Monday June 7, 2010
Today I was very tired in class. We had our Calligraphy class today, but we aren’t using the brush pens yet- just practicing characters with pencil and paper. For lunch, I tried Chinese Ramen Noodles and they weren’t bad. They have some weird looking flavors, but I think I got chicken. It tasted just like the ones at home.
Kayla, Justin, Rachel and I went to a Chinese DVD store. The DVDs are very cheap, just about a dollar. Kayla bought Dexter on DVD, so we will probably be watching that. After, we went and bought a hair straightener, and tried to find the restaurant that had the delicious food our teacher ordered for us. We couldn’t find it, but tried this hole in the wall muslim/kosher place. It ended up being really good and cost us each about 75 cents. There was a cat that kept rubbing up against our legs during the meal; it was very interesting. We stayed and talked for a while, then headed back and watched When in Rome that Kayla bought for 10 kuai, roughly $1.30. We were all tired and then went to bed. Rachel and I had trouble at first, realizing that we now go to bed at 10 and think nothing of it. Our usual bedtimes are 2 o’ clock am. I also thought that it was weird because I wake up at 6 everyday, when 8:30 used to be the death of me.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Sleep sleep sleep
Sunday June 6, 2010
Today I slept in for a very long time. It was very nice. After we woke up, Jeremy, Rachel, and I went to the city center to eat and shop around. We went to Papa Johns, which was really nice. It is a classy looking sit down restaurant. We got lots of food, which tasted amazing. The breadsticks weren’t quite as good, but they still came with the delicious dipping sauce. The water they gave us had things floating in it, and appeared to have beans in Rachel and Jeremy’s glasses. Jeremy finally tried it, realizing that it was lemon in the water. I tried it, but it tasted like lemon cleaner. Michael joined us at the end, and then we were too full to shop. We tried but after walking around a bit we decided to come back and nap. On the way back we stopped at an outdoor store and looked at some North Face and Columbia jackets. Jeremy and I are probably going to go back to buy rain jackets. Rachel napped at 6 pm, and I stayed up emailing and reading the news till about 8. Our naps lasted all night, aside from me waking up between 2am- 4:30am. Rachel was dead to the world until morning.
Today I slept in for a very long time. It was very nice. After we woke up, Jeremy, Rachel, and I went to the city center to eat and shop around. We went to Papa Johns, which was really nice. It is a classy looking sit down restaurant. We got lots of food, which tasted amazing. The breadsticks weren’t quite as good, but they still came with the delicious dipping sauce. The water they gave us had things floating in it, and appeared to have beans in Rachel and Jeremy’s glasses. Jeremy finally tried it, realizing that it was lemon in the water. I tried it, but it tasted like lemon cleaner. Michael joined us at the end, and then we were too full to shop. We tried but after walking around a bit we decided to come back and nap. On the way back we stopped at an outdoor store and looked at some North Face and Columbia jackets. Jeremy and I are probably going to go back to buy rain jackets. Rachel napped at 6 pm, and I stayed up emailing and reading the news till about 8. Our naps lasted all night, aside from me waking up between 2am- 4:30am. Rachel was dead to the world until morning.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
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.
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.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Let the Birthday Begin
Friday June 4, 2010
I was really tired in Class today, but very glad it was Friday! We found out that we didn’t have time to get our nails done today, because we had to go to the bank to cash our traveler’s checks and what not to pay our tuition. You have to go to the main Bank of China, because they apparently have a lot of trouble with counterfeit things. It was a really long process- filling paperwork out and standing in lines. It took hours, so Jeremy and I sat and shared life stories to pass the time. Afterward, we headed to dinner at The Box. I had an Italian pizza that was delicious. We also found out that we could maybe use facebook there. We shall see.
Tonight we celebrated part one of my birthday. We went to Ganesh, a bar/restaurant down the street. After, we went to a place called The Hump, which is apparently a youth hostel as well. We danced and made lots of new friends. I got to practice my Chinese some too, which was a lot of fun.
I was really tired in Class today, but very glad it was Friday! We found out that we didn’t have time to get our nails done today, because we had to go to the bank to cash our traveler’s checks and what not to pay our tuition. You have to go to the main Bank of China, because they apparently have a lot of trouble with counterfeit things. It was a really long process- filling paperwork out and standing in lines. It took hours, so Jeremy and I sat and shared life stories to pass the time. Afterward, we headed to dinner at The Box. I had an Italian pizza that was delicious. We also found out that we could maybe use facebook there. We shall see.
