Christmas is Coming!

Perhaps it's spending the past four years living at college and coming home for visits that makes living on the other side of the planet easier? Whatever it is, I expected this time of year to be harder for me, I expected soul crushing home sickness. Yet I feel fine, I feel excited! I have an awesome group of friends with whom I'll be spending Christmas with.

My Awesome Friends

Plus for the very first time, I have my own Christmas tree which I just finished decorating. Don't judge the decorations too much, remember I'm in China, not too much variety here.

My First Christmas Tree

My wonderful tree! It will be strange waking up on Christams morning in my apartment all alone, but I know I won't be the only one and with the comfort of my friends I'm positive we will make some Christmas memories we will never forget :-)

Plus, I've already decided what my Christmas present to myself is, a five-week backpacking trip through Southern China! Yay for long holidays.

Travel Plans for Vacation

The green line is our backpacking trip, the red line is our flight back (we don't have enough time to backpack the whole thing).

Happy Late Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving in China was much more difficult than I expected. I'm used to large family gatherings at my Aunt's house, not teaching three classes. Luckily I have some awesome friends that made being away from home much easier.

In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving I got to teach all students about it, we even made hand turkeys! That's what they are all holding in the pictures!

It was fun being able to share my favorite holiday with people who had never experienced it before.

However the part that really made my Thanksgiving was being able to spend it with some great friends. As Thanksgiving is not a holiday in China we all had to work, so we had two Thanksgivings. The first one on Thanksgiving its self we went out to eat, the second the Sunday after Thanksgiving we cooked!

Western food on Thanksgiving!

Homemade Thanksgiving Baoding Style

This Thanksgiving I was thankful for the amazing group of friends I have here. Although I might not be able to spend my holidays with my blood family, I get to spend my holidays with my China family :-)

Happy Thanksgiving from China!

Mistakes

This past weekend was supposed to be awesome, a group of us traveled to Shanghai to see my best friend before he went back to the USA.

The trip started off with a train adventure from our "small city" to the great metropolis of Shanghai. Seventeen hours, two trains, a trip to a sex shop, and a strange baiju filled meal later; we were standing in front of Shanghai Railway station.

The trip started out great! After losing ourselves in the depths of a Shanghai black market we went out for a great dinner with the MCLA-ers of Shanghai. I'd post pictures to show our awesome treasures, but too many are USA bound for presents. So instead here are a picture of my awesome new shoes. 

Our second day started great as well, we found the Yuyuan Gardens after a long search. We spend time at a famous Shanghai tea house. Life was good.

That's when things started to take a turn for the worst; a trip to the brewery gone bad. I remember beer, Long Island Ice Teas, shots of SoCo, and being really happy. Then I woke up.

Drunk me said somethings that hurt people I care about. I don't know what I said, I don't know what I was thinking when I said them, but I know that I am so sorry and ashamed for hurting the people I care about. Most of all I really hope that one day we will all be able to see past this.

My Arch Enemy

Since arriving in China I have acquired various things, a sudden like of Starbucks and McDonald's, an appreciation for Halloween, a compelling need to hold a baby panda in the near future, and an Arch Enemy. I know most of you are probably reading this and thinking there she goes again with the exaggerating, but I assure you this is real.

My Arch Enemy

To the unsuspecting eye this toilet looks innocent, and for expat eyes in China it looks inviting. That's when it gets you though. This toilet has the power to break and fix it's self at whim. I'll be in my apartment and the toilet will be broken, I'll get the woman who is working in my building and as soon as she come into my apartment it will be fixed again!

It all started in September, when my toilet stopped working, I couldn't flush it. Plumbers would come it would work for a little bit, fix it, and leave. Then  maybe two or three days later it would break again. The problem progressed and by the end of October the water in my toilet was constantly running. In order to flush my toilet I needed to pour a bucket of water into the toilet bowl.

Then on November 15th something changed. My friend Matt was visiting from Shanghai and I left him in my apartment as I went to tell the woman working that my toilet was broken. I had finally had enough. As per usual when the woman got to my apartment my toilet was magically fixed. I'm still suspicious that Matt had something to do with it.

The toilet appeared fine as I parted Baoding to have a weekend trip in Beijing.

I came back the afternoon of November 18th to a rather disgusting surprise. When I flushed my toilet its contents would gush out of the base of the toilet. 

It was so gross.

Now it has been nearly a week there have been more Chinese plumbers in my apartment then I care to admit and I sit here waiting in fear of the next time I flush my toilet.

