This is strange... this phenomenon.

I had started to realise my friends in my China List on MSN started having (L) China in thier nicknames. I didn't really think much of it at first. I just thought that they legitimately loved China.

But as I was studying, Quentin messaged me on MSN and said: "put (L) China in ur msn... it is for the olympic games."

*DING!* Lightbulb appeared and I realised that this (L) China was not just an expression of my friends' love for the country, but as it turns out it is some sort of youth political response to all the negative coverage of China from the news.

I still am not sure as where I stand on the issue politically. I just fully (L) China at the moment, and I am excited about the olympic games.

I doubt that this (L) China will make any difference. I think it would be just as effective as (L) Australia on Austalia day, or when Australia beat Japan in the Fifa World Cup in 2006.

But... if you want more on this interesting... youth cultural movement have a look at this link:
http://shanghaiist.com/2008/04/16/nationalist-netizens-on-msn-messenger-heart-china.php

It seems to explain it pretty well.

(L) China Anna ^^

Labels: China, Culture, Opinion

Heyaa...

This is the coolest thing! 我常常给我的朋友（徐是程 aka Jack) 过电子邮件。 上星期三他给我电子邮件。他告诉我他的 T.V Show 在 the internet. 所以他给我这web link.

Hahaha... ok.. english time... I just attempted to say that I've been emailing my friend Jack. (the 16 year old boy who Megan and I met on the train from Hangzhou 杭州 to Beijing 北京, and last Wednesday he sent me an email telling me that the tv show that he went to Beijing to compete in was on the internet, and he sent me the link. (I had been searching all the Chinese Youtube's equivelent and had been unsuccessful in my quest.)

我很高兴了！I was very happy! (I don't know the word for excited... so yea.. I was very happy!) hahahah... Hes such a little cutie. The tv show is called "三星智力快车年度总决赛" and it is similar to those children's tv shows we see on tv during the weekdays in the afternoons. Anywho... it looks like he DID get good practice from Megan and I. I remember him telling us, that one of the components in the competition he was to talk to a foreigner in English, so we helped him out. In this video clip you see that they show him being addressed by this American dooude 美国人。 It kind of causes a little stir, I have no idea why... anyone willing to translate it for me?? hehehe. I kinda guessed that it is because he told the man his English name "Jack" and not is chinese one? I could be way off... but the lady speaks sooo damn fast! 请再说慢慢。ok Im being an idiot. hahaha.

Anywho... heres the link:
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_cd00XMjEyODYyMDQ=.html

Its about 27 mins long. You dont see him until like 3.15ish. There is a whole bunch of adds beforehand too... You get to see Zhang Zi yi in a shampoo ad! hahaha It doesnt look like her, but I watched the ad so many times in China, that I finally realised that it was her! haha.

Anywho... thats my cool news. = )

Labels: China, Chinese, TV

我爱Mont Blanc!!! 今天我的朋友 Lincoln 给我，我的Mont Blanc Bracelet! 我买在飞机!

Quentin, Me, James and the Stall owner who I bought my "real" Mont Blanc wallet from. (Hangzhou)

My new Mont Blanc Bracelet!

Its sooo sexy....

Labels: China, Chinese, Shopping, Travel

Reading over my blog entries from November 2007 till Feburary 2008 made me realise how quickly time passed.

Things that seem to have happened a few weeks ago, actually happend months ago... Reading my blog made me realise that. I guess I have been guilty of re-living the past and relishing on whatever I can savour from my time in China. I loved it... so sue me if I want to hold onto it. = )

Ok... 3 words that will sum up my condition... "Reverse Cultural Shock":
"Reverse cultural shock is actually more difficult to deal with than the original cultural shock experienced when entering a new land. This is because most people don't anticipate the need for adjustment when returning to their home country."

Little quirks from my blog entry. I apolgise for the incorrect spelling of names. I have seen myelf misspelling Quentin's name wrong on so many levels... hahaha. Gabriel and Hanalee I have spelt so wrong as well... EEP! Ive even spelt Zhejiang Daxue wrong a few times... though I think they might have been sevre typos.!

My Chinese... LOL well its getting there. I am really furstrated with the fact that I have really high expectations of myself, and I really thought that I could come back and speak good coversational Chinese. I can speak... basic.. and thats about it. But... I guess what is a bit rewarding is that all the beginner's books, programs that I have bought or downloaded I can understand most of the content in it. So I guess that means I have made some progress.

Things I will NOT miss about China. Well first of all... I will not miss the spitting. The hacking, and that noise that comes from your the back of your throat or nose, I am not surewhere its from... I will defiantely not miss that. The smoking... awww I am soo happy we are back in Australia... my lungs can breathe again. The pushyness... well I dont like being pushed around in general, but in China I think I got used to it. Also some of the rudeness... there are some rude people... but thats how it is in most places in the world.

Things I WILL miss about China. How cheap things are....tasty food that you can walk down the street and pick up.

I will miss the random Chinese candy! I will miss the jaozi or dumplings!!! AWWW I miss the ones from the canteen at Zhejiang! I will miss the baozi or steamed buns that I would eat every morning in Hangzhou from the shitang before class, I will miss the 1.50 Kuai Ice cream that I always bought every day from the same little shop a few doors down from our dorms in Beijing... (the guy rocks! everytime I walk in there, he knows what I want, he gets the icecream out before I ask... and If there are time when I cannot find it, he will find it for me. AHHH!!!) I will miss Beijing Kao ya (peking duck) I will miss Nai Cha (Bubble tea/Milk Tea).

I will miss trying all those awesomely packaged drinks that only once you take a sip of it, you realise it tastes like shit.

I will miss the pomelo!

I will miss the lifestyle of being a foreign student learning Chinese. Living in the dorms and being able to go to class in your Pjs (which I ended up doing in Beijing). Trying to talk to locals... being lost in translation...getting away with things because you are foreign... Meeting people from different countries, cultures and languages. Learning about the differences between Australia, China and everywhere else. All those little cultural idiosyncracies facinate me and I just get filled up with .... I don't know... awe?

Clubbing!! awww I will miss the clubbing, how stupidly cheap drinks are! Transportation via taxi being hell cheap. In Hangzhou... I miss S.O.S and Maccas... perfect stumbling/sobering up distance from the dorms.... I will miss the bikes!!! Jeeemes! CHINAAA! I will miss K TV!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was not really big on K tv... I thought it was kinda pussy and like I mean I would do it for kicks and have heaps of fun... but once in China... I've become addicted to it! I love it!!! miss it already! got huge withdraw symptoms. The Ktv ROCKS! There are plasma/flatscreens there are party lights, there are tamberines, there are cool computers there that help you select the songs... they serve food!!!!

