ABROAD IN
I've been really busy and haven't had time to post a lot! But, I've had an eventful few days. The first day of school was really hard. Advanced class was challenging for me at first, but I think I'm getting used to not understanding everything that is being said. In the advanced class we have some homework every night which is to pretty much prepare for speeches in class the next day. They aren't very long speeches but it takes me a long time to prepare each one, so I spend a lot of my night doing homework. My host sisters help me with my homework so I'm really thankful for them :). I think we are a perfect fit, my family and I. My mom tells me how I am her third child, and she posts on her wechat memories about me haha. My dad and mom both say how I make the family happy, ahh I got lucky with my host family they are super sweet. That second night with them I had a feast with my family. We went to this really traditional restaurant that served spicy everything. We had 龙虾(lobster) and spicy lamb and spicy clam. I don't understand everything my family says, but they want to help me learn and we laugh together when I really can't understand something. It's funny how we can connect over me struggling to understand Chinese. On Tuesday the 27th, I had class. I normally wake up at about 7 and leave at about 7:30 in the morning to start class at 8. I had an egg and sausage sandwich that morning with yogurt. I've noticed that Chinese people really like to eat yogurt in the mornings. It's also weird, they don't really use the toilet paper like the ones in America. They literally use tissues, like Kleenex. They use it for everything really, clean hands, wipe up messes, etc. Also kind of random but I have gotten so many mosquito bites, I think I'm at around 40-50 now. But there's this really great liquid here it's called 花露水, and it's pretty much anti itch for mosquitos. Anyway, after breakfast we went straight to school. For lunch, I go with the other students to eat lunch at the university Cafeteria. Everything is paid for by NSLI-Y, so we can pretty much order anything we want. Everything is really cheap too, meals are about 8 yuan, which is just over a dollar USD? So, it's really nice, and convenient. After lunch we went to this museum as a group, called 云锦博物馆 I think. I'm not quite sure what the translation was but it was a museum on the history of clothing in China and it was kinda cool to check it out. We had a tour guide but she talked so fast and her Chinese was really complicated so none of us really understood what she was saying. That night, we ate jiaozi (dumplings) at home, and it was SOOO good. Everyone should eat Chinese jiaozi one day. It's so cheap too. On the 28th we had xiaolongbao for breakfast. I think xiaolongbao is my favorite Chinese food. Also on the 28th we did some calligraphy for our cultural part of class. It was really hard but we were able to learn about the different types of calligraphy, so it was kind of interesting. We also toured around Nanjing University, the campus is gorgeous. After school I went running with Alexandra at the community track near 南大 (the university we are studying at). It wasn't actually too bad. It is definitely hotter in China, but I thought it was going to be much harder to run in the pollution. I remember when I first arrived at the house I mentioned maybe once or twice that we ate spaghetti at home and that my American mother's spaghetti is really good and that I liked it a lot. So to my surprise, my mom told me that she was going to take me out to Italian spaghetti tonight! We went out to this really cute café and ordered some "Italian“ noodles. It was more like Chinese-style spaghetti, with stir fry beef and vegetables over spaghetti noodles. Nonetheless, it was delicious. My family thought the noodles were too oily though. That evening, I went walking with my host sisters around our neighborhood. It's so busy and crowded even at night, it's so fun over here. I bought boba for my sisters and I also bought a pencil at a stationary store. Boba here is really cheap (9 yuan = 1ish dollars) but it tastes different than in America? I don't know if it tastes better, even though it's more authentic. On the 29th, during lunch we ate on the 3rd floor at the cafeteria, and the food was so cheap and so good. I had these really good fried noodles. After school we got picked up by my host mom's good friend who drove me and three other NSLI-Y kids to our host siblings middle school. It was funny because my mom's friend who drove us had a toddler boy in the car who had to sit on my lap the whole car ride. He was bawling the whole time, but his faces were really funny. Anyway, there is a middle school that has students who hosted some NSLI-Y students so the middle school has receptions for us often and this was our second time meeting at the middle school. Below is a photo with the students who coordinated the reception/gave us food, etc. Here we pretty much talked to kids about America and American life. They had a lot of stereotypes, like that all Americans take mornings showers, and that we all drink beer. They also think that we eat our food with weapons?? (forks, knifes) Anyway, it was fun to talk to the students because they treat us like celebrities and gave us a lot of food. This weekend they invited us to go sightseeing with them, so I'm excited! After, me and my sisters ate dinner at this curry place because my mom had work. It was pretty good too. All the food here is good. The rest of the night I hung out with my sisters and did some homework. It has been raining pretty hard this week, wayyy harder than Seattle. The rain comes in waves though. It is usually is finished in about 15 minutes. I was debating whether I should get shower shoes for the rain because my Vans got soaked to the point where it was like I was walking in a puddle. Anyway, today for lunch we went to this restaurant as a group instead of the cafeteria. I ordered xiaolongbao and it was definitely one of the best foods I've gotten on this trip. Xiaolongbao are dumplings with soup inside. The soup tastes like beef broth, it's delicious. The restaurant was really busy though so we weren't able to eat as a group. After lunch we went to the stationary store and I bought something for my sister in America (hi sarah). After getting some boba, we walked back at a quarter to 2 because we had to meet back at 2 for community service. It turns out though that class was pushed back until 3:30. So, Alexandra, Josie, Ines, Helena and I decided to go to the gym for an hour ish because it was raining and everyone was kind of staying inside. I was going to go running after school that day with Alexandra but this worked out well too. After gym we did community service with all the Nanjingers. We pretty much were there to speak English with these elementary school students and to sing songs with them. They were all so cute. After I was picked up at 6 and we went straight to dinner where I had wonton soup and some 锅贴 (fried dumplings), 非常好吃!It's so convenient in Nanjing, there are a ton of small shops of food and stationary and clothing right outside of our apartment, and every living area really. My host mom was a little surprised when I told her that in America we have to drive to get our groceries and our food. Anyway, first week is done! Shoot, there's only 5 more left. This weekend, I am planning to go ice skating tomorrow with friends and then shopping with my host sisters。 On Sunday, I am sightseeing with the middle school! I'm excited :)
1 Comment
Soona
7/7/2017 10:48:47 pm
you should get a matching bay max tshirt
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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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