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Monday, May 31, 2010

Class and Korean food

Monday, May 31, 2010

We woke up early so that we could get our meal cards and eat breakfast. We were supposed to do a ton of other things, but ended up just having free time. Then we got ID pictures taken, and had free time again. We went to lunch at a restaurant down the road. Rachel, Jeremy, and Michael went. We attempted ordering, but were having a lot of trouble until the woman found a menu with English translations. The food was amazing, and I had the best rice so far since I have been here, and the best tasting broccoli I have ever had. We then went to watch a movie about Yunan Geography and Culture. In the movie, they said that Yunan was the treasure house of medical herbs and wild animal genes. It was wonderful. After that, we had free time again, and continued with the Uno. We are now incorporating Chinese words into the game. For dinner we went past the afternoon’s restaurant to what ended up being a Korean restaurant. They had stove things built into the tables. We had our own little room (it was Kacee, Kayla, Rachel, Michael, and Jeremy). The waitress cooked in front of us on what looked like a lid. The food was really good, even though we didn’t really know what we were ordering.

I got sick today, I think because of my lactose-intolerance. I had some hostess-esque cake things that I didn’t think about, and so my stomach has been bothering me. Rachel and I were both reading Nicholas Sparks books, and got to the sad parts at the same time. We stayed up till midnight reading.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Discovering Kunming

Sunday, May 30, 2010

I woke up at 5:50, but ended up getting to chat with Marc, which was very nice. We still have no word on when we will leave this room, yet more people keep arriving. So it is looking doubtful that we will leave anytime soon. The students met early (9) to go grab some food at a bakery down the street. I had a blueberry filling with bread thing that was wonderful. I didn’t have enough though, and got hungry very quickly.

We met at 9:30 and took the bus to the city center. Zach took us around to some markets in some older, authentic Chinese looking buildings. The girls all ended up getting some jewelry, but we were all not really in to buying things just yet. I ended up talking in Chinese to the storekeeper of a teapot shop, which was fun. We went to lunch with another teacher, Xie Laoshi, who is 24. He is my favorite so far. He wants to teach us everything, and is good at it. I think the teachers don’t think that we know much Chinese, because Yang Laoshi (head of our program) told them we couldn’t because we didn’t speak much Chinese on the first day. We were all tired though, and needed some warm up time. We had some free time in which Jeremy, Rachel, Kayla and I all play some intense Uno. Then we had a welcome banquet where we met the Dean of the International Student College and our teachers. They told us we would be tested on our Chinese knowledge on Monday morning, but then surprised us with a test right after dinner when we were all super tired/exhausted, and caught off guard and were unprepared. And yes, I know that was a run-on sentence.

Afterward I ended up being the one to fall asleep at 9 on the couch. The couch is much more comfortable than our beds, and I really needed sleep. Many people were in our room, and Rachel was using my computer. When I woke up, Rachel was laying on the floor reading, and everyone else was gone.

I had pictures to put here, but it won't let me add them. :(

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Access Granted

I have found a way to update my blog! Yay! Mallori was going to do it, but I was too lazy to get everything organized as of yet to send her.
I will start updating maybe twice a day to catch up, but we shall see. I want to try and add pictures, so it may take a little longer than it would otherwise.


Saturday, May 29, 2010
The rest of the flights were very interesting. On the long flight, Rachel’s seat was right behind me and there was no switching. I was sitting next to an Indian(asian) couple that was heading back from LA. They kept invading my space, which I am normally fine with except it was during a 13 hours flight. They kept switching seats, and the woman would lay in his seat when he was up. At one point, when I got up, she was even laying in my own seat. At one point, he randomly told me, “You are like my son.” He really meant that I was about the same age as his grandson. He thought I was in my mid twenties, however. He ended up telling my all about how he has a million grandsons that are all doctors in America. Not just doctors though, specialty doctors. When I told him that my dad is a doctor, he was confused that he was not a specialty doctor. It ok a while to explain what a specialty doctor was, but eventually he got it. He was also wearing a turban. After that, we had a meal in which he gave me his vegetarian dish. I said, “maybe,” but then he put it down on my tray table. It was interesting. I ate my normal non vegetarian meal instead- but ate the rice from his because I didn’t want to be rude. They had a ten year visa that was ending, so that was their last trip to America. They were in their 70s, and I had thought they were no older than early 50s. It makes me feel like American’s age much more quickly than other cultures. Also, the wife had two knee replacement surgeries, which ended up explain her trying to lay down everywhere.

