’m not sure how I’m feeling about my host family. I know it’s only day 1, so I'm going to keep an open mind. I’m going to see how this next week goes. I guess it’s good to try new things and to go to new families. I get to experience different routines and meet new people which I am glad that I get to do.
Saturday July 15th: This morning, I woke up at 6:30 am to go running with Alexandra. We decided to meet at 7:30 at Xuanwu Lake which is this really gorgeous man made lake that I've visited with my host siblings once before. I'd only seen it at night, but I saw a lot of people running there when I visited so we thought we would try running it in the morning. I planned to leave my house at 7 and to take the bus to this large dome (my sisters told me where the station is, etc.) but when I told my mom my plan the morning of, she told me to take the subway. That was because I was meeting Alexandra at the big gate, and not at the dome (which is like 25 minute walk away). After brushing my teeth, I left the house at about 7:05. I was late because I still had to eat breakfast at the market down next to my apartment. My mom ordered my food by phone, so I went down there and asked for some wonton soup and they gave me some. I had a good little conversation with the shop owners; they are super sweet. We laughed about all the mosquitos here in Nanjing, and they were actually really fun to talk to. It was already 7:12ish and I knew I was going to be late so I asked them if I could take my soup to go. They quickly bagged it for me and I said goodbye to them and literally ran to my subway stop. It's about a 20 minute walk so I ran to it (which was pretty much a workout) and caught the subway. I had to transfer lines, and on the second subway I wanted to eat my soup so I sat down and started drinking my soup. When I did, everyone around me started looking at me. I lowkey started laughing but I kept eating because I didn't want to waste my food. I quickly got off the subway and met Alexandra and her host parents at the park. Her host parents are really fit and are super nice. They went walking around on their own while we went running. Alexandra and I started running but we had frequent stops because it was sooo hot. It was in the 90s. I bought some cold water in a vending machine which is one thing miss very much about America (China doesn't really have cold water). After our run, I quickly took the subway back home, while Alexandra went back home with her family. I was planning to meet my friends at Xinjiekou at 10, and it was already 8:50 so I went home to take a quick shower and change clothes. I walked back out the house at about 10 and got to xinjiekou at about 10:30 via subway. But I couldn't find anyone for a while. Everyone was kind of lost and didn't know where everyone else was. I called a few of them, but it's hard to navigate while you are on the phone and the phone kept cutting out. After about 25 minutes of wandering aimlessly and talking to my friends on the phone, we finally all met up and went around shopping. They're all hilarious and super fun to be around. As we shopped we also went to McDonald's and I had 2 ice cream cones (total was less than 1 dollar USD!!) because they were not really filling. It was getting to be around lunch time so we all went to KFC where I got some popcorn chicken, fries and some pepsi. The fries at KFC were kind of stale but the popcorn chicken was surprisingly good! It totaled to be about 3 dollars USD. It was hard to find seats so Josie, Alexander and I sat near eachother and sat there for nearly an hour talking. Also, Anushka and Josie's host sister tagged along, along with Josie's host sister's crush. They both like eachother but the whole time they didn't talk to eachother. It was really funny because at one point we asked the boy if they were boyfriend and girlfriend and he was smiling and said "hmmm ask her" and he pointed back at his crush. After lunch we split back up and Alexander, Peter and I went to 夫子庙 (Confucious Temple). Also, these two girls (maybe 19?) saw Alex and literally started giggling with eachother, so I told him and he waved to them and they freaked out. They waved back, then practically ran away. Some Chinese people love foreigners hahah. Anyway we split up with the others because they had previous plans. We took the subway to fuzimiao and it was really cool! Mostly shops and stores. We didn't actually go into the temple because it costed money and we didn't want to spend money but we walked around the stores and I bought some hello kitty pens for my host sisters because they LOVE Hello Kitty. There is also this really gorgeous river that passes through fuzimiao and you can ride a boat across it. I definitely want to do that at night because it apparently fuzimiao is lit up and gorgeous at night. It was