Last Seen Blogs
annjanaesimmer-blog
Dark Phase
mikapaella
MIKAPAELLA
love-voodoo-blog
MOVED
neds-middle-names
Ned’s Middle Name Counter: 17
brendanfewre
BKF Air Conditioning
Text
Final Thoughts
Now that I've been back in America a few days, I've been able to reflect a bit about my time abroad in China. I no longer take toilet paper for granted and have a newfound appreciation for dryers! I am thankful to West Virginia University for allowing me with such opportunities; opportunities that have taught me about the mountaineer core values. First, this trip fed my curiosity of another language and culture. By living in another country for a month, it gave me a newfound respect for a new culture and another way of life. My friends and I were made accountable everyday. We were representing both our school and our country and were responsible for how we acted. We were also trusted to be on time and to always make smart decisions. I witnessed service through our selfless language partners who offered their time to help us and introduce us to the city. Finally, I am appreciative of everyone who helped make this trip possible, as well as everyone who helped us in our new life in China. All of our teachers, tour guides, and new friends who taught us the new culture and took their time when talking with us made the trip what it was.
0 notes
Text
6.21
Today is our last day in China. I can’t believe the time went to so fast. I really didn’t like China when we first arrived, but now I’m wishing we had more time. This morning I got up early and took a walk with Ariana. We stopped by a Catholic church to get pictures. My church back in Wisconsin is doing a program and is asking for photos from different churches visited by parishioners. My family was really excited about me getting a photo before I left China. Then we just walked around the area near our hotel for a bit. Afterwards we returned and checked out of the hotel. My suitcase was excessively heavy and I wanted to stop and buy another bag so i wouldn't have to pay the charge at the airport. At lunch, the owner of the restaurant we were eating at took our TA on the back of his moped to go to a shopping center. He bought me and another student a bag since we both had overweight suitcases. After lunch we went to a kindergarten. I was put in a K3 classroom. I was astounded by the level of english these kids knew, but they were very shy and didn’t really want to participate. The whole kindergarten was incredible though. The number and quality of all their facilities was outstanding. Following the kindergarten we went to the airport. Our first flight was actually cancelled but we were able to get seats on a non-stop flight back to New York. They actually held the plane for our group so we had to literally run through the airport. It all ended up working out though, and we all made it safely back to America!
0 notes
Text
6.19
Today was our 2nd full day in Shanghai. We started the day going to the Pearl Tower. I loved going up to the top and seeing the view of Shanghai. Unfortunately it was very overcast and cloudy so we couldn't see far. Then we went down a level to the observation deck. It was amazing and we were able to get some awesome pictures. It had started raining by the time we left and we headed to the Yu Gardens. No one was prepared for the rain so a lot of people stopped to buy umbrellas. Still, it was miserable walking around in soaked socks and shoes. We were able to shop around a bit then we went to visit with the WVU vice president. We had a good time talking and mingling and hopefully improving the study abroad program. Then we got to experience the Shanghai metro during rush hour. I have never seen so many people in one place at a time! At night we saw the Shanghai Circus. I thought it was more of an acrobatic show but it was incredible. The actors were amazing and the whole show was breathtaking.
0 notes
Text
6.18
Today was by far my favorite day in China. We were at a shopping center during an excursion when we saw a store with beautiful dresses. We thought they were for sale and were interested in buying one. It turns out it was a shop where you can dress up in the dresses and get your picture professionally taken. We went in and were able to pick out the most beautiful dresses. Then a makeup artist completely did our hair and makeup. We were in a hurry since we only had an hour until we had to meet our group. We went one by one taking photos with a true professional. He knew just how to pose us and gave us a lot of different props. Afterwards we got to pick out 5 photos. We ended up being about 40 minutes late to meet the group. Thankfully our teacher and guide were with us also so it all worked out. Im so glad I had the chance to get these beautiful photos. It was also an awesome bonding experience with some new friends I made on the trip!
0 notes
Text
6.16
Today was our last full day in Nanjing. This morning we had class for about an hour which was just review. Then we had our last test. The written part wasn’t too hard, we did have a 4 minute oral though. I was a little worried about getting it written and memorized in time, but it actually went very well. Right after the tests Lin Lao Shi asked me and 3 other girls to stay behind while everyone else went for lunch. We were practicing a song and dance for our farewell ceremony and she wanted to see it. We were well practiced and were excited to show her all of our work. We then went to grab some McDonalds quickly before a meeting with our whole class. Following that we went to our graduation ceremony. It was nice, and our language partners were there to celebrate with us. Then we had some performances. The song and dance I was part of went great. We had matching outfits and had choreographed a whole dance with fans. Not everyone else was as prepared. It was nice to see our partners one last time though and it was a nice way to spend our last day in Nanjing.
0 notes
Text
6.12
Today we went back to the same place our host family took John and I. It was still pretty boring but this time there were some booths set up with people selling things. I found a really cool hand carved hair pin and a Chinese yo-yo. After the excursion I went shopping with some friends. I didn't buy anything but I enjoyed looking around. We also got interviewed twice within a 5 minute time span. The first was for the news. They were doing a program about father's day so we're gonna be on china news this Sunday night. The second was by some students doing a project and they just asked us who our favorite superhero is and why. After shopping we went to the buffet that everyone has been talking about. After eating there I understand why. They have hot pot and a grill plus tons of precooked food. We were there a long time and kept going up for more food. It was probably the first time I've ever been full in China!
0 notes
Text
6.11
Today I met with my language partners again. I say partners since I consider Ashley's partner as one of mine. We went for a quick lunch then to the zoo. I was super excited to see the pandas but as soon as we got there there was a sign posted that the panda exhibit was closed. We still went in and walked around for a few hours. It started off really well. But by the second or 3rd exhibit I was already feeling sick. Seeing the conditions the animals were in broke my heart. Their enclosures were tiny and had little to no green. They were covered with trash thrown in by people. The animals were either starving or were obese from being fed by people. They even had places you could fish and catch fish to take home. Half of the fish in there were dead and the ones caught didn't have much time. They were being squished into a tiny tank full of fish with barely enough room for them to turn around. My friend and I wanted to get going so we left a little earlier than planned. While I didn't really enjoy my experience, I'm glad I went and was able to see it.
0 notes
Photo
Niu Shou Shan (Buddhist Temple), the Tea Village, and our flooded school!
0 notes
Text
6.10
We had our last weekend excursion in Nanjing today. It would've been nice, if not for the monsoon style torrential downpour all day. First we went to a Buddhist temple. It was the nicest one we've been to so far, and much bigger. We only went in one building and it was 9 stories. We had an excellent tour guide who knew what she was talking about and I actually learned a lot about Buddhism. After wading through 6 inches of water to get back to our bus, we went to a tea village. I was really looking forward to going here, especially since my mom and sister are tea fanatics. I wanted to come home with pictures of tea fields and to get some nice, fresh tea for them. Unfortunately, we could barely see 10 ft through the rain. And since we were in such a small village, most of the shops weren't open in the rain. We ended up just leaving to come back pretty quickly. I haven't bought at tea yet thinking I'd wait and get some really nice tea here. Now I'll have to go back to a shopping market to pick some up!
0 notes
Text
6.9
After our test today I went with Samie back to FuZiMiao. After getting lost for a bit, we finally found our way there. I had a great shopping day and got tons of gifts for my friends and family. I was able to successfully barter for a lot of items. I even had one lady chasing me down the street offering a lower price. I still didn't buy the item though since I really didn't want it in the first place. I was able to use a new vocab word though. I told one woman I would consider (考虑）an item and come back. I actually did come back and she was happy to see me and gave me a good price!
0 notes