I was going to go to Guizhou tomorrow, but when I went to pick up my tickets, the lady at the agency said that my money was being refunded to due lack of interest! Sheesh. Apparently I was the only one that signed up. The agency couldn't reach me last week since I was in Taiwan. No one was kidding when my tutor and my mom told me that Guizhou was not a popular vacation spot. Darn. Oh well. I decided to take a two-day trip to Putuoshan instead. Putuo mountain is a 4 hour ferry ride away, and one of [View Full Entry]

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I had a morning flight to Macau. My flight was actually cancelled the day before, and when I called to confirm, they put me on an earlier plane. Good thing my auntie told me to call the airline. I guess she's had that happen a few times in the past. My cousin arranged a car for me to the airport and the driver wouldn't stop talking to me about Buddhism. I really just wanted to sleep and not listen, but I politely listened anyway, considering my getting to the airport in a safe, timely manner was in his hands. When I [View Full Entry]

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I'm still in Taipei visiting. Monday I had dinner with my Uncle and Aunt. We actually had dinner at my Uncle's company's restaurant/cafe since he had to go back to work. My uncle is the CEO/Founder of a magazine and publishing company. I knew he was successful, but it's great to see how accomplished he is. He has a new book out and his magazine is sold everywhere. I didn't realize that until I actually went to a Taiwan bookstore/drugstore/etc. I'm staying with my mom's eldest sister - she's in her 70s! I have to say she's a pretty hip senior. [View Full Entry]

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Saturday afternoon I flew to Macau and transferred to Taipei. Because of political reasons, there are not any direct flights. This is such a pain and makes airfare especially expensive. I left a bit late on Saturday because I had to volunteer Saturday morning. One of the students said something funny to me. She said that she likes my voice and thinks that the way I speak English sounds like a melody. She said when she rides the bus home my voice is still playing in her head like a song. Haha. It was a nice thing to say, but I [View Full Entry]

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Today in Chinese class we watched this movie called "Gua sha" which is about a Chinese immigrant family who gets caught in a legal battle over a cultural misunderstanding. The young Chinese son is thought to be abused by his father, but really he just had gua sha performed on him. Gua sha is a scraping treatment thar is supposed to help cure or prevent illnesses. The scraping causes welts on the back, and can easily be perceived as abuse. Anyway, interesting movie and I would recommend a watch to understand some cultural differences between Americans and Chinese people. I read [View Full Entry]

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Test: Phew... Chinese test went better than I expected. I don't know how to read a lot of the words without the romanization, but the excerpt that the teacher selected happened to be the lesson I studied the most. Phew. Goes to show how tests sometimes prove nothing about ability. Then I had to talk 5 minutes about what kinds of things in life bring us personal convenience, but also problems to society. And then another 3-5 minutes on my perspective about marriage, using some vocabulary words listed. That was pretty tough for me. After my test I went shopping to [View Full Entry]

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So I have a few free days next week and I'm considering going on a Chinese tour group to Guizhou, a province in China. Guizhou is one of the more poorer provinces, and not typically a vacation spot for foreigners. Guizhou is known to be home for a lot of China's ethnic minorities. Do you know there are 56 kinds of Chinese people? Anyway, I'm a little weary about hanging with a group of locals, probably OLD people! However, I came to China to learn Mandarin, understand Chinese people/culture, travel and just have a good time! The worst that can happen [View Full Entry]

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Apartment Y5000 a month Internet Y130 a month Taxi meter starts at Y11 Nofu Spring Water Y1.20 Subway single leg Y3 Breakfast pancake Y1 Pirated dvd Y7 Deluxe foot massage Y88 Starbucks latte Y24 Text message China mobile Y0.10 each. Pair of socks Y10 Admission into Shanghai Museum Y10 Dumplings at Nanxiang Xiao Long Y11 [View Full Entry]

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I can't believe it's time to pay rent again! Next week I owe my landlord yet another huge wad of cash. I have to remember to go to the ATM everday this week. I had to withdrawal my maximum from both ATM cards today to pay for my airplane ticket to Taiwan. My grandmother, who I haven't seen in 15+ years, lives there. It will be awkward and fun to see her and my relatives there. I have a college friend who lives in Taipei as well. On my way back I'm stopping over in Macau. The day I'm there is [View Full Entry]

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Yay for me! My blog magically reappeared! I guess a lot of the entries were somehow restored. How great for the webmaster/admin. I bet a lot of time was spent trying to get them back. Travelblog is hosted by just one guy - I think it's not really for profit either. Anyway, I am thankful that I got most of my entries and photos back. :) So I have a Chinese test next week. I'm in trouble because part of the test is oral reading. Umm... of the 1,500 I'm supposed to know, I can literally read 300. I have to [View Full Entry]

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