I will miss the freedom. Being able to think of something to do and on the spot be able to organise it and do it! Being able to have the carefee attitude of "yeaaa why not?" and there is nothing or no one there to stop you from doing it. Being spontaneous! I love it! AAAAHHH... CHINAAA!!!

Oh wells... thats my reflection of China. Wo xiang zhongguo!

Labels: China, Chinese, Clubbing, Food, Friendship, KTV, Opinion, Travel

Mega Catch Up

Ok… mega catch up blog entry. Ok… well what I might do I might attempt to re-cap from last Sunday the 20^th of January 2008.

Xingqitian (Sunday) 20^th January 2008

Today despite feeling exhausted as hell I got my butt up at 6.30am to meet everyone else at 7am to go to the slopes for skiing/snowboarding! So… I got ready. Went to Michelle’s and Fern’s room… knocked on their door, and yes… you guessed it, they were still a sleep. Everyone was still a sleep. So… our day actually started at about 8am. We took a bus to the mountain… forgot its name, which took about 2 hours. It was pretty close!

The cost… crazy cheap!!! We had to put down 200 RMB for the day pass, and equipment. At the end of the day we were given 50 RMB back which means we paid about 25 AUD. The bus ride there 12 kuai, meaning it cost us only 2 AUD to get there. CHEAP!

Anywho…I decided that I was going to work on snowboarding, since my experience in Shanghai was not really “proper” snowboarding. I didn’t know how to carve or board down the slope properly. I just went straight down, which is pretty dangerous. So Lincoln was my Laoshi for the day. He taught me and Michelle how to do “falling leaf” which is just boarding down the slope horizontally across the slope, and not just vertically straight down the slope… which would have led us to the end of our short lives.

Falling over is pretty tiring. I did not fall this much when I had skied in Switzerland! So my wrists, lower back and butt was getting pretty sore. By lunch time… I was dying for something decent to eat. The sandwiches at the lodge there was awesome! Club sandwich… YUM!!! Afterwards, Lincoln took me to the middle part of the slope… to bring my game up a bit.

I was still shitting myself. Ok…I had the general gist of what to do, but not down pack. I packed it even more when I saw that I was not going to be alone at this part of the slope, but about 30 instructors were just standing in the middle of the slope for some filming. Lincoln snowboarded to the other side of the slope so that we could go down around them… but I… well… I didn’t know how to go across the slope. It was mega steep and… I could just imagine me bowling them over…. But… I amped myself up and did it. The biggest hurdle was my fear. After that… it was easy street.

What really got me to turn my fear around was Kenny. Kenny was like me, never snowboarded in his life. For lunch the girls told him accidently that the lodge is at the very top of the mountain… yea… not cool. So he had to snowboard down himself… BUT he did it, and learned how to go down falling leaf all by himself. My inspiration!

After going down from the mid point and hearing that Kenny made it to the bottom alive… I “man-ed” up and took the plunge. Went to the very top of the slope… and I never looked back! It was scary, invigorating and a great way to learn to snowboard! The slope is long, and since I was only going down one way my legs burned like hell!!! I ended up having to try to forget the pain of lactic acid in my thighs by singing while I snowboarded down… ahahahah… but by the end of the day, I would just make myself fall over to let my legs rest!

The day would have been perfect if the next part didn’t happen. I was super cold and tired, so I changed and returned my clothes and gear. When I walked out to see everyone again and I went to buy some Nai Cha (Milk Tea) I realised I had no money in my wallet. I had taken all my money out and put it in the pocket of the snow jacket I had borrowed! I ran to everyone and told them and we made our way to the hiring desk. I had only JUST returned it, and I wore a green jumpsuit in size small which was not that popular. We told the people there, and they let us look in all of the pockets of the size small green. But… all the pockets had been opened and my money was no longer there. The people there were asking whether I had kept my pocket open and perhaps I had dropped it. But I knew this was not the case. I saw that every time they received the snow gear back they checked the pockets then and there. Someone… blatantly lied to me and someone got themselves an extra 400 kuai. *sigh*

Lincoln, Michelle and I eating some Lunch on the slope

Xingqiyi (Monday) 21 January – Xingqisi (Thursday) 24 Janurary

We pretty much continued having classes in the morning. But instead of going to the afternoon activities that were available to us, we went out shopping this week! We realised we only had 1 more week left. So we took the ditie (underground train) to the Silk Market and Xi dan. They are awesome places to go shopping! This holiday I did not buy a lot of clothes, but I bought a lot of “Zhongguo dongxi” (Chinese Stuff) Such as my name in a chop/seal/stamp. I had them put Xia An Na in the traditional script. I also bought some cool water paintings of the Great Wall, Huang Shan and some Pandas. I was looking for a painting of Xi Hu (West Lake) in Hangzhou… but no such luck.

To tell you the truth, the night market in Hangzhou is a lot better than in Beijing. I mean Beijing had a lot of stuff, don’t get me wrong but I think I preferred the stuff that they had in Hangzhou.

One of the coolest buys was… I bought a Zhongguo MP3 player!! Because what happened was the day after snowboarding, my ipod died on me!!! I plugged poddie into megan’s computer and it just froze… I didn’t know why. I waited for ages but nothing happened so I unplugged poddie from the laptop. Since then, I cannot access my music… itunes will not pick up poddie, but the laptop will detect a mass storage space connected. *sigh*

I was hell depressed. I pretty much have lost 3 years of music! It had everything on it! Mandarin, French, Japanese Lessons… My European trip OST, my China trip OST, my Il Divo, Maroon 5… everthingggg!!! So when I had a look at the mp3s in Carre Four with Lincoln, we saw this hot little thing. Chinese branded though, but it is no bigger than a credit card man!!! It has touch pad, big screen with great resolution!!! I bought it for 799 kuai… which is about 130 AUD. And It has been the coolest buy so far!!! I have put all my Chinese music on, I have downloaded all my favourite Chinese ktv vid clips and have put it on there so I can practice reading the Hanzi, and I have put lyrics onto it, so I can learn the songs!! AHH!!! Sooo cool!!!

My new Zhongguo pod

I also put got my Sony Ericsson w660i flashed!!! Its soo cool!! I got them to put Chinese characters onto it! I love it! It also has Bahasa Indonesia dictionary on it, so now I can write and receive sms’s in like 3 languages that I can understand!!! Writing hanzi is pretty fun, and really helpful for learning it.

We also went to Vix/Mix. These are 2 clubs in Beijing which are next to each other. They both are pretty sick! Hahaha… we went on the Thursday, and then we went again on the Friday.