really hot at fuzimiao, so at 3 we all took a break inside. We were also really tired. We found this random building and went inside and found some seats. There, other families were also sitting and these Chinese kids came up to us and said "hello!". They were in elementary school and pretty much just sat by us and when we would ask them questions they would answer. We left after 20 minutes and checked out some more stores. As we were walking through this one store, these 2 women shop workers (20s?) were kind of smiling and following us around. Peter told me he heard them whisper 英文 (English). Another instance was that when we were walking down the shop alleyways, I saw out of the corner of my eye this shipowner (maybe 20?) looking at me, and then him telling his coworker, and then both of them looking at me. I looked over at them and he said "hi!" with a wave so I smiled back and they smiled back too. I think around 3 people physically said hi to us that day. After walking through the bargaining stalls and not finding anything, we met up with Emma and Jessica who met us at the temple. There we did some more walking and went to this candy store that was kind of expensive and not too impressive. Peter and I both were a little bit tired and had to be back for dinner so we left at about 4:45 and took the subway home. I realized on my way home that I promised my host family I would make them spaghetti. I went down this sketchyish alley on my way home because I saw a convience store. I found no spaghetti sauce or spaghetti noodles but luckily my mom saved me because she called me and told me that she would take us out for dinner tonight. This is officially my last night with my host family :(. They were super sweet but I'm excited to see how these next 3 weeks pan out with my new host family. When I met my new host family the first day I came here, they seemed super excited and talkative, so I'm pretty excited! My mom called me and told me to meet her downstairs because she was going to take me out to eat. Because my sisters weren't home, (they went to see their cousin who was visiting) my mom and I went to this 水饺 dumpling place and had blood duck soup (Nanjijng's specialty). Blood duck soup kind of sounds gross but it's actually pretty good. It's in broth and the blood is solidified and has the same look as tofu (but it's a dark purple brown color). My mom hooked arms with me on the walk to dinner and was saying how she's going to miss me when I'm leaving. She jokingly said that she's going to cry. She also said that if I'm not happy at my new host family, to tell Margie and come back to her house. She was telling me how she asked the next host family if they could pick me up tomorrow evening instead of tomorrow morning, but they wouldn't let her. Also, she told me that the wonton soup I had this morning was free! The shop owners gave it to me for free because my mom told me they said they liked me. Perks of being a 外国人. After dinner we went to some stores and went shopping. My mom told me she would buy me this denim skirt that I was looking at the other day but the store was closed so we didn't buy it. My sister called me and it turns out that my sisters cousin made us some food and some dinner. So we went back home and greeted them. My sisters, my sisters cousin, her dog, and her boyfriend were all there. My sisters cousin made some really good food, but it was really spicy. I was dying a little because it was so spicy. She also made Coca-Cola chicken, which I've had at home in America before. My sisters cousin and her boyfriend talked a lot to me in Chinese. It was so fun to talk to them; they were so relatable and so easy to talk to. They were really friendly too and wanted to talk. We talked a lot about education differences between America and China and about dogs and driving in China. China's education system is extremely harsh; it's crazy. High schoolers start school 6:30 and leave school at 10 pm. High schoolers literally have no time to do what they want to do. In America, I think school is hard, but compared to students here, school in America sounds so easy. We have so much free time. But, I really enjoyed their company. I feel like my Chinese gets better with these complicated conversations. I don't understand all of what their saying, but it's still fun to talk to 25 year olds about intellectual and real things. We also talked about random stuff and laughed about how Chinese people aren't very natural in that they dye their dogs hair and their education system is too harsh. They stayed for a good 2 hours. It was about 10:30 when they left, and it is currently 11:30. I am trying to start my homework but it is so late and I am really tired. Tomorrow morning I am switching host families so I want to try to finish some tonight, but I might just go to bed.
