Last night my Chinese roommate, Hong Liu, took me out to try some "Nanjing snacks", as she put it. We went to a famous road called Hunan Lu. Neon lights were everywhere and it was full of people eating and shopping. She led me around to different stands where she had me try her favorite snacks. Among the highlights were 金陵鸭血粉丝汤 duck blood noodle soup, 臭豆腐stinky tofu, 梅花高 plum flower cake, and 冰糖葫芦 candied calabash. My favorites were the stinky tofu and the candied calabash. [View Full Entry]

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Every fall in China there is a weeklong national vacation called Golden Week. Some of the other students and I decided to spend out 10 days traveling to and around Tibet. We left for Shanghai last Thursday (September 25), spent the night there and flew from Shanghai to Chengdu Friday morning. At Chengdu we were supposed to switch planes to fly to Lhasa in Tibet but the travel agency we were working with sent us a copy of our entrance permit not the original and we were denied entry. We spent the night in Chengdu while we waited for someone from [View Full Entry]

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This weekend the Chinese celebrated the mid-autumn festival and we got a four-day weekend. My friends Gina, Kristen, and I chose to visit Huang Shan (黄山) which can be literally translated to Yellow Mountain. Huang Shan is a six plus hour train ride North of Nanjing. We left Nanjing Thursday night and bought hard bed tickets for the overnight train ride. Some of our less forward thinking friends headed for a different city on the same train made the mistake of purchasing hard seat tickets. They enjoyed a more cultural 7 hour train ride in extremely close and uncomfortable quart [View Full Entry]

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Thursday, August 22, we left for our class bonding trip in China's Shandong Province. It's a six hour bus ride from Nanjing. We arrived to Tai'an city on Thursday. On Friday we visited Dai Miao, the temple of the god of Mount Tai. After lunch we climbed Mount Tai (泰山: Tài Shān) It was a hard walk up the steps but beautiful at the top. On Saturday we woke up at 5AM to watch the sunrise at the top of the moutain which was beautiful but crowded (as is everything in China). Then we moved onto Qufu, another city in the [View Full Entry]

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It's been a while since I've added any entries. I got to Nanjing two days late due to a hurrican that hit Hong Kong on August 22, the day I was supposed to fly in. After an extra night in Jakarta and a night in Hong Kong- I finally made it to Nanjing University. My study abroad program is an immersion- we're only allowed to speak Chinese on weekdays from 8AM to 4PM... so almost needless to say, I'm not saying much. I've added a few pictures of my dorm room in a Nanjing University international dorm. [View Full Entry]

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Indonesian History Monas We spent the last couple of days touring Jakarta. We visited Monas, the national monument, but decided not to wait in line for two hours in the hot Indonesian sun to go to the top. Instead we visited the museum underneath the monument that gives a brief history of Indonesia. I find the history interesting because any Asian history I’ve learned has been from the European prospective. Colonialism takes on a different meaning when you hear about it from the people whose country was invaded. Being here really humanizes the effects of colonizati [View Full Entry]

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Martabak Manis The other night we had the most amazing dinner. We drove all the way to the other side of Jakarta to a street vendor to buy something called martabak manis. The batter is like pancake batter but they pour it into a really wide pan so that it rises up on the edges. When it’s cooked they slather it with butter and sugar as well as any combination of chocolate sprinkles, crushed peanuts and cheese. (There’s another version avaible called martbak delor which consists of egg and vegetables.) It’s one of my favorite meals yet- we got peanuts and [View Full Entry]

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Last night we got back from our 5 day stay in Bali. I honeslty didn't think Bali would live up to it's beautiful reputation but it actually exceeded it. I don't want to write forever but I'll give the highlights of my favorite places. Pura Besakih On our first day in Bali we visited the largest and oldest temple on the island called Besakih. Patty likened it to Bali's cathedral. People continue to worship there today and we had to use sarongs to cover our knees. The Balinese people have historically been and are predominantly today Hindu. They have their own [View Full Entry]

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I'm writing this blog to keep my family and friends updated on my life abroad this semester. This is my first blog entry, and I've just arrived in Indonesia after 30-some hours of traveling. When I got off the plane I followed the crowd of travelers who needed to purchase visas. We were all greeted by the same sign that reads Welcome to Indonesia Death Penalty for Drug Traffickers. My friend Patty met me at the airport and gave me a short driving tour of Jakarta. We'll do more exploring tomorrow when I'm feeling less jetlagged. [View Full Entry]

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