Final Notes~

Today was a sad last day :(

No one is here, so even though I was out doing a bunch of things (I finished getting the souvenirs! Finally lol), I was still a bit bored. On top of these melancholy feelings, it was also dismal and gray and sorta drizzly today. Tomorrow morning it's supposed to thunderstorm and I have to catch a cab to the airport =3=

Anyway, this will probably be my last post on this blog, since I'm gonna be checking out of here in the morning and then on the 13.5 hour flight back home~ wahhh I don't want to leave, but now that the time is here, I'm ready to go home. But the point is, all the things I haven't said yet or posted yet, hopefully I've got them all and they'll be here! Yay, closing!

Reflections: Children, Highways/traffic/cars, Trees, Pets, & Bike Locks

Children

I know, I already posted about children. But I have something more specific to talk about, although it still involves their clothes (haha). I've found that a lot of times, if the child doesn't appear to have dressed him-/herself, they completely match with their parental figures. I've noticed a lot where one parent will match a child, but I've also noticed entire families dressed in the exact same outfit and it is beautiful. The fashion around here is different from that of Dallas, where normally you'll wear one pattern and everything else is a solid that matches. Here, you're either wearing black & white, or you're wearing multiple bold colored patterns, or you're wearing an entire outfit that is completely the same (imagine a black & white polka-dot shirt... and that same pattern is on the pants and that's what you're wearing... and that is what your entire 4 person family is wearing). I really like seeing them like that haha it's kind of cool.


Highways/traffic/cars

So there are three words used here because I have three stories, but they're all essentially related so just bear with me. On most of the major highways I've been around over here, there are under- and overpasses for pedestrians and bikers, which I think is fantastic. There are stairs going up to a bridge or going down into a tunnel that crosses the highway, and along the stairs is a ramp, so if you have a suitcase or a bike or a stroller, you can roll it with you instead of trying to carry it. I really wish there were more in Dallas. But Beijing does a lot for its pedestrians and bikers, since not a lot of people can drive/have cars. Because of this, my fear of crossing the street has decreased dramatically. I no longer sprint across the street, but rather I do as the Beijingers do - stand partially in the street and sometimes, if the light is red and maybe there are two cars turning, I'll just weave between the cars and cross. It sounds dangerous, I guess, but actually doing it is something else. Because there are bike lanes, there's a lot more room for people to stand on the street without worrying that a car will come. All you have to look out for are scooters & electric bikes & stuff. Usually you never do anything alone here, so I always engage in this dangerous activity with the grandmas & grandpas (because if they're doing it, it's gotta be fine). Also, doing this is actually sometimes safer than walking on the sidewalks, which also apparently double as driveways and parking lots. Today, for example, I weaved through a parking lot sidewalk in front of a bank (people park there so often that they actually just drew spaces on the sidewalk), crossed through an underpass, and continued on the other side of the street. I looked up and a grandma was staring at me from way up in her apartment... and then I turned around and there was a taxi getting ready to run me over.


Trees

Even though there's crazy amounts of smog sometimes, and the public bathrooms smell disgusting (I don't think I'd ever get used to it, even if I lived here for years), and there's all sorts of DIY crazy construction going on, there are still so many trees and plants in Beijing. It's beautiful, I wish there were more trees in Dallas.


Pets

While fish are popular, and I've seen shops selling turtles (something about them bringing good luck?????), small to medium-sized dogs take the cake. There are so many little dogs everywhere... especially fluffy ones. And they're typically dolled up - most of them wear shoes. I'd have to say that most of the small dogs were unleashed, but the vast majority of mid-sized dogs I've seen had leashes. It's pretty interesting. But I still like big dogs the best <3


Bike Locks

Apparently, this is the #1 need-to-have-item. Literally if anything needs to be locked, people will use a bike lock. Want to keep people from stealing your bike? Bike lock. Want to close up your shop and go home? Lock the doors with a bike lock. And because people use bike locks a lot, they just carry them around. Like, in their purses and stuff. I don't even know...


And that's it for reflections! Now, a few pictures of things:

 

Made a friend while walking back from dinner tonight! BeiShiDa cats are more friendly than SMU cats.