**I accidentally deleted my photos, so I only have 2 Friday, July 14th: Like usual, I woke up tired today but I had some of my mom's fried rice for breakfast, so I ate some good food. For the first part of class we watched a movie that Sam wanted to watch because it was his birthday! Sam chan the man. It was this film about the three kingdoms of China and it had a lot of violence but it was still kind of interesting. For the listening part of class we talked about climbing mountains and if we would rather climb a mountain or take a cable car up a mountain. It was kind of a boring class and our teacher gave us an assignment over the weekend to write an essay on whether memorizing things is a good way of learning. She's giving us so much homework. The other classes don't get a lot of homework. Oh well, I guess I'm learning more. For lunch I went out with Justin, Anushka and others to the cafeteria (our cards are now filled up!) and I had some really yummy 凉牛肉面 cold beef noodles that were kind of expensive? It was 12 yuan but I guess that is only a little less than 2 dollars USD. After lunch we headed back early to celebrate Sam's birthday and to finish up some IOPP presentations. I am lucky - my presentation is not next week but the week after. But because it was sams birthday, Margie bought a hello kitty cake. After presentations we had culture class which was handicraft, or paper cutting. We cut paper and put candles on our paper, and with all of the lights off it was really pretty. We got Sam to blow out 18 of our candles like it was a birthday cake and we all sang happy birthday to him :). Class ended early at 2:30 and because I had to teach English to some Chinese kids at 3:30 I made a quick trip to the gym and got in a couple solid miles. At 3:30 I headed back to the university where I met Margie and 2 Chinese 5 year old kids. Because every NSLIY student is required to get in 10 hours of community service, each NSLIY student has to tutor these kids at one point during these 6 weeks. The kids were really off task though and it was so hard to keep them focused. I don't even know If I made any real progress. After an hour, the parents came to pick the kids up and Ines, Helena, Margie and I all met up before we headed our separate ways. It was a little creepy because this older Chinese guy was following Margie, and as we went outside he came outside also and stood a ways away watching us. Some Chinese people can be creepy to us foreigners. As soon as we left though, he left too. It was weird. Anyways, we all took the subway and then went our separate ways back home. As I was coming home my mom called me and told me that no one was at home and because I didn't have the keys, she asked me to wait on the bottom level if he apartment. So I sat down on a cement ledge for a few minutes to wait for her. 5 minutes and 6 mosquito bites later, I saw her car pass by. When it stopped,I knocked on the window. It turns out that 2 of her work friends were also in the car. It's a little confusing because she calls her friends her sisters, so I can't tell if they are her real sisters or her friends. We all went to this hotpot place where we met up with my sisters and her friend. The hot pot was good, but I think I like the hot pot that my mom in America makes better. I thought that Chinese style hot pot would include noodles but it was mostly meat and potatoes and vegetables. My host mom's friends are really sweet and the first thing they said to me after hello was that I was pretty. hah. At one point during the dinner though, all 6 of the people were on their phones. It's different in my household, and I thought it was a little sad? When they get bored, they go on their phones. After hotpot, we walked home and my sisters and I bought some ice cream. I got Oreo ice cream :) At home, after we relaxed and my sisters finished their homework. It's my last few days with my host sisters and I'm kind of sad. They are super cute and sweet. We are definitely going to meet up again because we have already planned to go swimming later in the month :).
Thursday, July 13th: Class was normal today. I turned in my "argument essay" today but it wasn't really that hard to write. It wasn't really an essay now that I think of it even though Yang Laoshi introduced it like an essay. It was more like "explain why you think this way".
Anyways, after class I got some 牛肉面 (beef noodle soup)at the cafeteria. I am out of money so Ines paid for me (thanks Ines). I sat with Ines, Helena, Josie and Alexandra but I walked back with Alexander, Sam and some of the other nsliy boys. Alex and Justin both live in Oregon so on the walk back we were planning to have a mini meetup because Seattle isn't too far away. Also on the walk back, I stopped myself from getting Coco today! After lunch, we came back for culture class which was Chinese instruments/music history. I was really tired today; I stayed up until about 11 doing homework the night before and went to bed a little after that so I didn't get as much sleep as usual. So, it was hard to stay focused during this cultural class. The teacher presented the history of Chinese music which included Chinese rock n roll. It was really weird, but it was kind of cool to see the similarities between American music history and Chinese! After the presentation some of us had community service at the old folks home where we talked with 2 old ladies. The first one was