KT in DC

Hola from Washington D.C.!

I have almost finished my second full day here, and I must say that I am having a great time! When I got here, we went to our dorms, got our room, and then got our AU id cards. I have gotten to know the area a bit after wandering around yesterday. Some of us gathered for snacks downstairs, so I got to meet some other people in the program. There are 4/5 of us from OU!! And a lot from Oklahoma. A lot of the people in the group grew up on reservations, which I think is super legit. I am Cherokee and have only been to pow-wows and been involved in student clubs. So many of these men and women are truly passionate about their tribes and even speak the languages. I am impressed, and inspired to learn more/get more involved with my tribe. It is something I have always wanted to be more involved in, but my family isn't and so it doesn't come second nature! Hopefully through this I will get to learn more and feel more connected.

Some of us went to Whole Foods last night with Lisa, our CA(basically our RA but for our program) and I had a blast. We talked, laughed, and were just plain silly. I loved it! I can really get along with these people, and am sure I will make some great friends!

My roommates are also really great. One is from Alaska/Massachusetts, and the other is from Arizona- shout out to Erika! Our room is really awkward- three people in a size meant for two. We tried many ways of rearranging it, and ended up with one of the beds diagonal underneath my lofted bed. I am up high, which is fine, but they didn't give a latter! So, I use my desk to climb up. When moving one of the other desks, we found that the top wasn't attached to the bottom. Luckily, I think the one I have been climbing on is attached fully. We shall see! Hopefully I don't hurt myself! I tend to be pretty good at avoiding injuries though. Unless it involves coughing or sneezing (see: Bruised Rib).

Today began with bagels and the beginning of our Orientation. We learned a lot more about campus then I think I learned at OU's freshman orientation. We learned about police, the gym, counselling, and more. Some of us went to Subway for lunch, and I was really excited to try one of the new AVOCADO sandwiches, but the avocado "wasn't ready." I don't get what they mean by that! Silly Subway. It just wasn't meant to be today. We did some activities to get to know each other and went over some professional development things.

After orientation, I got to see boyfriend! He is here for a couple days, and they let us out early. I was very happy. :) He met me at my Metro stop and we went into the city to eat some Ethiopian food at Meskerem. Apparently it is Zagat Rated, so if you live in DC you should check it out in the Adams Morgan area! I got Zilzil Tibbs, which I already knew I liked from the restaurant Queen of Sheeba in OKC. I have a horrible habit of always ordering the same thing... what can I say? I like what I like! I feel no shame! :) This restaurant was really cool because it was set up with a low "table" which I discovered was actually a basket! They bring a really big plate out that goes in the basket, and they put all the food on it. It was delicious, and not very busy for dinner time which made me happy! Afterward, boyfriend had time to kill and came to see where I am living and met my roommates. Unfortunately, it was then time to go to our first class meeting. Little did I know, I actually missed the first one because I didn't realize I had two meetings today. I wasn't the only one that did so though, so that makes me feel better!

All in all, it was a great day! I think I will like it here, very much!

:)

Weekend Update

So, my family has a habit of coming in town when I am in town and don't have a lot of time. Like this weekend, for instance. I leave for D.C. Wednesday morning, and have a ton of work to do until then.

However, I love my three nieces and they are a lot of fun. One of my sisters and brother-in-law brought them in town to surprise my Pops for his birthday. They went up to his office, and I know he really enjoyed it! We had his birthday dinner that night, and I hung out with the girls in the hot tub till it was bed time. I hung around for a while and headed to the fine establishment of Whataburger with two friends when they got off work.

Saturday, I went out to the lake for a little bit to visit some friends camping. In Tulsa, it was completely overcast, but when I got to the lake it was hot and sunny. And I mean HOT. I haven't felt the sun in 90 degree weather in about two years, so it was a little bit difficult for me. I have also realized that I am more of a wimp about getting into cold water. I have always been a fish, and cold water hasn't really mattered to me. WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO ME?? I will have to fix this! After the lake, I came back and waited for dinner. I ended up napping till 9:30, when we finally started dinner. Silly family. I love them though! I attempted hanging out with Kara afterward. This meant teaching old people the Cupid Shuffle and being the only two people knowing how to do Boot Scootin' Boogie. It was fun, but we were so tired!

Today- I really should keep packing. I would really not like to, but I am for real running out of time! At least now I have a plethora of business casual clothes. I went on a shopping spree (sort of) at New York and Company on Friday. I spent a lot, but I save around 300 dollars!! I love that place.

It is now time for me to finally crawl out of bed and go eat breakfast. I have procrastinated long enough!

