很 Cool!

That's some Chinglish for you, and believe it or not, I wasn't the one to say it - my teacher was! But we'll get to that later. All you  need to know right now is that 很 translates to "very".

My weekend was 很 cool, starting out with a trip to the Beijing Zoo Market. This place is known among the local people as a cheap place to get clothing and related items. I think I agree with them. We managed to spend a whole afternoon there, and really only saw parts of 2 floors. We plan to go again sometime in the near future...I can't wait!

On Sunday Pla and I went to the 798 art district with our friends Lexie and Daniel, who have offered to help us with Chinese in exchange for help with English. They've been wonderful with helping us, not just with our language skills but with our also with learning our way around the area and showing us neat things. For example, the 798 district. I'm not sure why it's called the 798 district, but I do know the area is an old factory. It's what I'd call nifty. There are all these nooks and crannies, and it has the feel of being an artistic area in a postmodern sense. One of these days I'll post some pictures (I realize I also have pictures from several other adventures to catch you up on - 对不起！ (I'm sorry!) I'll try to improve on that score...But really, for this area, you need pictures to understand, so I'll try to post some in the next couple of days.

Before visiting the 798 district, Lexie and Daniel took us to a popular hot pot restaurant. Hot pot is kind of like what it sounds: you boil some water with some spices, throw some food in it and let it cook for a few minutes, take that food out, put it in some dipping sauce and put more food in the pot, repeat until everyone is full and happy :) There are so many variations you can do - I had a curry hot pot, with a sesame dipping sauce. It was yummy!

So, the "很 cool" story! Not much too it, except that my teacher needed to borrow my computer for class (the one in the classroom wasn't working, and she had a powerpoint presentation that was very helpful for the lesson we had today, so she used mine). When she found out the screen can turn 180 degrees, her eyes got very big, and she said, "很 cool!!" :)

Today had two other very cool events in it. The first was at dinner. Pla, Rachel and I have found a place nearby that sells Beijing noodles and some other yummy dishes for a very inexpensive price, and that's where we decided to eat dinner tonight. While we were eating, we heard from the entrance to the place, "Do you speak English?" directed to the couple who owns it. We all turned around, because we're not used to hearing it, and the owners, knowing we could speak enough Chinese to get around, asked us to help. The question was asked by a couple who is visiting from Laos for some business training, and they needed some help figuring out what to order and how. It was a great way for me to practice my translating skills (few as they are), and I'm sooo glad I was there!

The second event was a dance class! That's right, for the rest of the semester, I have a weekly class on dancing. I'll be learning some of the dances from the different minority groups and I'm very excited! This pretty much makes up for not being able to take the ballroom dance class at my home university... :-P

This week I have a total of 4 quizzes plus unknown homework...so I'm not sure how much I'll be able to keep you updated on, but I will do my best! Time to get back to studying....

Day at the Market

Nothing too eventful during the week occurred, besides my birthday, which you've already heard about :) . It was the usual: class, meals, spending time with friends. A very good week indeed. Well, maybe not the homework assigned for the weekend :-P

Despite the homework load, Pla, Rachel, Laura and I managed to find time this afternoon to have lunch at a small Korean restaurant, followed by an afternoon at the Beijing Zoo Market. This market gets its name from its location - it's literally right across the street from the zoo. And boy was it crowded today! Once again, I think it's definitely a place to go on a less busy day, but it was still a lot of fun! The crowds weren't awful, and the prices were reasonable. I actually bought a few things! At this market there's not a lot of bargaining, and I don't think it sees a lot of foreigners. Most prices were posted, which made it a lot easier to see which items I might want to look at. I ended up with a few shirts and a pair of high heels - I guess you'd call the color a shiny burgundy? After the market we stopped by a small store near where we live because we saw some good prices - again, I ended up with a few nice shirts. All in all today, I spend about 110 RMB on my purchases - not a bad haul!

One thing that's become a part of my daily routine that I'm really going to miss when I go home is street food. Every night on the street I live on there are usually at least a few - if not dozens on the weekends - street vendors selling veggies, meat, and bread. I usually go for the veggies and bread. It's sooo delicious and soooo cheap! And cooked right in front of you. I always go with friends, and we definitely have our favorite vendors. They're beginning to recognize us, and remember what foods we tend to order :) It's perfect for a before-bed snack, and it's great language practice.

