ABROAD IN
Ok, apologies for the cheesy title. Also, I haven't had a lot of time to write any posts, but I'm already finished with week two! :( Tuesday, July 4th: After class, because it was July 4th, I got myself a large boba tea at Coco with Justin, Alex and Alex. I have no regrets because it was amazing. After lunch for the culture class after school all the NSLIY students went to 中山陵 (Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum). After stepping off the charter bus at the base of the mountain everyone was already sweating. It was extremely hot and the humidity was pretty bad. I'd seen photos of 中山陵 on the internet in America but actually being at the top of this mountain was so much different and so much cooler. We had to climb up over 350 steps after the hike to get to the top of the Mausoleum but at the top the view was beautiful and you could see the whole city. It was pretty crowded at the top, and you could really see the smog of the city from the top of the mountain. At 中山陵 (which is on 紫金山 - Purple Mountain) a lot of people were looking at us foreigners, and a few people even asked for photos with us. We are normally on the campus of the International Students so we weren't quite used to all the attention, but it was kind of fun to try to spot all the people trying to take secret photos of us. ALSO, it was kind of hilarious/awkward because some teenager literally came up to Alexandra and started hitting her?! Anyway, At the mountain Zhao Laoshi also bought everyone ice cream at KFC. The ice cream at KFC in China is vanilla ice cream in strawberry flavored cones, instead of the beige ones in America. America should jump on the bandwagon and get these strawberry flavored cones, they are so good!! After 中山陵 the other NSLIY students planned on going out to dinner to celebrate Independence day but it was host dads last day in Nanjing (he's going on a business trip and coming back when I am leaving), so I decided to go out to dinner with my family instead of the other students. The NSLIY students were originally planning to do karaoke for Independence Day after dinner but everyone was super tired, so they just went out to dinner. The July 4th dinner I had was pretty good, but I feel like the food was too weird (?) for me to enjoy it a ton. We had some fish, some sweet meatballs, duck, some weird cranberry potatoes, and other dishes. Also that night I had my first cup of watermelon juice. People in china drink watermelon juice, I am not sure if I like it. It tastes ok? Also, my mom/dad/cousin offered me wine and were like oh just a little! (Moms cousin) I think it's normal for people under 18 in China to drink a little bit. But I had to gratefully refuse because I might get kicked out of the program if I drink alcohol. My host parents kept cheering their drinks because we were celebrating a lot of things: Their wedding anniversary the day after, Independence Day, my welcoming to China, and my cousin's welcoming to Nanjing. The dinner was sweet though because he dad also mentioned how I make their family happy, and that if I want to eat something to tell my mother so she can make it for me/buy it for me. I got reaalllly lucky with my host family. After dinner, I walked around with my sisters for about an hour around Xuanwu lake (the lake is next to the restaurant). It was such a lovely night, the weather was really nice and a lot of people were strolling around the lake. Xuanwu lake is a man-made lake, but it's still gorgeous and there's a great view of Nanjing's famous tower. Unfortunately, there were a ton of mosquitos so next time I go I will bring my mosquito spray. We were walking for about an hour when we called a taxi to go back home. Also taxis are really cheap here, it was only around 2.50 USD to take a taxi back home (the ride was maybe 15 minutes?) Luckily my teachers didn't give me that much homework that night but I still got home late so I went to bed late. I don't get a lot of sleep here usually. I usually get to bed at around 11 because of the homework my teachers give me and because I get home at around 6 and go running, go walking with my mom, and hang around with my sisters. I wake up at around 6:40 every morning for my mom to drive me to school so I'm tired every day. I think I should start getting to bed earlier because sleep is the most important. Wednesday, July 5th: After school for our culture class we had calligraphy and acrobatics. This is our second time doing calligraphy and I think I'm getting better? I say that because when the teacher walked past me she said 还不错 which means not bad, so I was pretty happy. For our second part of culture class we did "Chinese acrobatics" which was pretty much just doing some exercises and then some people tried it riding a unicycle. I went on it and wasn't too good at it because I've never risen a unicycle before, but it was still really fun. After school, Alexandra and I went to exchange some money where we took some photos (below). After, my mom and I stopped at the market next to our apartment to buy some dinner before heading back home. Funny story: we bought a fish, and it was "killed" (literally beaten then sliced) right in front of us, then placed in a