Xingqiwu (Friday) 25 January

We had a free day, but as usual it was taken up by an excursion. Today we went to the Tian’namen Square and the Forbidden City. It was really really really cold!!! You could not believe!!! There was no sign of snow, but I think it was really cold because of the wind! The wind cuts right through you. Especially at Tian’namen square as it is just one big open square with no buildings.

There is nothing really much I can say about Tian’namen Square of the Forbidden City really. It was just cold. I was a bit disappointed with the Forbidden City as some parts were closed down for renovation for the Olympics. But it was ok. All of us were just ready to hui sushe (return to the dorms) as we were all suffering hahaha.

The cool stuff I bought from the Forbidden City was 2 books. One of them showed you how to write characters and the history behind them, and the other was a calendar where you learn a phrase a day!

Later on we hit Vix/Mix again!

Our Crew at Tian'namen

Xingqiliu (Saturday) 26 January

I was tired… exhausted to the max from clubbing and the lack of sleep from the past 2 nights. But… I still woke up at 8.30am to go to our next excursion. We went to visit the new Olympic Stadium! Unfortunately it was not open for the public, so all we did was take a bus to it, to see it, we took some happy snaps and then we headed back home, which was fine for all of us. The Olympic stadium is pretty awesome! Has some pretty sick architecture… why couldn’t our silly Convention Centre look anything like this. The stadium looks like a birds nest, which is supposed to mean something… but yea.

Duncan and I at the New Olympic Stadium

That night we hit Propaganda… BIG night. It was probably the best night I had in Beijing! Lincoln and I earlier one were like… “ok.. we will make a pact… this is THE night… because next week all of us will be studying...” The cocktails are really cheap for us! Mojitos are like 25 Kuai (4 AUD) and other “stronger” drinks are 35 Kuai. I think this night was my best night because I practiced my Chinese. Other nights in Beijing, as just been about our group and that is about it.

This night I ordered drinks, talked to the bar tender (who was a newbie but still really cool). Like for example, I ordered a round of drinks… and Lincoln was like… “Anna get him to put more vodka in.” So I did! I asked him and he just kept the vodka going! Another cool example was when we were at the bar, I accidently bumped into this guy. I said dui bu qi (excuse me/sorry). And he was like mei guan xi (no worries). I then thought… eh… what the heck, lets practice my chinese… “Ni jiao shenme mingzi?” (what is your name?) He answered with his Chinese name which I cannot possibly repeat or remember. I then explained to him that I couldn’t speak Chinese very well. He then said his name was Sean… (I think). Anyways… I spent a good few minutes conversing with him…explaining I was in China to study Chinese, and I had studied in Hangzhou for a month and was in Beijing for another month. He told me he studied marketing (I think) and I told him I had studied law… after a while I ask him “Ni de pengyou zai nar li?” (Where are your friends)… guess what he said in reply??

He said he came alone! Hahahahaha oh well at least he was a nice guy..nice enough guy to humor me and my bad Chinese.

The night ended… well… yea.. it ended good… lets just say… not as bad as Shanghai… but close hahha.

Xinqitian (Sunday) 27 January – Xingqisi (Thursday) 31 January

On Sunday I kept a low profile. Lincoln and I went to eat at a place called “Lush” which had the sweetest burgers there! Aw… I miss the western food! Monday through to Thursday we were all busy studying for our exams with a bit of shopping on the side.

This week I got really frustrated with my Chinese. Things were just not sinking in. I was SO thick! I didn’t understand. I felt like my Chinese had gone backwards. I was sooo augh!!! It was horrible especially since I had my exam!

James in Hangzhou sent me photo of Zhejiang Daxue snowed in! They got a lot of snow, like most of the other cities and provinces in China. Apparently there has been mega snow… which has made it difficult for those who are trying to return home to their town for Chinese New Year. Train tracks are blocked etc. But… being typical Anna luck… no such snow is visiable in Beijing. Clear blue skies… Zai Beijing de tianqi hen leng, ke shi meiyou xue. (In Beijing, the weather is cold, but no snow) *sigh*

Zhejiang Daxue Snowed in!

Xingqiwu (Friday) 1 February

Today… well we had our graduation ceremony! It has only really just hit me that.. hey we are leaving tomorrow morning. We are leaving China for good. It is not just a 1 or 2 week holiday to another place where we will return later on for more study. This is it. No more Chinese classes!!! = (

The ceremony was pretty cool, they gave us a DVD presentation which was a movie of photos and video clips of us while out at excursions or in class throughout this month! It was soo cool! They gave us a CD of the movie as well as the photos they took!! They presented us with our certificates and along with a shirt with the School’s name on it, and a class photo.

All the classes had to give a performance. Our class just did a role play with some dialogue. But the other classes did some crazy stuff like… a “who dunnit” “Murder in the dark” role play, whereas another group did a presentation on experiences in China.

They also presented awards for the classes. For our class A1, Ke Li Si and I were awarded some prize… I didn’t quite catch what it was for, but I think it was for being good students. It was cool I got a Chinese mask thing which you can hang on a wall or door. There were also awards for the best acting in the class performances. For our class the award went to Megan. = )

I wanted to get photos with both of my Laoshi. But I was only able to get a photo with one. = ( Yea… the Laoshi here were a lot better than the ones in Zhejiang. It was an intense learning experience. Lu Laoshi was the first teacher we had. He was really good. Like he kept you talking, and I think I liked his teaching style, like I benefited the most from it. Wang Laoshi was really good too. She was patient, and had a completely different approach. She was more about the writing and the pace was slower.

The staff here are really nice as well. Like they actually care. They took care of you!!! Really! Like… ok… I was getting frustrated with my Chinese and on Thursday in class.. well I kinda randomly fell a part. I do not know why. Nothing was sinking in, things I knew I forgot. I was really flustered. Wang Laoshi was teaching that day, and she could sense I was bu gaoxing (Not happy). She asked whether I was uncomfortable… but I couldn’t answer her because… well yea… Anywho… I didn’t return after the break. I asked Megan to explain to Wang Laoshi that I was just concerned about the exam and that it was not her. I kinda had a feeling she thought I was angry with her. >.<

Anyways… this Monday I missed class because I was feeling down. But I had a “one on one” class and instead of getting a random teacher to talk about random things to, I was directed to Wang Laoshi, who went through the lesson that I had missed. It was really good. She asked me about the Thursday and whether I was ok. And I said to her… “dui bu qi… mei guan xi, wo shi mafan.” (sorry, don’t worry, I was being difficult) I thought it was the best way to say it especially since “mafan” (troublesome) was a new word which she had taught me just then!