talkative and in her right mind but I and about 7 other students stayed with the other old lady who I think had Alzheimer's or something because she kept repeating what she was saying and didn't really answer our questions. Also, I don't think she could hear me really well but we had some good conversations. After some selfies, I went into the other room to see the other old lady and to take a selfie with her. In the middle of taking a selfie, she grabbed my head (picture is below) and at first I was like "aww this is kind of cute/funny shes petting my head" but after I took the selfie she literally kissed my ear rather quickly and all of a sudden. I was a little creeped out because she didn't kiss anyone else's ear and right after she said "I want to go eat food" then got up and left. I wasn't sure for a second if she tried to bite my ear but I think she kissed it. Now that I am thinking of it, I'm laughing a little. It's normal to have really weird experiences in foreign countries, I guess. After old folks home, I was going to go work out but Margie asked if she could come home wth me to check my house. Margie (our resident director) has to do house checks to make sure our house meets the program expectations. So, I skipped the gym and Margie bought me coffee (<3) and then we headed to the subway to get to my house. It was about 50 minutes to get back to my house but we had some good conversations. Also, I kind of felt bad because I told my mom that Margie probably would come at about 7 or 8 to check on the house ( Margie didn't know exactly what time she would be visiting), but she came home with me at about 6, so my mom wasn't home from work yet and she wasn't really expecting Margie to be over. I told her at about 5:00 that we were coming over so I didn't give her a huge amount of warning. It's ok though because I could tell that my mom definitely called my sisters and told them Margie was coming because the house was a little cleaner than usual. After Margie checked out the house and asked me and few questions, I walked her out where she caught a uber-type car. I walked back home and then we called in some take out. I finished my homework with the help of my sisters and we talked about school and shared funny stories. We also talked about all of boys that like my sisters. Both of them have multiple admirers who have bought them nice gifts. It's so cute. After, my sisters and I went out walking at about 9 pm and I bought them large cups of Coco. We were passing some stores and I pointed out that the mango yogurt at one of the stores is really good (my mom bought it for me once), and they asked me if I wanted some now. I told them no because I was drinking a huge cup of boba already. After we went to the grocery store to buy some things for my mom. My sisters were super sweet though because they grabbed a mango yogurt at the store and at the checkout they were like "Andrea do you want to drink it?". I didn't really feel like drinking it because my boba so I responded "you guys can drink it!" And then YuXin (tall one) said "I will go put it back" with a smile. I thought that was really sweet. My sisters are cute. It was a good night, temperature is still pretty hot maybe high 70s-80s at night? Also my sisters are fun to talk to when we talk about personal things. It's fun to joke around with them and laugh together. We headed home and I just relaxed and finished up my boba. Anyways, it's already almost 10:30 at night and I still have to shower so I should probably get to bed. Wednesday July 12th: On Wednesday I woke up and had some really yummy fried rice. I really like having fried rice and yogurt for breakfast. When I first came to China I didn't really like the yogurt they have here, but I've grown on it. The yogurt here is thicker and a little more sour. I wasn't as late to class today, but I was still the last one there. During class we corrected some homework and started a new lesson. Also, I need to start preparing for my IOPP. It's a presentation that we have to give to the students and Margie (the resident director), who will grade it. For lunch, we were running out of cafeteria money so we went to this 汤包 place nearby that's really good. 汤包s are soup dumplings, kind of like 小笼包 but there is more beef broth in it. Alexandra and I shared one serving and a half (12 个汤包)。We all kind of got sick of the tangbaos after one serving though. After we headed to mcdonalds and got some 3 yuan (less than 50 cents USD) soft serve ice cream. So cheap!!! After we headed backs for calligraphy class which I thought was fun today. I enjoy doing calligraphy it's kind of relaxing. Last week we picked quotes that we were going to do a calligraphy piece on, and today we practiced. I picked a quote that kind of translates kind of like this "books are the key to a house full of gold". In turn, it kind of means that education is the key to success. After class, Alexandra and I went running at the track while the other girls went into the gym. I like running at the track better. I feel like I run faster? But it was super super hot and humid. Apparently starting on the 10th to the 30th is a period of hot weather for Nanjing. After the run I was pretty much dead so we skipped core and I took the subway back home. It wasn't as busy on the subway today because I left a little earlier than usual. After I got home, I finished up some homework and had some homemade dinner.
