Hello, hello! Guess what?!?! I finally have all of my pictures uploaded. It took hours, but I finally did it. Here’s the catch: it will take me forever to add captions to each picture. I started adding a few, but it was taking a really long time. So…. If you have a question about any of the pictures, please leave a comment and I will get back to you. I think that will be much easier than me writing a comment for each picture. Also, I can add captions when I make it back to the U.S. By then, I’ll have faster internet speeds. My next few blogs will update you on the weekends beginning with the weekend of March 15th.
Weekend of 3/15-3/16:
On Saturday, we went to Ciqikou with Gayle Elliot. Gayle was here for two weeks, and she was teaching the Co-op class to our students. Anita Todd taught the first two weeks of the class, and Gayle ended the last two weeks. A few of our students (Michael, Mark, Jack, and Lotus) joined us as well. This was the first weekend adventure with Michael and Mark, and they are some really sweet kids.
Ciqikou is an old fishing city in Chongqing, and it is not too far from where we live. The city consists of small shops carrying knickknacks and different Chongqing snacks. We walked through the shops trying different foods and bought a few souvenirs. The best snack was an Indian banana pancake, which was really good (I know! It wasn’t a Chinese food. It was there, so I tried it). After walking around the shops, we went to the riverside. Here, they had a bunch of carnival-like games. I played one game, where I was given a basket of baseballs. Whichever drinks I can hit on the stands were mine to keep. If you do not know me, I used to play baseball when I was younger. I can throw the ball very well. So well, that I knocked all of the drinks off of the stands (Really, I did!). But I hit the part of the stand that was holding the drinks and not the actual drink. Hence it didn’t count. In the end, I won two drinks: a carton of orange juice and a can of Pepsi. The first question the students asked when I was done with the game: “Do you play baseball?”
After walking around some more and enjoying the scenery, we got lost. We ended up in a poor-looking neighborhood. I have pictures to show it. We decided to get back to the subway and head for dinner. We went back to Jeifangbei for Mexican food. Nothing new there. On Sunday, we headed to Shapingba. Brandon wanted to find a bar for Brandon to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. We were unsuccessful, but I had an adventure of my own. I wanted KFC, but Alyssa and Brandon didn’t. I decided to go by myself. This was the first time I would venture out on my own when we were not near campus. While waiting in line for KFC, I pulled out my Google translate. I had my order typed up and I was able to compare the characters to the menu before I made it the counter. To no surprise, my cashier did not speak English, so thank God for Google!
Weekend of 3/22-3/23:
At this point, we had already been in China for over a month. It occurred to me that I hadn’t taken time to myself. We all need some me-time, so I decided to stay in all day Saturday. Alyssa’s father and sister came to visit, so she was out with them. Brandon went with Dr. Cheng on a bike journey, which I wasn’t too interested in joining them. It felt good to spend the day by myself. It stressful to be in a foreign country, where I don’t speak the language, and I’m without my family and friends. It’s almost impossible to talk to my family with the time difference and poor internet connection. So, I needed the day to relax. I watched a few tv shows and took a long nap. It was definitely worth it.
On Sunday, Alyssa’s family wanted to climb the mountain we previously climbed. Alyssa asked Brandon and me to join them, so we climbed the mountain AGAIN. It might have been harder to climb it the second time. As we were coming down the mountain, I slipped on a rock. As I was falling to the ground, a Chinese lady came out of thin air to catch me. I kept thanking her in English because I literally would have bust my behind. We also went to the hot springs again. It was nice to relax without having to worry about seeing our professors in bathing suits.
Here is a few other random observations I've made since I've been in China:
· Most of our students wear the same clothes every day for about a week, if not longer. Some will wear the same outfit day after day. I haven’t figure out the reason for this, and I don’t want to offend anyone by asking. So, I’ll never know why….
· The movie theaters have assigned seats.
· The toilets (hole-in-the-grounds) in the dorms are the drains for the showers.