I miss America.

It's Been Too Long

I could come up with a lot of excuses about why it's been so long. First it was a few bad days which we affectionately call "bad China days" here. Then it was my plan to go to Cambodia falling through. Soon after I was way too busy with the extra classes. Then the Internet didn't work. I could tell you that all these reasons prevented me from making a new post. But I think we all know that's not true. At least I know that's not true.

I think what really prevented me from was shame. I wasn't enjoying every moment of China and I felt like I should be. I use the word "felt" because I've since changed my views. With the help of some really awesome friends I've had some realizations these past few weeks.

1. We are young enough to make mistakes and still be able to fix them. I need to stop worrying about the future and focusing on the present. I'm always so focused on what I want to do that I often forget that what I'm doing needs attention too. I vow to change this. I don't want to have to look back at my time in China and think about all the things I could have done. I want to look back on this time and think about all the amazing things I did do.

2. I can't keep disappearing. It's my defense mechanism, when things get to be too much I go into cocoon mode. I distance myself from people and try to power through it on my own. I'm not going to do that anymore, I want this blog to be an accurate depiction of my time here and it won't be that if I censor the times when I question why I came here.

3. You can't immerse yourself in another culture if you still have one foot stuck in your own. I'm talking about Facebook, it is a great way to stay in contact with friends but at the same time I can't give my life to Facebook messenger. I find that when the times get tough I spend way too much time on Facebook. Honestly I'm not sure if I will be able to totally fix this one but blogging about it is the first step.

4. It is ok to not love every second of every day. When I first got to China I was so proud of myself and focused so much on how lucky I am that I made myself feel really bad when I didn't love it. This is ridiculous even positive changes come with some negatives. I'm not going to beat myself up over me having bad days.

I know this post seems really cheesy but it symbolizes a big change in the way I think and the way I am going to let myself think. I realized that my biggest judge has always been myself and I don't want to live like that anymore. My posts don't have to always address some major event. If I want to rant about my broken toilet I will do just that!

So welcome to my new blog, with my new way of thinking!

Beijing, Capital of the Middle Kingdom. A Walk Through History

I’ve been blessed with amazing history teachers and professors over the years. From middle school through my graduation of college it seems that I have always had a history teacher looking out for me. I owe a lot to these great men and women, they inspired me to see how the world got to where it is and to see why we do things the way we do them. Most importantly they are the ones who inspired me to travel and I try to thank them as often as possible, who would I be had they not been there to inspire me?

I went to Beijing thinking a lot of the words of wisdom imparted to me by so many great and caring people over the years. It is through that lens that I saw Beijing. Through the memories of lessons I wished I would have paid more attention too.

Perhaps I should mention why I took this trip to Beijing, as all of my followers in America were enjoying an ordinary week, China was on holiday.  October first was National Day commemorating the formation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), it’s most similar to Independence Day in America. As National Day coincided with Mid-Autumn festival this year there was a ten day holiday! To celebrate these occasions two fellow English teachers and I chose to go to Beijing.

The Great Wall

Photo credit goes to my friend and fellow English teacher.

Once the barrier between China and Mongolia, some believe that you can see it from space. I can’t tell you the first time I heard about the Great Wall, and to tell you the truth I never had much interest in seeing it. When choosing which travel course I wanted to go on my junior year of college my father asked me why France when I could go to China and see the Great Wall? I can’t remember the exact answer I gave him, I just remember having a take it or leave it attitude when it comes to the Great Wall.

This changed a bit by the time I was living in my small Chinese city, instead I found myself strangely pulled to the Great Wall. I needed to see it. So our first full day in Beijing was spent trekking to this wonder of the world.

I’m not sure what I expected, but in all honestly I was a bit under-whelmed. The part we saw follows a line of mountains with parts that are extremely steep.

We spent a few hours exploring the wall and making friends with a woman who sells bottled water carried all the way from Mongolia! Someone needs a geography lesson. I found it interesting that the people who live on the other side of the wall still consider themselves Mongolian.

This is the village in "Mongolia" where the woman selling bottled water lives.

She gets to the wall everyday via donkey.

I must say the best part about visiting this part of the Great Wall was the alpine slide at the end!

Tiananmen Square

A historical place, one of the most surveillanced places in the world, where I bought a Chinese flag; words cannot accurately describe this important place. Instead I give you pictures.

 The flag I bought in front of the main gate at Tienanmen square.

