Shanghai

So I'm back in cold Hefei after a lovely weekend!! Besides missing the train on the way there, everything was great! The hostel was pretty nice (and I love that my opinion holds some weight). Here are some of my adventures:

So on our first night in Shanghai we found a noodle shop on Nanjing street. I spit my bones out on the table, as is Chinese custom.

Our first morning in Shanghai was pretty rainy and cold. We decided to go to the top of Jinmao Tower. On the 88th floor, this was our view.

While we were checking out the view I noticed that a bunch of Asian tourists had come up. I got up on a little step to take a picture of them, but ended up taking pictures WITH them instead! One after another they stepped up to pose with a white girl! It was pretty hilarious.

The building on the left is taller than the Jinmao Tower. Someone just had to go and outdo.

For lunch we found an "Italian" restaurant. I decided to be adventurous and ordered octopus balls with Erin. They were delicious!

Chelsea, Danielle, and I decided to walk to Century Park. It was really rainy and the park was far away. It was pretty though, and we stopped in a few nice looking buildings to use the bathrooms ... even though we weren't really allowed.

After the park, we went to the Jade Buddha Temple. It was a ways away. I got a cab for us though! The temple was a little under-whelming, but I've never been to a Buddhist temple before so, good experience I guess.

Rubbing the laughing Buddha for good luck!!

We went up the Pearl Tower at night. It was really pretty to see the city come alive. Our ticket came with entrance to the Shanghai History Museum. Haha, fun times.

The Oriental Pearl TV Tower, lit up at night!

Here is my mystery meat dinner, and my Shanghai travel book, that was such a life-saver!!

So we came across this scene in Renmin Park in the morning. Random pieces of paper clipped on the bushes and crowds of people looking at them and talking. Any explanations are welcome.

Me in front of the Shanghai Museum. It was free! and it was cool to see some pretty ancient stuff. China is old.

After the museum, Chelsea and I walked around the East Nanjing area. We tried to find the art museum, but on the way we found something better. A lovely booth with foooood. I got a sugar-covered strawberry kebab. Then I got more octopus balls. and some sweet tart thing. and THEN, I bought this amazing Chinese taco, or at least that's what I called it. Chinese food is good! No doubt about it.

One of my favorite experiences was pushing through this crowd, peering at the food being cooked right before my eyes. There were some pretty sketchy things, but the purple dessert thing that Chelsea and I got was yummy.

That night we all went to the Shanghai Acrobatic Show. Those girls had amazing flexibility and guts! It was a good show!

The next day we started with a tour of Old Town. We stumbled across this street and bought some breakfast from the locals. I love the diversity in big cities.

Next stop was the Yuyuan Gardens and Bizarre. The Bizarre was amazing. There were so many shops with souvenirs and trinkets. Chelsea and Danielle did their fair share of bargaining, but I can't ever get myself to buy stuff.

At the gardens there were a ton of koi ponds. Some Chinese girl grabbed one out of the water, and after a picture handed it off to Messa!! She had no idea what to do! I don't think the fish knew what was happening either! hahaha.

Being artsy at the gardens. It was a super pretty place.

Me at the gardens.

That night we walked around the Bund. The Shanghai skyline is really really cool!! I'm kind of sad that in all of these pictures I am wearing the same coat and it looks so gray out!

Here is another example of the Chinese being so fascinated with white people. Some guy just handed Chelsea his baby and wanted a picture with us! We got used to it and by the end of the trip I think we all enjoyed having random people ask to take pictures with us. And I understand their fascination - there are no white people in Hefei, and even we got SO excited when we saw white people on the train to Shanghai. :)

The Yuyuan Bizarre at night.


The group at the waterfront! Joelle, Chelsea, Me, Danielle, Meghan, Messa, Erin, Tammi, and Kelsey! We had so much fun in Shanghai!!!! Highlights not pictured include figuring out if the person in the other girl's room was a man or a woman, following Meghan through the alleyways to check out some sweet knock-offs, getting to sit in the VIP lounge at the Hefei station, and talking to random people who want to practice their English.

I love China!!!

Raining in Hefei

So it has been raining in Hefei for the past few days. I like rainy weather in general, but I hope it slows down soon.

Tomorrow we are leaving Hefei. 9 of us are taking the train to Shanghai to spend our 5-day vacation wandering the city and checking out the scene. An update (with pictures!) will happen when we get back!

