I'm Alive!

I realize it's been a while since I've posted (almost 3 months!), and I know I haven't posted about my last week in Hangzhou yet. Things just got really hectic after landing back on the islands, especially with school starting the day after I returned. I promise I will get those posts/pictures up by the end of 2013. I already have them up on Facebook, but I might as well share it with the rest of the internet...just in case some prospective NSLI-Y applicants happen to stumble upon my blog (c'mon, pictures are the best). It might take a while to write, since my memory is kind of hazy at the moment. I do, however, have a lot of stories to share :) since the last week was filled with tons of activities and events.

Unfortunately, I chose not to apply for the year program. Summer in Hangzhou was definitely fun, but I don't think the year program is right for me. I'll be back in China during college :) Good luck to everyone applying, though! I did some PR at my school and managed to get my 5 little juniors to apply for the program(; (3 for Korea, 1 for China, and 1 for Russia). Hoping them and all of you the best of luck!

I'll be back in December with stories from the last week of my trip, which includes Matthew's birthday, getting ripped off for noodles, visiting a night market, hanging out on the roof of Sander's house, graduation, and many more!

Until next time,
Christine

Some pictures before I go? 

Getting my haircut at some sketchy barbershop!

Making jiaozi

In front of West Lake. Isn't it pretty?

After Tai Chi back in Week 1

I basically stole these photos from Angelo's collection of 20304333 China photos....and I might've taken some from Michelle and Alex as well, hehe.

Goodbye Hangzhou!

I apologize for not updating within the last week. I wanted to enjoy as much of Hangzhou as I could before I left. Right now, I am sitting in a hotel room in Chicago by myself. At this time, some of the NSLI-Y kids have already reached their respective states, while others are probably on their connecting flight back home right now. My flight back to Hawaii isn't until 10 a.m. tomorrow, so I figured I'd give a short update now. A more in-depth account of the past 2 weeks will come within the next week or so while the memory is still fresh in my mind. More pictures will also come as well, since I can access Blogspot now!

Today was just...emotional. Many tears were shed and many hugs were given. I miss Hangzhou and China so much right now. I miss my host family, teachers, friends, host institution, Chinese ice cream, Chinese buses, and so much more. Don't get me wrong...I am excited to go back home and see my family/friends...but six weeks is just way too short. If only the trip was a little longer...

But this won't be the last time I will be in China. I promised my family and friends back in Hangzhou that I will come back one day, and I intend to keep that promise (Sander even said: "You know you'll always be welcomed in my house"). I will miss (I already do) everyone from the trip, but I know we'll all see each other again in the future(: (LA reunion next year, wooo!)

Until next time,
Christine

More Pictures

Here are some pictures I've taken over the last 5 weeks.

Last picture was from PDO Day 2

Where is Sander's Apartment Again?

Monday (July 29)

We had Chinese martial arts as our culture class today. Matthew was the dummy that the instructor used and he basically got his ass kicked. I have videos of this too, so I'll be posting those when I get home. I have videos of Matthew getting his ass kicked by the instructor, by Ryan (his Kungfu classes with his host brother every morning before school really paid off), and by Olive (sort of). 

After culture class, Ryan, Isabel, Michelle and I took the 118 to 文二路 and walked about 4 blocks before we got to the stationary store. I don't think Ryan liked the stationary store too much, but for us girls, it was heaven. I bought about 11 more pens today. I'm that crazy about Chinese stationary items. I was also on the lookout for the guys that were at the corner on Saturday, but luckily they weren't there today.

Since it was only 3 pm when we finished shopping, I decided to head to Sander's (Matthew's host brother) apartment by myself. I've only been to his house once, but I figured I should just try. The only thing was...I walked for about 30 mins and didn't know where I was. I used Isabel's map to trace back the 118 bus stops (because the 118 takes you near his house), but nothing looked familiar when I walked there. I found myself on the map by matching the Chinese words on the map to the signs on the street, but I didn't have Sander's address. I was basically relying on landmarks to take me there. I was going to walk until I found landmarks or places that looked familiar. I did this for another 20 minutes until I decided that I was completely lost. I tried calling Michelle, Isabel, Alex, Haley and Matthew for help, but no one picked up their phone. I also didn't have Sander's number. I tried calling my host sister for help and she QQ'd Sander, but Sander didn't reply to the QQ. At my last attempt, I called Will for help. Luckily, he was able to google map my present position by having me read the Chinese signs on the street. I was also grateful that he actually knew what Sander's address was. Using google map, Will told me where to go.