明天见！(Until tomorrow!!)

Birthday in China!

For those of you who don't know, yesterday was my birthday! That's September 20th - dates can be a little funky, and if you're on the west coast, it's still not the 21st yet. Which seems weird to me, because it's been the 21st for a whole 13 hours here. But I digress...

My friends here made sure it was a wonderful day! My class sang to me in Chinese, my friends wouldn't let me pay for lunch or dinner, and I got lots of birthday wishes from friends back in the states - thanks to those who wrote on my wall on Facebook!! I won't be able to respond until I return home, but funny thing - Facebook email notifications still work. I'm so glad I made sure those were enabled before I left... ;-)

Let's see...a few random birthday facts...
- Happy Birthday in Chinese is 祝你生日快乐 (祝 wish 你 you 生日 birthday 快乐 joyful: wish you a joyful birthday)
- The standard for cakes here is a bit different. Cakes are usually white on the inside, with a couple of layers, and with fruit on the inside. It's a little tasteless, but not bad at all!! The frosting on my cake was good too :)
- I was talking with my tutor yesterday about important birthdays - like in the U.S. 18 is important because you're considered an adult, and 21 is important because you can drink. We were also talking about at what age people are allowed to get married at. He was surprised that in the U.S. both men and women are allowed to marry at 18. Here, women are allowed to marry at age 20, and men are allowed to marry at age 22.
- If it's your birthday, it's considered good luck to eat noodles.

SunLi (our tour guide) introduced us to three Chinese college students when we first got here - Daniel, Cherry, and Ankora. All three were able to join me and the girls in my group for dinner to celebrate my birthday last night! It was soo much fun! My cake was shaped like a heart with chocolate icing :) I was sung to in English and Chinese (think the same tune, just translated), my Chinese friends ordered delicious food for us (some sweet and some spicy - and I did have noodles!), and we all had a wonderful time! I hope we'll be able to get together with Daniel, Cherry, and Ankora often!

That's all for now! Time to get back to studying...

Movies & Lanterns & Noodles

Sunday we met Sun Li to go see a Chinese movie in the theater! Movies here are pretty expensive if you see them in the theater...like, we're talking 75-100 kuai, unless you have a discount. When you think about it, it's probably comparable to most American movie theaters - the ones that charge over $10. It was a great experience though! Good Chinese practice...There were Chinese and English subtitles, so I could easily keep up with the movie. We watched Love In Space, and it was really cute! Definitely a chick flick...but I really enjoyed it! I recommend it :)

After the movie, we went to a park that we nearby to see the silk lanterns for the moon festival. It was the last night they were out, and there weren't many people there. It was sooooo pretty!! I'll have to get pictures from my friend so I can show you how unusual they are. Definitely not what I was thinking they would be...some were as huge as floats, very colorful, and shaped like dragons, fish - all sorts of things! It was a beautiful walk, and I wish I could have spent more time there.

It was starting to get late, and none of us had eaten yet. Sun Li took us to a small shop that had baozi, egg drop soup, and Beijing noodles. I love Beijing noodles - they're thick and kind of long, and you mix it with a meat sauce and veggies and slurp it up. If you can't guess, that's what I ordered :) We also tasted some lamb and chicken on a stick from the street - sooooo good!!! I really like street food.

Speaking of food, it's time to get ready for dinner! More updates later :)

Great Wall, Take 2

I think from the video you all can gather that I just spent the start of the weekend visiting the Great Wall with some of my classmates :) This was my second attempt at taking a video - during the first attempt, I forgot some things I wanted to mention, and also was awful at remembering to zoom in or out. This resulted in a close-up of the trees below the wall, and a close-up of my nose at the end :-P. I'm very glad I made the second attempt, because this time some of the people I was with realized I was taking a video. If they hadn't you probably wouldn't have been able to see them, which would have been sad!! The guy with the camera on top of the station is from Indonesia, and if you couldn't hear him, he was saying hi to y'all. The girl sitting right above me (with the camera and the AWESOME shoes) is from Japan, and she is in my class :)

A little backgroun, my 口语 (speaking class) teacher took two of his classes (I'm in class 5, and then he also teaches class 10) two hours away to this original section of the wall that has a small village close by. It was WONDERFUL to breath fresh country/mountain air instead of city smog!! We stayed Friday night at a hostel/home-type place (I hope that makes sense?) that was very clean, and the food was AMAZING!! I'm going to say right now that I don't know what all I ate, I just know it wasn't anything strange but it all tasted good!