Anyways… after the graduation ceremony we all went to a farewell lunch. But Both of my Laoshi did not turn up. I was quite… well cut. HAHAHA. I wanted to talk to them and say thank you and all that jazz. So afterwards I asked the other Laoshi for their emails, but they didn’t know. Instead they gave me their mobile numbers… siiiick = ) I got my Chinese hanzi on, and messaged them = ). It was cool! Really really cool… but I was mega exhausted trying to figure out, the grammar, the words and then what characters to use hahhaa… reading them was pretty alright.

Anyways… I better go… been writing this thing for ages and Its already 6.48… need to finish packing…need to rest before tonight…

Wo aiiiiiii Zhongguooooo!!!!

Labels: Beijing, China, China Gang, Chinese, Clubbing, Food, Friendship, Shopping, Sport, Technology, Travel

Heya all...

been a while since ive blogged. Haven't really had the time to blog as now we are all tending to go out more after class... yea... we have decided to skip the extra curricular activities and do our own thing.

But yea... ill def fill you all in on what has happened later...

Just wanted to SAY.... "HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!!!" Or... Aa Da Li Ya Hao kuaile! (I am not sure if you can say that... but yea...)

xXoo

Labels: Australia, Beijing, China

Heya there,

It has been pretty busy the past 2 days... Let me give you the run down.

Friday -Xingqiwu

We went to the Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven and a Tea House! It was VERY busy!!!

The Summer Palace was a beautiful place, but seeing it with the snow from Thursday made it look magical! When we arrived all we saw was this mass of whiteness. The sky was white, and it met the ground which was white, till you realise that the ground was in fact a lake which had frozen over and had snow on it!

So our tour group played around in the snow for a bit, taking photos and what not. I spent most of my time snowballing people... but hey... you only live once right?!?!? Afterwards we made a move on and started exploring the palace!

Afterwards we went home, rested had lunch then headed out to the Temple of Heaven! This was beautiful as well!!! And just to think I remember doing my year 7 assignment on China and I remembered this place!

It was getting dark pretty quickly so we headed out for dinner. We ate at this jaozi place... and I ate... like SOOO MUCH! Like when you think the meal is up, and your content, they bring out 4 other dishes!!! Awwww....

After dinner we made our way to the Tea house called "Laoshe Teahouse" It is a pretty famous place as a lot of famous people have visited it. It was pretty cool, like you sit as they serve tea and then there are a bunch of performances ranging from Opera to Kung Fu, and just pure entertainment!!!

Saturday - Xingqiliu

Today we went to a Zhongguoren family! (Chinese Family) The family we went to was the family of Yin Jing Laoshi. We spent the day with them, talking in Chinese... It was really good. Very fun, I had a great time trying to talk! It was difficult at first, but then soon after I didnt care how I was saying things, I thought that I'll just say what ever is on my mind, and if its wrong grammar they can correct me. But yea... it was good = ) I think they understood me most of the time = )

They then took us to a restaurant for... Beijing Ka ya! (Beijing duck!) I can never get tired of it!!! It was soooo good!!! Very yummy!!!

Afterwards, we went to Mei Shan (Coal Mountain) it is a hill that is directly behind the Forbidden City and it was built for the purpose of setting the feng shui correct for the Beijing government. It was to make the government "stable." So for the correct feng shui, they had a mountain behind the Forbidden City and then a lake in front (and surrounding) it. At the Mei Shan there are 5 pavilions which over look the city of Beijing. The middle pavilion is positioned dead centre of the Forbidden City!

As we were leaving, we saw one of those guys who write chinese charaters on the floor with water! There was a man who did it in Hangzhou at Xi Hu (West Lake), he saw us and he asked our Laoshi where were were from and she told him we were from America and Australia (2 of my classmates are from American and Michelle and I are Aussie of course) he then wrote on the floor, "Huanying Meiquo he Aa Da Li Ya Pengyou!" (Welcome American and Australian Friends)

I took a photo and video of it, and then the man asked for my name. I was like "Wo shi An Na" He then started to write my name too!!!!!!!! It was sooo cool!!! He wrote "An Na Xiao Jie!" meaning "Miss Anna." He then wrote it again but in like Chinese running writing!!! It is soo cool!!!! hehehe!!!..

Anywho, I am pretty pooped, the nets messing up so I cant upload pics... but I'll upload later or check out facebook.

xXoo

Labels: Beijing, China, Culture, Food, Sightseeing

IT IS SNOWING!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jintian de tian qi hen leng! Beijing you xia xue! "Today the weather is very cold, Beijing is snowing!"

I looooove it! I this week I had been dreaming of snow! Every night! Quentin told me on Sunday that it would snow this week on Thursday. I was like "yea whatever, the weather man is ALWAYS wrong!"

I woke up this morning, and looked out of the window, I saw that the sky was grey and for some reason I knew! I told Megan "Hey, its going to snow today." I was half joking, half not... there was something in the way the sky looked.

We went to class and people were looking out of the window. You could see that there was some sort of precipitation happening. It looked like a very light drizzle. During class I kept looking out of the window, and I could see that it was getting heavier and heavier... Half way through class our teacher let us out to play with the snow!!!

It was soo cool! It was still relatively light... but nevertheless cool!!! After class Lincoln, Joel and I went to lunch at Jia le fu "Carrefour" and when we walked out of our sushe (dorms) the snow was heavier than it was before! You could see the snow flakes... and it was hen piao liang! (very beautiful!)

Anyways... I have more photos and videos on facebook but heres some for you now!

Labels: Beijing, China, Chinese

Wo yao xue! I want snow!

I was giving James crap about how we were eating at Sizzlers... he looove sizzlers and there is none in Hangzhou.

Anna sms: Hey guess where I am, it starts with an "S" and ends in "izzlers" HAHAH

"Buzz Buzz" Anna gets a reply:

James sms: Thats a tough one... how bout I punch you in the face!!! It is ducking snowing man! Jealous?! I thought so...!

(Anna gets a shock, reads the sms 3 times over.... Did he say SNOWING?)

Anna sms: Serial? Are you serious? How much, send a photo!

James sms: Dead serial...The whitness is still collecting on the floor, maybes tomorrow it will be all white!

(Anna is in shock, saddness, annoyance! WHY!! this is the 3rd time I've missed snow! When I went to detriot, was there for 3 weeks, the day we left... snow. Europe, only snowed for 10 mins, once we left, a week later, heavy snow... now this!!!)

James sms: Hangzhou rules!!!!

This is the photo he sent me on MMS:

Quentin sent me an MMS... with the character of snow: Xue3

Labels: Beijing, China, Chinese, Friendship, Hangzhou

Heyyyaaa all today... was D-Day!

