回美国

This is crazy, the past few days have flown by SO FAST and I have SO MUCH I need to write about, but first things first....I am leaving China in about 4 hours!! This week was a blur of traveling and goodbyes; we tried to cram so much into so little time, and now it is really starting to sink in how much I am going to miss everyone I've gotten so close with here. My laptop is pretty low on battery but I'm sitting at the airport waiting to check my bags and thinking about all that's happened here and what we managed to squeeze into the last week: one last shopping trip at ancient culture street, 2 eighteen hour train rides, a whirlwind trip to Xi'an (which I loved and I must go back), saying goodbye to friends in Tianjin, millions of pictures, and our final crazy day in Beijing. Now there are only a few of us left in China, and I don't know if I will meet up with everyone before we catch our remaining flights, but we all said goodbye last night before going off to different hotels and hostels. The hardest was definitely saying goodbye to Stevie, which was at 7:30 this morning and we were so sleep deprived it didn't even seem like it was real, but I know I will see her again and we will keep in touch for years to come, I'm sure of it. Anyway this is getting really mushy now but you get the gist of it, many touching memories, countless adventures, and friends that I will treasure for the rest of my life. God bless and see you in the states! ...this is not the end of my blog ..still gotta write about a couple of things before I can walk away ;)

So much tea in China! 那么多茶

Today we went back to the tea market! If you can believe it. But there was more tea to be bought! And the highlight of the trip was that we made an awesome new friend, 吴朝花. We talked to her about learning Chinese, about America, and she helped us pick out tea to buy. She was so friendly and we gave her and English name, Jasmine, which she liked a lot. She also told her that Americans all seem very happy and that we have given her a good impression...it is funny for me to go back and try to remember everything we talked about through my broken Chinese, but at the time I felt like I knew exactly what she was thinking =] She told us to come back often and drink tea, and we could teach her some English while she helped with our Chinese. Then we got her QQ screenname and took a picture and said goodbye! Such a good experience, I hope we do keep in touch.

水灾 (Flood)

It is monsooning in Tianjin and Beijing! Last night and this morning it rained and rained and rained ! We didn't venture out of the hotel until finally this afternoon it stopped raining...but everywhere you look it is FLOODED. The street we normally buy food on is about 4 or 5 inches of water, more in some places, and the traffic is terrible, and people are still out and about, still riding their bikes, some walking around with plastic bags around their feet but most just walking around ankle deep in water! It's crazy! I can say I was definitely not prepared for this...it is quite the experience. Anyway when we finally did venture out we wore crappy clothes and old shoes and just went for it...and took long showers afterwards. Here are some of my pictures from the day:

trying to hail a cab

we finally made it to the store!

Goodbyes

We have completed our 6th week of this journey! Sorry for the lack of a Week 5/Week 6 post but I'll write about things that happened in both weeks, don't you worry. The reason this post is titled goodbyes is because this week we had to say goodbye to both our translator, Sophia, and the students from Utah, who were here only on a 6 week program. I have made so many good friends here and it was sad to see them go, but now I have a reason to plan a Utah vacation!
Sophia was supposed to be here with us for 2 more weeks, but her mother unexpectedly got sick, and so Sophia returned home to Xi'an to take care of her. The story of her going away party is a nice one so I'm going to tell that here.
My roommate Stevie had mentioned to Sophie a few weeks into our travels that she wanted to buy a nice tea set for her husband. Sophie said that was a great idea, and she envied him because she wished she had a nice tea set of her own...and we thought "Bingo!! Now we know what to get Sophie as a thank you gift at the end of our trip!!!!" So we asked her to take us shopping to look at tea set, but at the same time we were also secretly trying to figure out which ones she liked best. She took us on the bus to this street with an underground market...kind of like the basements of the shops above but they were all connected. And the market was full of different vendors selling tea, and tea pots, and cups, and whole sets...anything you could ever imagine needing to serve tea! It was a really interesting trip, with so much to look at and teas to smell. Once we had an idea of what to get her, and also looked at things for Stevie's husband, we continued on the rest of the day's shopping adventure...but planned to come back the very next day on our own! So right after class, we booked it to the bus station, waited for the bus to come (I can read bus schedules now, so cool!) and took it back to the same place...found the perfect tea set, bartered with the shop owner, succeeded in getting it for the price we wanted, figured out the buses again, and booked it back to afternoon calligraphy class (because we were planning on presenting her with the gift after class). Needless to say she was very surprised! She new Stevie and I had been sneaky! Our calligraphy teacher wrote 谢谢 (thank you) on the board and then we said our thanks and took a group picture. I know this post is getting really long, but she means a lot to us and we miss her a lot! Hopefully we will be able to visit her in Xi'an when we take our trip there in a couple weeks, but if not I have her email. So happy to have made such a great friend here, she helped us with so much and truly has a pure soul =]

Tianjin Taida!

