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Published: August 27th 2009
Hello again everyone! Before I start this blog I want thank everyone for sending me messages. It's pretty cool to see what you all are thinking and it's nice to know people are keeping up with what I'm doing. Hope everyone is doing well.
Jining I must say, my time in Jining was very different from last summer. Although I saw many of the same people, it was as though they treated me even more as a member of their family. Ranran's mom (a yi - aunt) and dad (shushu - uncle) took very good care of me. I had forgotten what hunger felt like. Every lunch and dinner there was endless food that I could never finish! We really need to import REAL Chinese food to America.
Inner Mongolia is known for it's mutton and for some reason it's more juicy and tender than other meat. Thinking about it now makes my mouth water.
Almost everyday one of Ranran's uncles or aunts would treat us to food. I never knew there were so many nice restaurants in the country side of China. The people were so kind and the service was always great. There was one
restaurant which was really unique from the rest. It was a traditional Mongolian restaurant. While we ate our meal there was a music group which sang the customary songs of that region. While the girl would sing the guy would hold a white cloth around our necks. While then dip our finger in drink drink and flick some on all sides before drinking the rest. I have no idea what the whole process meant but it was really cool to see it. They later let me keep the white cloth 😊
To be honest, even though I was having a lot of fun, I was feeling a little homesick. I missed being back home, sitting on the floor, watching tv and eating ice cream. In order to fill the huge gap in my life, I went to the grocery store and bought cookies, juice, and baked sweet bread. When I got back to my room I put my sweatpants on, opened up all the food, and watched Aladdin 3. It was really nice hahah!
China has many past times, but there's none as popular as karaoke. These places are called KTV and no matter what age, everyone spends
hours in these places everyday. I'm pretty shy when it comes to singing, but there was really no way of escaping it this time, so I sang the only song that was in English that I knew the words to; Titanic. It was pretty cheesy but I actually had a lot of fun doing it. My voice is too high when I sing. I really think I sound like a girl. Kinda sucks
Hmm, there are so many things that happened in Jining that I can't remember them all...There was a wedding which we went to. It is interesting to see how people marry in different cultures. When the groom and bride get home, the bride is not allowed to touch the ground, so the groom has to carry her to lay her on the bed where they sing songs before unveiling the girl's face. Unfortunately his home was 4 stories up since everyone in China lives in apartment buildings! After this stage of the marriage there is a reception, just like in Western culture. Before I noticed, Ranran was telling the audience that I like to dance. I didn't really have a choice at this point so I
went up, gave a small speech (even though no one understood me) and did a performance.
When I look back on it now, I realize that so many good things happened in Jining, however the one thing that will make it unforgettable was the kids that I spent time with almost everyday. The older brother, Jun, three younger sisters and two younger brothers. Every morning we would meet in my room at 7:30. We would play badminton on Laohu Shan, a small mountain where hundreds of people go to spend their mornings. You can see people playing badminton, writing calligraphy with water, rice writing, singing, dancing, jumping rope, and doing taiji. It's pretty awakening to see that while I'm usually sleeping in, I'm missing all these things I would not see in most places. Afterwards we would eat jiao zi (dumplings) and dou jiang and you tiao for breakfast.
I don't know if they took time out just to spend time with me, but they did so much more than I had ever expected of them. We would go to the park where I taught them to dance and do some basic exercises. We went to a photo
booth shop to take pictures. We even played hackey sack and basketball in the city square. I'm not sure why, but even though I came to visit them, they gave me so many gifts. Now that I'm gone and thinking about it, I really miss the time I spent with them. Actually they are not even kids. Some are only a few years younger than me and the older brother is 2 years older than me. These "kids" seemed much more childish and innocent than the ones back home but still very mature and straightforward when the time called for it. It was sad saying bye to them but I hope I can have the chance to see them again soon.
Soon my eight days in Jining were over and I was to leave to Beijing in order to take care of some things before I caught my plane to Seoul, Korea. During my time in the countryside I had grown very close to Ranran's mom since were finally able to communicate in Chinese without the help of someone translating for us. Shushu was also more comfortable with me since it was the second time I had stayed in
his hotel. And Ranran, even though I hadn't spent so much time with her, she was more of a sister than before. I'm only 1 year younger than her, but for some reason she acts like my mom. On my last day she brought me my favorite meal, rou jia mo and dou jiang. I loved it. It was time to say goodbye and it'll once again be another year before I see this city and all the people again. I will miss them all.
Beijing Luckily, Ranran's uncle's family was driving to Beijing to take their daughter to an English school. I hitched a ride with them, saving me from my 3rd overnight train ride! It took us about 5 hours to get from Jining to Beijing.