Women qu Chang Cheng, Great Wall. For me it was the pinnacle of the China trip. Everything that I had heard and learned about China was embodied in this wall. = )

The drive there was not too long, about 2 hours at max... I slept most of the way... Once we arrived and got off the bus it was friggin hen leng!!! really cold. My toes hurt, hands hurt! yeaaa.. very cold.

What else can I say about it... well it was breathtaking... it being so looong and just.. well exactly as one would imagine it to be like!

Whilst we were walking...I must admit I was low on the energy. I had not eaten any breakfast and neglected to bring any lunch. But besides that downfall it was an alright day. Some of the fellas were daring enough to take off thier shirts for a photo!!!!! CRAZY!!!! Us girls were not that crazy but were daring enough to take off our shoes heheheh... YEAAA SSIICCK!!!

Labels: Beijing, China, China Gang, Chinese, Sightseeing

Beijing hen leng

Ok… Zuotian he Jintian Beijing was minus zero degrees! Tomorrow it is supposed to be minus 8 degrees!!! We are getting pretty used to the cold now… I think we are getting used to it because it has been gradually getting colder. Not like we were in Aussie summer then BAM crazy cold weather.

We have had various activities in the afternoons! which are good! it keeps us busy and it helps us learn and experience various aspects of Chinese culture. We have done paper cutting which is a very popular thing in Beijing, we have done singing.. which is a bit... difficult... and yesterday we did tai chi! We are learning how to do stuff with a spear too!!! its awesome!!!!

Me tai chi-ing it up!

Last night we all went out for the first time in Beijing. We went to a club called “Propaganda” which was pretty cool, it had a neat underground feel to it. A lot of ex-pats there too. RnB music all the way with some whacked left field music too! The trip there was not so cool though. All of us required 3 taxis, we got into the second taxi and showed the taxi driver the address, he said he knew where it was. But as it turned out, we did not get there. We thought he was taking us for a joy ride but it turns out that he went in the correct direction, just he didn’t know exactly where it was. The meter was like at 40 kuai which is STUPID! The others got there fine, paying only 25 kuai. We got the taxi driver to drop us at a main street and so we could walk and find our own way. We didn’t wanna pay the fare as he did not take us to our destination. So all of us ran across the road. Mark didn’t so our attempted “runner” failed as he had to pay the fare.

“Propaganda” was having a ladies night, so we did not pay entry and we were given 3 free drinks! I had 2 mojitos which were really really nice, and I had a “propaganda” which is this cocktail with a mixture of different alcohols in a martini glass which the bartender then lights up with a lighter. I also randomly bumped into Michelle Wong!!! We did not decide to head out to propaganda until the last minute, so I had not rung anyone… but it was soo cool to bump into her!!! It was like.. omg.. I actually know someone here????

We left around 3ish and one of the other girls on the tour had “picked” up this Chinese guy, who with his friend took us to this restaurant for supper. It was pretty random and ok. But yea… I don’t know. The clubbing is not the same as it was in Hangzhou. Its good… but it is missing something… or… maybe I am just all clubbed out and I am over it. Nevertheless it was still a good night out.

Today we had our excursion which turned out to be like “An Amazing Race.” We were given instructions to get to a certain destination which was “Chi Bei Hai” which had a huge lake which had frozen over!!! We were to find our own way there, which meant finding the correct bus, and then we were to find certain buildings and to take photos of us there. We were also to find a random person and to ask them 5 questions.

It was pretty cool, I must admit I was quite tired so I lacked the zest and energy that I usually had. But yea. It was really cold today, and seeing the frozen lake made it even colder! OMG it was psycho… there were men who were jumping into the frozen lake to swim!!! They would come out and their bodies all red from the cold! CRAZY!!! I think they do it as it is good for their health or something. After we had finished our tasks and had lunch, we went iceskating on the lake!! Cost us 20 kuai to hire the skates and yea… it was pretty mad aye!! Just iceskating outdoors instead of indoors in an artificial environment, and to see the lake just completely frozen.. you could see leaves and stuff in the ice! I skated around the lake, and went around a building which was really nice!

HrMM... I dont think these boats are going anywhere

After that, we went for starbucks for a nice warm drink. Biggest disappointment and waste of money. I had the “famous” hot chocolate which was pretty ordinary. After that the group split up. The girls went shopping and I went home with the boys to chill out and rest. I tried to get my internet working. I talked to the man in the admin office… attempted my chinese… and yea Got him to come to my room to look at my internet. He couldn’t get the connection, in the end Duncan came and knocked on my door and yea… he hoo

ked up our net!!! After that Lincoln and Joel popped in, and we decided to go for dinner.

We walked down the street and ate at one of the small restaurants there (which we have been doing lately which is great for the wallet!) We ordered this wicked Beijing dish called Ka pow tofu. (I cant be sure if that’s correct spelling) but it was really really nice!!!

Labels: Beijing, China, China Gang, Clubbing, Culture, Food, Sightseeing, Sport

Okk... Wo bu zhidao whether that was correct Chinese or not... but yea, you will have to deal with it!!!


Generally Beijing so far has been alright. The dorms here are really quiet, there is only our group from UWA that are living here, so yes.. very quiet.. I can see a tumbleweed pass through the corridors! The atmosphere is completely different to Zhejiang Daxue. Zhejiang was buzzing with life and students from all around the world, parties... pretty much ur standard uni. Here it is very... yess.... quiet. No alcohol allowed on campus. But in a way its a good change. Here there is a lot more structure. At Zhejiang we we able to experience the life of a international student. But here, I think it is going to be very focused on the language and the culture.

Yesterday we had our opening day where we registered and paid for our rooms. At the welcome ceremony/speech we signed a pledge... this pledge get this.. is that we are not to speak any English whilst on campus. Meaning in the corridors, in the computer rooms, on the bball courts, shitang, gym etc its all Chinese. Only in our rooms and once out of the campus doors may we speak English. I really like it actually. = )


After the opening ceremony we had lunch... and it was HUGE we had peking duck which was really good and all this other food. (Actually the night before a group of us went to the same restaurant and ordered the peking duck with 3 other dishes and it cost each of us a grand total of $4.50 AUD!!!) Siiiiiick!

Afterwards I went to accompany Michelle to get her shouji SIM Ka. It was such a draining experience. None of us (Megan, Michelle and I) could speak good Chinese, so I thought hey, cool chance to practice. We were successful in asking for a SIM card, but what messed us up... was the fact that the SIM card did not work in Michelle's phone! All hell broke loose, and soon wo you tou teng. I was looking through my dictionary and my phrase book and then my own little notebook... augh! We were not successful in that Michelle had to take that SIM card and give it to someone else who could use it. She couldnt get her money back.