More Hefei Adventures

Here are a few (actually a lot) of pictures of my experiences so far in China. They are kind of in backwards order, and mixed up a little even then.


These are my homeroom kids that I taught for the last time on Saturday :(

After our bathroom break I kept them busy with the camera! Bella is one of my favorite girls (kissing me) and Spencer (with his arm up) and Jason are two of the best students.

Me with some of my homeroom kids before class. Even though they seemed like devil children the first few days, I've already fallen in love with them!

This is my classroom. It may look pretty empty but if I ever put anything in there they will destroy it or throw it at me. Little angels.

Joelle, Kelsey, Messa, and I went into downtown Hefei to get some American food at Pizza Hut. I was very sad that they didn't have my favorite Pizza Hut dessert :( But it was still good. We sat next to two kids who told us their names were Ten and Eleven.

In other words, don't step on the grass.

Me mimicking the dragons at Lord Bao's temple in Hefei.

Elephant seats at Lord Bao's Temple in Hefei.

This is Guogou Plaza in Downtown Hefei. Its like a mall with restaurants and a lot of people to watch. Pretty fun stuff. We actually saw one of the guys that works at the school there. He was on a Valentine's Day date and I think we embarrassed him when we all started yelling his name.

This is the few out of my back window. It looks out onto the school track and to a few of the buildings on campus. I just thought the sun looked cool through all of the smog.

Tammi, Meghan, Danielle, and I chilling on the elephants at Lord Bao's Temple in Hefei.

Me and Messa documenting our first Taxi ride in China! Public transportation is really cheap and convenient, if you don't mind cramming onto the buses!

On a Sunday walk around our school we found a giant blow up rainbow. Kodak moment. The Chinese store-keepers liked to come out of their stores and watch us saunter around. I feel like a movie star.

At the Plaza treating ourselves to ice cream after a long day of crazy teaching. Me, Chelsea, Messa, Erin, Danielle, and Tammi.

Feeding the pigeons in a park in Hefei. Note the cute little girl behind me. She has flapper pants on. Haha.

Me and my roommate Joelle in a park in Hefei.

Tammi, Erin, Danielle, Me, and Messa outside of the school gate on our first day in Hefei.

Here in Hefei

I've arrived in Hefei safe and sound and I love it here. The food is delicious, the school is fun, the kids are adorable, my group is amazing, the city is so unique, the weather is nothing I didn't expect, my room is so much better then I expected, the Chinese are so friendly, and I'm having the time of my life.

As requested by my mom, here is a picture of my room:

I have had many exciting adventures since I've been here, and tomorrow I start teaching. I am sure that will open the door for all kinds of new adventures!!

Sorry this isn't too much information, but time is short and the internet isn't quite legit. But I'm safe and happy and LOVING CHINA!

I didn't see that coming: the unexpected Hefei.

I wasn't expecting a lot of fireworks. In Hefei they have a lot. No, not a lot, a ton. A gazillion. Every day, every night, every morning. I have been waking up at 6 o'clock because of the loud, gun-shot-like noises and flashing lights coming in from my window. I'm not exactly sure what they are celebrating (if that's what they are for) but I hope the celebration ends soon, or else the 4th of July will be ruined for me.

There are quite a lot of babies in this area. We see them all over JoyMart (the market/buy-everything-here store across the street). We see them playing in the long jump pit in the track right outside my window. We see them with their parents around town, in the parks, and just walking at the school. Now, babies are always cute, but I'll argue that nothing compares to a fat Chinese baby running around with his bum hanging out of his pants. Hahaha. In Hefei I guess they don't use diapers. What they do instead is cut slits in their babies' pants right at the butt crack. When the kid has to go, it just goes. I'm not sure where whatever comes out goes . . . although I have seen some dumpings on sidewalks. It is a little weird, and yes, kind of gross too, but hey, it must work for them. And it gives us foreigners one more reason to love the Chinese people. Especially their babies.