Tonight we celebrated part one of my birthday. We went to Ganesh, a bar/restaurant down the street. After, we went to a place called The Hump, which is apparently a youth hostel as well. We danced and made lots of new friends. I got to practice my Chinese some too, which was a lot of fun.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Yoga, McDonalds, and Warm Water
Thursday June 03, 2010
“Day 6- warm water”
This morning Rachel came out of the bathroom saying that she has finally gotten warm water in the shower. You can only get it out of the bath faucet, but that is better than nothing! Finally, warm water. :)
Class was a lot of fun today. The girls all got off a tangent with Liu Laoshi (Comprehensive Chinese Teacher) about how to get our nails done and how much it would be. It equals just a few dollars American. We were very excited. We decided to go tomorrow after class, and our teacher will come with us! Our teachers are wonderful.
We had our first Hulusi class today, which is a Chinese gourd wind instrument. Our teacher doesn’t speak any English, and we didn’t get a translator. He would put music on the board, and the 12 of us would play. It was very noisy. Our teacher would be off on his own in the corner practicing. He looked like he really didn’t want to do this.
We decided today to do the P90X Yoga that Michael had. It was pretty intense, but fun. Afterward, we decided we would make the trip to the city center for Mcdonalds. It was the greatest Mcdonalds I have ever had. We were all very, very happy. We went to one store to see if it was a Polo brand store, but it was just another Polo-like brand. I got a wallet there though, that would fit my Chinese money. We then went to Carrefore, which is a French Wal-mart. It was gigantic. It was Michael, Jeremy, Rachel, and I. There were about 4 floors, and the guys wanted to leave almost immediately (after finding fans for their rooms) but of course Rachel and I wanted to look around a bit. We ended up finding a children’s book section, and I bought some to help me learn.
“Day 6- warm water”
This morning Rachel came out of the bathroom saying that she has finally gotten warm water in the shower. You can only get it out of the bath faucet, but that is better than nothing! Finally, warm water. :)
Class was a lot of fun today. The girls all got off a tangent with Liu Laoshi (Comprehensive Chinese Teacher) about how to get our nails done and how much it would be. It equals just a few dollars American. We were very excited. We decided to go tomorrow after class, and our teacher will come with us! Our teachers are wonderful.
We had our first Hulusi class today, which is a Chinese gourd wind instrument. Our teacher doesn’t speak any English, and we didn’t get a translator. He would put music on the board, and the 12 of us would play. It was very noisy. Our teacher would be off on his own in the corner practicing. He looked like he really didn’t want to do this.
We decided today to do the P90X Yoga that Michael had. It was pretty intense, but fun. Afterward, we decided we would make the trip to the city center for Mcdonalds. It was the greatest Mcdonalds I have ever had. We were all very, very happy. We went to one store to see if it was a Polo brand store, but it was just another Polo-like brand. I got a wallet there though, that would fit my Chinese money. We then went to Carrefore, which is a French Wal-mart. It was gigantic. It was Michael, Jeremy, Rachel, and I. There were about 4 floors, and the guys wanted to leave almost immediately (after finding fans for their rooms) but of course Rachel and I wanted to look around a bit. We ended up finding a children’s book section, and I bought some to help me learn.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Dynamic Yunan
Wednesday June 2, 2010
Today Class was a lot of fun. It is getting easier to listen and speak in Chinese for 4 hours. We went to dinner with the OU Journey to China group who is here for the week. We went to a really nice place where we had the Kunming traditional Cross Bridge Noodles. They give you a giant bowl with soup stuff in it, and plates filled with random foods, a lot of which we had no idea what it was. I took a picture, and will try to get them posted soon. Oh- they also put noodles in our bowl. It tasted really good, and I ate rose petals for the first time. Haha. The dinner had a small performance in it. The performance had 3-4 songs, girls dancing randomly, and guys randomly playing instruments. They were dressed in something like traditional clothing.
Then we went to what they called, “a bigger performance.” It was called Dynamic Yunan, and it was amazing. It was a show that was expressing the cultures of Yunan Province, which there are many. There was lots of dancing, drumming, and singing. They were all dressed in amazing costumes, and the show was just absolutely wonderful. There was this really cool little girl that was in it, and she rule the show for sure. The show is award winning at the Chinese Lotus Festival, or something like that. I definitely know why.