At night we went out to dinner with Uncle Mike (Megan and Will's Uncle from KL) and we had tibetian! It was pretty filling! We didnt eat that much and we were hen bao le!

Jintian shangwu 8.40am wo shangke. This morning at 8.40am I had class. It was pretty cool. There are only 4 of us in it and it is very personalised and intense. My Laoshi... I forgot his name, but he is cool! I really believe that my Chinese will improve. I have definately been speaking more and more the past few days... whether it is correct Chinese I do not know but yea.. Tonight I plan to study what we had learned today, and to do the homework that was set for us... I am pretty buggered at the moment. I think sleep is catching up to me = )

Other than that... ill see yas all around!

Labels: Beijing, China, Chinese, Food, Shopping

Everyone holding thier favorite thing

Heya all, long time no see!!! Now I am in Beijing. We arrived jintian shangwu! But before I tell you how we got here, let me recap on the week that just passed… the last week in Hangzhou.

Xingqiliu 29 December 2007

Megan, Jesse and I had dim sum for chi zao fan, afterwards we rushed to the Shanghai South Train Station in order for me to head back to Hangzhou. I must make a special thank you to Jesse for looking after Megan and I whilst in Shanghai for the week! So I hopped on the train, found the dui cabin and seat and enjoyed the ride back. People are very helpful in China believe it or not, for an example, when I arrived at my seat I had my little suitcase (compliments of Melissa) and this man who was sitting across from me took it and placed it in the overcarry thingo. He then took it down when we arrived in Hangzhou.

I was soon awoken by a phone call from Quentin, he was wondering whether everything was alright and whether I wanted him to pick me up from the train station. It made me smile = ) A few days before when I had told James that I was coming back alone, he offered the same thing. Awww I feel loved. But yea… they were looking out for me, knowing I barely know Chinese. But yea anyways, I told Quentin I would be fine, I mean I have successfully directed the taxi driver “Wo yao qu Zhejiang Daxue, Yu quan Xiao qu, Xixi lu Hou men”

When I got off the train, I followed the crowd like a sheep to the exit. I found the taxi line and waited in it for a looonnng time. When I did get the taxi, awww I was lucky! I had gotten a really nice taxi driver. Initially after I directed him where I wanted to go, there was silence. He then said something which obviously I did not understand. So I smiled nicely and said Dui bu qi, wo ting bu dong. He then laughed and said something which I assumed he asked where I was from. I told him I was Australian and our conversation started from there. I tried stringing words together like Wo xihuan Hangzhou, Wo juede Hangzhou hen hao kan… Wo xihuan Hangzhou-ren. Heheheheee poor Chinese, but he understoold. He asked where I came from (which I only understood after he asked 3 times) and I told him I came from Shanghai and I was there for yige xinqi. I told him I preferred Hangzhou. I also told him wo shi xueshang, wo xuexi Hanyu zai Zhejiang Daxue. There were a lot of times where I had NO idea what he was saying, and there were a lot of times where he had no idea what I was saying, so majority of the time we were passing over my English-Chinese dictionary!!! While he was driving too!!! He was soo cool.

And yes… I successfully reached my destination.

Walking the streets through the campus was sooo nice. I appreciated it a lot more. I felt like I was coming home, because wo ai Hangzhou! It made me sad as well knowing that I will be leaving in one week. I made my way to Quentin’s room where I was greeted by the frenchie! AAAAH I had missed him. I had missed James and Quentin whilst in Shanghai. There were so many “in jokes” which I wanted to pull out, but no one would have understood. Quentin was nice enough to give up his spare bed for the week for me. Hes my hero!!! Wo meiyou qian!!! (I had no more money).

Oh yea… what is it like staying with a guy? Well its ok. Quentin as a roomie gave me the insight of a typical guy. 3 things. Messy, unorganised and carefree. I thought it might have been weird… but it was ok. It was pretty fun, a bit ma fan when I wanted to change and stuff, like I had to go to the bathroom and change, I mean when staying with Megan we get to the point when we don’t care anymore and just change our top or bottoms and make sure the other is facing the other way. Quentin had clothes everywhere, rubbish that had accumulated after months, and yea. But he was sweet enough to have his room and bathroom cleaned by the Fuyuan.


Xingqitian 30 December 2007

That night James, Quentin and I went to CarreFour where we bought some champagne for Guillaume whose birthday party we were going to that night. It was some really nice French Champagne recommended by Quentin.

Afterwards, we wanted to go for dinner, we ate at a place that opened up near Zhejiang Daxue zai Xixi Lu. It was pretty good. Like we chose a plate and they heated it up and served cooked and all. Quentin got James and I on beer, and over dinner and the beer we decided that we wanted to drink the Champagne ourselves and then get Guillaume another drink from the convenient store… we were like “Yeaaa, why not.”

When we arrived at the dorms, we got ready and then popped open the Champagne. The weather is cold enough now that all we did was put the bottle outside on the balcony for an hour or so in order to chill it… yeaaa… all natural coolness! We then got stuck into it… it taste sooo niiiice despite the fact that we drank it out of plastic cups!!! But yea, we had so much fun!!! Afterwards we walked to Guillaume's and Gabriel’s place for the party… that walk was really fun too! Just the shenanigans and the conversations that emerge!!

At the party, everyone was there, and I had a really good time!!! Ive taken some cool photos of the Terrific trio (James, Quentin and I) sharing the love =)

After that we all went to G+ (another club) where I must admit I was sooo exhausted by then, that I didn’t really dance and all I really wanted to do was sleep. We left around 3am and yea… wo xuejiao!!!


Xingqiyi 31 December 2007

New Years Eve!!! Awww… Quentin, James and I awoke really late.. at about 3am we had lunch at a place near Xi Hu where we ordered pizza!! It was really cool, we chilled out, talked and yea… some of the conversation involved Quentin and James going Geek style, talking about physics and shite. (James is studying engineering and Quentin used to study engineering). Hahaha its funny, sad and cute at the same time.

Anyways… it was around this time we got a phone call from Megan who had arrived in Hangzhou with Sam. We then quickly ate our food, and tried to get all the shopping we needed to get done quickly. James bought his Nike Airforce 1s and then we went again to Carrefour to get more Champagne to drink before heading out for new years eve.