:)

Last Full Day In Costa Rica

So, I am actually writing this post in March. I thought I finished all of my Costa Rican blogging, but I failed and didn't. Here is what I remember best from my last full day and then the travel-day home:

Thursday:

Went to class, and went over the last couple chapters for our class. We joked a lot because it was about Women in Leadership, and said that since we weren't testing over it, obviously our teacher didn't think Women in Leadership is important. This is completely wrong, but made us laugh. It was a really enjoyable day for class. After class, a bunch of us went downtown to an artisan market to by some crafty-looking/stereotypical souvenirs. I think I am kind of over souvenirs, because I only bought a keychain* and a magnet. Oh, and some really cool earrings made out of old Costa Rican coins.

Later that night, we decided we would still have the dinner that got cancelled the night before. The hotel helped us rent a bus for the night, which we discovered was MUCH cheaper than taxis. The bus took us up a HUGE hill/mountain for about an hour, and then we realized we couldn't find it. Costa Rica really needs to learn about the beautiful invention: addresses. We ended up making it, and the restaurant had a gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous view of the whole valley lit up at night. We also caught the tail-end of a dancing performance which looked like a lot of fun. I truly love latin dancing! Also, to keep us entertained during the bus ride, we all sang. Patrick sang a lot, because we all love hearing him sing. Then Emily joined in, in which I started to harmonize. They then discovered I could sing, so Emily and I sang and Alicia Keys song (I think). It was fun to sing- it is a hobby I truly miss. This group has really helped me get out of my comfort zone, and I greatly appreciate it.

The rest of the day/night involved packing everything up and hanging out with others on the patio.

Friday:

The next morning, everyone started leaving. A lot of us were on the same plane, so we rented a van (again, much cheaper than taxis), and headed to the airport. It was a beautiful last day. The radio was even celebrating with us by playing a mix of 90s songs for us.

The plane ride was just fine as far as I can remember. It was weird to be on the plane with everyone, not sitting together, and knowing who they were. A complete turnaround from the plane ride to Costa Rica. When we got to the airport, customs took their sweet little time and so did immigration. Then so did security. I literally ran my heart out to my gate (after waiting on the train to get to my terminal that was moving way too slow). I got to the gate, and there was only one person in sight. The door was already shut. This was very reminiscent of my day-trip to D.C., and I thought there was no way I was going to make it on the plane this time. However, I was wrong. Apparently, Anna had told them I was coming, because she was one of the last to board. They asked if any other people were coming from Costa Rica. If it weren't for her, the amazing person at the end of the hall by the plane wouldn't have seen me looking in the window about to cry.

( I would like to say that as I was running, a man on a Gator-cart asked me where I was headed and told me to hurry- he thought it was already gone. Did he ask to take me down there? Nope. I decided I was too antsy anyway and my adrenaline was pushing me, my backpack, and 40 pound suitcase with higher horsepower than the Gator-cart had. I was better off running and sweating.)

On the plane, we ended up waiting for a very long time, without a/c. I was disgusting- hot, sweaty, and pumping with adrenaline. I don't think the guy next to me noticed though. He was quite the chatter bug. He was from Louisana- and was a very stereotypical "Bayou-man." After noticing he was trying to send very inappropriate messages from the air (without service, while flying--NOT supposed to have a phone on), I decided to not really let him talk to me anymore. That was a wise decision.

Then, outside the window, was that beautiful Tulsa night sky. I was home, and I was happy. (Of course I was even happier once I got my Taco Bell on the way home.)

:)

*Sadly, this keychain is now almost none existent. It was a chain with really colorful beads hanging off of it, and the very bottom bead is a heart. Now all that remain are a few beads and the heart. If it were a dog, this dog would have one of those really bad allergies to Grass and only have patches of hair randomly placed on its body. That is now how I view my sad, formerly really fun and cute, keychain. I apparently have bad luck with keychains, because my last one fell off in the parking lot outside and I have yet to see it again.

Sometimes you just have to laugh

So, today was our "Epic" trip to the Rain forest. On the schedule was a 3 mile nature hike through the rain forest, a barbecue lunch, and going on the zip-line.

First off: We were told that the weather would be nice, sunny, only a little colder than the amazingly warm weather we have here in Santa Ana. Instead, it was cold and later rainy, and for the first trip this whole time I left my jacket at the hotel, go figure. I was sucking it up though. We opted out of the hike because we were all underdressed and they could take us in cars instead. Come to find out, most of the "nature hike" was up a gravel road up to the forest. The rest of the hike was going through ten feet of mud in the forest to a water hole. By water hole, I thought we would see a small pond or something. Actually, it is an area that is even muddier, with a sewer-type opening. They lifted up the cover, and it was clean water running over rocks underground. I mean, it was pretty cool how it all worked, and the water is supposedly clean to drink, but it was extremely anticlimactic. Also, we didn't really see any wildlife, which was also a little disappointing. During the hike our teacher got really upset and started talking to the guide in spanish, saying something like, "If anything happens to these kids I am screwed." I thought this was entertaining, but needless to say she is picking a more tourist-y place next time. It was fun to hike around though, and we were pretty muddy afterward. People were losing shoes all over the place! Haha. One thing we learned was that there are primary and secondary rainforests. Primary are original, and secondary are ones that have been cut down but are being grown back. The vegetation is more heavy because there is more sun. Oh, and I forgot to mention- the cars we drove in were real jeeps. I have pictures.

