Getting to know Xi An!

I am currently living in one of the oldest cities in China, XI AN!! (For those of you who do not speak Chinese, it is pronounced like “see-ahn”) It has more than 3,000 years of history, which makes it a HUGE cultural center for China! Xi An is home to the famous terracotta warriors and the starting point of the silk road! J So as you can tell, it’s a pretty exciting city!!!

We arrived on Sunday, January 12^th, so that means that we’ve been in Xi’an for 13 full days! On our first full day, we were welcomed by the Shaanxi Normal University staff and student guides at the orientation. They were SO EXTREMELY kind! Each of us were paired with one study buddy, in Chinese we call them our 小伙伴 meaning “little companion.” My study buddy’s name is Li Jing Jing (李菁菁) and she is a Masters student who loves to eat, just like me! J And on our very first day together, we ate and got Boba tea (珍珠奶茶).

She also helped me buy a transportation card, buy a cell phone plan, set up a bank account, and put money in my campus card. As you can tell, she plays an ENORMOUS ROLE in getting me acquainted with campus and the city of Xi’an.

On Tuesday, we started our short winter session of classes! For the next two weeks, we had Chinese Language and Culture class from 9am-noon and Modern Chinese History from 2-5pm.

 

The great thing about taking classes in China? There is a 2 hour break in between your morning and afternoon classes! At first, I didn’t know what to do with the extra time in addition to eating lunch—it was such an awkward extra hour! But we started exploring restaurants right outside the campus, going window shopping, playing ping pong, sneaking in a nap, studying for the upcoming test or just hanging out in our classroom!

If you were wondering why I seemed to be MIA for the last two weeks, it’s most likely because I was reading or studying for our classes! It was six hours of class and about 2-3 hours of homework, depending on how quick of a reader you are! To be honest, it was quite tiring! We did not have much downtime during the week! However, my roommate and I did discover a coffee shop that we would go to to get our studying done J It has surprisingly delicious lattes, milk tea, a selection of 5 different kinds of Chinese Tea, as well as cupcakes!! AAAAAAND not to mention, the place is so cute with extra seating space upstairs! Who needs Starbs when they’ve got this???

 

 

On the weekends, however, we were able to travel and see some sites! We got a chance to visit the Small Goose Pagoda and climbed the many stairs to the top! It was beautiful! (You also get a good view of the pollution in the city…)

We visited the shopping malls of Xi’an, which were HUMUNGOUS!! A normal shopping mall is almost as big as the Mall of America! And there are SO many people, since it is during the holiday season of the Spring Festival!

We got to eat some DELICIOUS FOODS!!!!!!! Yummmmm….

 As well as share some laughter around the dinner table! J

 

There was one place where you were allowed to pick the fish that you wanted right from the tank. Then, they would weigh it, kill it, and then cook it for you! I have never been to a place like this before!

Step 1: Pick the kind of fish you want.



Step 2: Tell the waiter which fish you want.

Step 3: Pick your choice of sauce and how you want the fish cooked.
 

Step 4: Dig in and enjoy!!!!! :)

We went to Hui Ming Jie (回名街), the Muslim Street Quarter with lots of delicious foods! They had this type of desert that they made by hammering a sticky, sesame-covered dough. They let people try doing it and my study buddy tried! She said it was actually quite a workout! Hahaa J

Our teacher bought us tickets to go to an opera that was the story from the Zhou Dynasty! So much talent! I enjoyed it very much and even learned some Chinese history!

 

 

Having just spent two weeks in Xi’an, I already feel like I’ve seen and learned so much! But there is still SO MUCH TO SEE!!! These past two days have been filled with exams—Chinese speaking exam, Chinese listening exam, and Modern China History exam. But I am so happy to say that I learned lots and did well on my exams! Woohoo! I am so thankful for our teachers, who taught us so much!

Left to Right: Peter, Paddy, Me, Corey, Mr. Liu (our Chinese listening teacher),
Cynthia (my roommate), Cindy

Mrs. Xu, the director of the Fulbright students during their time abroad, got us all gifts for completing the winter session, and also for the New Year! She got us each a personalized seal with our full Chinese name of it! HOW COOL IS THAT?!?!?!?!!! THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH, MRS. XU!!!!! She is too sweet! So, look forward for letters from me with an official Chinese seal on it! I’m official, yo. What, what?! J

Now that we are done with our winter session, we are getting ready to meet our host families! We will be moving into homes of local Chinese families and living with them for 3 weeks, which means WE’RE SPENDING CHINESE NEW YEAR WITH THEM!!!! This will be my very first time celebrating Chinese New Year in China!!!! I am SOOOOO EXCITED!!!

