Fast Days, and Even Faster Nights

Wow it feels like it has been awhile since I have last posted. I can't believe life abroad has gone by so fast. Last week was midterms, and this week is already over! Only 1.5 months and my time in Shanghai will come to an end. Sadface. On the bright side though, it has been an amazing experience thus far.

LIFE OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
Before I delve into my memory to try and recall as much stuff that I've done in Xian and Hangzhou, I'll talk about how life has been back in Shanghai since its been almost a month since I came back from Xian. For one, going out to clubs and bars on the weekdays certainly makes life go by MUCH faster. Take this week for instance. On Tuesday night, after having two shots of soju and a can of Asahi, we went to Windows (a club) at around 1130pm. Luckily, they didn't have any cover charge (50kuai ~ roughly $6.50). Anyway I then had a kamikaze, as well as 4 shots of tequila. WoW. I honestly think my tolerance is increasing because I did not throw up at all despite all the dancing.

After leaving Windows at around 330am, we walked over to City Diner (this 24/7 American diner place nearby) for some food. I am not sure what time I got back to my dorm room, but i do remember seeing 4:30am on my cellphone when I was still at the restaurant! But being the good student that I try to be, at 9:15am I woke up to get ready for language class at 10am. I should mention that we have tingxie (listening/writing quiz) every morning as well as homework due. Luckily, I somehow managed to score a 9.5/10 on both, so its all good :)

This is not to say that we go out to clubs every weekday. Most certainly not. In fact, we usually don't patronize the clubs b/cuz we much prefer to just buy some drinks and chill in someone's room and play cards/watch movies. This is what my friends and I have done every weekend since coming back from Xian.

ACADEMICS
Alcohol aside, the workload is definitely intense. I have class MW 10-3, and class TTH 10-530. It also takes about 15-20 min to walk from my dorm to the classes, so my time spent in class is definitely alot. Moreover, we are required to meet with our tutor at least two hours a week. So usually on Tuesday and Wednesdays I have tutoring session after class until 5 or 6pm. Since I have tingxie and homework everyday, another huge chunk of my time is spent preparing for these things. Remembering how to write the characters is particularly time-consuming.

THURSDAYS!
Moreover, every Thursday is test day. For the first hour we review the week's material. The second hour we have partner discussion for 15min where our discussions are recorded and graded. We then have 45 min to write an essay about the discussion. After the lunch break (1hr) we come back for oral presentations. We have to talk for at least 6 min, but this usually ends up being roughly 8-10min per person. After the test, I immediately have Business Chinese, which gets out at 530pm. As you can see, I really hate Thursdays.

MOVIES!
Bootleg movies are really cheap here, 10kuai or less per copy. When I have any freetime available, I'm either watching my 24, Lost, or Amazing Race via youku or tudou (online internet sites where you can watch tv for free) or watching one of the movies I bought. I recently bought this Hindi film, entitled Ghajini. Its apparently the Hindi film that has earned the most money in Bollywood history. Excellent movie it was!

Okay, I think imma make another post on my travels in Xian and Hangzhou. This post is getting too long.

TML

I should be posting more. This week we have midterms. I have two tomorrow :(

Before I continue with the rest of my travels from the Academic trip, I had some interesting conversations with my friends during that trip.

It interesting because apparently I don't come off as introverted! I don't really know how the topic came about, but we were talking about our personalities in both of my groups that I'm in (the Asians, and the white pplz, lol) and I guess I no longer come off as introverted, and just normal I guess. yea, it interesting because my Asian friends were like, yea, i am very flexible when it comes to meeting new people, and they can see that I am fairly approachable...same with my white friends. they didn't think I was introverted or anything. so see, it really depends on the situation, I glad that I know I am approachable :) See I taking the initiative.

Okay I should be studying for midterms, I'll post later about the rest of my academic trip to Inner Mongolia and Xian. This weekend I am going to Hangzhou!

TML

Well, its been almost two weeks, since I've last posted. That was because we just completed our 9 day academic field trip to Inner Mongolia and Xian. This post is going to be pretty long, because I am going to try and recall all the stuff I did this past week...so feel free to read this blog in chunks when you have the time. Thank You to everyone who is reading this, both back in Philly and Hawaii! I'll break up my adventure into some categories.

Inner Mongolia: Grassland Adventure, Yurts, and Deserts
Xian: Terra Cotta, City Wall Biking, School Visits
Misc: Food, Massages, Host Family

Grassland Adventure:
Arriving in Hohot (capital of Inner Mongolia), I was surprised how developed the city was. Hotel was great, probably served the best breakfast throughout my weeklong trip. It was also interesting because, since we were in North China, the city, like most North Chinese cities, are affected by sand that is blown in from the surrounding deserts. As such, every morning, it looked kind of foggy or hazzy. Turns out it was just sand. I also went to my first McDonalds in China while in Hohot. Instead of apple pie, in China they have red bean pie (hong dou pai). It was actually pretty good :)

Yurts:
This place was literally in the middle of nowhere. We drove roughly 2 hours from Hohot into the grasslands of Inner Mongolia. Before, the grasslands were so thick and tall that supposedly it was like corn or forest-like. But due to overgrazing by animals, the grassland pretty much looks like a desert save for a few inches of grass on the ground. Most parts however of the grassland were fairly dusty.