Then it was time for lunch. We had to wait over an hour because we were really ahead of schedule. We were at a really cool place- a pool, pool house that was two stories, indoor/outdoor kind of thing. It had a foozeball table, comfy seats, and a high "jump" for the pool. The boys thought it would be a great idea to jump in off of it, multiple times. They never dried off sense it was so cold/wet outside. I was entertained though. The food for lunch was: 1 piece of chicken, 1 piece of sausage, 1 piece of beef, corn tortillas, and tomatoes. It was really strange.

After eating it was time to get in our harnesses for the zip-line. The first zip line was really cool- I went through fog and was in love. I couldn't see anything for a while, which was amazing. Then I was able to see some, and realized I was a million feet of the ground and there was a river. The second zip line would have been great, but right at my turn we got cut by a smaller group. By the time it was my turn again, it was raining and very foggy. So I was a little upset. I just wanted a clearish sky for at least on of them. Then I had to check myself and stop feeling that way. After that we had two more that would go faster. It started raining even more and we were all freezing, and I just had to laugh at the situation. It was a lot of fun, though I still couldn't really see. Two of the girls ran into a tree because they couldn't brake enough. Apparently this place has only been open for 6 months(originally a lawyer's fun place for his family that they decided to turn into a business). This explains that it was really disorganized and probably too fast for a zipline. Oh, and the fact it was raining. Haha.

Right before the ride back down the hill it grew even more rainy. The car I got in was one without a roof, and we just had to laugh at the situation. Well, Ashton and I did- everyone else was a little upset. But it was cold, rainy, and we were scared to fall out of the vehicle. No biggie. We arrived back at the bus, put dry clothes on(we were told to bring some for the mud) and then went across the street for hot chocolate. It was amazing hot chocolate. I could taste the lactose in it- but I didn't care. I love hot choclate, in case you didn't know.

I napped and studied on the bus. For dinner we ordered pizza and studied all night. Bed at 10:30 to wake up for our test in the morning.

Oh- and apparently there is a stomach virus going around Costa Rica, so that is probably what we all had.

500 Stairs

Today was one of our free days. Most of us got together and rented a bus to go to Baldi Hot Springs in La Fortuna. This city has the Arenal Volcano. We saw the volcano, but not the top of it like at the Poas Volcano. It was a three hour drive, and half of it (at least) was made of up really curvy roads, making some car sick. We ended up getting there 45 minutes before the Hot Springs opened, but we were able to entertain ourselves. The hot springs were amazing! They got hotter as you went up, and there were many pools. The first pools had swim up bars where later we all got smoothies. Continuing up there were some water slides, which were a ton of fun. At the very top- a really cool man-made waterfall with scolding hot water (though some people thought it felt great). I stayed in the water as long as possible, and was very pruney by the end. It felt so great to get to swim around again. It had been too long! After the hot springs, we went to a Mexican restaurant in town that was pretty good. I tried fried Yuka, which is like a potato and tasted similar to french fries, just less greasy.

After lunch, we headed to the La Fortuna waterfall. It was 500 steps up and down, some very steep and complicated, but we made it! The waterfall was beautiful, and I will definitely post pictures later! I didn't have my bathing suit on anymore, so I just got my feet in. It was fun watching the few that got all the way in attempt to swim toward the fall. Heading back up the stairs was difficult, but my group knocked it out quickly to get it out of the way. After that I watched the waterfall from a lookout tower, and did not want to leave. It was then time to head back, and we were all wiped out. After an hour nap, we all started waking up to a very, very foggy evening. I am surprised the bus driver was able to drive those curvy roads with so little visibility. We entertained ourselves with joking and singing the rest of the way back. Some of us then ordered pizza, and I went with a group to a nearby Chinese restaurant. She spoke Cantonese, and so does our friend Patrick, so he ended up ordering for us since the menu was in Spanish. It was fun.

#11, Check!

This morning was our trip to the Poas Volcano! First off, seeing a volcano is on my bucket list of things to do before I die. Check!! We had to leave an hour earlier than usual, but it was very worth it. Our tour guide was Louis, and he was great. He told us lots of fun stories about Costa Rica. Some of the fun things he said:

-His son will be president of Costa Rica someday

-The cows in the mountains produce a very sweet milk and it is very famous.

-He has us hold our hands in the air, crossing our fingers that we could see the volcano- and we did! Afterward he thanked god because he was Christian that we could see it. It was cool to me, because he was really cool about it- not afraid of being politically correct like in America.

-There were these giant leaves that were the first plant of Costa Rica. Long ago, Costa Rica was the last country to emerge and the volcanoes rose with these leaves on them. They only exist in the "cloud forest"- the forest that is high enough to be in the clouds.