Random note: I was talking with one of my Japanese friends about tomatoes (西红柿), and in both America and Japan if they are eaten plain, both countries put a little salt on them. But here, we just found out that they put sugar on them!! I know it sounds strange, but I think you all should try it. Cut up a few tomatoes (I suggest home-grown ones, but if you don't have any on hand, I guess ones from the grocery store would be ok...), and put some sugar on them, and see if you don't like them.

A few observations from this trip:

Observation 1: The mountains were gorgeous!!! I love mountains :) Like I said in the video, I cannot imagine dragging all those bricks up those mountains without the aid of machinery. I have a lot of respect for the people who worked on the wall, even if it wasn't what they would have chosen to do (most people who worked on the wall were conscripted). And the fact that it's lasted so long is even more amazing. It's hard to say the same for a lot of our modern creations...

Observation 2: This one is more cultural, and really is an application of some of the things I studied in my Intercultural Communication class last semester. I was the only American on the trip, and the only person whose first language is English. I was not the only caucasian person (there were two French girls as well), but this was definitely a situation I had never been in before. I loved every single minute! It was so much fun trying to communicate in Chinese with people from France, Japan, China, Korea, Indonesia and Thailand! Those who weren't as certain of what they were saying in Chinese would sometimes revert to English, and sometimes I'd be asked if they had said it correctly. I feel so privileged, and I don't think I like it. Everyone else who comes to study here has to study much harder than I do, because in class if we cannot understand the explanation, the meaning is usually given in English. This results in people having to learn both English and Chinese at the same time, sometimes translating Chinese to English to their native language and back to Chinese. I can tell you right now, I don't have to work nearly as hard and I would be so much more frustrated if I spoke English as a second language, no matter how fluent I was in it. In fact, talking to the French girls, they did point out to me that it is very hard for them here because of this. It makes me realize that I have been born into a huge advantage, because I can go almost anywhere in the world and expect that most people will be able to understand at least a little bit of what I'm saying. No other language has that advantage. I really admire those people who can go somewhere knowing that they will not be understood unless they speak a second language.

Observation 3: Karaoke is fun!!!! After dinner Friday night, we got out this HUGE book of songs that we could choose from, and I think almost everyone sang at least once. I sang "Money Money Money" by Abba with the French and Japanese girls, and "I Have A Dream" by Abba and "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" with Justine (one of the French girls). It was a lot of fun, and I would totally do it again! Listening to people sing in Chinese was great too - because the characters were displayed on the screen, I could pick up on the meaning a little faster. It was a fun way to study a little bit ;-) For those of you studying Chinese, I have found that listening to Chinese music is a good way to pick up on pronunciation without having to worry about the tones.

I think that concludes my observations for now! If I think of any others I'll include them in my next blog, which should contain some pictures that I took of the area :)

Side note for those at my college (especially the goons): As I was looking at the beautiful scenery, my lovely thoughts were suddenly and rudely interrupted (in my head, of course - no one else here would know this) by lyrics from a YouTube video: "Captain Kirk is climbing a mountain; why is he climbing a mountain?" etc. I think I am going to have to p'wn some goons when I return (you know who you are...better start running...). 

Street Food

This is gonna be a short post, but basically...I'm eating my first legitimate street food! I like where I live, because right outside my dorm there's a street with lots of food vendors on it. They have their own little shops, and I've eaten in some of the places before, but it's not EXACTLY what I'd call street food. Well, it's street food, but not as street-y as the stuff I'm eating right now. Every night, right outside my dorm, there are about 5 stands that are set up, and basically, they have food set out on skewers, you pick what you want, and they grill it right in front of you. All kinds of food too - stuff I'm not exactly ready to try yet, chicken, beef, all kinds of veggies, even bread. They'll grill it, and then some of the places coat the stuff in sauce and spices. OH so yummy! Tonight I'm trying some sort of patty (it looks like it's got corn in it - this was the item I picked to try something I wasn't familiar with. You know, get outside my comfort zone, etc...), some beef (it wasn't exactly my favorite - I don't think I'll be having that again), some eggplant, some mushrooms, and some lettuce-like stuff. So far so good!! 很好吃!! (very yummy - literally, "very good to eat").

