ABROAD IN
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.
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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. 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.
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.
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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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