-He really wanted us to experience things, so he had us stop many places along the way.

-He also told us we were learning Spanish today, and taught us Spanish words all day.

We drove across San Jose and into the province of Alajuela. The mountains began and we started out trip up with beautiful sights to see. Louis had us stop to take pictures with the Central Valley in the background. It was amazing to see. We continued on and stopped to get some Doka Estate cappuccinos (the coffee company we traveled to later). I don't like coffee, so I got a mocha. After adding sugar it was actually pretty good! It seems I keep travelling to areas of the world that specialize with my least favorite drinks(ironic?)- and I end up starting to like them!

Then we went to the Volcano. He told us that if it smelled like sulfur than we could only stay for a maximum of 10 minutes. Luckily, we couldn't really smell it and could stay a little longer. At first it was all foggy and we couldn't see anything. But then all of a sudden the clouds were gone and you could see the crater. It was one of the coolest things I have seen in my life! After that trail we walked up another to the Botos Lagoon. It was beautiful blue water surrounded by forest- very idyllic.

After the lagoon it was time to hit the road again to head for lunch. On the way, we stopped to buy strawberries. This area isn't just none for coffee and sweet cow milk, but for strawberries. I got a bag for 1-2 dollars and was in heaven. Then we stopped down the road for strawberry milkshakes. They were different than what I expected from a milkshake- but they were really good! Forget being lactose-intolerant. :)

Then we were finally on the way to lunch. We headed to the coffee farm, Doka Estate, and had a buffet lunch. The desert items were plantains and a coconut bar thing- which was actually pretty good despite my dislike for coconut. They gave us mango juice to drink, which had a strange taste but was better than nothing. After lunch we had a tour of the coffee farm. It was really cool- and like I said before, I don't like coffee. They took us through all the steps and it amazes me just how much goes into the process and how long it takes. The coffee is still hand picked, also, and people get paid I think a dollar per bucket of berries- which is a lot of picking! They said it is not a job people like, and I can see why. At the end of the tour, they set us free in the gift shop where they let us try chocolate covered coffee beans. I absolutely loved them, and bought two bags. I think I ate too many though, I could feel it.

When we got back to the hotel it was time to get some homework out of the way. After that, we went to dinner as a group with Cyndi(the director of JCPenney Leadership Program and our teacher for the trip). We went to a restaurant that looked like a house, and ate on the "patio," which meant that our chairs were in gravel. It was strange, but it was a nice place and the weather was great. I love getting to eat outside so much. Dinner lasted for a very long time, given that it is a nice restaurant and there are over 20 of us. I ate bruschetta and a tilapia dish. Dinner was also accompanied with a "panel" of boys and girls giving relationship/dating advice. It was very entertaining. After we finished, the bus had a flat tire. They boys tried to help. The first problem was it had rained all day and they had trouble with the jack. Then the nuts couldn't be taken off no matter how hard they tried (they even broke one). Someone said they were cross-something, if that means anything to you all. Cyndi ended up calling taxis for us, and that was the end of our night. Because dinner took so long, class got pushed back 30 minutes for tomorrow!

Pura Vida!

So, we have now been here for 4 hours. It feels like much longer than that already, but in a good way! The plane ride was not bad at all, and I absolutely love being in the same time zone. Our hotel is great- apartment style buildings. Right now we have the doors open and are enjoying the nice breeze of a possible storm coming in. Oh, and we can see the sunset from our windows. :)

The weather here is AMAZING! I got a little warm earlier, but the air feels so nice. I am definitely going to like it here! After we got slightly settled in, we went exploring. After getting directions (only a couple of us know spanish- and not the best) multiple times, we made it to the bus stop which we would take to get to the "strip." Near the bus stop, some of us stopped at a small stand in a building and got empanadas, since most of us hadn't eaten since 9 am. They were delicious! The others missed out and headed to the supermarket. We met up with them with plenty of time to spare.

It is funny- at the supermarket everything was pretty much the same. I guess I just expect it to be like China where you have to guess what everything is. I also keep thinking in Chinese. This shall be interesting!

After the supermarket, we realized we couldn't go the same way because there was a funeral march. We went out of the way (led by a guy who chose the wrong way, haha) and ended up finding the cemetery that the people were heading to. This was no normal funeral march. The street was packed with people and following a station wagon. I have never seen this many people heading to a funeral before; it seems like the community is probably really strong here.

That is my update for now! I am having a great time!

New Year, New Country!

So, I know that I haven't finished all my China blogs yet. Maybe that is my first New Years "to do."

But, I am going to keep you all updated on a new trip! I am leaving in the morning for Costa Rica! I will be staying in Santa Ana, San Jose, Costa Rica. I am going with the JCPenney Leadership Program and we are taking a Leadership class. For half the day we will have class, and half the day is free time or excursion time. I look forward to this trip and hope it is a great fresh start to 2011!

Map of Costa Rica

Zip-lining through the rainforest! I will get to do this!