Today Class was a lot of fun. It is getting easier to listen and speak in Chinese for 4 hours. We went to dinner with the OU Journey to China group who is here for the week. We went to a really nice place where we had the Kunming traditional Cross Bridge Noodles. They give you a giant bowl with soup stuff in it, and plates filled with random foods, a lot of which we had no idea what it was. I took a picture, and will try to get them posted soon. Oh- they also put noodles in our bowl. It tasted really good, and I ate rose petals for the first time. Haha. The dinner had a small performance in it. The performance had 3-4 songs, girls dancing randomly, and guys randomly playing instruments. They were dressed in something like traditional clothing.
Then we went to what they called, “a bigger performance.” It was called Dynamic Yunan, and it was amazing. It was a show that was expressing the cultures of Yunan Province, which there are many. There was lots of dancing, drumming, and singing. They were all dressed in amazing costumes, and the show was just absolutely wonderful. There was this really cool little girl that was in it, and she rule the show for sure. The show is award winning at the Chinese Lotus Festival, or something like that. I definitely know why.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Let the Classes Begin
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Today was our first day of classes. We started with two classes of Speaking and Listening, and two classes of Comprehensive Chinese. The classes are only 40 minutes long, and one of our teachers said that in America our classes are too long, and she would fall asleep. Haha. Then we rushed to get to lunch, and pointed at other people’s plates to say what we wanted. Then we came back and I almost finished my book, and then we had Tea Ceremony class. Walking to Class, I met our Tea Ceremony translator, Jane. She was adorable and thought she had horrible English, though it was very good. She is a student majoring in Chinese Teaching as a Second Language. We first watched a powerpoint and video in a very hot room, which made it difficult for me to stay awake. Then we went to a room that we made tea in. Our teacher took us through the process of making the tea, rinsing, etc., and the proper hand position when doing so. When we were finishing up, the cd playing Chinese music started playing 90s American music. Including Enrique Iglesias’s “Hero”, the song that goes, “1, you’re like a dream come true. 2, just want to be with you, etc.”, and Backstreet Boys. We had a good karaoke session while making the tea.
After class we began in another round of Uno that lasted forever. We now call it “Yao” which is Kunming dialect for “One.”
My stomach has gotten worse, and none of my medicine seems to be helping. I am trying to figure out if it is something I am eating that is making my stomach hurt, but I am being careful to stay away from lactose- just in case.
After Uno, Rachel and Jeremy started throwing things at each other. This somehow turned into playing soccer with a towel in our living room thing, in which I was eventually tagged in. It was more like wrestling combined with towel soccer. It was a lot of fun, and our bodies were slightly beat up, especially our feet. We name it Chinese Towel Soccer. We weren’t really hungry, so Rachel and I just went to get snack food for dinner.
Today was our first day of classes. We started with two classes of Speaking and Listening, and two classes of Comprehensive Chinese. The classes are only 40 minutes long, and one of our teachers said that in America our classes are too long, and she would fall asleep. Haha. Then we rushed to get to lunch, and pointed at other people’s plates to say what we wanted. Then we came back and I almost finished my book, and then we had Tea Ceremony class. Walking to Class, I met our Tea Ceremony translator, Jane. She was adorable and thought she had horrible English, though it was very good. She is a student majoring in Chinese Teaching as a Second Language. We first watched a powerpoint and video in a very hot room, which made it difficult for me to stay awake. Then we went to a room that we made tea in. Our teacher took us through the process of making the tea, rinsing, etc., and the proper hand position when doing so. When we were finishing up, the cd playing Chinese music started playing 90s American music. Including Enrique Iglesias’s “Hero”, the song that goes, “1, you’re like a dream come true. 2, just want to be with you, etc.”, and Backstreet Boys. We had a good karaoke session while making the tea.
After class we began in another round of Uno that lasted forever. We now call it “Yao” which is Kunming dialect for “One.”
My stomach has gotten worse, and none of my medicine seems to be helping. I am trying to figure out if it is something I am eating that is making my stomach hurt, but I am being careful to stay away from lactose- just in case.
After Uno, Rachel and Jeremy started throwing things at each other. This somehow turned into playing soccer with a towel in our living room thing, in which I was eventually tagged in. It was more like wrestling combined with towel soccer. It was a lot of fun, and our bodies were slightly beat up, especially our feet. We name it Chinese Towel Soccer. We weren’t really hungry, so Rachel and I just went to get snack food for dinner.
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