Pre-Departure to Thailand!!!!

Ni Hao!! I'm really sorry for not blogging in so long! I have been nonstop for the past few days and on top of that my internet was not working in my room, but here I am! I don't even know where to begin... Well 2 weekends ago I went to Qingdao, which is a coastal city in China. It was beautiful! There was a beach and the city is known for beer. The local beer that we all love to drink here is called Tsingdao. Qingdao is home to the factory that produces the beer, so we got to visit the museum and factory where the beer was made. Only three of us went on this trip, so it was very calm and relaxing for the most part. It was our first trip without a Chinese student to help guide us, so it was quite an adventure, but most importantly a learning experience.

Last weekend was crazy! We went to Hong Kong and Macao! There are not enough words to describe either of the cities. Hong Kong is completely different from the rest of China and for the most part everyone speaks pretty good English. There was one downfall to the trip... we missed our connecting flight! Connecting flights in China is completely different than in America, and the airline staff are not very helpful to be honest. We had 25 minutes to get on our connecting plane, but they closed the gate and would not let us through, even though the plane was just sitting there! We had to spend the night in some small town in the middle of no where, since the next flight to Hong Kong was the next day. Missing a whole day in Hong Kong sucked, but by the end of the trip I forgot we missed a day because I had a blast. There were people from all around the world that we got to meet. Hong Kong is very busy and constantly going, it kind of reminded me of being back home! One night we took a ferry from Hong Kong to Macau which is considered the Las Vegas of China! It was a blast! We partied all night long and shopped and gambled the next day. Gambling was very successful for me because I won money! After a day in Macau we were back in Hong Kong for one last night. There were six of us and by the end of the night we got separated so we had to stay in 2 different hotels and didn't meet up again until the airport. Hong Kong was so much fun and I need to go back again before coming back to America!

I'm so stressed out lately because we leave for Thailand on Wednesday night! There is so much homework to do, projects to discuss with groups, laundry to get done, packing, making reservations, planning, quizzes, tests, and oh did I mention homework?! I know that I won't be sleeping much these next couple of days, but I know that if I just get through it I will be fine because Thailand is our vacation! We will be there for 10 days and we have so much planned to do! We are going to be all over Thailand, I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am! Bangkok, Ko Samui, Ko Phangan, Phuket, Surant Thani are a few of the main places we plan on visiting. I am just looking forward to sitting on the beach and soaking in the sun and relaxing. I mean I never thought I would be in China, let alone going on vacation from China to Thailand!! How crazy! I really need to get homework done now :-( All I want to do is blog more, so hopefully the internet stays working well so that I can blog more before I leave. I really apologize for the delay in blogging and the lack of organization, but I promise the next one will be better!

A Month In and How Delicious

Nǐ hǎo, wǒ de péngyǒu (Hello my friends), it has been a bout a month into China and it has been an exciting month. We have become comfortable with our surroundings and have been exploring the area around our school more and more. For me this means finding new places to eat. There are now four places that I like to go to around campus. I wish I could tell you their names, but the truth is I don’t know them. The first is an outdoor market under the bridge right outside of school. You can buy items to take back to your room like fruits or nuts, but the best part is the street food they sell there. They have such a wide selection of food that it’s hard to mention them all. Mostly though its prepared dishes, grilled meats or select what ingredients you want and they cook those for you. My favorite though is guōtiē, which are pan-fried dumplings. Next is a restaurant on the other side of the bridge that we eat at least twice a week. We have a few stables we get when we go there. Our newest favorite is as the group calls it chocolate tofu, it is deep fried tofu with nuts and a sauce that taste like chocolate. There is always qiézi (eggplant), which I’ve stated before is delicious. Jiǎozi, which are, steamed dumplings; they are accompanied by cù (vinegar). A side not I have not seen soy sauce at all since coming to China. We have asked the Chinese students about it and they say it’s mostly a Japanese item. Around the corner from the school is a restaurant that serves donkey. It is incredibly delicious (for more info read Krysta last blog post). Lastly is a restaurant that specializes in the cuisine that comes from a region that a couple of our Chinese friends are from. I liken it to a combination of Mediterranean, Indian and Chinese food it is so hard to describe, but so delicious. One of my favorite parts of going out is the ordering process.