Some first-time experiences happened while in the middle of nowhere. I got my first opportunity to ride a horse. The ride lasted for two hours and we basically explored the grasslands, going up and down hills and small ravines. Pretty cool. At first I was a little scared, but it was well worth the 100 kuai we each had to pay for the horse ride.

Later that night, we watched the sunset and saw the stars (for the first time!) in China. Also, the place we slept (the yurt) had no heat save for a coal-burning stove. The night was pretty uneventful since there wasnt anything in the yurt (only one light bulb, and a stove, thats it). We tried to go sleep at like 10pm, but I couldn't cuz the dogs owned by the local Mongolians in the area kept me up all night cuz they kept barking. Damn Dogs

Also, the yurt place had no toilet whatsoever. If we needed to relieve ourselves, we basically found a spot and did our biz. Thank god I took some imodium before going to the yurt place. I can't imagine taking a shit in the open. I also forgot to mention how cold it was there. Just around freezing point (I think the tour operator said around 3 Celsius).

Desert:
This was pretty cool. I had no idea that they had deserts in North China. Apparently the majority of north China is just grassland or desert. We drove about 5 hrs from the yurt place to a desert area. We took some pretty cool pictures of sand dunes as far as the eye can see, before we headed back to the city.

I think thats alot for one post, so I'll write about the rest of my academic trip in the coming posts.

TML

Past Week:

- endless amounts of Chinese homework/studying
- had an interview with a consulting firm, made it to second rounds...hopefully I can make it to the final round and get an internship for the summer!
- shopping around Nanjing Dong Lu, a fake market nearby Nanjing Dong Lu, and Pudong

I can't believe that this Friday I will already be going to Inner Mongolia and Xian for my program's "culture field trip." So exciting.

And my spring break plans have been finalized. I will be going to Bejiing, Qingdao, and Nanjing. Can't wait!

Busy Weekend

Thursday
- after the grueling day of testing, followed by business chinese, my weekend began thurs. afternoon
- didn't go out except to a pool hall outside the front gate...was too tired to go clubbing because I stayed up till 4am studying for the stupid oral exam and written exam

Friday
- got to sleep in, so I didnt wake up until 1pm
- caught up on 24
- had our Chinese class dinner for the semester, we had hotpot
- went to Windows Too on Nanjing Xi Lu, got back at 400am (really fun place, and cheap drinks)
- we actually danced on the stage...haha

Saturday
- woke up at 10am for dimsum at Wesgate on Nanjing XiLu, the place we went to Crystal Jade...was pretty expensive looking and posh. I'm so glad I chose Shanghai over London for study abroad. Prices here are MUCH better, especially food :)
- went to a fake market afterwards, didn't get anything though my friend got a new phone
- afterwards we were heading back when we found a random food fair going on near Cloud 9 Mall so we had some food (and I tried duck tounge for the first time...not bad actually)
- came back, took a nap, then went out clubbing (Windows Too again, haha) but this time, I didn't get back to my dorm till 530am! ho brah

Sunday
- studying day...currently doing homework but i taking a break

Well, that pretty much sums up my 3rd weekend here in Shanghai. It is going by so fast. I am having so much fun, but missing everyone back in Philly, California, and Hawaii :(

TML

P.S. see facebook for some pics I uploaded

So I went and bought a translator today. The shopkeeper at yolo thought my Chinese was pretty good considering i've only had chinese for three semesters. When she asked me which country I was from, she was surprised I was from America.

Apparently, because of my accent when I speak Mandarin, she thought I was Korean! Hah. first black, now korean, wtf.

but i guess i'm glad that at least i have an "asian" accent, and not a western accent

lol

TML

Back from Jiangxi & Anhui Provinces this weekend.

Came back at 530am!

So this weekend gave me a good dose of China's other end of the economic spectrum. It was interesting to see how life is still like in the DEVELOPING/UNDEVELOPED parts of china.

The trip to Sanqingshan was breathtaking and blew my mind away. See the pics I uploaded to on facebook. After trekking the mountain for 6hrs, we went to a massage parlor (a legit one, not with the prostitutes) because the entire program wanted to get massages after our journey on the mountain.

So Jeff, Joe, and I were in one room since they had to split up the program since there was 15+ of us. This experience was the first time I was REALLY able to use my chinese for more than 5min with locals. During the conversation, we talked about/they mentioned that:

- one asked if I was black, but another guessed correctly that I was filipino
- one thought that Obama wasn't president because he was black and not white
- they all (3) assumed that Americans were white with blond hair and blue/green eyes
- they didnt realize that in America, there are alot of Asians, and non-white people as well
- they thought my Chinese was really standard (whatever that means)
- they asked me to translate for my other two friends since I could communicate pretty well

Speaking of being NOT lost in translation, I'm so glad that my Chinese is improving. On thursday, we had to give a presentation on Globalization IN CHINESE. My presentation, which ended up running close to 10min including Q&A, talked about:

- the financial crisis' effects on the american population,
- the increased risk in foreign investment overseas as a result of the crisis,
- the failing american auto industry,
- my thoughts that the obama stimulus plan is not enough to bailout the u.s. b/cuz japan has already tried this...

I should note that this whole presentation was conducted in Chinese! While I wasn't able to speak fluidly, the teacher as well as my classmates were able to understand what I was saying. I'm glad that my Chinese is improving (at least vocabulary and listening...speaking is getting there)

Also on the weekend trip, it was my first time using the squat toilet (for both 1 & 2). It was at the massage place.

Ok that was a lot, I go finish reviewing for tomorrow's quiz.

TML