After getting ready and drinking the Champagne, we all had more pre drinks in James’ room. Afterwards we all headed off to “In Club” which had an open bar. This club was James’ favourite club of all time which had been closed, and was open only for new years. The club was pretty swish, not as nice as SOS but still pretty swish. I guess the only downfall was the countdown. It was not made as a big thing. Usually in Australia, the music would stop, and then the DJ would be like “10, 9, 8, 7…” But here, the music just ended and then some girls started shooting out these streamers and like spraying this stringy shit on the crowd. People were hugging each other saying happy new year, and so I assumed that was it. This is where I automatically looked around for Will, even though I knew he wasn’t going to be there. But yea… Hugged everyone!!! James picked me up (the crazy boy) even though his back is fractured!!! (actually James still does crazy physical stuff even though his back is a bit fractured… JEEEEEMMES!!! CRAZY!!!)

After some more crazy dancing and partying we all left at about 4am. The best part of the night though, was being able to talked to all you guys in Australia! Even though I could barely hear you all, I still really loved talking to all of you!!!


Xingqier 1 January 2008

Today, we recovered, and then went out with Sam. We took him to get sticky pictures done, and we then went to Xi Hu to take some more pictures and show Sam around. It was really beautiful, different to how it was when Megan and I arrived, but nevertheless beautiful. I can never get tired walking around it. It is so tranquil. I love it! Quentin has taken one of my artistic shots and used it as his wallpaper on his laptop for a bit. (YAY for my camera skills and for my sick camera!)

We then had dinner at the Pizza place that Quentin, James and I went to yesterday and ate Pizza. I was really full at the end of the day, yet we had to take Sam to SOS to show him what this club is all about.

SOS was ok. I have had better nights, but then again it was one of the better nights overall. Going to SOS in general is always good! There were a lot of performances this night because it was new years day. I scored myself a cowboy hat from one of the dancers while they were dancing to Will Smith’s “Wild Wild West.”


Xingqisan 2 January 2008

We awoke, and then had brunch at Grandma’s Kitchen, the place where Megan and I ate the first night we arrived in Hangzhou. It was pretty alright, the food we ordered I think was better than the first time we went. Afterwards, Megan and I took Sam to the train station so that he could make his way back to Shanghai. Megan and I then headed to Hangzhou Da Xa (not sure of the spelling) in order to take more sticky pictures but this time have James in it too. But… James and Quentin being lazy asses did not want to come. So Megan and I quickly bought sweaters from Zara (which was having a sale) and then we returned to the dorm. We then did our washing, Megan moved into Melissa’s room, and then Quentin, Megan, Deddy and I watched a movie I bought in Shanghai on the recommendation of Gulliamue. The movie is called “Shanghai Kiss” and it was pretty interesting. It was just about a Chinese American guy going to Shanghai with no Chinese Skills whatsoever. It made us remember our time in Shanghai, and it also reminded us of all the experiences we had with the language barrier.

Afterwards, Megan, James, Melissa, Jose, Qiao and I went to the French restaurant for dinner. Our lasssst time!!! I love French food. I had the goat cheese again and then I had this chocolate cake as a dessert. YUMMMMM!!!

Afterwards, Megan, James and I tried to watch Blood Diamond, but we were all pretty tired so we did not get a chance to finish it.


Xingqisi 3 January 2008

For breakfast we all went to the other Canteen (Not shitang, but the canteen with the sick dumplings, jiaozi). Here I just ate the dumplings… I eat nothing else in this canteen, just the jiaozi with the vinegar and garlic sauce… YUMMM!!! Heaven! I will definitely miss the jiaozi!!!

Quentin and I then broke off from the group to go to the Zhongguo Yinhang (Bank of China) to get some money. Quentin needed to check his bank account so he needed a bank teller. (He couldn’t use the ATM) and for some reason, this day, the Bank was packed! So we took a taxi to another Bank. Afterwards, we decided to walk back to the campus as it was about a 15 min walk… and hey… its China “yeaa why not!” The walk was fast. We were singing songs and stuff. We sung Pour Qu Tu M’amies Encore which is a French song sung by Celine Dion, but Il Divo did a version of it too. Me loving Il Divo, I knew the words off by heart, and Quentin being frenchie, well he knew it too! It was cool! We had sung it earlier in the first few weeks of our time in Hangzhou, but yea. We also sung “Be Prepared” from the Lion King, as it is his favourite song from the movie. He sung it in French, I sung it in English. Its funny as some of the English words sound similar to the French words.

Once arriving at the dorms, everyone else was chilling, so Quentin and I chilled too. We pretty much just Youtube-d it for the afternoon. After that we attempted to get a massage with the others at the massage place we went to earlier (near the stadium) but it was too expensive at this time. So the group disbursed. Quentin and I had not eaten dinner so we went to Maccas… *Sigh* I tried ordering. I said “San Hao Tan Can” which mean pretty much “Meal number 3” which was the double cheese burger. But I didn’t get a cheese burger, I got a McChicken!!! Augh. The meal was so unsatisfying, and I asked Quentin what would be the first thing he would want to eat when he returned to France. He said he would go out, and then his mother’s cooking. I was thinking at the time that HrmMmM French cheese and bread would be nice… and then Quentin asked whether I wanted to go to Carrefour to buy some French food. HAHA… “yeaa why not” It was an expensive feed, but soo worth it. We have had hardly any dairy products whilst in Australia. We ate French cheese with bread, and then this fromage yogurt thingo with sugar and Banana (a dessert that Quentin loves). It was friggin niiiceee!!!

The experience in Carrefour was pretty good too. Like there were things we wanted to get but we didn’t know the Chinese word for it. So me being a geek took out my dictionary to find the word for Sugar. Tang is the word, but in my dictionary it had Shatang. We got frustrated when some of the Fuyuan did not understand us, but we found one who did. She said “Ah! Baise Tang” meaning “White sugar” and yea… we then found it. We also looked for bowls. I again took my dictionary and found that the word for bowl is “Wan” this was easier than the sugar, we then had to find paper bowls as the plastic bowls were kinda pussy (Quentin’s term) so I found the word for paper Zhi and we eventually found it. This day… I learned a lot of new words. Pointless words, but nonetheless, words!


Xingqiwu 4 January 2008

Today we did 3 things….

Massage, K-TV and SOS.

All were really good! Massage, well not much to write except it was really nice! Qiao, Quentin, James and I were the ones who ended up going. It freaked me out when it turned out that my massage person was a guy! Usually I get a girl, but yea… I was kinda freaked out… but he ended up being really good. He massaged me in ways that the other girl didn’t do last time (ok… that’s not supposed to sound dirty… but honestly, he was really good. The other time, I felt like the girl did a rushed job as I would always finish before the others).

After our foot massages were done, we had to take separate rooms (2 ppl in each room) for the body massages. It was during this time that Quentin and I got to know our massage people better. Quentin did most of the talking. I am pretty shy around James and Co. when it comes to speaking. But by the end of the massage, Quentin had invited the massage people to come out to SOS with us tonight.