During the drive I realized how much Chinese class had taught me. Although I'm not able to have any real intellectual conversations, I was able to keep up whenever uncle spoke to me, as he knows no English whatsoever. For the first time I felt as though I could maybe learn a language fluently!
I finally arrived and was back in another hostel. For some reason everytime I
go to Beijing I have a hard time. My bank account had been frozen since I had forgotten to tell the bank back home that I'll be abroad. They thought I was stealing my own money. This made everything much more troublesome than it had to be.
I met Ranran's older sister, Qunjie, since she does plant research in the city. I hadn't seen her for more than a year as well. She really showed me a good time. On the first day we went to the zoo to see the pandas. When you think of a panda you usually think of a perfectly cute black and white bear. In real life they are no different than what you imagne. Even more cute was the red panda. Aww man they were so perfect. I would love to have one as a pet. We went to the Olympic Park at night to see the Bird's Nest and Water Cube. These places are so big. Seeing them on tv really doesn't do them justice.
My last day in Beijing was very hectic. We ran around the city all day to get the other half of my luggage from another hostel
My Dorm Room
From where I'm writing this blog
and trying to fix my bank account. It was so annoying, but it helped me to see parts of the city that I wouldn't have otherwise seen.
Regret When me and Qunjie were walking back to the hostel on my last night we past the Workman's Stadium. This is where people from all over the world come to hold concerts in Beijing. We had heard that a guy named Leehom Wang was performing that night and there were really a lot of people crowded around the entrance to see this guy. We were thinking about going in to watch but instead decided it was too expensive. Only later did I find out that Jackie Chan made a surprise appearance that night.... -.- DUDEMAN
Why is it that every time I go to Beijing I always have a hard time and why is it that every time I go to Beijing I miss Jackie Chan's appearances which happen to be right next to me?!
On Monday August 24 I woke up at 4:30 am to go to the airport. I was sad to see my trip in China ending, but I was also excited to start my
new life in Korea. It was a country I had never seen before and was looking forward to exploring it. Thank you China and I'll see you again in the future! haha
Seoul, Korea By the time I arrived at Incheon Airport it was already noon. The air was humid and the sky was gray. I still don't miss the sunshine in in California. I like my rain heh. I was just outside to find a taxi when JuYoung called out my name. I really couldn't believe she was there! Ju was an exchange student from Korea to the US last year in my Chinese class, and now she was here to pick me up from the airport in Seoul! It was really surprising to see her after so long. If you all are wondering who Ju is, she's the one I went skydiving with at Lake Elsinore. Coincidentally, I was wearing the same skydiving shirt when I saw her hahah random fact.
We took the shuttle from the airport to the school where I moved into my room at the International House(after much more confusion). It was nice knowing that I can finally settle down somewhere
without living out of my suitcase.
Seoul is really a cool place. It is so different from China and the US. Everything is open till well past midnight and it seems as though most of people do 3 things: shop, eat and drink...I'm not even sure if they sleep. The streets are clean and the people are very nice, especially the students taking us around to the different spots of Sinchon. The transportation system is extremely convenient as well. For those who have heard of the different myths about modern Korean society, most of it is true. You can easily find middle aged men sitting with their psp's on the subway watching anime after work. There are very few obese people. There is a lot of clothing that have random English on them that doesn't make any sense (we found a tank top that just said "donuts" on it). And finally, people here love drinking and karaoke, in that order.
All the students in the dorm are really cool and we've all grown pretty close to each other quickly. I was especially lucky with my roommate. His name is Frank, from Holland. There are so many nationalities here
Jenga at the Game House
How did we get it this high!? it's hard to remember where everyone is from; from all over the US, Holland, Germany, a couple people from Sweden, Australia, Japan, Russia, and South America. It really is an "international" house!
Everyday we've been exploring the city and eating good cheap Korean food. Back home you can get all-you-can-eat Korean bbq for about $21. Here u can get it for $6. It's hard to imagine but I'm sure pretty soon I'll be thinking $6 is expensive! We also met our "buddies," who are Yonsei University students who help exchange students get adjusted to the culture.
Today I woke up at 10 o'clock, ate breakfast, ate lunch and played games at a game house with the buddies. It was a relaxing day and still I'm pretty tired. Now I am sitting in my room listening to this music and finishing up this entry. I have an early day tomorrow to get my ID card so it's time for me to get some sleep.
That has been my life up until now. Hope everyone enjoys reading this and I hope everyone is doing well!
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Chris
non-member comment
Duuuude
Dude South Korea looks so cool. It looks like you could never get bored there. "For the first time I felt as though I could maybe learn a language fluently! " - You must have meant a language other than Spanish. Sr Celano reads this remember lol. I like how people drink and sing karaoke in that order. haha thats funny with the random english on the shirts, I want one!