The Firsts

Firsts are always fun. But for many of us on this trip, it wasn’t our first time in Beijing. I had been here visiting earlier this year with the Confucius Institute Summer Program. However, it is only week one and there are already things that I am doing for the first time!

it was the first time our team hung out together.

The first time we stayed at this hotel.

The first time we ate together, family style.

The first time we climbed a mountain together.

The first time we took a selfie together. Man, gotta love ‘em!

To me, firsts are always fun! These first few days—getting to know my team, visiting museums and palaces, mountains and temples--are filled with firsts. And actually life is filled with firsts. But as long as we keep appreciating them and keep embracing moments and experiences as they come, no matter how many times we do something, we will always find it interesting and exciting! I am gonna share some of my favorite FIRSTS with ya!

Tuesday was our free day! We ended up deciding to travel as a team to places the tour guide wasn’t going to take us. Although I had been to Beijing before, I got to do something new! We climbed up to the top of Jing Shan and saw the most beautiful view of the Forbidden City and Beijing from on top of a mountain! It was so beautiful!

On Wednesday, we got the chance to meet the American diplomat Brian Brendel! It was amazing to hear him share his knowledge about Chinese-American relations with us, as well as the story of how he became a diplomat. But what was even crazier that happened while we were there was that one of the security guards had a seizure in the middle of Brian’s presentation. Unsure of what to do, Brian asked for help from anyone who is medically trained. It just so happened that Dylan (another guy on the team) and I both were lifeguard certified. We were able to help by protecting his head during the seizure, putting him in recovery position after he was done seizing, and monitoring his airway, breathing and circulation. We were able to help take care of the security guard until the medical professionals arrived! It was the first time I have been able to use my medical experience to help someone across the globe! What an amazing experience!

On Thursday, we had the opportunity to visit the Dandelion School, a school for migrant workers’ children. In China, many people who are in need of a job move to popular cities like Beijing or Shanghai in order to find a job. These people are called migrant workers. When they work in a place that is not their home province, their kids are not able to register for school. As a result, there are many kids that are uneducated or have to stay in their hometown, separated from their parents. This sad truth is the reason that Dandelion school exists. 

These kids are in need of not only a proper education but also love, care and attention. In addition, they need to be reminded of how much POTENTIAL they have! Dandelion is the only Junior High School in all of Beijing that admits migrant workers’ children. After meeting the principal and volunteers, we got a chance to meet these students and teach a class! I was a part of a team teaching in the arts and crafts class. Kathleen, Cindy, Peter and I decided that we would teach them how to make friendship bracelets, as well as teach them the significance of friendship bracelets in America. It was awesome to see how hardworking these kids are, to interact with them, to hear how well they speak English! My favorite part about teaching the class was to hear these kids stand up one by one and share their names and favorite food and hobby.

One girl in particular really inspired me—Sarah. Sarah is only 12 years old but she already knows that she wants to be a doctor when she grows up! Although it is a difficult goal, she is working towards it and is going to continue working hard to achieve that goal! We also got a chance to visit her family and her home. They live in an apartment that is only as big as my dorm room in Butler, plus a bathroom. Although their living situation is not the best, their dad shares that this is the happiest their family has been in their whole life—they have a place to live, a job, a school for their kids to go to, and food on the table!

On Friday, we got to visit the Summer Palace! I have visited before but this time, we entered in through another door bringing us to the most beautiful view of the palace! It was gorgeous!! Here are some pictures to show you! (Although pictures can never FULLY show the beauty of a place.)

On Saturday, we climbed the Great Wall! It was such perfect weather outside! It was sunny and only a bit windy! We climbed up over 300 steps to get to the Great Wall and walked more than 2 miles on the wall! The view is absolutely gorgeous—surrounded by mountains! Though it was challenging at times (very steep) and our leg muscles are so sore, it was DEFINITELY worth the hike!

 On Sunday we had to say goodbye to Beijing as we headed to Xi An, where we will be staying for the next 8 months! It was so sad to have to leave Feng Hua, the world’s best tour guide ever! He pretty much let us explore and taught us so much!! We’re gonna miss you, Feng!!

We took the high speed train! It was going 299 km/hour but you would have never guessed! The ride was SO SMOOTH. The 5 hour ride consisted of napping, reading, eating, and playing Settlers of Caton! Such an awesome ride with amazing scenery on the way!

The train arrived Xi An at around 4pm on Sunday…time to say hello to my new home! J