busy week back

the purpose of this post is to review our first week back from qinghai. i'm sorry if my writing makes zero sense this evening! our russian neighbors are at it again. at what, you might ask? jen and i wish we could tell you, but we don't know either.

on sunday, i was enchanted YET AGAIN with the opportunity to meet up with hong and liu, friends (1) met in namsto (2) ran into again in lhasa (3) spent a day with in xining (4) visited AGAIN in xining during our class trip to qinghai (5) now vacationing in beijing! every time i see them, it feels like the happiest dream. we went to the summer palace and had dinner in wangfujing.


on monday, we didn't attend our normal chinese classes. instead, we divided into groups and created power point presentations about our adventures in qinghai province. my group included peter (ke bi de), sam (dou da wei), justin (su wei jie), lauren (xiao ju, or sheng dan lao ren), and myself (wu xian fang). lauren's chinese nickname is funny... it began as "lao ren," which sounds like "lauren" and means "old person." it became "sheng dan lao ren," which means santa clause but is literally "christmas old person." on tuesday, we presented our photos and stories to our teachers, in chinese of course! even the students who have only been studying chinese since our arrival spoke about places we went and things we did. pretty impressive.

on tuesday, jen had a friend and fellow temple university friend visit. isabelle is studying abroad in tokyo, but came down for a trip in china and stopped through beijing. they went out together during the day, then in the evening we all chilled in the room for a bit. at one point i noticed her full name on a notecard, isabelle bourdain. because i am a devout travel channel fan (and a creep in general) i casually asked "bourdain. like anthony bourdain!" and she replied "ya that's my uncle." it totally made sense! she resembles him, same new york attitude... i was starstruck. i tried not to pry but i was SO CURIOUS about "uncle tony" and his life before the show (travel channel's "no reservations"). she confirmed that he was indeed a junkie earlier in life but was the coolest uncle ever. she would stay over on weekends and he let her do anything she wanted. ahhhh!

ok back to china. on wednesday and thursday we returned to the normal schedule of chinese in the a.m. and english classes in the p.m. in film, we watched "Hibiscus Town," one of the first films to be made about the cultural revolution (released 1986). it's a GREAT film to watch... especially if you are even slightly interested in china. it completely exceeded my expectations. in econ we talked about a bunch of things, but the most interesting pertained to current events, namely the great international debate over china's currency and its recent developments.

wednesday was also faith's birthday (a program mate). we went nowhere other than HELEN'S CAFE [THE BEIJING VERSION] for her birthday dinner! yes, my friends, there is a helen's cafe which is basically identical to the one in shanghai, just blocks away from my home here in wudaokou. had i known, i definitely would have taken mamie and dave there for free wednesday night draughts during their visit.

on thursday we had "cooking class" in the evening, absolutely my favorite. two of our chinese teachers casually run a class in our dorm kitchen for who ever wants to come. this week we made fried lamb and leeks, potato and pepper strips, and of course rice (that was a "prerequisite" haha). it's tons of fun and totally hands-on, so the lower level chinese students can easily follow along.

on friday we made a field trip to the beijing "minority culture park" for our sociology class - to observe how minority cultures are presented to the han majority. this wasn't anything we had not seen at the tuzu culture park in qinghai... "deserted" and "awkward" basically sum up the experience!

most important, on friday [drum roll...] I OBTAINED MY MULTIPLE ENTRY VISA! thus enabling me to travel to THAILAND with my ladies CAROLINA and MALLORY over our fall break later this month! *note, manisha, i am edging closer and closer to incredible india. someday!* my excitement for this trip spans so many aspects: going to a country i would not think of off the top of my head, going with people i adore, experiencing the rush of bangkok, eating amazing street food, laying on the beach in ko samui, rock climbing on ocean cliffs, riding the train down the coastline, and doing it all for about 25 USD a day. not to mention, we are the three "girls gone wild" as han bing affectionately calls us. i reserve the word "epic" for occasions like this.



i will conclude with a silly sentiment, but one that i feel nonetheless. i am living my childhood dream right now! from my first road trips with my dad, from my family's experience hosting AFS students studying abroad in america... i have looked forward to traveling and being a student abroad since elementary school. what's more, after all these years of hyping it up, i have still learned and experienced even more than i anticipated... and still have two months left. aiya! i better save this mush for december ;)