On Saturday we went to a pro soccer game, our city's team, Tianjin Taida, played Tsingtao's team, the Ultras. At first we sat in our assigned section, which was back behind this big section of cheering fans who had flags and matching jerseys and everything. Then the 15 of us Americans that were there decided to start our own cheer...so we sang the "Ole Ole Oleeeeeeee" cheer and waved our Tianjin scarves...and all the Chinese fans loved it! They turned around and joined in! Then they invited us to come stand and cheer with them! And as we were cheering they started taking lots of pictures, and since they wanted us to look like real fans in the pictures, they gave us free jerseys!! It was all such a surprise, they were so friendly and welcomed us right in. Sports fan sections are universal =]

jerseys!

fans!

soccer players!

stadium!

more fans!

=]

oh yeah and P.S. we did not win we tied 0-0 haha

The Great Wall Part 1!

First off, I'd like to say that this post is in celebration of getting internet back in our room again ! Yay! And now Stevie can watch the CrossFit Games without sitting in the lobby for hours at a time!
Last weekend we visited a section of the Great Wall that runs through the outskirts of Tianjin. It was about a 2 hour drive to get there but that section of the wall is a lot less tourist-heavy than in Beijing. However, this is Part 1 because we are also going to the Beijing site in a couple weeks. Sooooo here are a couple fave pics.

Unfortunately it was a very very foggy day so I didn't get a ton of super clear pics. 

Also, I wanted to tell a story about class today! So between 45 minute sessions of class we have little breaks to go stretch our legs and buy snacks or whatever. And when I came back from one of the breaks, one of my classmates (his name is Mitsuo he is from Japan) was looking at me funny, actually everyone was looking at me and smiling weird. I thought it was just because I got back late. Anyway than Mitsuo says to look under my book...and there is a tiny gecko underneath!! It was super cool and it didn't even move when I lifted the book. I think his prank backfired though because I was not afraid of it, he wanted me to freak out. I picked it up and held it in my hand for a little while and then our teacher got mad because it was a distraction. I wish I had gotten a picture but I did not have my camera on me. That is all! Talk to you soon!

家乐福

Hello! Today I am writing a short blog about going to the supermarket! The name of the supermarket we went to is the title. Stevie and I went with our group's translator, Sophie, who is the cutest person in the world. She is tiny and always wears a little bow in her hair and her English vocabulary is astounding. We biked to the supermarket, and biking in China so far has been really scary , plus the bikes are uncomfortable and I've already had a chain break on me. When we got there there was a huge bike parking lot! And then we went inside...and it was giant. Stevie took pictures on her phone, but they have every food item imaginable, plus toiletries and even places for shoes and bags and souvenirs. But we bought so many fun Chinese snacks! So far my favorite is puffed rice bar that tastes kind of like an American rice krispie treat, but way better. They have every kind of bread/bakery item and lots of fresh fish and seeds and grains and tofu and noodles. It was really fun going and looking at all the new things!! Some labels on the food I can read and some I cannot -but I try to ask whenever I don't know. Stevie learned how to say peanut butter today, I think it is 花生酱. Sophie made both Stevie and I talk to the people that worked there to ask them to help us weigh things (candy) and we had to order donuts at the bakery. Afterwards we paid for everything and rode home on our bikes, stopping along the way to buy a flash drive for Stevie that was only 35 元, the equivalent of about 5 U.S. dollars for 8 G. Okay that is my story for the day. Talk to you later!

