Daily Life

It has been almost 2 months since I first arrived in China.

This is the longest amount of time I've ever spent in another country before, and I am so glad that I chose China. I really didn't know much about this country and the culture before I arrived, and I am learning so much everyday. Some things still baffle and confuse me (a lot), but I am starting to get the hang of everyday life here and am feeling less like a stupid American tourist everyday.

There are situations that are frustrating and challenging, and times when I feel a bit lonely and unable to communicate, but there are too many amazing things here that make up for all of that.

When you take 10 Americans and bring them to a foreign country and give them a small stipend and a bit of responsibility, there are bound to be some problems along the way. But, as much as personalities might clash sometimes, and people don't agree, it is so nice knowing that there are other people here who are going through the same cultural experience as I am.

I have noticed that being in China has changed the way I think about communication and many other things, and I find myself being more emotional and aware of certain things than I ever was back in the states. To be honest, as much as I miss everyone back home, I don't really feel homesick at all. I feel like I may be able to fit in here, and once I learn the language, this may be the perfect place for me to pursue a career as a tour guide or some other job related to the travel industry.

In other news, I found out last Friday (a couple days after the McDonald's fiasco), that our school's contract with the Kindergarten was up, so I didn't have to teach this past week like I thought I was going to. What a relief!

Over the past weekend, we had a Mexican night at our apartment here and invited all the other interns and some of our other friends over for dinner. Thanks to the spice packages that Mollie and I received from our families, we were able to make fajitas...Mexican food is unheard of here, and very expensive to buy ingredients for since everything is imported. Mollie made awesome tortillas using the recipe that we acquired from our chun bing dinner with our students' family.

I bought (fake) converse the other day at a shopping market near my apartment for 100 Kuai, which is the equivalent of about $15. Shopping here is so much fun, especially since you are able to bargain for the price of many things. Sometimes it works out and sometimes they don't give in (especially since I'm an American and they just assume I'm rich...haha if only they knew). It is a good feeling though when we can manage to use the little Chinese we know to try to get the price down...it also requires a lot of hand signals and laughing and smiling.

Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well back home, and thanks for keeping in touch. As much as I love it here, it is still nice to be reminded of home once in a while.

I miss and love you all.

(Lack of) Communication...

These last couple days have been very interesting...

Interesting and frustrating and confusing and funny and exciting all at the same time. It's not often that I find myself laughing and being annoyed simultaneously, but it has been proven to be true here in Shenyang. Take yesterday, for example.

I went on a field trip to McDonald's with the kindergarten school that I started teaching at this week. There were about 30-40 kids, 10 Chinese teachers, and me. I didn't really know what was going on , or what my role in this field trip was, but it turned out that I had to play games, sing, and dance to a creepy exercise video of Ronald McDonald dubbed in Chinese. I also got to stand behind the counter and pretend to work there, while all of the kids got in line, stood on a chair, and asked me, "Can I have a hamburger, please" in broken English. Very cute...but after the 20th child it got a bit tedious. Plus, everyone in McDonald's was staring at the weird American girl standing behind the counter.

So...it may have put me in a slightly bad mood for the day (especially after all the kids got chicken nuggets and a ton of food that was to be wasted on their 5-year old bodies, and I got sent home with nothing), but it was a good learning experience.

I have one day and one week left at this kindergarten, and as cute as the kids are and as fun as it has been, I am looking forward to getting back into teaching the regular classes at Langston. I have to admit though, I absolutely love it when the kids run up to me at the end of class and hug me...it's so cute.

In other news, it started snowing this morning, and it hasn't stopped yet. The city is a mess, just like before, and even a simple walk to the store can be a giant headache. In 40 minutes I will brave this walk...bundle up in my 2 coats, tighten my scarf, roll up my pants, and head out into the streets. Everyone is saying that this is supposed to be a big storm, and I'm hoping it's the last of the season. I am looking forward to warm weather and the chance to go outside without layers upon layers of clothing.

I have been noticing even more lately how much the language barrier can make a big difference on daily life here. It has made me want to learn Chinese even more, and as hard as it has been, I am striving to become as close to fluent as possible in the next 5 months.

I have a lot of hard work ahead of me, and I haven't always been the best student out there (Katie, if you're reading this, don't comment!), but I really want to be able to communicate with this culture and it's interesting people.

Luckily, my friend Alex speaks Chinese and English, and he has been a big help in showing me around the city and taking me out to great food. There is an intense and crazy underground shopping mall here in Shenyang, with 3 floors and what seems like miles of stores. You can get just about anything you need here, and you can bargain for the prices, which is always fun (and easier if you speak Chinese). There is an entire food court, and yesterday I had the best burrito-wrap type thing with ham and egg and veggies and some unknown sauce on the inside...it was delicious and cheap!

So...to wrap things up, this has probably been the most awkward and frustrating week here so far, but that is to be expected sometimes. I may be getting used to living in this culture so unlike my own, but that doesn't mean it's not emotional and confusing at times. No matter what, I love it here, and the good times make everything all worth it. After 6 months, I will have this amazing experience behind me, and I will never think of China the same again.