The other night the group headed to downtown Hefei to go to Guogou Plaza - a large 4 story shopping mall with restaurants and stuff. We took the #3 bus from the school about 20 minutes into the city center. On our way back we were standing by a young man who started talking to us in English. He seemed about college age and knew English really well, except that he had a thick Chinese accent which was sometimes hard to understand. His English name was Tony. We started talking about travel, and college, and teaching, and English. He is studying English at his college and told us that he loves it. Then he started telling me about how his friends have "colors". I had no idea what he was talking about but kept nodding my head in agreement and smiling. Apparently everyone in China likes to have "colors". After a little more talking he pulled out his cell phone and asked me if I have a mobile. I informed him that I did but that it doesn't work in China and I didn't have it with me. He looked a little disappointed, but then perked up when he asked if I would like his number. Laughingly I said "sure! why not!?", so he then pulled out a piece of paper and wrote it down for me. He told me to call him when I had my mobile working and we would be "colors". Finally I realized that what he was saying was not "colors" but "callers". He and his friends like to call their English speaking friends to practice! We continued to talk until I had to get off the bus. Tony has now been named as my "gentleman caller".

word of the day

Project, n.: 2. a. A planned or proposed undertaking; a scheme, a proposal; a purpose, an objective.

I couldn't help but smile when I learned from my Google reader that "project" was the OED word of the day. I have been working on one particular project for the past few weeks: my scrapbook of my BYU Great Britain Study Abroad. Yesterday I picked up 97 pictures from Costco, and just today I created the covers for my book. I am excited about and proud of my work. I have about a week's worth left of pictures to "scrap" but I'm hoping I can finish this project by Sunday, if not before. Wish me luck!

Questions Answered

I've been home for a few weeks now and have been attending my parents ward. Each week I seem to be bombarded with more-or-less annoying questions from curious women, past leaders, and fellow ward members. "Did you graduate? What are you doing here? How long are you staying? You're going to China, what will that be like?" Though frustrated, I whip out a smile and answer: "No, I live here, until February, I don't know I have never been". But my answers never seem to satisfy them. Who knows why? It did make me realize though, that I may have been doing a bad job of explaining to everyone (not just my parents' friends) what I am going to be doing for the next 5 months. I guess I don't like answering questions for people who will forget what I say two minutes later, ask me the same questions the next week, or don't really care. BUT, for those of you that do care, I am going to explain what my upcoming adventure consists of, in hopes of enlightening you and maybe making my question-answering skills more refined.

Where am I going? To Hefei, China, the capital of the Anhui Province, in central, east China. It is a city of over 4 million people and is located about an hour west of Shanghai. If you're still confused about where this is here is a picture. Or you could pull up wikipedia or google earth.

When am I going? I leave on February 6th and return on June 18th. If you have a hard time with math, that's more than four months. Yes, I know that's a long time.

Who am I going with? The program I am going with is called ILP or International Language Programs. This program is based in Provo, UT and used to be affiliated with BYU, but is no longer. It is completely volunteer. (http://www.ilp.org) The other volunteers that are going to Hefei are all girls. I haven't met any of them, but typically, because ILP is based in Provo, they are LDS and about my age.

What will I be doing? Primarily, I will be teaching English to 4-6 year old children in the Hefei Guanghua School. (http://www.hfghxx.com/EngLish/wjjs.asp) I'll be teaching about 15 hours a week. That's 3 hours a day for 5 days. I'll be living in apartments with the other teachers and we'll be located right next to the school. I am also fortunate that I will be able to use this experience as my required internship for my TESOL minor. I get 3 credits to do something that I was going to be doing anyways.

Why?? I'm going to serve, to take a break from school, to get teaching experience, and to get school credit. But my main reason for going is the international experience. I've always wanted to be a traveler and decided that I'm the one that has to make that happen. My housing, food, and air fair are paid for, and I get to spend 5 months in CHINA. Why wouldn't I be going?

I hope this post didn't discourage those that had genuine questions but instead maybe answered a few of them. And now, conveniently, I have a post that is a great intro to what the next 5 months of blogging will be about. You guessed it: CHINA!

December/January Highlights

December really flew by. Highlights:

Getting my lowest class grade ever!
Getting stranded in Provo/Lehi because of the snow.
Getting home for Christmas!
Giving away my heart.

I'm sure January will have highlights too:

Finishing/starting my London scrapbook
Reading my travel China books!
Visiting Provo
Being the only child at home

So I know that I'm not really that great at keeping up with my blog, but I'm ready to start up again and excited that I have . . . 34 days until I leave for China!