Week 4

Hi! I don't have any new photos uploaded yet but I need to post! We are officially halfway done with our adventure. Crazy to think we've been here for an entire month! This week was full of events, some good some bad. First of all on Monday everyone was exhausted from the Taishan trip, and in class all of our teachers were asking why we were so tired and why we didn't go to bed earlier. So because we were so tired they ended up letting us out early! Then on Tuesday a bunch of us got the flu and missed class =[ myself included. I think we all got the same bug from each other while spending 5 hours together on the bus. But it only lasted 1 day for me, so Wednesday I got to go back to class and have fun again. Every Wednesday now we have calligraphy class (书法课）where we learn to write characters with traditional brush and ink, and I really enjoy it. I still cannot even write my name yet though! We only learn a couple of strokes at a time and each one is hard to master. The teacher is really friendly, he is learning a little English from us and I try to understand as much of his Chinese as I can. Also, Wednesday was the 4th of July!! We celebrated by dressing in red white and blue all day. Some people got to sing patriotic songs to their teachers in class (not me) and then at night we went to an international bar called Helen's where we got pizza and burgers and listened to American music! I had a lot of fun but then it was pouring rain when we left and our cab driver was really mean (to say the least) On Thursday I had a really good day, because I made a new Chinese friend! His English name is Charles, and I met him through my other friend Faye (非一）because he is nice enough to lend me an old cell phone while I am here. The three of us with a couple other friends got lunch together and went to the cellphone store to buy a charger. Then we also got ice cream. And now I have been texting my Chinese friends all the time!! Getting the phone was definitely the highlight of my week, because I miss texting and having a phone that works so much, and now I can use it to practice Chinese.

That is all I will write for now, I want to do a weekend post later because we finally got to go to the Great Wall! Okay I love and miss everyone!!!

Climbing Tai Shan

our tour guide Jim 

泰山(Tai Shan aka Mount Tai)

cable cars!

Our adventure on Tai Shan was awesome. We also visited Confucius' hometown. Climbing the mountain consisted of a bus ride, a couple thousand steps, many stops for incense and souvenirs, and then a cable car ride all the way down. When we finally made it back to Tianjin at the end of the weekend, I think we all had a really weird sensation of coming back "home" to our hotel here...we have been living together about 3 and a half weeks now and all know each other very well. We also really have a routine here and are used to the comforts of our hotel. Silly how that happens but it was nice returning after a long, exhausting trip.

Week Three yea yea yea

So I'm in a hotel room surrounded by ROTC cadets "furiously studying" Chinese characters (...with some some background music of Britney Spears lol) because the Level 1 students have their first big test tomorrow! This week has been a blur of studying...us Level 3-ers had a big test this morning, but I definitely felt prepared. I have also been busy getting back into the groove of working out (Chinese food is giving me a tummy) so we've been running at night when the air isn't as bad, and still swimming a lot. Last week after I blogged I got to hang out with my language partner (a student here at Nankai) and that got dinner with a couple of other cadets and their language partners. It is really rewarding to be able to translate for my American friends when our Chinese friends can't quite find the right English word, or vice versa. Also, when we have a class with a teacher that doesn't speak English at all, they bring in a translator (her name is Sophia and she's super cool). But I find I am needing to listen to the translations less and less! Okay I am really scatter brained now because everyone in here is now singing The Fray. It is hard to focus, almost as hard to focus as if I were to have a lawnmower chewing through my foot right now. This weekend we have Friday free from class yeah!! We are going to Taishan mountain in Shandong province and we will be seeing Confucius' hometown. Hopefully even more pictures from that adventure!! Love to all and hope that everyone is having fun back in the states.

Stevie taking one of her famous handstand pics!

OH p.s. the title is "yea yea yea" because that is what me and my roommate Stevie sing...all the time. I am really lucky we get along so well and that I have such a good roomie =]

Week Two

Boring titles for the posts I know...but time flies so quick here and I want to include so much at once!!!
Since I wrote last Friday, we went to a club/bar called Si Tong and had a blast!! There was a live group and they sang tons of American songs that made us feel right at home. Everybody danced with everybody and a few people were even invited onstage to sing. On the weekend I had a lot of fun shopping, too.
During this week though...I found out that I am allergic to..everything?! I don't know why but during class on Wednesday I suddenly broke out in hives! I haven't had anything different to eat or drink...and that day I had the same breakfast that we eat at the hotel every morning. Medicine quickly resolved the issue, but a few of us have been having a little trouble adjusting to the food and air, so this was kind of a recovery week from all the initial excitement of traveling and settling in. Last night I felt a lot better though and a few of us went back to the market and got ice cream :)
This afternoon I am meeting with my Chinese language-partner and I think we are going to explore Tianjin a little bit, and then maybe I'll get some help with my homework.

Oh, also, our teachers love to ask us to sing and dance for them in class...so today we showed Li Laoshi how to cat daddy and then we sang party rock anthem for her...she was very amused.