Thank you to everyone for the emails, and thanks to Mom and Dad and Sarah for always being there for me whenever I need to talk.

And to my best friend, Chris (you better be reading this): You are awesome, and you are the only person I know who has Yale and Harvard fighting for you. Although we are so incredibly different, I'm so glad we understand each other so well. I miss you!

Talk to everyone soon...take care. Much love.

Random Pictures and Stuff...

My time in China is flying by. It seems like it was just Christmas, and now it's already Valentines Day. Soon it'll be Easter and my birthday and then my 6 month contract will be up. Ok, maybe I'm getting a little ahead of myself, but it's just crazy how quickly the days are going by.

Unfortunately, I am not able to upload any of my own pictures online like I said I was going to do, since my camera's memory card is stupid and won't work in my roommates laptop. So, I will just have to use Mollie's pictures and post some on here until I can get my own laptop or figure something else out.

In other news, things are still going great here. The school had a Valentines Day party yesterday which turned out to be a big hit. I am going to start teaching at a kindergarten on Monday for 2 weeks, which should be very interesting and different than teaching at Langston. I'm looking forward to meeting the kids, who I think range in age from 3 or 4 - 7. Should be fun.

Anyway, we got some snow here in Shenyang, which surprised us all since it seemed like it was going to start warming up. The city is a mess of black and semi-white snow, and I am amazed at how many people are employed to clear the streets and sidewalks. It's quite a funny sight actually. The city becomes such a hassle in the snow, but I still enjoy it.

This city, and China is general, is causing me a crazy mix of feelings that can't quite be described. I love it here, despite any of the negative and frustrating aspects of it, and I find myself getting more and more attached everyday.

So...here are some random pictures of the last couple days/weeks. I hope everyone is doing well, I love and miss you all.

The train on the way to Harbin -- it was this crowded for 7 hours.

Going down a small slide at the first ice festival in Harbin.

The frozen river that we walked across to get to the big snow and ice festival.

Me and some of the other interns (Mollie, Shaun, David, and Andrew).


A sampling of the dishes that were enjoyed at my chun bing dinner with Tina's family.

Tina's family (Tina is the one standing between me and Mollie).

I love Chun Bing

My roommate, Mollie, and I have just spent the morning with a wonderful Chinese family who taught us how to make one of our favorite Chinese dishes: Chun Bing.

Chun Bing is a flat and thin, tortilla-like, fried dough type of thing (we call them pancakes here, but they are nothing like the pancakes we know back home) and is eaten kind of like a small burrito -- but the inside filling is totally different. You can order a ton of dishes to put inside the pancakes, but there are a couple dishes that are very popular here and today we learned how to make them (well, we saw them made, so I guess that kinda counts)...

So at 9:30 this morning, we met one of my favorite students, Tina, outside of Langston and her dad picked us up and drove us the 30 minutes to her home. Tina is 17 years old and speaks excellent English. Her parents, who don't speak any English whatsoever, welcomed us into their awesome apartment, and made us feel comfortable despite the language barrier. Through Tina's translating, we were able to see how the dough was made and fried, along with a lot of other dishes. A lot of pictures were taken throughout the day, and Tina's Aunt and Uncle who lived nearby also came over for lunch. We found out later that we were the first foreigners that this family has ever had into their house for a meal. Kind of exciting for all of us...

After all the cooking was done, the 7 of us sat down for the meal...the dishes consisted of: the pancakes (of course), a pork dish with onions, sliced potatoes (one of my favorites), a bean sprouts dish, a Chinese sauerkraut-tasting dish, a green veggie dish that I can't remember the exact name of, a black fungus dish (the only one I didn't eat), a cold spicy dish, and a fried breaded sweet egg thing that I can't describe but was very good. All of the dishes except the cold one and the egg one were meant to be put inside the pancake, and then you wrapped it up and ate it like you would a soft taco or burrito. Every single one of the dishes (except maybe the black fungus because it looks creepy) was delicious, and it was one of the best meals I have had so far in China (I may have said that before, but it's true!)

Mollie and I were very lucky to be able to go to this family's house and enjoy this wonderful meal (which was 100 times better than any of the restaurants that we have eaten in). So, thank you Mollie, for getting us invited, it wouldn't have been the same without you there!

Today was just one example of why traveling and living in a culture so unlike your own is so rewarding. I have had so many memorable experiences here so far, and I have only been here a little over a month. I may not speak the language very well yet, but I have not had trouble connecting with the people. I feel like China is a place that I can see myself wanting to come back to over and over again (I always fall in love with every place I travel to), but this time it's different -- this time I think it's going to be very hard to leave.

But, I don't have to think about that yet. I have 5 months left....5 months full of new adventures and experiences.

Soon I am going to post some pictures of the last month, since I haven't gotten a chance to yet. I have some really good ones from today and also from our trip to Harbin. I should be able to have them up by the end of this week, and will let everyone know the link once it's available.

For now, I hope everyone is doing well, and I will talk to you all soon. Miss you and love you.