Back to the Grind

Yesterday (中秋节, the Mid-Autumn Festival) was spent as any holiday should be - resting and relaxing with friends! I also did homework...but that wasn't as exciting as trying some moon cake! I bought three different ones to try - one filled with fig, one filled with a variety of nuts and seeds, and another filled with a black paste that was pretty sweet. I think the last one might have been a sort of sweet bean. They were very yummy! I think the nut and seed one was my favorite though. The fig one tasted a lot like a fig newton without as much breading, and the other was a little sweet for my liking.

Today, nothing too eventful happened. So, I will share some of my observations about being here!

One difference I've noticed are the sidewalks. Most sidewalks, at least in my area, are not paved. They're bricked. This makes it a little interesting to walk in anything besides sneakers, because at times the bricks are broken or loose. I really don't know how people walk on them every day in shoes other than sneakers. I know I'd fall on my face frequently!

This brings me to another observation: footwear. Most women don't wear sneakers. Some wear flats or sandals, others wear heels (and most sandals also have some pretty intimidating wedge heels, I might add...), and still others wear brightly colored Converse. I love the brightly colored shoes here!! It may clash with the colors of the outfit, but it always brings a smile to my face. I think I want to return with a pair of shoes with a color scheme that screams, "Look at me!" Just for fun.

Those are my observations for today!

Holiday Weekend!

Tomorrow (Monday) is 中秋节 (Mid-Autumn Festival), making this weekend a holiday weekend!!! It's been fun observing people - like tonight I noticed that there aren't quite as many people out on the street as usual in my area. Probably because most students are taking advantage of the three-day weekend to visit family and friends, which makes sense given the traditions that go along with the holiday. This is a traditional holiday where families get together and in the evening watch the moon while having family time. 月饼 (Moon cakes) are the food associated with this holiday, and I strongly encourage you to look them up online, as it's quite fascinating. There are a bunch of different kinds of fillings and crusts, including the yoke from a duck's egg to symbolize the full moon, and a lot of neat cultural things associated with the yummy treat. Well, one of my teachers doesn't like them very much, but what I've tasted before was yummy...

Friday I got assigned the most homework I've been assigned so far. Which, from what my teacher at my home university has told me (a few times), is typical of teachers in China. Students (I've been told) don't like holidays because of the homework load that accompanies them. Welcome to China :-)

Saturday I got to see the Summer Palace with BeiDa students! Unfortunately the weather wasn't too agreeable - it was cold, a little windy, and rainy. In other words, miserable weather that is only good for sitting inside with a good book, a blanket, and a cup of tea or hot chocolate. The Palace was still beautiful though! And I remembered to bring my camera! Unfortunately, the battery did not last very long - I forgot to charge it after the last time I used it. Ugh! A few of my friends and I are going to try to make it back on a nicer day with charged cameras and fewer people. That said, I enjoyed the freedom of being able to look at everything without feel like I had to take a picture of it. I could simply enjoy it, and it was stunning! The outsides of all the buildings were decorated beautifully - so many paintings, so many colors, so much detail! A few times when I was under a ceiling of some sort, I could look up and even the ceiling was a piece of art! If you are in Beijing, go see the Summer Palace - you really shouldn't miss it! As we exited the grounds, we saw some middle-aged women doing what looked like a traditional-style dance under a pavilion. It was fun to sit and watch for a few minutes, and I really admire them for doing that!

Today I went to Nanluogu Xiang, which is a street near Houhai that has a bunch of fun shops along it. I went with some girls from my class and Pla - it was a really great experience! One of the girls, Francis, knows quite a bit of Chinese, so we didn't have too many problems while shopping. I was able to get some souvenir/gift-type items for a very reasonable price, and I enjoyed getting to know some of my classmates a little better. One of the girls is Japanese, one of the girls is Indonesian, and the rest of us were from America. We mostly spoke English, but we also practiced speaking some Chinese to each other (our teachers would be proud!).