I will be sure to catch one of these for you guys!! :)

Back to school

Monday June 28, 2010

We got off the train at about 7:20 and battled our way through a sea of Chinese people. Yang Laoshi was waiting for us, and after a few minutes we all made it out alive. We were tired the whole way back, and wanted to nap before going to class two hours later. Rachel and I had to do our hw for calligraphy, however. We ended up not really having time, and went to class tired. I did get in a ten minute nap, though. Our normal teacher was getting a physical for a job, so Yang Yang Laoshi was our teacher. He made us use our brains a lot more than we had been intending (having our teacher play hangman with us and getting him to let us out early) and we hardly had any of our break time. There were only three of us there, which meant we had to talk even more. It was really helpful and I learned a lot, but I was hardly able to speak clearly by the end of class.

After class I napped before calligraphy. Calligraphy went by slowly, so I worked on my character workbook to prevent myself from falling asleep. We hung out a bit after class, and then Rachel and I went to dinner. We chose the restaurant that we went to on our first day, Heavenly Manna. The boys wanted to go to Mei er Mei, which we have been going to a lot lately, so we went off on our own. It was delicious. We had been missing food like that, meaning not just noodles. We had spicy potatoes, spicy pork, a beef and pepper dish, rice, and broccoli with mushrooms. We were really full, and very happy. We spent about as much as we would have at Taco Bell in America. We got some sorbet/gelato after we ate, which was also delicious. Very full we were, but in very good moods.

We went to Tai Chi a little bit later, and learned some new, fun kung fu moves. I plan to master them and have a random new talent. Haha. When we got back I took a warm shower and drank hot chocolate and read. It was very relaxing. I have decided to start taking showers at night, as it guarantees me hot water. Also, I decided after my stressful week of hating people that I need a night to relax each week, if not more. I think it is a good decision. I got to sleep about 10:15, but woke up about 11 because my stomach hurt. I couldn’t go back to sleep for a while, but didn’t want to continue reading, because I knew I was to a part where I would be sucked in. I eventually fell asleep though, thank goodness.

Bad luck, Shopping, and Train again

Sunday June 27, 2010

Today we woke up, realized that our shower had no hot water(ironic since our room in Kunming is titled “Jank Room”, and so we showered in the boys room. Rachel and I are cursed with bad rooms. Kayla, Rachel, and I were all staying in a triple room. We ate some snacks, and then went to lunch with the tour guide to make up for the bad lunch the day before. We shopped for a very long time. This is because our checkout time was noon, and we weren’t meeting until 8:30 that night. All around our hotel was “Old Town.” This area was mostly all walking, and was basically one huge market. We did lots of bargaining, and I made a few friends with shopkeepers. Some, however, ended up getting mad at us because we knew they were trying to rip us off. We walked down to the Black Dragon Pool, which was pretty fun. I got some Chinese painting there, which was the main thing I wanted from this trip. I love them. We ate dinner at a random restaurant we found, which was open air and overlooked the alleys. People kept taking pictures of us while we were eating, which was interesting. At one point, workers lined the road on both sides and started singing. It was fun. We were all exhausted, but couldn’t go back yet. We kept shopping, and finally it was time to go. We went to the train station, which was a lot smaller and not as nice compared to Kunming. Our train ride was more interesting, because we were surrounded by drunk people. One guy kept following Justin, which was very interesting. We forced Jeremy to make a door our of his blanket again because of it.

Hitler?

Saturday June 26, 2010

We woke up very early on the train- 6 o’clock. I looked out the window for a long time, admiring the beautiful mountains and sunrise. We got to the train station, and it was a mob scene. We eventually all found each other and realized we had to fish out our train tickets so they would let us leave. We met our Tour Guide, who seems to be pretty nice. He has the best English I have ever heard. Lijiang is very pretty. We went to our hotel, which was looked like a traditional Chinese building, and was set up in a walking street that had the same style buildings. We could only put our things away though, because we couldn’t check in until after 12. We ate breakfast at the hotel and then freshened up from the train ride. We then went to the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. We met Chinese people in line for the mountain “tour bus”, and had a miniature photo shoot. We also discovered walnut cakes while we were waiting. They were delicious. They were small, shaped like walnuts, and had a very tiny nut and tiny bit of red bean sauce. I titled them “om nom noms,” because they tasted so good.

We rode a gondola up the mountain. Jeremy, Rachel, Kayla, Justin, and I rode with our tour guide. We had an interesting conversation that left us all speechless. This is roughly it:

Me: “It is so pretty up here.”
Tour Guide: “Yes, nature is so good. It is unfortunate though, people are killing it. We really need less people in the world. What Hitler did was a good thing. Maybe his reasons weren’t so good, but it was a good thing. We need something like that again.”
Us: …..