In LA, I made a new friend. His name is Diego, and he is a mechanical engineering major at USC. He and his friend Kevin, who I met as well, were heading to Nanjing for an internship. They ended up being our LA and Beijing airport buddies. The Beijing airport has changed a lot since I was there in 9th grade, most likely because of the Olympics. Going through customs was much simpler. We walked through a gate that checked our temperature with a thermal camera. I guess this is to ward of disease, but we were all really hot and that made us nervous. We made it through though! Also, I got to go through the Chinese National line instead of the Foreigner line. We got there so early that customs wasn’t even open, and none of the restaurants were either. We waited and walked around, and ended up eating random bread things from a café called Kiss and Bake. The bread was delicious, and even though it was airport food (and water) it only cost a few dollars. I love China.

When we got to Kunming, we were greeted by Mia, one of the teachers (who won’t really be our teacher). Rachel used her first squatty potty. As we were leaving, someone threw two advertisements in the window, one in the front seat and one in the backseat, even though they only threw it in one window. The precise skill of Chinese people never ceases to amaze me.

We got to the Hotel, which is the equivalent of our dorms. They ran out of standard rooms, so Rachel and I got a Deluxe Suite. They are supposed to move us when a standard opens up, however. The difference is that we have a living room and a “sink room”- a kitchen-esque room, but that only has a sink. We found out we had to pay a room deposit- which was unexpected and all of the students were upset, especially because they keep charging us differently. Then we went to lunch with Mia and Zach (an OU student who is getting his masters and came on this trip last year, and has been living here since February). Zach speaks very well, but apparently couldn’t speak well before he came here. That makes me feel hopeful. We ate at Heavenly Manna, and ate some traditional mashed potatoes with spices, amongst other things. We came back and settled in a little, and met up with the American students who had already arrived. They attempted to give us cell phones, yet Jeremy’s and mine didn’t work. We then went to dinner at some Chinese restaurant. We came back and some of the boys went out for literally5 minutes. Rachel fell asleep on the couch at 9, and after about 5 minutes of trying to wake her up, we both went to bed. We discovered that lying on top of our comforter is best, as the mattresses in china are very, very firm. Think floor firmness.

Oh, and our room is the only one with internet. There is a very angry lady who works the front desk at nights, and she said that nobody should have internet in the building at all. Oh, the lies. Especially because she was playing Café World, which was partly why she was so upset to talk with us.

Tonight we also went to buy a hairdryer, and I was reunited with bargaining for things. It was great.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Leavin' on a Jet Plane


T-minus 1.5 hours and I will be lifting off on my way to LA, where I will have a 7 hour layover. Then I will be meeting my friend Rachel and we will head to Beijing, and then Kunming. We will be arriving at 11 am, so it won't mess with our sleep schedules too badly!

I am very excited. I cried telling my dad bye, but I think that is about the end of the tears. Gotta love my pops! I love my mom too!

I think I overpacked, but I tried not to! I think the last minute thoughts made me want to pack more. Oh well! I will be gone for two months, so I think I will be just fine.

I will miss you all!

P.S.- This picture is the Optimus Prime statue located in Kunming, where I will be staying. I am going to see this, and it will be amazing to say the least.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

T-minus 8 Days

My trip is growing near!

While out shopping for supplies today, I kind of got in a wreck. It was a 6 car pile up that turned into 8. I am completely fine! My car is fine, too- just a couple scratches on the corner of my bumper. I had just switched lanes and all of a sudden people were slamming the breaks. I tried slamming mine as well, but there wasn't enough distance. I waited to pass a light pole and drove over the curb into the grass, nicking the car in front of me. She was really cool about it though. However, on of the cars in front of us was not okay. Two cars ended up hitting her-again. The last car hit her really hard. Her car is definitely totaled. So 6-8 car pile-up with no injuries. Marc was with me and says he is bad luck, but I personally feel that it was good luck that it wasn't any worse. :)

Pictures:

<--Their car












<--My car
IMG_3457.jpg picture by fabulous_tip_2^The poor other car (not my doing).

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Beginning

I decided to make a new blog so that people could creepily observe what I am doing while I am in China this summer. I will probably keep it going after, simply because I like blogging. I hope you enjoy.

I will be staying in Kunming, China in Yunan Province for 2 months. I will be an International Student in a Chinese Intensive Language program. This is where I will be staying:


The campus will look like:
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The squirrels look like this:
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The weather will be beautiful everyday. The city is nicknamed the "City of Eternal Spring." The weather will be around 70 each day. I know we are making a couple weekend trips, but I don't know where. I will write about it when we do!

:) Zai Jian (Goodbye in Chinese).