A little after noon on Monday, May 14, we landed in Beijing! We were greeted by Jay, a co-worker at the China Academy of Urban Planning and Design (CAUPD) where we will be working. He took us to our hotel and then took us to a shopping centre so we could get some essentials. Our hotel is very basic but it's comfortable. At least we have internet and air conditioning (though the remote for mine seems to be broken because I can't adjust the temperature). The shower doesn't have walls or a curtain, it just drains into the bathroom floor. I don't really care because I have my own room so it's not like someone will walk in on me. But it does make the whole bathroom wet when you shower. Apparently there's one English channel ... read more

Since classes ended a few weeks before I left for China, I had some time to just enjoy myself and hang out in LA. Some highlights of this time include the end-of-year banquet for planning students, watching the Kings dominate in playoff hockey, and watching USC sadly lose in the NCAA volleyball finals (it was a nail-biter!!) My next entry will be from Beijing so stay tuned!! -Dafne... read more

I decided to have an unorthodox spring break and I headed to Utah with my good friend Kiera for a few days of fun. The inspiration for my trip was the Pacific Coast Adult Sectionals, a figure skating competition, where I competed in Gold Solo Dance. However, I knew the trip would be amazing because, well, Utah is just so awesome!!! We really do need to kick out the mormons because I would move to SLC if they weren't there. Anyways, once again, in the interest of time, the pictures will tell the stories. We left on Thursday, March 15 and drove to Salt Lake City. On the 16th we visited Anteloppe Island in the Great Salt Lake. On the 17th we headed down to Provo for the competition. On the 18th we began the journey ... read more

Well, apparently they make the second semester a lot harder in grad school. I just started Spring Break so I figured now was the time to get some pictures up! Here are some photos from January, when I just got back from Winter Break. Enjoy! -Dafne... read more

Once again, the stories are in the photos. I went camping with my program. I watched some hockey. I had some skating competitions. There is lots of school spirit. And I visited more of this awesome city. Holidays begin...today so many more adventures to come! -Dafne... read more