Tuesday, July 11th: My mom woke me up this morning at 7 which is normally later than I usually got up so I quickly got ready for school. My sisters weren't waking up and yesterday we were really late but I didn't really want to say anything because my mom wasn't saying anything. It turns out their tutoring was later today, so I'm glad I didn't wake them up. My mom today wore this shirt with holes in it, but one of those stylish shirts that are supposed to have holes in it, and as we were walking to the car next to the small shops and stores outside our apartment one of the shop owners that knows her well (they all know her pretty well - all the shop owners know everyone in the neighborhood), started joking with her how she's going to go grab some scissors and cut more holes for her. My mom and her were laughing and the 15ish people (mostly old people) who were sitting at the tables eating breakfast ALL looked over. It was really funny. My mom bought a watermelon and then we headed off. Before we left the neighborhood she got out of the car and bought me breakfast. I love China and how my mom always buys me amazing food from the store everyday. I've eaten out for breakfast everyday pretty well (except maybe a few times). Today's breakfast was SOO GOOD. She bought me this mango and matcha yogurt drink, but it was pretty much a mango lassi. She also bought me a loaf of bread to eat as a snack and this Shepard pie bread which was better than I thought it was going to be. Class was ordinary except that our teacher told us we have an argument essay due Thursday?!?? It's ok, we talked about in class so I think I will be fine. For lunch we all went to the cafeteria, but my lunch card is running out of money. Everyone's lunch card is either really low or out of money so they have been using other people's lunch cards. I only had 12 yuan for lunch left, and I spent 11 today. They said they would refill our lunch cards earliest on Friday, so I have another 3 days... I probably will just go out to eat some food. But even though I spent 11 yuan today it was worth it because i had an amazing fruit bar for 4 yuan. After lunch we went to 南京博物馆 (南博)which translates to Nanjing Musueum. There were some cool exhibits but at the 4th top floor, there was this really gorgeous view, so Justin and I took photos there for about 30 minutes oops. The museum was really huge so after we discovered another floor below the floor we got on. Below there was a whole "fake" Nanjing city, with a fake sky ceiling and some really cool shops and a post office, and some benches and lights. It was really fun, I wish I discovered it earlier and didn't spend so much time taking pictures. At the shops you could actually buy things, so my friends bought some candy cigarettes. After we got back home it was really hot about 90 degrees? and it was already 5:15 and we wanted to be back in time for dinner so we decided to skip running today. Because my mom had some work to do that night I took the subway home. This is the first time I've taken the subway home on a school night and it was pretty bad. I had to transfer twice which is fine because I don't mind transferring. Taking the first subway line wasn't that crowded. Also I forgot to look at the map so I didn't know what stop to get off at to transfer lines so I guessed and I guessed right! I was pretty happy with myself. Anyways, when I was waiting for the second subway, the line to get in the car was really long. I was near the end of a line waiting for the subway, but when the subway car came, not a lot of people were getting out of that car and it was extremely crowded so I merged into anther line to a car with more people getting off and I was really glad I did. I barely made it on the car though, it was so crowded I was literally smushed against people all around me and I was a little nervous about my bag being pickpocketed because I was literally pressing up against people in all directions. I think that was the busiest subway ride I've ever been on, people were kind of pushed on. That was the busiest stop though, so after a couple stops it wasn't as bad because people were getting off. I had to push my way through quite a bit of people to get off the car. That was my first really crowded subway experience in china but I still really like the subway. My walk from the subway station is a little long though, maybe 20-25 minutes. I came home and my mom made dinner. After, me and my mom went walking around our neighborhood and went into some clothing stores. I found a cute skirt but we had to head back early because she got called back to work. Later that night I just finished up some homework and went to bed.
I haven't been able to post because I think my blog is blocked on my computer, so I have to use my phone to post things now!
Monday, July 10th: We were really late to school today. I woke up at about 6:45, it my sisters woke up really late at about 7:25ish. We normally leave the house at 7:35 and I am still a few minutes late but today we left it at 7:45 so I was already late. Worse however, was unexpected traffic which is what made it terrible. So I was about 30 minutes late to class,which I felt very bad about. I was a little annoyed at my sisters because they didn't wake up. My mom yelled at them many times, they shut off alarms, they definitely heard my mom but still didn't wake up. Anyways, my mom was really angry. For culture class we had a Taiqi class, which was kind of boring. Studying taiqi is really interesting but I was so tired and our teacher spoke in complicated Chinese so no one really understood what he was saying, so it was easy for me to be really tired when doing taiqi. After taiqi ines, Helena, Josie, Alexandra and I all went to the gym. I didn't forget my gym clothes this time but I ran on the treadmill and then did core. It's so hot in the gym so it's harder to run here I think, or maybe it's also the sea level? After, my mom picked me up from school, and we started to drive home. YuXin called my