As far as food this weekend goes, I've tried a few new things since the last time I blogged! Saturday for lunch I had McDonald's. It was still priced at an ok range...a little more expensive that what I've been eating for the amount of food I got, but as far as American-type food goes it was reasonable. Fries tasted the same (I like McD's fries), and so did the nuggets (Again, I like McD's nuggets), but one of the differences I noticed was that while in America nuggets automatically come with barbecue sauce, here they come with sweet and sour sauce (I am not complaining, I sometimes prefer it that way). Laura got a burger, and said it tasted delicious! Several of the items on the menu were familiar, but I found it interesting that here McD's offers a much wider selection of McCafe beverages AND possesses a small baked deserts section. The atmosphere is a little nicer than in the US, the uniforms are definitely not the same, and the service is just as fast.

Also on Saturday, I found a very delicious soup for dinner (cold, damp days are soup days). It had egg in it, kind of like an egg drop soup but with rice, tomatoes, and a little chicken. It came in a HUGE bowl though, and even though I shared it with other people at my table, I think there was still almost half a bowl left when we were done eating! 

Today I had Korean barbecue for dinner which was yummy but on the expensive side. A few of us weren't quite full, so we tried some street food. Pla and I ordered something that looks like a pizza, but has some not-tomato red sauce on it, some herb-or-spice-like green stuff, and a little bit of a kick. I have no idea what it's called, but it hit the spot.

Time to catch up on some sleep! Isn't that what three-day weekends are for?? :-)

The Past Few Days (Oops!)

Tuesday nothing really happened, and I had some homework, so I was going to just wait until Wednesday night to blog (that would be last night). Except, when I went to get on the internet that night and this morning, it wasn't working. So now, I have three days to catch you all up on! Aiya!

Tuesday
     ...was rather uneventful, like I said. Classes went well, and two more students from France joined our class!
     Side note: I really like my class. There's about 13  people including myself, all of whom are very friendly, mature, etc. It almost reminds me of my highschool class (except perhaps an older and even more mature version), which was also quite small.
     I went to the same restaurant (the one I stopped at with the Japanese girls) for lunch with Rachel and Laura (Laura is another girl from my program, and one of my roommates), and the food was just as delicious as the day before! The leftovers were good too. I had a chicken and eggplant dish with a huge mound of rice on the side. I feel the same way about the use of eggplants as I do the use of cucumbers: they are under-used and under-appreciated. Also, we're not imaginative enough in our use of them.
     I ate leftovers for dinner. I ALSO was very proud of myself! I ordered a smoothie all by myself, in Chinese :-) Sunday night I had attempted the same, and then realized I didn't know how to say "grape smoothie". Fortunately there menu has both English and Chinese, I was able to point at what I wanted, and after giving me a curious look, another customer was able to help me order. But THIS time I got a mango smoothie all by myself! The girl behind the counter recognized me I think, and helped me with a little bit of pronunciation, but she understood what I wanted.
     One thing I do like about living here is that even if you butcher what you're trying to say, the people here generally appreciate the fact that you're trying, and are usually very willing to help you say it correctly. I do have to watch out for people who speak a little English, because they are typically inclined to let me get away with speaking English. After using English, I've had to catch some people before they've left to ask, "Ok, now how do I say that?" The response is usually the word or phrase in Chinese, and then a huge smile :-)

Wednesday
     ...was not as crazy as I thought it would be! Classes as usual, except that we watched a movie in one of them. I don't know what it was called, but I hear that it just came out this year. Lunch was uneventful, except that I had a peanut butter sandwich, something that I've just started to crave. Is it just me, or is it a little strange that in a country (and city) that processes tons of peanuts and uses them in several favorite dishes, it's very difficult to find peanut butter? Maybe I'm not looking in the right places, but every place I've looked so far has not had a single jar of it for sale. Oh well, I guess I'll just eat a lot of it when I get back home!
     In the afternoon Rachel, Pla and I went over to BeiDa for our daily tutoring. Usually the tutor comes to us, but on certain days it looks like we'll go to the tutor because it's more convenient for everyone. This was our first time traveling there by ourselves, and we didn't get lost! We spent the time that was not taken up with tutoring by sitting in the student lounge doing homework, petting the cat that thinks it lives there, and getting to know some of the other students there. Some are in an immersion program and are not allowed to speak any English, which makes the student lounge a great environment for practicing Chinese!