I couldn't remember if I'd taken a picture of it, but this is where I've been staying

At the mall today I found Yu Yu Hakusho/Kurama/Hiei (Kuwabara where you at?!)

My favorite of the two subway stations closest to school

The yellow sign is the Japanese restaurant, then the two red signs further down are, from nearest to furthest, the Korean place & the Shaanxi place. And I just now realized that I've forgotten to take pictures of the Taiwanese & noodles places that I went to... darn.

Flowers outside of school~

Smile Mart is a Korean convenience store I'd go to sometimes

The bakery~

In the mall, all the ads are for SAT/GRE/TOEFL tutors... work harder, kids.

I kept forgetting to take pictures of the grocery store that I go to... I went there so many times in the past two days and I just kept forgetting and ugh but it's too late now. And the picture of the boba place & the waffle place is missing??? Oh well, I'll just have to come back ;) haha

Well, by this time tomorrow I'll be home! Wait... time zones... maybe I won't?? I'll be home Sunday evening, let's just leave it at that. So... see you all soon!!

晚安，早上好！

Souvenirs & I'M DONE

I just had a thought as I was organizing my thoughts on buying the last few souvenirs for people tomorrow:

I'm in China.
Things in the U.S. are made in China.
Whatever I get you, you can probably also get it back home.


So if I'm getting you a souvenir, I'm trying to get something you can enjoy that also has a, "oh, this was probably also bought in Asia because it's kind of funny/weird?????"

... Just be prepared. I mean, I guess it also helps that I'm really bad at buying gifts, so they'd probably be weird, anyway. Sorry?????


ALSO I'M DONE HERE'S PROOF

 

Duang~

I don't think I've ever been so nervous for an exam before.

I've been studying all day and I still don't feel prepared >>

So I'll work some more, I guess.

Haha I can't even reflect on anything because my mind is only filled with vocabulary that I may or may not remember tomorrow morning. Oh! I can try to make a game show tag out of it again.

-----

553 words.

102 PPT slides.

81 grammar structures.

2 hours.

1 test.

1 girl.

Watch the shocking season finale of Rianna's stay in China live tomorrow morning at 9AM CST.*

*once again, this is China Standard Time.

------

Ugh but I'm so sleepy... I've studied too long :(

晚安，早上好！ FIGHTING~ DUANG~  

The Stuff of Nightmares

So I meant to post last night, but by the time I remembered, my internet had cut out because the lady at the front desk had lied to me last week >> But I got it fixed, so I'm posting now~

Yesterday evening was crazy. I went to a restaurant for an early dinner, since I hadn't eaten a lot for lunch and I was hungry. I ordered a chicken curry soup & some garlic broccoli. This is what I received:

 

Not chicken-curry soup, a pork chop, and spicy black fungus mushroom things

I'm not sure why they gave me this, but I guess something happened with my order?? The lady came and said some stuff to me while she was bringing my food out, so I guess she was explaining what happened, but all I could do was nod and give the okay because whatever they were doing, it was already done and I was going to get it whether I wanted it or not. It was all delicious, though, so at least I didn't suffer any haha

 Then I walked a while & went to a bookstore. I found a set of 3 cookbooks there, but I'm not sure what was in them since they were wrapped, so I didn't buy them yet. I'll probably go back soon & if I don't find cookbooks in the other bookstores around~

Then today... oh man. 

After class, the teachers bought pizza for everyone, since the second year students (some of them, anyway) were going to be interviewed on CCTV??? My teacher and I were confused why they were going, since they're the most unruly and least polite class on this trip (it's a fact, I don't feel bad for saying so), on top of knowing the least Chinese (excluding the one first-year student). But that's okay, I've already been on CCTV so I was fine with not going and being interviewed in front of a live audience that would later be broadcast to around 10 million people :D (I feel like that sounds more sarcastic than I wanted it to... I'm genuinely glad I didn't have to do that haha)

So, since we weren't going, a friend of mine & I went to the market across the street from the zoo... and the best way to describe it would be, "Post-Apocalyptic Pearl Market: Rebuilding". Anyway, everything there was super cheap and there weren't a lot of tourists, so it was really great! I bought souvenirs for four people~