mom and started talking in Chinese. I didn't really pick up a lot of what they were saying until they said Coco (the boba tea shop). My sister was waiting at Coco buying some tea. My mom then said "buy Andrea some" HA. So in a few minutes we met my sisters and they handed me a 大杯 of tea (large cup) which definitely made my day. As we were walking to dinner YuChen (one with glasses) told me she watched a movie with her friend and YuXin and she really liked it. She told me the Chinese name but I didn't understand it, so then she said "Banana" in the minion voice and I laughed so hard and immediately knew she saw Despicable Me 3. Apparently it was in english and had Chinese subtitles. My sisters thought it was a really cute movie. Also, they like hello kitty, and other cute things. After we walked to this hole in the wall to eat some really good noodles called 凉皮 they are a Xi'an speciality apparently. My mom asked me if I thought it was good and I responded by saying it's really yummy! Then she said 再吃 (eat more) and put a huge amount of noodles from her plate onto my plate. I was getting full, and my plate literally was just refilled back up to the brim. And the worst part was that after about 10 minutes my mom finished all of her noodles and I had a huge plate left so I felt really bad, and she wouldn't take any of my noodles. But I'm really thankful for them, my mom's so sweet. After we went shopping a little around the neighborhood by I didn't find anything I really liked. That night, my sisters went running and I finished up some homework. Sunday, July 9th: I woke up today at around 7:40 am because I couldn't fall back to sleep (I was still really tired though). My mom and my sisters both were gone when I woke up because my mom was dropping my sisters off at tutor (my cousin was still sleeping at home though). I kind of just relaxed/went on my phone/did homework/video called my friends and family. It was a relaxing morning which was good. I had xiaolongbao and some conji for breakfast it was yummy. After doing some homework I realized that I was really tired so I went back to sleep and woke up when my sisters came home a little after 1. My sisters took the bus home after tutoring and they told me that we had to go downstairs to leave for shopping. So I quickly changed and it turns out we had an Uber (not really an Uber but something similar in china) and he drove me, my moms cousin, and my sisters to 玉桥 shopping center, literally THE BEST place to bargain and to buy cheap stuff. I'm still excited as I write about it. There was a whole floor of fake shoes/cheap shoes. There are a lot of Adidas superstar style shoes for 30-50 Kauai, which is about 7 dollars USD but I don't really like those shoes. There was also a lot of fake New Balance stylish shoes and slip on shoes and heels. I didn't see any shoes that I loved, but there were some cute ones. But I did buy this fake designer purse for my sister in America. It's so pretty and looks so real, I will keep it if she doesn't like it. Even better, it was only 80 yuan which is about 11 dollars USD. My host sisters all thought it was a cheap price so I was pretty happy with my purchase. I actually didn't buy the purse the first time I saw it because there was this slit in it, but all the purses had that exact slit so I was a little confused. I was indecisive so I didn't buy it but then we went to lunch. For lunch we bought some spaghetti at the mall. It was actual legitimate spaghetti! With red meat sauce! It was ok - my mom makes much better spaghetti. But then again it was only about 3-4 dollars USD. During lunch I was kind of regretting not getting the purse so we went back and I asked the store owner and it turns out that the slit is supposed to be there, to hold something in it. So, I happily bought it. After we went to the lower floor to look at clothes. There were some really cute clothes but I didn't try any on. Now that I think of it, I kind of regret not trying some of the clothes on. Oh well, it's ok. Next time I go I will buy a whole new wardrobe. My family bought tickets to this Chinese thriller movie while we were shopping and so at 4 pm we went to the movie theatre which was conveniently in the mall, and watched this Chinese movie. It was all in Chinese, but I'm proud of myself because I knew what was going on generally and could understand what was happening. There were Chinese subtitles which helped. It was kind of a weird movie, the English translation is "The House That Never Sleeps". I don't think it was that scary but my cousin (who is in graduate school) screamed at a part that wasn't really scary so we're all laughing. The movie was in 3D also, but the jump scares were not scary at all. It was a really predicable, but my family thought it was scary. I think maybe because I've watched scarier movies in America I didn't think it was scary? Overall, I had a good experience at the mall. I definitely want to go back to that mall again because I feel like I could've bought things but I didn't. After the mall, my mom and cousin dropped us off at the apartment as they went to buy materials to wrap 饺子s or dumplings. When they came back my mom made the ingredients to put inside the 饺子 and then I watched her wrap a couple before a wrapped some myself. I was pretty bad at first, but once you get in a routine it gets really easy. They tasted better than I thought they would! Alexandra told me the ones she made at home were a little tasteless so I wasn't expecting much, but they actually tasted pretty good. Also, it was so funny, when I showed my host sisters the Snapchat filter where it zooms in on your mouth and makes it big, they bursted out laughing. They're so funny. I'm going to quickly finish up this post because it's around 8 pm, and then I think I might relook over my homework because I still don't really understand how to use 被/叫/让. Anyways, 1/3 of the program already done! I'm a little sad about that.
|
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
Categories |