Thursday (so far...)
     ...has been another good day of classes. I'm learning a lot more than I thought I would, catching on a lot faster than I would in the first few weeks. Having class four hours a day has been key in my learning. I'm learning so much because my brain isn't divided between 5 different subjects, and I think I'm really becoming a fan of immersing oneself in whatever topic one cares to study - especially language!
To illustrate my progress:
 - I am now able to pick out several items on a menu and know what they are, possibly even know how to pronounce them
 - My roommate tells me that last night I was sleeping, and I said quite clearly, "不知道!" which means "I don't know"
 - When talking about eggplant and some other things in English, I sometimes have to pause to make sure it's not going to come out in Chinese. This is partly due to my wide use of "Chinglish" - combining the two languages helps only to an extent before it gets confusing, especially to my roommates who don't know what "茄子" (eggplant) is yet.

That's all for now! My tummy's telling me I need to go find food. For those of you who are just starting the day, it's a good one ;-) at least, it has been for me!

My First Free Weekend

So, like the title says, this was the first weekend in which I was master of my schedule. I started out by sleeping in till 11, which surprised me. Usually I can't sleep very well past 9, and I'm lucky if I can doze till 10:30. Makes me think I'm still working on adjusting to the time. Either that, or staying up till 2 in the morning talking with people from home messed up my schedule...:-P

Around lunchtime Pla and I went to get lunch from the street, and to find the Tianyi Market which she had looked up online. It's not too far away by subway, but then once we got off the subway it was a 4 block walk to the market. Now, I'm not talking about a typical American block, I'm talking about a Beijing block, which is about the equivalent of 2 American blocks. It was a lot of walking. But the market was worth the walk! It was a very different experience than the Pearl Market. The Tianyi Market had just as many items - if not more - and catered more towards local people than foreigners. We were able to browse in peace, and even though we didn't buy anything on that trip, I think we'll definitely be back!

After our adventure at the market, we picked up Rachel (another girl studying with our program), and the three of us went to Pyro Pizza to meet up with students who had just arrived to study at BeiDa. That part of the evening was a little overwhelming because there were 75 students packed into the basement of the place, but it was nice to meet some of the people that we'll have classes with.

Sunday I woke up at 8 (quite the change from the day before!), and could not sleep anymore. So I read, and I have to say, I lost track of time. It was about 11 before I got out of bed, and that was only so I could move to the couch to eat. I continued reading and studying most of the day, and it was one of the most restful days I've had in a while. I did venture out of the dorm for a while, and walked around the area. I stopped by the convenience store (I found cheese sticks that were inexpensive! In an area where most snack foods are meat flavored, this is quite the accomplishment!), the local fruit stand (I bought and tried a dragon fruit - yummy!), bought some baozi, and managed to buy a grape smoothie. It was somewhat humbling to realize that while shopping I have to rely heavily on objects that have pictures or English - I am becoming very sympathetic to anyone who comes to America without being able to speak or read English. I know we Americans like to say, "Hey, this country speaks English, get with the program or don't come here", but it's not quite as simple as that. I have no sympathy for people who go to a foreign country and do not try to learn the dominant language. But, at the same time, it is extremely intimidating to go to another country without being able to speak or read the language very well. I hope that when I return, I'll be more understanding of people who may not be able to communicate there very well.

Today's classes were not bad - I had dictation quizzes in both classes, and I think I did alright! Characters do not come naturally to me, so I am hoping that by being surrounded by them I'll catch on a little faster. We also got 4 new students in our class! The class now consists of 4 Americans, 1 Indonesian, 3 Japanese, 1 Russian, 1 Swede, 1 Kazakhstanian, and 1 Frenchman (I think I may have just butchered those nationalities...I'm sorry!). I'm excited to get to know some of them a little better! Speaking of which...

My favorite part of today was having lunch with two of my Japanese classmates! We went to a local restaurant, and they were able to help me understand a little bit of the menu - progress!! I had so much fun talking with them, even though it was a little difficult to communicate. We spoke "Chinglish" - a combination of Chinese and English. When we couldn't understand each other, out came a pen and paper so that we could write it. I found out that speaking English and Chinese is difficult for them, because the Japanese language does not require much movement of the mouth. So after 4 hours of Chinese class each day, their mouths hurt because of the muscles that are not used to being used. We also talked about what we're studying at our home universities (one of them is studying international communication, and she is the first person here to completely understand what my communication major means! I can't tell you how happy that made me...), what made us want to study Chinese, food in our respective countries, and many other subjects that led to a better understanding of each others' cultures - not to mention each other. I can't wait until we can all speak better Chinese so we can talk a little more in-depth!