After 20 minutes of walking, I finally reached Sander's apartment with Will's help. The only thing was...I couldn't get into the apartment. You needed a key to get into the lobby of the apartment. Of course, no one picked up their phone...so I couldn't just call someone to come down and open the door for me. I tried using the back door that Matthew used last time, but that was locked. In the end, I waited outside for 15 mins before someone came into the building. I followed him from behind, pretending that I lived in the building. 

When I got to Sander's door on the 6th floor, I was going to knock and ring the doorbell...but the door was open, so I just went in, ran to Sander's room, and broke down into tears and laughter (I started to half cry and half laugh). Apparently, I gave Alex a huge shock because she started screaming when I came in. Haley, Sander and Matthew were also really surprised. They were wondering how I got in. I told them I got lost and had been walking for two hours just to find Sander's house. Sander's mom came in during this time and asked me if I was okay. I had to explain to her that I had just gotten lost...and that was it. Luckily, Sander's mom was gracious enough to let me stay l o l. She even allowed me to stay for dinner. Heck, Sander's parents are so chill. They told Matthew to bring over all of his friends.

Left to Right: Matthew, Sander, Alex, Sander's mom, Haley

After dinner, the five of us went dancing at the park near the apartment. The ladies there were really mean....just saying. They pushed Haley and whacked me in the side while dancing just because we were laughing. I think they thought that we were laughing at them...but we really weren't. We were laughing at ourselves for being unable to keep up with the dance steps. Oh wells. We just decided to leave the dancing after that to head over to the karaoke happening in the park. 

Matthew and Sander exercising their bromance

We arrived back at Sander's apartment at around 9:15 pm. I stayed for another 45 mins, eating watermelon, taking pictures, and talking to Sander's parents. Apparently, Sander's mom had told his dad about me getting lost on the way to Sander's house because he questioned me about it, haha. At 10 pm, I decided to head home because it was hitting the NSLI-Y curfew...and I didn't want to be out this late on a school night. Alex got a taxi for me and I was on my way home.

The taxi driver I had tonight was really talkative. He asked me questions about my parents, if I could sing in English, and if I was from Korea. Apparently, I look Korean? What? I told him, "不，我是从美国" (No, I am from America). I also explained to him that my mom is Chinese and my dad is Vietnamese. He was really intrigued by the fact that my family has three different nationalities running through our veins. He was like: "Your mom is Chinese, your dad is Vietnamese, but you live in America? Hahahahaha". He also asked me how old I was. When I told him I was 17 and studying Chinese in Hangzhou, he was so surprised. This was my second time riding the taxi by myself, and it was a surprisingly pleasant experience. I really liked this experience because it allowed me to practice my Chinese skills, since the whole conversation was in Chinese. I feel incredibly proud of myself. 

I arrived at the apartment in 15 mins (taxi ride was only ￥13) and promptly went to my room to study for tomorrow's dictation. I only studied for 10 mins before I showered and crashed. Surprisingly, I got 100% on my dictation~ Woo!  我非常高兴。

便宜 is my Favorite Word Pt. 3

Friday (July 26)

I forgot to mention in my last post that a cockroach appeared during 张老师's class. It was huge and disgusting. My class spent 15 minutes screaming our heads off and trying to kill it. It was 7 girls against 1 roach. Pretty funny if you ask me. I have a video of  the battle, but I'll upload and post that when I return to Hawaii. After lunch, the NSLI-Y group headed to Lingyin Temple for a cultural excursion. It was interesting, but incredibly hot. Oh, something I forgot to mention was that yesterday was, apparently, the hottest day in Hangzhou since...forever. It was the hottest day, yet I walked an hour to Michelle's place just to go dancing l o l. 