That is about all I have to say about that. Haha. We were silent the rest of the ride, which there luckily wasn’t much of. We all got off and asked each other if that really just happened. We walked down a path for a while to the Grazing Land. It was a huge field with a path going around it. There were trees with blessings people had tied all over. We then went to the White Water River that came off of the mountain. It was gorgeous blue/turquoise water. We only got ten minutes there, but we went over time. I would have loved to spend more time there. We then drove to Dongba Valley. Dongba is the religion in the Lijiang area. It seems more to be a way of life than a religion, however. We had a weird lunch and did some shopping. We crossed a rope bridge and walked along a path. The path had lots of funny signs and gates/games. There was one gate and tree for money and wealth. Another was a series of metal bars to lift up. The more you lifted, the more wealthy you would be. We then went to the Jade Water Village. It began raining a little, so we went through kind of quickly. We saw some crazy statues of people with gold animal heads. The village held the Dongba Temple, which was a little different than the Buddhist temples. It had a statue in the middle with different colored cloths wrapped around for each element. There were murals that described the history of the world according to Dongba. It seemed to have a strong regard for Good and Evil, but focused on Gods in general, not a God or a certain few Gods. It was nice to see something different, it being a minority religion.

We went back to our hotel, rested, and then went to get pizza for dinner. We found that the food around our hotel is really expensive, because it is a tourist area. I got water, and receive a cup that had boiling water in it. I was never able to drink it, but I knew the water wasn’t from a bottle or filter, so I wouldn’t have trusted it much anyway. Lijiang is apparently the city of clubs, and so our tour guide took us out to “the best one.” It was very interesting. There were too many Chinese men. Some were really old, and one was about 12. By the time we left, most of them were without shirts. Our tour guide ended up acting kind of creepy, so we avoided him. We came back to the hotel to watch the USA world cup game, but we fell asleep right before it started.

Friday June 25, 2010

Today we woke up, finished our homework, and went to class. After class we came back, packed a little for our weekend trip to Lijiang, and finished watching Slumdog Millionaire. I went and bought a raincoat, got dumplings, and finished packing. I showered and cleaned up, hiding important/expensive things and messing up our beds(so they didn’t realize we were out of town). We all met downstairs and then went to the Train Station. We had to go through a security slightly similar to the airport. They wouldn’t let people take aersol cans, which surprised me. Our car on the train had 4 beds. Kayla, Jeremy, Rachel, and I were in the same compartment. It was strange, because unlike the European trains, these had no doors. Also, the toilets were squatty pottys. I don’t know who would have that putting a squatty potty on a train was a good idea. Crazy Chinese people. It was lights out at 11, and no minute later. We fell asleep eventually, but not before Jeremy and I used the flashlights on our phone for a laser light show.

Too frustrated

Tuesday June 22, 2010

The mosquitos as getting feisty and more tricky. They are difficult to avoid, and have gotten worse because of the rain. I can’t live without mosquito repellant on. After class, we had to go to a random meeting. They tend to not tell us about things we need to go to until the day of, so we weren’t the most happy about it. I am now the group leader for our weekend trip to Li Jiang, because no teachers will be going with us. Afterward, Justin and I got caught in the rain without an umbrella. Rachel and Jeremy ran away from us with an umbrella. It was a little frustrating. I didn’t want to mess up my shoes, so I took them off and went barefoot. When I got mad I asked Jeremy and Rachel about why they wouldn’t walk with us, and ended up getting mad at people again. I really need to sleep for about a week. I am starting to get sick again, which is definitely not helping. After I spent some time alone, we finished watching the 2nd season of True Blood. We went to eat at French Café, where I got a margherita pizza to be easy on my tummy.

Xi Shan, Chinese Stories, and more Birthdays

Saturday June 19, 2010

Today our field trip was to Xi Shan or West Mountain. It was in Kunming, but quite a distance away. On the mountain is Long Men or Dragon Gate. The Dragon Gate was supposedly carved by a Daoist Monk with a spoon. I took a video of what he “carved.” The gate itself has a good story: If a fish from the lake below can make its way up the mountain and through the gate, it will turn into a dragon. But as we found out later, it doesn’t count if you carry the fish through- the fish must do it on its own. I think if you are a young girl, you will change into a beautiful women. I am not positive on that though. Also, the west mountain apparently began as a woman whose man went away. She cried all the time, waiting there for him. The tears turned into the lake, and she waited so long that she turned into the mountain. I love the Chinese stories, and I hope that I get to learn more.

At first we climbed up the wrong part of the mountain. (Note- this is not like hiking, but climbing lots of stares and seeing random Chinese buildings/temples on the way.) We had to go back down and up again. The climbing itself wasn’t too bad (the stairs to class everyday have helped our legs a lot), but the air is very thin here. I just wanted an oxygen tank. We took a ski lift back down. It went really slow and was very beautiful. I rode with Kayla, and we had a good time talking about silly things and life.