After an afternoon nap (I didn't mean to! One minute I was reading and the next...well...), I went to a Muslim restaurant for dinner with my friends. The food was very good, and the rice was reminiscent of Mexican rice. We also had a beef and potatoes dish that was very homey in its taste - yum yum!!

Time to work on homework! Have a great Labor Day everyone!

Dinner for $1.30

Before I get into food, I think I'm going to tell you all about the more boring parts of my day (feel free to skip to the end). That will give you something to look forward too :)

Firstly, I made the decision to drop from 15 credits to 12 credits. I never thought I'd ever take a 12 credit semester (I've never taken anything less than 16 - really, I haven't), which takes us back to my first post about how many things I've said I'd never do that I've ended up doing. Add one more item to that list! But along with that, I know I'll have more time on my hands to be able to do what I came here to do - get to know people, experience the rich culture, and develop relationships. I certainly don't need that 3 credit class to graduate, and I didn't just come here to study - if I spent my whole time studying, I might as well have stayed state-side. So, long story short, I'm very excited to see what this semester will bring!

Along the subject of classes, the first week is over! We still have not started classes at BeiDa, but that will change this week. I am really enjoying my language classes at Minzu! Taking 9 credits of something and really focusing on it is much different than taking 3 credits of something. I feel like I'm being steeped in Chinese, and instead of being turned off to the subject, I'm finding myself spending a large portion of my free time reviewing what I've learned. My take-away from this? It's much easier and more enjoyable to study when you're not being pulled in several different directions. I like that when I'm studying for my reading class, it's also helping my speaking class, which in turn is helping my listening class, and so on. I also like that I don't have to worry as much about switching my brain from one subject to another - say, from Chinese to Chemistry. So, for those of you who may be thinking about immersion in a subject or language - I say, go for it!

Finally, today's food update! Lunch was Japanese today, I had a seafood/vegetable tempura over rice, which came with some miso soup and something that looked like extremely green pickles. I also tried some shrimp tempura sushi - yummy! That meal was a bit expensive though, because it was a nicer restaurant. So, for dinner, my friend Pla and I went wandering out to see what we could find for a very inexpensive but filling dinner. And what did we find? Baozi! Baozi are steamed dumplings that are just a tad smaller than my fist, stuffed with yummy things - you can get them with pretty much anything you want! I tried one stuffed with beef, and one stuffed with eggplant and some other veggies (those were the characters I could read on the menu :-P). They were delicious! And the best part? Together, they only cost 1.80 RMB - $.30 US! I also got a caramel milk tea for 7 RMB - that's where the $1 comes in. 

And with that....It's Friday!! Have a great weekend everyone!!

Food Experiments

Well, here is the video I promised!! This is a very short video of 3 15-year-old students at the Beijing Opera School - we just ran into them, and our tour guide asked them to sing a little something for us. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get the whole thing, but you'll get the basic idea :)

Today's classes were uneventful. BUT for the first time today, I went and found lunch somewhere all by myself! Not that I tried anything new, I only went back to a place I had been before. It's just a one-woman shop, and all she makes is "egg pancakes" - I'm not sure what the Chinese name is. Basically, she scoops some dough onto a round griddle and spreads it out, then cracks an egg onto it and spreads that out. The pancake then gets flipped and she adds some spices, some veggies, some sauces, and if you want, she can also add some shrimp. Finally, she places a square of some sort of crunchy bread in the middle, and folds the pancake around it, places it in a bag, and there's your breakfast or lunch! It's very yummy, inexpensive (5 RMB - and that's only if you add the shrimp, otherwise it's 3.5), and great for on-the-go. 

For dinner, one of my friends and I went walking around to see what we could find that was inexpensive and different. We found a Korean bbq restaurant and got a dish called bibimbap. Basically, it comes in a very hot bowl, with rice at the bottom, and different veggies and meats separated out on top. Our was mostly veggies with some pork, and an egg in the center on top of everything else. You mix it all together, and add some hot sauce, and it makes a very filling dinner. For 2 dishes for the two of us it was 30 RMB - that's 5 U.S. dollars for 2 dishes, which would have cost $8 each in the U.S.

And that concludes my adventures for today :)