Saturday (July 27)

Michelle, Alex and I went to the stationary store today. I found out that the stationary store is only 2 blocks away from my house, so I decided to walk there. First, I met up with Alex at the bus stop a block away from the store. When we walked closer to the store, the strangest thing happened. There were young guys (they looked around 19 or 20) handing out advertisements. When we got closer to them, one of the guys came up to me and started pushing the flyers in my face. When I told him "不要" over and over again, he grabbed my arm and pulled me closer to him. At the same time, he was speaking Chinese to me, but I couldn't understand him. Alex started hitting his arm to get him away from me.  Later, I found out that he was calling me 妹妹 (little sister) the whole time. Why? I don't know. That  guy was crazy. 

When we got to the stationary store, we met up with Michelle. She brought us to the place she bought her stationary items from. Let me tell you guys, the place is HEAVEN. There were so many pens, white-out, erasers, paper, and many more for dirt cheap! The pens were all ￥2-3 each. How cheap is that? That is less than $0.50 per pen. I think I bought around 5 white-outs, 3 pencil cases, 3 stationary paper sets, 25 pens, and 3 erasers. The total came out to about￥120, which is about $20.  

Michelle and I literally spent 3 hours in the stationary store. Alex left us to go buy her stamp. When she came back, we were still in the same store. She had to pry us away from all of these cute stationary items! Ah, I love China. I stocked up on pens and etc for my friends back home. All of the pens are the extra fine-tip ones, too-- perfect for writing Chinese characters! 

When we left the store and walked back to the front, the guys that harassed Alex and I were still there. When one of the guys (the one that held onto my arm) saw me again, he opened his arms (like someone waiting for a hug) and ran to me. Needless to say, I shouted "不要" and ran away. Those guys were incredibly creepy. I just wish I could understand what he was saying to me in Chinese. The strangest thing was that the guy was only harassing me...and not Alex or Michelle. I don't understand. 

When I got home, I skyped with my friends back home. I basically showed them all of the items that I bought from the stationary store and allowed them to choose which one they wanted. At 7:30 pm, my host mom, sister and I went dancing in the park again. It was fun~

Sunday (July 28)

Unfortunately, I did not do much today. I stayed home and read Jane Eyre for my homework for school back home. 

Fun in the 图书馆 Pictures

Fun in the 图书馆

Friday (July 26)

李老师 is literally the best teacher in the whole world! During his class, all we did was watch Kungfu Panda 2  (in Chinese of course). We even moved the blue chairs up and pushed back our work tables aside, so that it resembled a real movie theater. The only thing missing was food, especially popcorn. Class was so amazing today. 

Side note: Ryan is no longer our class because he moved up to the advanced class. Now, our class comprises of 6 girls: me, Haley, Michelle, Alex, Kaelin and Olive. 

After school, Angelo, Xochitl (I'm sorry if I spelled it wrong) and I decided to explore the Zhejiang library, which is also the chief topic of this post. First, we visited the Zhejiang library for adults. The library is huge; it's 3 stories! There are so many rooms and hallways (even an auditorium). I, honestly, had a lot of fun exploring the library. For one, we stalked sleeping people in there. There was this one guy sleeping by the stairways, and Angelo tried taking a picture of him...but the guy woke up before we got the picture (we wanted a picture of the guy's sleeping face), so it was awkward. Angelo and Xochitl ran away and hid from him. It was incredibly funny. The guy stared at us like: "Wtf just happened?" He was still trying to process what was going on after waking up from his deep slumber. Another guy (that we ran past  to hide from the sleeping guy) was laughing at us while talking on his phone. The second thing happened when the three of us stepped into the most crowded part of the library (it's where all the students gather there to study and do homework...and when I say it's crowded, I mean it. It was filled with Chinese teens. There were no free tables at all...and the room is huge). When we walked into the room, I stepped on a rug and it made this farting sound. Embarrassing much? Especially since the room was COMPLETELY SILENT, and then all of a sudden there was this farting sound (which sounded really real, btw）that appeared out of nowhere. Angelo thought the sound came from Xochitl. After this, I just couldn't keep my face straight. We just kept laughing and all of the Chinese students in the room stared at us, so we had to leave. Well, I had to leave. Angelo and Xochitl just followed me out. Oh, how immature our humor is. Sorry if this did not sound funny at all.

Besides stalking people and creating trouble, we also tried searching for books in English. The only books that they have in English are about politics, the economy, and etc. I found it interesting that the library also had books in Japanese and there was a section dedicated solely to Chinese versions of Japanese manga (and natural science!). I don't even think we explored every single room in the library. 