We went to lunch, and all the students sat together. We decided we didn’t like it, because it messed up the flow of things. The tables in restaurants here are generally round with very large turntables. People kept turning the turntable without any consideration of others, even if they were in the middle of serving themselves food. The restaurant was interesting though, because they gave us a packet of powder, that could only be described to us as medicine. We had a chicken soup that you were to put the medicine in. The best translation we got was that it was probably vitamins. I put mine in my soup, but suggested to Jeremy to put it in his Coke, as he was not having soup. Rachel did the same. It was very odd- best described as dirty coke.

We then went to Guan Du Ancient Town, which we thought would be a good market area. It was actually more of an outdoor Chinese architecture mall. There were hardly any traditional items, and we weren’t very pleased. We peaked around at a temple, and ended up having a mini photo shoot with Chinese people. We also went to an umbrella store, and the workers took pictures of us on a webcam. Kayla and I both bought really pretty umbrellas. Since the women here don’t want sun, they are really into decorative umbrellas. This area was not used to seeing foreigners, so we got many stares. It was kind of boring, but the sun was out. While we waited I stood in the sun while others sat in the shade. I had a little pink on my cheeks by the end of the day though, so I was very happy!

This night we celebrated Diedra’s (one of the girls) birthday. I was very tired, but went out because it was her birthday. We went from place to place in search for good music to dance to. We didn’t have the most luck. Eventually we found a place and I woke up a little bit. I ended up getting really tired though, so Rachel and I came home.

Exploring Kunming and Shi Jie Bei!

Saturday June 12, 2010

Today was an amazing day. We had another field trip, and we first went to the Black Dragon Pool, on the outskirts of Kunming. It took over 30 minutes to get there. It was really cool, it had small lake things and some hiking paths if you took the back way, which we did. The dean from the College of Arts and Sciences is here for the week, and hiked around with us. He seems to be a really cool person. We ended up finding a dragon gate thing, and we were really glad to take the road less travelled by. 5 points to anyone catching the reference. After that, Rachel, Jeremy, and I climbed up to the top of the main path to see a pagoda statue. We ended up climbing up a rough trail towards the top of the mountain hill to see an amazing view of Kunming. We only had a few minutes left, so Jeremy ran up to see if it was worth it. Up there, we found some graves, and it was just really neat. The graves are above the ground, and look like a small hut, with grass growing on the top. Some were slightly decorated with fake flowers and shiny things.

After running back to the group, we went to the Botanical Gardens. The greenhouses were closed, and there really wasn’t much to see. We were only there for 30 minutes, which was good. We walked around, which was nice, but we would have rather had 30 minutes left at the Black Dragon Pool. Both of the outdoorsy activities really made me want to go camping. At the Black Dragon Pool we could smell a fire, and that woodsy smell. I definitely miss that about America.

After, we went to a Hot Pot restaurant with the Dean of Int’l Students at Yunan University. The food was amazing, and we got to eat bell peppers that were supposed to make the soup spicy. If anyone doesn’t know what Hot Pot is, here you go: You sit at a table and there is a big pot in the middle. Sometimes the pot is split in half, one spicy, one not. You order food and cook it in the pot, then eat it. It is pretty simple, and a fun way to eat.

We then went to a huge lake in Southern Kunming. The sun was out, and it was wonderful to feel it on my skin. We were only there for about 20 minutes, but I got to pet dogs and we talked to some Chinese children. The lake is heavily polluted, so it was very dark and smelled awful. But it was great to see a lake and feel the sun again. The lake sort of had a boardwalk alongside, where people could run, walk, fly kites, and rent car-scooter things. We then went to our translators apartment, which was absolutely beautiful. It was two stories, and had gorgeous Chinese red wood furniture and decorations everywhere. They had a tea ceremony set, and Kayla practiced what we learned in class. The mother, grandmother, and father were all there. The mom kept force feeding us fruit and candies. I had two bananas that were twice the size as American bananas. I didn’t want the second one, but didn’t have a choice, haha. It was the kind of Chinese hospitality I have been missing so far. The translator taught us mahjong, while Kayla taught some others how to play Gin Rummy. Apparently they are pretty much the same game. I ended up winning most of the mahjong games, and I am going to buy a set to take home and teach everyone. I absolutely love it! Someone joked they were going to take me to play on the streets, where they play with money.
For dinner, we went next door to a restaurant hotel, that looks like an authentic Chinese building- what you picture when you think of Chinese buildings. They arranged for us to eat food from the ancient Bai People of China. Most of it was really good, but it was definitely a lot different than what I have had before. The translator’s father had us all try the “white wine” of China, which is called Bai Jiu. I had tasted it before in Beijing, and didn’t want to try again. But yet again, I didn’t have a choice. It is rude to not accept something like that in China, unfortunately. It was literally finger nail polish remover, and I did not like it one bit. Then they gave us a little red wine, which was apparently really good, but the waiter poured mine right on top of the Bai Jiu. It was not pleasant.
After, we came back to the hotel and hung out a little bit. We went out to try and find USA soccer jersey’s, but had no luck. Then we napped from about 11:30pm to 1:40am, waking up to go watch the USA vs England World Cup game. I now officially like soccer. The game was amazing, and being in a place filled with mostly USA supporters, and some England fans was a lot of fun. When England scored in the first 4 minutes, we were worried. But then the England goalie made his Epic fail of stopping the ball, and then letting go giving us a point, redeeming us. I love being in a city/country that actually cares about the world cup. It is a lot of fun. I have never cheered so much for USA before. It was a great experience, especially as odds were 7 to 1 that England would win. :)