Anyway, this relates to the title: I wanted to look for a duffel bag so I could pack all the souvenirs in it and not have to worry about them when I go through security. So we went into this place where there were only bags (suitcases, duffels, backpacks, etc.) and I found one area with decent-sized duffels. The guy was trying to sell one to me, and I said I wasn't sure that it was what I wanted, but I'd come back if I didn't see anything else. AND THEN HE STARTED CHASING ME. He grabbed my backpack to keep me from leaving the store, and my friend freaked out and so did I and we managed to get out and started walking away through a crowd of people... AND THEN WE TURNED AROUND AND HE WAS STILL CHASING US. The guy himself was not scary, I definitely could have taken him in a fight, but THE FACT THAT HE KEPT CHASING US WAS BOTH HILARIOUS AND HORRIFYING I WAS LAUGHING SO HARD I STARTED CRYING BECAUSE IT WAS SO ABSURD. So basically I'm super traumatized and I never want to see duffel bags again (which is a shame, because I should still probably get one...) and I will have nightmares tonight where I'm walking around in a post-apocalyptic store with alternating jeans (there were a lot of these) stores and bag stores and the guy will just be standing a standard 10 ft behind me saying "guo lai" ("come here," basically) and I might die. He might even appear in my room like the faun in Pan's Labyrinth oh my goodness I'm sleeping with the lights on again~

Other than that, I had a good day! Time for reflections:

Today's Reflections: Money, Children, Water

Money

As I didn't grow up over here, I still don't fully understand the way prices are listed in places at grocery stores and stuff, so I never really know if I'm paying the actual price of the item or an inflated "foreigners" price. Even if you speak Chinese well, as a foreigner, you typically end up paying higher prices (or starting at a much higher price than your average Chinese citizen would for bargaining). Normally you'll hear that if you speak Chinese, they will really like you and give stuff to you really cheap... but that hasn't really been the case in my experience. I try to be nice to everyone (normal, I guess), so some people are nice and let me off the hook, but sometimes I still have to wonder if maybe I'm paying too much... and then I realize that I'm paying with a currency weighed 1:5 or 1:6 against the dollar and that kind of makes me feel a bit better :)


Children

CHINESE KIDS ARE SO CUTE OMG. I actually don't have much to say about the kids except for that... but they're really funny. They'll stare at you and smile and wave and wear the most mismatched outfits (it's pretty interesting because kids who aren't potty trained yet will wear pants that are crotchless and buttless so that they can go potty without ruining their clothes and then no one has to worry about diapers haha) but no matter what they do they're still adorable. They're spoiled but still super polite and they respect people older than them and I wish all little kids could be like that.


Water

Before I came here, I heard that I'd have a hard time because alcohol is cheaper than water... and whoever told me that is a liar! I can buy a 1.5L water bottle for 2-3 RMB. From what I hear from my classmates, that is not the case for any kind of alcoholic beverage. So it saves you money to drink more water than to go out every weekend and drink~ Also in a lot of restaurants you can get hot water or tea for free! But unlike in America, you can bring other foods or drinks into restaurants and no one really cares, so I often buy tea or water from a grocery store & drink it with my meal, and then I don't have to worry about trying to figure out the drink menu hahaha


Okay, time to finish my homework!

晚安，早上好！  

Early Notes

I was thinking about a couple of things and wanted to write them down real quick, so I wouldn't forget later :)

I really like my class. During class time, it's a culture and vocabulary lesson for me. During the breaks and after class, though, it's a culture and vocabulary lesson for my teacher. She teaches me about China, and I teach her about America. It's a lot of fun - today's lesson was about how dinners have become more and more like a wild animal museum because of all the strange things people eat, like crocodiles and ostriches and snakes and stuff. The America lesson was about national landmarks (Grand Canyon, Gateway Arch, Statue of Liberty, etc.), Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Twilight (and how bad it is), and how Harry Potter unites mine & Aric's generations lol


On another note, I was watching Running Man and apparently a few years ago they had come to Beijing. And watching this cracks me up. If you want to know what it's like sometimes, trying to order food and talking to people, skip to 48:43 and watch until about 51:34. I wish there was a clip, but I couldn't find one. But literally this is me all the time and I showed my teacher and she just laughed because she knows it's true hahaha

MUTTON KEBOBS

Please make me some. They've been coming up all day today, but my plans to go eat some fell through :( So please bring me some kebobs~

Oh. Without my realizing, suddenly there is a thunderstorm. Hello!