After we visited the library for adults, the three of us went to the children's library next door. I really like the children's library; I like it more than the adult one because it's nicer. The children's library is three stories tall and the furniture/bookshelf/decor looks really modern and edgy. I like the feel and atmosphere of the library. Honestly, I don't care if the library is meant for children. I would rather do my homework in that library than in the adult library any day. The children's library also has really comfy couches and chairs. I could stay there all day. One thing that's really cute is that the bathroom in this library has teeny squat potties and sinks for the toddlers.  

Doesn't the children's library look so nice?! It has a very modern feel to it. I love it in here.

便宜 is my Favorite Word Pt. 2

Wednesday (July 24)

Coincidentally, Haley and I wore matching outfits today. Some of our classmates thought we had planned it out, but that was not the case at all. I literally walked into school and the first thing Haley said to me was "Are we wearing the same thing?".

Haley's Instagram caption: "Went to China. Found a twin” Btw, my dress has tiny bows on it while Haley has large bows.

After school, Alex, Matthew and I headed over to Matthew's host house...where we were, unluckily, locked out. I asked Matthew why he didn't carry a key with him, and he replied that someone was always home, so there was no need for it. Well, no one was home today, so we had to call Sander (Matthew's host brother) for help. Unfortunately, neither Sander nor his mom had the keys to the house, so we had to wait with them in the restaurant for an hour before Sander's dad was done with his massage. It wasn't too bad, though, because I got some reading and homework done, and Sander made a QQ for me and Alex. Plus, Sander's mom ordered each of us this yummy watermelon drink. It was pretty relaxing. 

When we finally got into Sander's house (btw, his house is really nice. They have hundreds of books in their living room), his dad interrogated me about Hawaii. It was pretty funny. He was asking Sander what the capital of Hawaii was because it might be on the SAT. We had to explain to him that it won't be on the SAT because the SAT is more about reasoning than memorizing cities and capitals (unless he's planning to take the SAT II's....then I don't really know). 

After Sander's house, the four of us (including Sander) took the 118  bus to Michelle's area and walked all the way to 文二路, where we reached this huge shopping mall and plaza with lots of food shops lined up next to it. The food was yummy (and only 7 元... that's about $1 for dinner!), but the dessert was even better. Because Michelle and I wanted to buy some more stationary items (her sister had told her there was a stationary shop in back of the shopping mall), we headed inside the mall, where I bought more glue sticks and animal-shaped whiteouts. (Oh, Haley and Michelle got hit on by the guy selling them iPhone cases). 

What is Sander laughing at? I don't really know.

When we got out of the shopping mall, it was already dark out...and the dancing had begun...so Michelle and I made our way past the rollerblading kids to the area with the old Chinese ladies. Matthew's dancing was hilarious. He just...yeah. Lanky arms and legs. I have some videos, which I will probably upload when I get back home. Sander was just staring at us like "What are these crazy Americans doing?". We have some pictures from that night, but it looks like we're partying in a mosh pit at a rave...instead of at a park...dancing with old Chinese ladies. 

Eventually, Haley and Michelle had to leave, so it was just me, Sander, Alex, and Matthew. The unexpected happen and Gangnam Style started playing. There was the original version and a remixed version. Alex and Matthew ran back to the dancing and made fools out of themselves (hehe, kidding. I love you guys). Apparently, a dancing line was formed (the one where people line up on both sides, and you dance down the middle space)...and Alex and Matthew just strut through the line like nobody's business.

I ended the night by taking the taxi home by myself for the first time. The fee was only 18 元, so it wasn't too expensive. It wasn't that scary either, and the cab driver was pretty nice. I had survived! Woo! All in all, it was a fun night.

Thursday (July 25)

Not too much happened today, except that we had an RD meeting and celebrated Francesca's belated birthday with cheesecake (both regular and green tea-flavored!). Happy belated birthday Francesca! For lunch, Haley, Matthew, Michelle and I headed back to the boba place and bought ourselves yummy drinks. Well, Matthew bought himself a foot long from the subway next door. Typical Matthew. 

¥9 = $1.50

Btw, I lied guys. I'll be having one or two more posts to continue this. 