Me enjoying massage

The Boys

After massage, we then got ready for K-Tv…K-tv was FUNNN!!! I loved it! I sung Tong Hua which symbolised the realisation of my goal which was to learn that song by the time I left Hangzhou! Megan and I dedicated “Stop” by the Spice Girls to our Hangzhou Crew, James and I did a crazy duet for “I don’t wanna miss a thing” by Aerosmith… and then at the very end, Quentin and I were able to squeeze “Wannabe” by the Spice Girls. It was really cool! Afterwards we headed to SOS which was open barr! But it was a very quiet night. Not a lot of people there, but still I had heaps of fun!!! Everyone was there!

We went to Maccas after SOS… just as a token “goodbye” I started getting emo around this time… I hid it pretty well though. No one knew. It just… well I realised there and then that this was it… I was leaving Hangzhou forever. I will never see these people again (a part from James). *tear*


Xingqiliu 5 January 2008

Our last day. It was really really quick and rushed. Everyone woke up late. I packed away all my stuff and we were all out by about 1.30pm It took forever for everyone to decide where to eat. We ended up going to Myth Café which was recommended by Gabriel and Guillaume . It had a nice friendly atmosphere and yea… it was cool as we were joined by everyone.

On the tables, there were handwritten messages from patrons of the restaurant. One of them said “Girlfriend Wanted.” hHAHAHAh the guy sounded so desparate. So we rang him up, Melissa did the talking… she sounded so sweet on the phone.. it was hilarious especially since her boyfriend (Guillaume ) was sitting next to her.

We then decided to leave our message there. We got a piece of paper, wrote “Hangzhou – Ni xihuan wo, Wo ai ni” and we got everyone to sign their name and where they where from! Megan and I then got everyone to write us a message which was pretty cool…. All heartfelt messages!!! *tear* Those who joined us were:
James, Gabriel, Deddy, Quentin, Guillaume , Melissa, Yongyong, Hannalee, Qiao, Jose, Yukes and Willy.

4.30pm came around sooo fast. I had to rush eating my meal, and Megan and I ended up having to leave early before everyone else was finished. It was a rushed goodbye. Hugs here and there photos… I really would have preferred a nicer way of saying goodbye… but… yea… it was still a nice send off.

James, Quentin, Megan and I now had to rush to find a taxi. It is hen ma fan to find one at this time. We were lucky to get one quickly though, and we were even more luckier to find a nice taxi driver who had agreed to wait at the back gate of the uni for us to take our luggage from the dorms and then to take us direct to the train station.

We got there 1 hour early, but it was good as we didn’t have to rush. Megan and I brought so much shit it was not funny. The boys helped us with our suitcases but even they were complaining about how heavy they were. Quentin made a comment “Girls, you bring more things than me and I am staying here for a year.”

We sat down in the waiting room where we were able to just chill and say our goodbyes. I was really annoyed that Megan and I didn’t have enough time to buy a nice gift for James and Quentin as they had looked after us soooo well! I gave them a little dog toy each as a token of thanks from Megan and I (I had bought them in Shanghai). The dogs are so cute! Small and pocket-able… I hope they look after them! Soon… (too soon) we had to board the train. It was again a bit of a rushed goodbye… it was surreal as it didn’t seem like we were leaving. But yea… *tear*

Quentin and James with our dogs!

had SO MUCH SHIT its not funny. We were struggling. I had my big uni bag, my laptop bag, my suitcase and I was also hand carrying Xiao DaBian. We had to go down a flight of stairs!!!!!!!!!!! Augh! Megan ended up getting a guy to help her most of the way down… I was struggling and then another guy who could speak English helped me down. We then found our carriage, but when we were getting on, Megan drop her chicken little teddy (Falong, named after Quentin as it was his toy initially and he gave it to her) and it fell onto the train tracks under the train! But the train guard guy was nice enough to pick it up for Megan!!!

Walking down the corridors of the train was cool! It reminded me of Harry Potter when they are on the train to Hogsworts. The cabin we had was a soft sleeper meaning that there were beds. The train ride is about 12 hours long, so we were definitely getting the soft sleeper. Some of our friends took another one, I think its called a hard seater, where you sit for the 12 or more hours. Apparently THAT is epic! It was pretty comfortable, the only thing that concerned Megan and I was… who were the other 2 people going to be. Our luggage alone took up 1 bed. And if the other 2 beds were taken then we were going to have to share a bed, or take turns sleeping! We were lucky! As little Jack a 16 year old Chinese boy walked into our cabin and put his stuff down. He had a big smile one his face, and as it turns out, he was travelling to Beijing alone to compete on this TV competition. One part of it was to speak English to Foreigners. He was very happy to see us, and we were very happy to see him! We talked to him in Chinese and he corrected us, and he spoke to us in English. It was SOOO COOL! We were using our dictionaries and everything! We shared food, we shared music… he is a little genius! He wants to study computer science… I assumed this much as he said he wanted to write computer programs.

Xingqitian 6 January 2008

Anywho… we slept at around 11 and then were woken up by Jack around 6am as we were to arrive in Beijing very soon. Jack then said “I think, I need to help you get to your hotel.” = ) What a sweetie!! We then got off the train (hen ma fan man!!) And jack bought us a map of Beijing. We then had to hunt for a taxi…the taxi drivers all wait outside the train station and then they try to cheat you into offering you trips for a set price. We were soo exhausted that we accepted the 2nd offer which was for 60 kuai. But the dooude agreed to take us to our hotel and the Jack to his hotel for a total of 80. Which was cool. Jack instructed the taxi driver, but the thing is, our hotel is a place where not many taxi drivers know about. Its in this little road. But luckily this taxi driver knew. Talking to our other friends who have arrived, mentioned that some had to be dropped near the hotel and walk the rest…etc…

I didn’t want Jack to leave without knowing how much we appreciated his help. So we gave him a bag of candy, a little toy dog (again I had bought in Shanghai) and a handwritten note in English to him. We also paid for the whole taxi fare. We have his email address and all so we can catch up with him and see how his show went.

Me and Jack lost in translation

The school here are ok. There is no exciting buzz as there was at Zhejiang. It is pretty empty and depressing. The rooms are ok. Not as ghetto as I thought it might be, but not as nice as the rooms in Hangzhou. The coolest part is that Our door has our names on it!!! EhEhhEhEhEhee…

Anywho… that’s about it for the massive blog. I’ll see you later!

Labels: Beijing, China, Chinese, Clubbing, Culture, Food, Friendship, Hangzhou, KTV, Movie, Music, Party, Shanghai, Shopping, Sightseeing, Travel