More later! 周末快乐!(happy weekend)

Week 1 Highlights

大家好! I've been slow on posts!! No new pictures today, sorry, but here's the week's update:

One of my best experiences in Tianjin so far was walking through the marketplace the other day with a few of the other students. I saw a huge building with fresh fruits, veggies, fish, grains, clothing, etc. like no market I've ever seen in the U.S. Then we stopped in a random restaurant and they ended up being so friendly! Me and another student, Rowland, had the most Chinese-speaking-experience of the group so we figured out how and what to order...some shop owners are not very patient with this but these ones were. Everything was delicious and we drank some Chinese beer too, "Tsingtao". It was an all-around great day.

I have had some really rewarding language experiences already! There is a swim shop around the corner from our hotel, and so far I have gone there with 3 separate groups of students on 3 different days to help them buy goggles/suits/swim caps. The shop owner's Chinese is relatively easy to understand (compared to a lot of people here) and he loves me for bringing him business haha. We've also had a lot of trouble getting student passes to the university pool here, but in the process I've gotten a lot of practice speaking to the lifeguards! When we talk to people here, they always want to know where we're from, how long we've studied Chinese, when we'll graduate, things like that. I also learned that the lifeguard's younger sister is in Michigan right now! He thought it was cool that I knew where that was.

Alright, that is all for now...I have a lot of homework to do so I can enjoy my weekend! Have fun in America everybody!!!

Friendship Inn

 Ducks come in and vacuum while we're away..

 These may seem like strange pictures but I said I wanted to blog about the hotel...so I am.
The name of our hotel is Friendship Inn or 友谊之家. We arrived really late on Saturday night and it was all kind of a blur and overwhelming -our teachers met us in the lobby, which was a nice gesture but most of us had not slept or showered and really all we wanted to do was get upstairs and go to bed!
So once we get upstairs..there are normal things you look for in a hotel when you're American; closet, dresser, iron/ironing board, sometimes a hair dryer, etc. We don't have any of these, the biggest hindrance being the lack of storage space for clothing. Also, I know people don't really want to see a picture of our toilet..but you can see in the picture the door handle which may seem odd. The doors and walls of the shower and bathroom are all glass! There is a pull down blind on one side, and a curtain for the shower, but the front is still open. This is so odd, I don't know why they do this and I think we might buy a curtain or something. Anyway other than that the hotel staff are friendly and we go downstairs and eat complimentary breakfast everyday (the food here is a whole different story ^_^ ) and then cross a huge busy street to get to class. My roommate is Stevie Hope, she is 26, married, and in Army ROTC. She is awesome and does Cross Fit so hopefully she will get me out of this room and working out on the nice days. The weather here is good but hot, and the pollution is pretty bad when it's not raining so it's harder to run outside.

Okay this is a lot of information for now but we are still learning so much every day! I am putting pictures on Facebook for more of a daily update but I want blogs here to be more detailed so they take a little longer.
Have fun in the States everybody and bye for now!

It works!!

Hurray I have access to my blog!! So today was a crazy crazy long day of travel and I am so glad to be finally settling down in the hotel room and taking a break. Both my flights took off without a hitch, and the 13 hours from Newark to Beijing passed a lot quicker than I thought it would. The most exciting thing was stepping out into the Beijing airport and looking out the window -my first glance of China! After myself and another guy from our tour group who was on my flight made it down the escalator after customs, we saw a sign for University of Utah -the second most exciting thing! And we met up with more people in our tour group.
I made my first purchase with Chinese currency: a waterbottle from Starbucks. Also very exciting. I also ate at my first real Chinese restaurant.
Now I am just chillin in my pjs waiting to go to bed. Figuring out technology and other general things with this hotel is a whole different can of worms that I want to share tomorrow! And hopefully pictures soon.

Bye for now,

-Jen

Indy Airport

I tried to post with my blackberry but it didn't really work. I made it to the Indy airport!! In about 40 min. will be leaving for Newark, then at 1155 leaving for Beijing!!!
There is a dog in the airport that keeps barking...why is there a dog in the airport??
I am super nervous and jittery from coffee, haven't slept since yesterday at 6 am for about an hour...awesome.
This may be the last post if everything fails with internet once I get to China, but hopefully not.
Much love to all my friends in Bloomington, especially those that helped me pack and move out =]
Here we go!

24 hours til airport

Ta-da! I created a blog for my China trip. I am prettyyyy nervous right now and still packing.