 Chinese Lion!

 Almost through, coming during National Holiday might not have been the best choice. There were so many people.

A view of the Museum from Tienanmen Square.

 Massive TV screen at Tienanmen Square, it displayed messages like this one as well as short clips about China.

 Last view of the main gate before heading off.

 An important Chinese man.

Beautiful flowers.

Western Food

Living in China is a constant adventure from buying groceries to taking the bus and everything in between, including meals. I find most the food very good and luckily in China almost all the menus have pictures! So its easy to have some idea as to what you are ordering. However I often do miss being able to identify what I’m eating.

We forgot to take pictures of all the western food so I drew you all a picture of a burger :-)

In Beijing there are tons of Western restaurants offering all sorts of delicacies easily identifiable by American eyes. We ate mostly western food while in Beijing, we wanted a taste of home. However on our last day we went to a Western grocery store! Now I can try making some American food in my apartment.

Look at my Western goodies!

Shanghai – A Birthday Celebration Never to be Forgotten

I know I promised this post much earlier! I expected it to be written quickly when I returned from Shanghai, yet instead I found myself with quite the case of writers block. The purpose of the trip to Shanghai was to visit one of my best friends for his birthday, however the trip ended up meaning much more to me. It got me thinking a lot about life and what I want from it.

The first few drafts of this blog post ended up sounding more like a confused teenager trying to figure out what they want to do when they grow up than a college graduate reminiscing about a fantastic weekend. Believe me, you should be happy I waited to post.

I figured out how to take panoramic pictures!

The Arrival

I flew into Hongqiao airport in Shanghai, just a few metro stops from the University my friend is studying at. I’ve never flown to see someone before, so I’ve never had someone waiting for me at the airport before. I was so excited when I was getting off of the plane, I just had to navigate to the metro station in the airport. Luckily for me Shanghai is much more English friendly than my little city and I had no problem getting to the metro station and buying the ticket. Before I knew it I was waiting at the bottom of the escalator for Matt.

There’s nothing like seeing one of your best friends after a month in a strange place, feels almost like home in a strange way. Sometimes I wonder though if these feelings and experiences like this are a by-product of moving to a foreign country or a by-product of graduating from college and moving on. Food for thought I guess, I’m not sure I’ll ever know. Sitting with Matt waiting for the next train, reminiscing and playing the did you ever imagine game I realized how unimaginable my life is compared to where I was when I first met Matt. If you ever told me that one day I would fly to Shanghai to see him for his birthday I would have thought you were crazy.

Yet instead I found myself giving Matt his birthday present of traditional Chinese alcohol and peanut butter (his favorite food) in Shanghai.

Zhujiajiao

Most Americans chose to celebrate their 21^st birthday by drinking copious amount of alcohol and hear about their crazy night from friends the next morning. Matt isn’t like that though, alcohol isn’t really his thing. Instead he decided he wanted to get out of the city to celebrate his birthday, he chose Zhujiajiao an ancient town I had heard of whose streets are water ways. Instead of figuring out how to use public transportation to get there we hired a private car (it only cost $34 USD roundtrip). It was a very nice ride, the driver even spoke some English! Plus we took a scenic route.

The town is beautiful and free to enter, we spent hours walking through the beautiful streets!

The Zhujiajiao had many shops selling everything from traditional paintings to foods I didn't know the English names of.

After a wonderful trip around the tourist section of town we veered a bit and found a nice park to rest in. We're not totally sure who the statue is of however we know that people are allowed to climb on it. I had to wait ten minutes to take a picture of it! People were literally climbing on it. Perhaps once I learn how to read Mandarin I will be able to figure out who the statue is of.

The birthday celebration concluded with a lovely boat ride around Zhujiajiao.

De ja vu?

I’ve been to many cities around the world and have heard many comparisons but I’ve never made one myself. I’ve never really believed cities could feel familiar. My opinion quickly changed upon arriving in Shanghai. The city reminds me so much of Dubai, from the modern sections to the ancient towns just outside the city, I found myself constantly reminiscing of the trip to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

I first coined the term “looking at the future” when I was taking a taxi through Dubai. I’m no stranger to big cities, growing up just a few hours north of New York City, I learned the mentality. Just being a New Yorker means I’m used to the fast pace, I’m often criticized for speaking too quickly. However experiencing Dubai was like nothing I had ever experienced before, from the architecture to the bilingual people, the city reminded me of something out of a sci-fi film.