· I found the Chinese version of YouTube. It's called YouKu.
Okay, that’s all I have for now. My next blog will come in a day or so. Now that I have the pictures ready, I need to write the blog to correspond with them.
Six (6) more days, and I’ll be home! I can’t wait!!
Peace.
On Saturday, we went to Ciqikou with Gayle Elliot. Gayle was here for two weeks, and she was teaching the Co-op class to our students. Anita Todd taught the first two weeks of the class, and Gayle ended the last two weeks. A few of our students (Michael, Mark, Jack, and Lotus) joined us as well. This was the first weekend adventure with Michael and Mark, and they are some really sweet kids.
Ciqikou is an old fishing city in Chongqing, and it is not too far from where we live. The city consists of small shops carrying knickknacks and different Chongqing snacks. We walked through the shops trying different foods and bought a few souvenirs. The best snack was an Indian banana pancake, which was really good (I know! It wasn’t a Chinese food. It was there, so I tried it). After walking around the shops, we went to the riverside. Here, they had a bunch of carnival-like games. I played one game, where I was given a basket of baseballs. Whichever drinks I can hit on the stands were mine to keep. If you do not know me, I used to play baseball when I was younger. I can throw the ball very well. So well, that I knocked all of the drinks off of the stands (Really, I did!). But I hit the part of the stand that was holding the drinks and not the actual drink. Hence it didn’t count. In the end, I won two drinks: a carton of orange juice and a can of Pepsi. The first question the students asked when I was done with the game: “Do you play baseball?”
After walking around some more and enjoying the scenery, we got lost. We ended up in a poor-looking neighborhood. I have pictures to show it. We decided to get back to the subway and head for dinner. We went back to Jeifangbei for Mexican food. Nothing new there. On Sunday, we headed to Shapingba. Brandon wanted to find a bar for Brandon to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. We were unsuccessful, but I had an adventure of my own. I wanted KFC, but Alyssa and Brandon didn’t. I decided to go by myself. This was the first time I would venture out on my own when we were not near campus. While waiting in line for KFC, I pulled out my Google translate. I had my order typed up and I was able to compare the characters to the menu before I made it the counter. To no surprise, my cashier did not speak English, so thank God for Google!
Weekend of 3/22-3/23:
At this point, we had already been in China for over a month. It occurred to me that I hadn’t taken time to myself. We all need some me-time, so I decided to stay in all day Saturday. Alyssa’s father and sister came to visit, so she was out with them. Brandon went with Dr. Cheng on a bike journey, which I wasn’t too interested in joining them. It felt good to spend the day by myself. It stressful to be in a foreign country, where I don’t speak the language, and I’m without my family and friends. It’s almost impossible to talk to my family with the time difference and poor internet connection. So, I needed the day to relax. I watched a few tv shows and took a long nap. It was definitely worth it.
On Sunday, Alyssa’s family wanted to climb the mountain we previously climbed. Alyssa asked Brandon and me to join them, so we climbed the mountain AGAIN. It might have been harder to climb it the second time. As we were coming down the mountain, I slipped on a rock. As I was falling to the ground, a Chinese lady came out of thin air to catch me. I kept thanking her in English because I literally would have bust my behind. We also went to the hot springs again. It was nice to relax without having to worry about seeing our professors in bathing suits.
Here is a few other random observations I've made since I've been in China:
· Most of our students wear the same clothes every day for about a week, if not longer. Some will wear the same outfit day after day. I haven’t figure out the reason for this, and I don’t want to offend anyone by asking. So, I’ll never know why….
· The movie theaters have assigned seats.
· The toilets (hole-in-the-grounds) in the dorms are the drains for the showers.
· I found the Chinese version of YouTube. It's called YouKu.
Okay, that’s all I have for now. My next blog will come in a day or so. Now that I have the pictures ready, I need to write the blog to correspond with them.
Six (6) more days, and I’ll be home! I can’t wait!!
Peace.