bag. I was riding a bike back home with the fish in the bag in the bike carrier (the bin attached to the front of the bike). I put other groceries on top of the fish. I was biking back home when the fish (which was supposedly dead) started moving really aggressively, and literally flapped out of the bike carrier and all of the groceries fell on the street, along with the moving fish that was still flapping in the bag on the street. I kind of screamed/laughed a little, and my mom came running towards me, while shop owners started laughing. Luckily, my mom graciously offered to walk back with the fish while I took the other groceries. After arriving back home, I started my homework and then went running with my sisters at 紫金山. It was super hot and we were all soaked in sweat so I bought them some ice water and there on the counter in the store was an adorable cat. It started rubbing against me and it made me miss my cat. Especially because July 5th is her bday (happy bday Nala). After running I finished up some work then went to bed. Thursday, July 6th: After eating lunch on third floor, our culture class was to wrap 饺子 (dumplings). It was actually rather simple, but I'm pretty bad at crimping the dumplings. We were each given some dough, which we had to knead until it was ready. After, we shaped the dough into little balls and then we rolled them out, where we put meat in it, then crimped the dumpling. After cooking them, we were able to eat them! They were definitely sub-par, and kind of tasted a little gross? I think we made our balls too big, so we ended up having a lot of dough in our dumpling. Culture class ended class earlier than usual so I went with Alexandra, Helena, Ines, Josie and Camilla to the gym after school. I didn't have my running clothes with me but I went on the bike for 20 minutes ish and did some core. After coming home I spent the majority of the night preparing for this speaking presentation I had the day after. Everyone has to present something about Chinese history and all 23 of us have to listen to each other present. I decided to write about 秦始皇, who was China's first emperor, mainly because I remembered my notes from A.P. Chinese. I was still working on my speech but my sisters asked me the night before if I could run with them so I stopped my homework to run with my sisters at 紫金山. It was really humid when running, I feel like the weather has been starting to shift to being more hot and more humid. I ran a solid 2 milesish? (sky was pitch black so I didn't want to run too long) Then I went back home, showered, and finished up my speech then went to bed.
Friday, July 7th: I ate spicy 馄炖汤 (wonton soup) for breakfast and skyped my mom this morning. After arriving at school on time this time (my sisters normally wake up so late after their alarm) we watched a "movie" in class for the speaking part of class. We watched the Beijing Olympics Ceremony in 2008 which was actually a little fun watch in the beginning but after 50 minutes I was tired. The other classes, beginner and intermediate, both had parties, so during break, we went over and ate some of their food. After class, we went to first floor of cafeteria and I ordered some 水饺, which are a type of dumpling, for lunch. They were pretty good but I accidentally ordered vegetable dumplings instead of meat dumplings. But technically it was free because of my lunch card. Also a plate of these dumplings was only 6 yuan which is less than 1 dollar USD. After lunch, we had our Chinese history presentations. The night before everyone prepared a little presentation on an aspect of Chinese history. The presentation could've been on anything, I researched mine on China's first emperor. We all presented and it took a total of 2 hours, I believe, but it was relaxed and everyone presented fairly well. After presentations, we were scheduled to do some community service, but it was cancelled, so class ended at 3:30 instead of 5. We all decided to go to karaoke because we ended early. Karaoke is so cheap on weekdays, especially with 15 people, so I only had to pay 7 yuan for one hour, which is just over a dollar USD. We had to take a bus there because the walk would've been 15 minutes and it was pouring rain. Karaoke in China includes some instruments in the room, so there were also tambourines that we played while we sang. After karaoke, I went home and relaxed. It's been a busy week and I haven't really been able to get a lot of sleep. Part of me feels bad because today I wasn't really talkative to my host family, I just kind of came home and jumped on my bed. But, I think it's ok to have a couple days when you just need to relax, be alone, and listen to your own music. Anyways, I just finished some really yummy curry dinner that my mom made, and my mom just went to her 古筝 (a Chinese instrument) class, so I'm just laying in my bed right now finishing up this post. I don't think I'm going to go running tonight, it's too dark and it's pouring. Tomorrow, I will though. I'm glad it's the weekend. I can sleep in tomorrow!
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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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