ABROAD IN
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.
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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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