Monday's Reflection: Bell Peppers, Doors, Toilet Paper

There were actually other things I wanted to talk about, but as soon as I started typing this, I forgot them. So I'll write them down when I remember & write about them later :)

Bell Peppers

Okay, as a child, I really liked eating bell peppers raw. For some reason, they tasted really good to me. Now, I can still eat them, but I don't like them as much. I also don't particularly like the texture of cooked peppers, so when they appear in dishes, I tend to avoid them.

In China, in my experience, if you get less than 1/2 a bell pepper (of any color) in your dish, you're lucky. There's always so much... even if I really liked them, I still don't think I'd be able to always completely finish them off. It's kind of crazy, actually. But other vegetables tend to be used sparingly. The name of the dish might specifically mention broccoli, but actually you will have only 3-5 added as decoration. It might say "beef & eggplant" but actually it should be called "beef & peppers with some eggplant mixed in here and there". Are they easier to grow here? Why do you guys use so many?! I'm just curious.


Doors

In Texas, doors to businesses are always closed. Mostly it's probably due to safety, but also it's either really hot or really cold or raining so the goal is to keep that outside and make it comfortable inside. Here, if the door is closed, it usually means that the business is closed. Even when the pollution is bad, the doors are still open (for the most part) - most entries have plastic covering them so that the doors can be open but the outside stays outside. So forgive me for being hesitant when I'm going places if the door is closed...


Toilet Paper

So I had heard from my teachers a while back that a lot of restrooms here don't have toilet paper, and that you should always carry some on you. So I brought 6 rolls of toilet paper with me. And I haven't even used one of them.

It's only in the older public bathrooms that you need to have your own toilet paper. Most places have it, so no one has to carry it around. People carry around small packets of tissues (but these can also be used as napkins, towels, etc. - so versatile!). So now I have to bring 6 rolls of toilet paper back home with me...



Augh, things keep happening that will make me miss this place even more. The other day I wen to the waffle place... and they gave it to me for free~ And the meat buns guy greeted me in a store... and the timid security guard who always acted shy when I greeted him smiled at me today... UGH WHY ARE YOU ALL BEING SO NICE WHEN I'M ABOUT TO LEAVE T^T

Oh well. T-4 days until the final exam/closing ceremony.

晚安，早上好！ 

奥体中心，鸟巢 (Bird's Nest!)

This weekend feels like it was very long, and I'm exhausted, but it was all so worth it~

Tonight my friend & I went to Olympic Park as our last sightseeing trip before going home. It was soooo worth it, especially since we went at night, so everything was all lit up & pretty! But it made taking pictures a bit difficult, since our phones kept messing up & turning HDR off, air & light pollution, and random other stuff. But we did our best, so here's the results:

The quality... but also the guy next to me

Water Cube

2015

Official Water Cube ticketing ad?!

Bird's Nest

Most of the park but so many lights I'm sorry

But the soul still burns?

Olympic tower + kids learning to skate?

Wall of winners~

IBM building????

I'm really glad we went here, because seeing it on TV & actually being in the park are totally different. Watching it, you'd imagine that there's a lot going on, so many people, and therefore a rather stressed atmosphere... but being there was so relaxed! Even though there were a lot of people, it's so big, but everything's really close so there's no need to rush anywhere. It makes me want even more to go to an Olympic competition!

And now begins the last week of my stay in China :(

For all of you who asked me for souvenirs, that's my goal for this week! So I'm probably not going to post many pictures. But I'll do a bit of reflecting, I think, so when  it comes time to leave, I hopefully won't leave with any regrets or the feeling that I missed something. I'm also planning on posting pictures of the places that I often go to - all the restaurants/food stalls/grocery stores that became an everyday place to go, but never fully appreciated (??).

Uwah, I don't want to leave yet~ While maybe I wouldn't want to live in Beijing, since it's a bit expensive (I hear), I'd like to travel Asia sometime and just be over here for a longer amount of time. Don't get me wrong, America is all good & well, but being over here is also surprisingly comfortable :) I really want to come back sometime later on!

And with that, I'm going to bed~

晚安，早上好！