ABROAD IN
Saturday, July 8th: Today I was supposed to sleep in but because my sisters woke up at 6:30 am and there was noise, I couldn't get back to sleep so I just woke up at 7:15 am to say good bye to them. I was home alone after because my sisters both had tutoring and my mom had work. My mom was super sweet and ordered me breakfast from the market down the street and they delivered it right up to our apartment! She ordered me 4 huge 馒头s (Chinese bread - its fluffy) and two 包子s (Chinese bread filled with meat/vegetables, etc.). She also got be this black/red rice drink? It was really sweet and it had a weird taste. She also got me a bottled water. Anyway, it was an ok tasting breakfast but it was really nice of her that she ordered it all for me. During breakfast I skyped my family and my sisters in Seattle. I miss my fam and friends back in America. I miss traveling and going to the beaches, but it's normal to miss home, and China is fun too. I also video called Alexandra because the night before we planned on going to NJU (Nanjing University) to run, eat lunch, and explore the city. We decided to meet at the campus we study at. The night before YuChen (my sister) told me what bus stop to take to get to NJU. I probably should've just taken the subway but the bus is more direct so I thought bus would be better. So that morning, I left the house at 10ish and headed to the bus stop. I was debating whether to walk across the busy road or walk 300 meters to the cross walk, because everyone was crossing the busy road, but I decided to play it safe and walk to the cross walk (you're welcome Dad and Mom). As I was walking back to the bus stop, I saw two of my buses come but I was too far away and I didn't feel like running to catch the bus so I just took the next one which came around 6 minutes later. Also the buses here are stick shift so if you stand up (like I did) you will jolt around a lot. I got off at the stop my sister told me to get off at but it was the wrong part of Nanjing University and not really close to where I was going to meet Alexandra. Also the stop I was on wasn't actually on the campus of NJU but it was on this huge busy street, so there were shops all around me and tons of people walking by. I recognized the area from looking out the window from driving to school every day but I was lost so I ended up calling my mom and asking her for directions, then realizing that Baidu maps is more efficient for me to get the directions. So with the help of Baidu maps I walked 20 minutes (and over a mile) to my campus where I met Alexandra. I wasn't really nervous/stressed that I was lost because I knew the area I was in, and my phone was fully charged. It was also a little rainy and here in Nanjing even if it's rainy you still sweat a lot. After finding Alex (I was 15 minutes late) we went running at the track nearby, where a Chinese student in college gave us a thumbs up while we were running our last few laps haha. It started raining a little again, so it was kind of refreshing. After running we headed back to the campus where we did some core workouts. I was kind of lazy/not motivated to workout again but with the help of Alexandra's Spotify we were able to make some progress. After changing back into our clothes we went straight to lunch at the cafeteria. Third and second floor cafeteria were closed, but luckily first floor was still open so we grabbed some 水饺 (I got the beef ones this time!!) which were delicious, and headed to the store to buy some snacks. During the majority of lunch these older ladies maybe late 50s were smiling/staring at us as they sat next to us. I think I'm getting used to people looking at me, I kind of expect it when I walk on the streets now. Most of the people who stare are people who don't often see foreigners and most are people who think we are pretty/unique looking so it's kind of nice getting attention here. At the store we bought some really cheap water and some snacks! (A huggeee 1.5 bottle for 2 yuan or about 30 cents USD!!!) Of course we stopped at Coco for some boba and then walked to the subway station to get off at a random stop to explore. We ended up recognizing the name of a station called 鸡鸣寺 which is the name of a Buddhist temple, so we decided to check out that station and the temple. After buying our ticket we just missed the subway train so we waited another 10 minutes (which is kind of long for Chinese transportation) where we walked on the subway and got off at our station. We ran into these German college students on the subway who were also going to the Buddhist temple which we figured out later because we were all lost after we got off the subway train. We eventually found it with the help of some Chinese locals and then once we arrived I realized that I saw photos of this temple on the internet back in America. It's a gorgeous temple with traditional architecture and colorful flags hanging around the temple. Our tickets were 10 yuan (around a dollar and a half?) and we walked up stairs and passed praying areas to get to the top where we burned our incense and took some really nice photos. We weren't allowed to take photos inside the praying rooms but they were beautiful, with huge gold statues of deities and lit candles in beautiful rooms filled to the brim with little Buddhist statues. It's hard to describe in words but the whole temple was gorgeous. There were also tons of red decorations and little lanterns/notes hanging from the walls and ceilings. Overall, it was a really fun excursion. Alexandra had to be home by 4 so we headed back. I took the subway back home directly to my house, while she took it back to her house. I love the subway so much. I understand it, it's so much clearer, cleaner and dependable than the bus. I just got back from the subway about half an hour ago and I'm super tired so I'm going to relax and do some homework tonight. I was planning to make spaghetti for my host family but I couldn't find spaghetti sauce at the store so I think I'm going to make it another night. My mom said she'd take us out for dinner tonight instead. Anyway, I decided I'm going to post more often, maybe once everyday or every 2 days.
**I just got back from dinner - it was actually a party for me! I had no idea my host family was going to throw me a party but my mom invited her coworkers and family members to a restaurant and we all ate dinner to welcome me into the family. There was a bunch of really good food, and they ordered this huge dish of fish and tofu soup. I think it might be the biggest dish I've ever seen. It was in this huge pot. The coworkers brought me some gifts too! Everyone was really fun to be around, we had good conversations. I think they thought my Chinese was going to be bad because in the beginning my mom's coworker's baby was playing with the cupboard in the restaurant and then she was saying "Wow, he's going to go into the cupboard!" Then she turned to her friend and asked in Chinese "How do you say cupboard in English?" (because she thought I didn't know what she was saying) then I answered in English "cupboard" and she turned back and started laughing and was kind of surprised, so I was happy. They are all so sweet, I'm so thankful for my host family :) :) We also told funny stories, and I was sitting next to my mom's coworkers son who is a photographer, so we had some conversations also. Everyone is so nice, I'm so lucky and I love Nanjing. After dinner we headed back to the house, where I talked with some of the family members who came back. It was really hard to understand the Uncle who was my mom's little brother, because he kind of mumbled/spoke with accent, but it was still fun to practice my Chinese. He helped me with my homework too, so it worked out well!
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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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