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!!!