-Shi Jie Bei= Chinese for The World Cup

Wo de Sheng Ri Kuai Le! (My birthday happy)

Saturday June 5, 2010

Our field trip today started at the normal time we start class, so no sleeping in. We went on a bus ride for a trip about 1hr ½ away from Kunming. We went to a flower market, which is apparently the biggest in the area- where everyone gets their flowers. It was a slightly run down area, definitely not in the city. Many people have definitely never seen Americans, because we got the biggest stares here. People would walk and turn their heads as they past us, just to stare. It was great. When we got on the bus, they gave me BEAUTIFUL flowers for my birthday. I have no idea what to call them, but I kept wanting to call them lilies, which I know is wrong. They were giant, and smelled amazing.

We then went to Shu Lin- Stone Forest. I would google it to get an idea of what it looks like. It is literally a forest of stones (this is ironic because on my 18th birthday, we went to Stonehenge). The stones are really tall and really cool looking. I think I heard that the story is that the stones are men that were turned into stone. The true story is that they were once under sea. It was wet and rainy, so we had some trouble with slips along the way- there are lots of stairs that don’t quite have enough grip. Despite the rain, there were TONS of Chinese people there. There were a number of stones that you had to touch or not touch for good luck. Shu Lin is huge, and we only saw a small part. The tour guide we had spoke Chinese, and they wouldn’t let us wander around. It was still fun though. We wanted to go down the “Narrowest Passage” and Dr. Atkinson (the teacher with the Journey to China trip) told us to go quickly so that the other tour guide and Chinese teachers wouldn’t see us. It was truly narrow, but it led us upward to a great view. We ended up finding everyone without a problem. A few people slipped, including myself on one set of stairs. After that, half the group got lost, but we eventually found each other.

After Shu Lin, we all wanted water. There are a series of stores after Shu Lin, and everyone headed to the first store. I felt bad for the other stores, since they probably get the least business, so I went to the second store. However, I made a bad decision. They cheated me. I opened the refrigerator for water, which was on the bottom shelf. When I grabbed one, coke bottles came flying out at me. I tried catching them all, and looked to the lady working for help. She just stood there watching. I was able to get some of them back, and then the lady was holding a coke that had spilled to me. She was making me buy it. I then realized that they had been stacking coke on top of the water, which was not good- because they would always fall. I told the man working that this was not okay. He began taking some of them out, which made me feel like I helped future customers from my same problem. (I don’t even like to drink soda.) I talked with Jeremy and Rachel for a minute, looking around the store. I looked back at the refrigerator and saw the coke bottles were put right back in place on top of the water. They were doing this on purpose- to make people pay more. I was very, very angry. I got the man’s attention again, telling him this was not okay. I yelled at him a little, feeling like my mom. Haha. I told him he was not a good person. (This was all in Chinese.) I was very angry, and couldn’t believe they did that. It was not right.

On the way back, we drove around a lake, which made me really miss summer. I love swimming and lakes, and I don’t get to swim here. :( When we got back to the hotel, Yang Laoshi ordered food for us, and it was amazing. I want to find out where it came from. I ordered noodles, because you are supposed to eat noodles on your birthday for longevity. Yang Laoshi gave me a present, which was a bobble head little girl, with Chinese type cuteness. It wasn’t something I would pick for myself, but it was sweet and made me happy. We invited him out for Karaoke, which made him really happy.

We went to the best KTV (Chinese karaoke places that are more common than starbucks) in Kunming, called Top One. It is in the Kun Du district, which is filled with clubs. With Karaoke in China, you get a private room. It was really nice. The school arranged for me to have a cake, which was truly amazing. I want to find out where it came from. I wanted to take the rest home, but they said it would go bad overnight. The Chinese just don’t understand cake, apparently. We sang Miley Cyrus, had a girls and boys “duet” of Grease, learned a popular Chinese dice game, and got Yang Laoshi to sing. Alyssa’s new Chinese roommate gave me a really pretty metal bracelet.

After Karaoke, we went dancing at the Top One club, which was just around the corner. It was packed, and it took a minute to get a table. I made some Chinese friends at the table next to us, especially two that kept telling me I was really pretty. They were gorgeous, however. They probably loved how white I was. In China, girls try to be as white as possible. So, the whiter you are, the prettier. All and all, it was a fantastic birthday.

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. :(

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.

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:

The squirrels look like this:

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).