Our Chinese friends have also taken us to restaurants far from the school. For this we take the rail system that about a twenty-minute walk from the school. The fare ranges from 2-5 yuan depending how far you go. This weekend we went to two new restaurants Spice Spirit and a place that serves bāozi (stuffed steamed buns). These two places couldn’t be more different from one another, but both were delicious. Spice Spirit specializes in the cuisine from Sichuan and the décor is very nice. The food was supposed to be really spicy, but we think they toned it down for us since we were foreigners. This upset of because we all like and wanted spicy food. We had so many dishes there cauliflower, frog legs, a soup with crab roe and tofu, braised vegetables with bacon and mushrooms, spareribs and a whole fish (which they brought alive to the table for us to see) that they cooked submerged in oil with bean sprouts and Sichuan peppercorns (which messes with your taste). For the fish they brought out a slice of toast to soak up the oil from the fish. When the bread came out everyone wanted to eat it, since we don’t come across bread much here. For the restaurant that serves bāozi our friendsPaul and Bill took us there. It is a hole in the wall (which is typically my favorite places). We had three kinds of bāozi meat, vegetables, and fennel. They were all so delicious, the buns kept the inside nice and moist and the texture contrast between the two was surreal. We had other dishes as well. We had a dish of slightly pickled vegetables, shredded pork, some kind of fruit that was jammy, and beef that was prepared the same way that ham is in the States.

I can’t believe how good the food is here; it is going to be hard for me to go back to the States. I do miss some things, mostly breakfast. I am looking forward though to trying new items and new cuisines while I’m here or during my trips to Thailand and hopefully Vietnam, Japan and Korea. Zàijiàn (goodbye), till next time. Reanyalex@gmail.com

It's Already Week 3 :-(

Ni Hao! (Hello) I can't believe that it's already my 3rd week in China! I look at it as I only have 13 weeks left :-( As you can see I picked up on some Mandarin! The language is sooo hard, but I'm slowly, but surely learning a few key words as well as some funny words of course! We stayed in Tianjin this past weekend to try and settle down. Most of us have been sick (except me!) and so it was a good idea that we stayed "home." Speaking of sick, one of the study abroad students Justin ha been really sick, so bad in fact that the other night at 3 a.m. I went with him to the hospital. I wouldn't wish on anyone to have to go to the hospital we went too! I will be completely honest, it was disguising and scary and was making me sick to my stomach. But, at least Justin got his medicine and is feeling much better.

On the better side, I LOVE CHINA! I still really don't have any complaints except for the pollution. I wish it was more clear outside, even the students who live here complain about the pollution in Tianjin. As Alex had mentioned, the students are awesome! They are all so loyal and helpful. It amazes me each time I see them, how well-rounded and truly good people they are. I made friends with a few girls who decided to take us out at night. (Yes, the Chinese know how to party!) Their names are Tusi, Yi Fang, Ye Na, and Xuan. These girls are awesome and have been a lot of help. They all have English names and most of them thing it is real "cool" to have an English name, but I have learned their Chinese names and I try to pronounce it right, because that's what I like to call them. I don't think these students should be required to have an English name. I try my best to learn their Chinese one if I can pronounce it. My perspective is that I was born as Krysta and that is what I wish to continue to be called, and these girls were born with a name, and that's what they should forever be called. Just because we are American and speak English doesn't mean everyone has to bend over backwards to make things easier for us.

It can be frustrating at times when there is difficulty and confusion in our daily things, such as ordering food. I know a lot of people wouldn't be able to handle this. The ladies in the Canteen that we eat at often don't speak English and some students get mad, like it is their fault that they can't speak English, but I see it as a push to learn the language. As Alex had said, we play a lot of charades. I don't mind it though. After all, this is a learning experience!

Last night for dinner we ate DONKEY! It was delicious. I couldn't believe how much I liked it. The lady making it, thinly sliced the donkey with a cleaver and mixed in some peppers, which I think were cubanelles, and something that looked like pure, raw fat! We later found out that it is a mixture of meat, flowers and corn starch? Yeah I'm confused on that too. Anyways, it was then put into this freshly baked bun. It was so good that I ate 3 of them! I love food. Alex and I most definitely have that in common!

School is so so here. Everyday there is more homework and more projects and more quizzes. Blah, blah, blah. Don't get me wrong, I want to learn and further my education, but I also want a lot of free time so I can hang out more with the students and see all I can see in China! Well, it looks like it is lunch time! I will be on again soon! Don't forget to comment or email me at: krysta [dot] dibenedetto [at] gmail [dot] com.