便宜 is my Favorite Word Pt. 1

As the weeks go by, I'm growing fonder and fonder of China. I'm blogging right now because I've been in a bit of a depressed mood. It's not because I'm homesick, but because I've realized that 4 weeks have gone by incredibly fast...and now I only have 2 weeks left. I'm trying to fit everything into the 2 weeks as best as I can.

Because I have a lot to say, I'm going to split this into two blog posts.

Saturday (July 20)

As I mentioned in my last post, I went shopping with Alex and Michelle today. The taxi fee from the school to the shopping mall was 27 元. Because there was three of us in the cab, we only had to pay 9 元 each (which is equivalent to $1.50). When we got to the shopping mall, we met up with Haley and her host sister, Nancy. Let me tell you guys something, the shopping mall was incredible. It was bigger and nicer than the one my host mom had taken me to the week before. There was even a shopping mall just for shoes right across the street. China is amazing. 

Inside of the mall, the 5 of us first headed to a Purikura store. If you guys don't know what Purikura is, it's the Japanese name for one of those sticker photo booths. As Haley said it best on her instagram: "One photo sheet = $2....Squeezing five Asians into the tiny photo booth = priceless". One photo sheet had 16 pictures, so each person got to keep 3 sticker photos (and because we had split the cost, we only paid 3 元 person = $0.50).

After purikura and a little shopping, Haley and Nancy had to leave us, so it was just Alex, Michelle and me. The three of us hit up almost every shop in the store, as Alex exercised her professional bargaining skills (seriously guys, Alex is a pro-bargainer. She is fierce when it comes to bargaining). Thanks to Alex, I was able to get 4 skirts, a dress, and a ton of stationary items for dirt cheap! It is worth mentioning that in every shop, the shopkeepers asked us "你们住在那里?“ or some variation to that. Even though we look Chinese (or in Michelle's case, Korean), we did not sound Chinese at all. They could tell we were 外国人 (foreigners). We had to explain to them that we were from America and that we were in Hangzhou to study Chinese. Alex even got to explain her whole life story to one of the shopkeepers because I was taking too long in the stationary store. Oops. 

Look at all of these cute clothes!

When we were done shopping, we headed over to the food shops on the other side of the street and ate Xiao Long Bao (I think that's what it's called) at this hole-in-the-wall place for only 15 元 (less than $1 per person). The food was delicious, and we really felt that we were experiencing authentic China today (non-touristy places). 

Ladies making 饺子 right in front of our lunch table.

Because there was a hair salon nearby, I decided to get my hair cut as well (having long hair in China is terrible during the summer). I would post pictures, but I don't have any. They are all on Michelle and Alex's phones, so hopefully they will post it on Facebook. For a deep wash and a pretty nice haircut, it was only 40 元 (about $6-7). I'm incredibly happy with the cut, especially since it was in such a sketchy place. The funny thing was...the salon workers were trying to talk to me, but I couldn't understand 50% of what they were saying because of their strong accents. In the end, they gave up and only talked to Michelle (about how I wanted my hair to be cut and etc) because she was talking to a lady in Chinese...so they assumed she was our translator or something). 

In the evening, I went dancing again! I love park dancing so much that I go almost every day now. Heck, I'm even doing my final project on park dancing! I love it that much.

Sunday (July 21)

Not much to say about this day. Instead of going shopping with my host mom and sister, I decided to stay home and finish Pride and Prejudice for my school back home. I don't regret it too much because I really needed a day to stay home and just relax anyways. Going out everyday is tiring. 

Monday (July 22) 

Typical school day. We had Chinese knot tying after class (culture class) and Chinese games as our interactive activities. The knot tying was difficult, and the games were....interesting. We played the Chinese version of duck-duck-goose and hopscotch. Needless to say, we all fail at hopscotch...except Rachel. The two guys in charge of the games were incredibly nice and gave us gifts (a cute hackey sack and pick-up sticks) to take home. 

Tuesday (July 23)

Originally, we had a community service event of cleaning up West Lake today, but because it was so hot, our RD moved it to next Monday, I don't remember doing much on this day, but I think Michelle, Alex, Matthew, Haley and I went to the boba place (Alex calls it bobo, cute) by Zhejiang University and bought ourselves Mango shave ice. Best shave ice. EVER. 

Hangzhou Newsletter #2