So today we got back to Beijing from one of the most amazing trips. I have just spent the last week in Southern China (where it is supposed to be tropical but was definitely cold) and had a wonderful time. Once again, I got to see so many interesting things and such beautiful scenery. You will have to check out these pictures for sure, even though it was cloudy the entire time. Ok, so I will begin at the beginning and walk you through each day of this trip, and I will try not to forget anything. It is going to [View Full Entry]

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I just got back last night from Inner Mongolia or Nei Mongol and had a blast. I am also sore all over from the saddle, but it was so worth it. Cait and I left our dorms in Beijing at 4:30 in the morning on the first of October for the beginning of China’s National Day Holiday in order to catch the bus and drive the supposedly 7 hour drive to Hohhot. It was a rainy start as we stood in the one lone store open at that time to avoid the rain and waited for the buses and all the [View Full Entry]

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I haven’t written anything for a while because for the most part I’ve been focusing on classes. And my classes are pretty much consuming my life, but in a mostly good way. In this blog, I am just going to catch everyone up on what’s been happening in the last few weeks all in one post. First of all, I am finally learning some real Chinese. More than just the few words I needed to order food and greet people. I also know the name of my university - “dui wei jing mao da xue” - in Chinese and could use [View Full Entry]

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Hello Everyone! It has been a little while since my last blog entry, but I haven't been up to much since we got back from our trip. Classes have just started up and so far they are a blast. My Chinese language class has about eight people in it and we spent the first three classes working on pronunciations and tones. Chinese is a lot harder of a language to learn because it is written in characters and not a phonetic alphabet. That means you have to know what the sign means and how to pronounce it from memory... you can't [View Full Entry]

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Right now I am sitting in yet another internet cafe, this time in Xi'an (pronounced Chee-ahn). We just left the Gansu Province and Xiahe which is inhabited mostly by the Tibetan Buddhist people. The location was absolutely gorgeous as we were almost completely surrounded by green mountains on all sides. Xiahe is a small monastery city that closes up around 7:30 or 8 every night except for one or two places that stay open for tourists. We visited the monastery first and got tours throughout most of the compound area. The place also acts as a Tibetan medicine school and overall [View Full Entry]

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Alright, I am currently sitting in an internet cafe attached to my hotel in Jiayuguan and want to try to update what I have done in the last week. After we left Urumqi, we went to Turpan and spent one night with the local Uigur people. Turpan is known for its grapes and I got to experience them first hand. When we first arrived in the village, they had us go out to the grape fields and pick grapes from the low hangin arbors. They are probably the sweetest grapes I have ever tasted in my life. For the rest of [View Full Entry]

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Today is the second day of our 16 day tour of China. We flew in from Beijing yesterday and will continue east along the general path of the ancient silk road until we get to Xi'an. After we arrived yesterday, all 60 students in our group from TBC went to the International Bazaar. We shopped for a few hours amid the scarves, jewelry, and other knick-knack items. I did not buy anything yesterday because I wanted to know a good price before I bargained, but I asked around for starting prices for the scarves. In the afternoon, the tour guides had [View Full Entry]

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To give you the update, I met with Dong yesterday, who is a volunteer for the Olympics in the Transportation section and was asked to find a English-speaking foreigner so the police could practice speaking English and helping them find their way or help in case they were having any problems. I would have loved to help, but today was our free day and I had to get some shopping done for the trip. I did tell her that I would help in the future if it worked out. Today I went Jonas, her host student, and her host student’s friend [View Full Entry]

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I have now been in Beijing for several days and have learned some very basic phrases like ni hau (hello), xie xie (thank you), and bu yau (no want). That is pretty much it so far. Two days ago, we went on a tour of old Beijing where we saw the Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square, and Houhai Lake and bar area. It is very interesting to be stared at so blatantly by large quantities of people and have random people taking pictures of you. I kept having to remind myself that I am a foreigner and stand out… otherwise I [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday we arrived in China in the afternoon and moved into our dorm rooms that evening. I was completely exhausted and ready to sleep, but held off until 9:30 (I heard it was best to hold off and not take any naps to fight the jet lag). The airport was a little overwhelming with all the people pushing their own way and not waiting and allowing others to pass in front of them. And everything is in Chinese. It’s a little scarier than not understanding Spanish or French or something like that, but we had people all along the way to [View Full Entry]

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