The End of My Journey

Well, this is my last post on this blog. My trip to China was amazing, and I am incredibly blessed to have experienced this, I will carry these memories with me forever.

You may have wondered why I stopped blogging for a while and the reason is because I visited Beijing for about (I think) 5 days. In Beijing, I toured the Great Wall and it was, great:) The sights I saw on that wall were amazing! I also visited Tienanmen Square, which was a big, flat, square with a picture of Mao Zhedong watching over us all.

Then, after several days of Chinese classes and interviewing Beijing residents, I took the HSK 3 and it was HARD. After that, I ate Beijing kaoya (Beijing roast duck) and I and my classmates told stories for a long time, reflecting on our time together. I am going to miss all of them, we shared some great experiences and I hope to see them again.

So after that, I rode 4 buses and 3 planes to return home and experienced 2 Thursdays. I can say that I am glad to be home and I am forever changed by this experience. I feel that I can handle anything the world throws at me. My trip to change was a great, great, leap forward, one that will last the rest of my life. Thanks to everyone for their support and love as I  went through this program.

~Morgan:)

On the Verge of Leaving Shanghai

Well my friends, I have 2 more days in Shanghai before heading to Beijing! I’m excited for the final stage of the program. I must say that I will miss Shanghai, the place really grows on you and I will miss our home here at the center. Nevertheless, I am ready. So the past few days being back here with my classmates has been great,I really missed living with them!

Let’s see, on Monday, I revisited Qibao because Sareanna wanted to buy another suitcase. Connor (short one) and I bought some Chinese books while we were there. I got a two part volume book and I only choose it because it had an interesting title. So we shall if I like it or not when I read it!

Yesterday, Emma and I had an all girls day. We had frozen yogurt and had our nails done. Mine are a kind of light sparkly peach pink. It was my first time getting my nails done so it was a cool experience. Then, we visited a mall and both ate huge bowls of delicious noodles! A good day all in all.

Then today, Connor (short one), Tera, Anna, and I went to a rock climbing wall. It was a lot of fun, but now I’m so tired, my hands and legs hurt. I got about half way up while Connor could climb all the way to the top. He coached us girls too. I even kept my nails in pristine condition, that’s talent!

The End of My Host Stay

Well, I’m on the verge of ending my host family stay and tomorrow we have a ceremony to say our goodbyes and thanks. Pathos week has been a lot of fun so let me tell you about it.

 I had school and the afternoon activities each day. One day I have visited Qibao, which pretty cool. Connor (tall) bought a coconut for 10 rmb and cracked it open so we (both Connors and I) could eat it. 

Yesterday, I didn’t expect it to rain but it did, so I was going to get wet but my classmates were kind enough to share with me so I stayed mostly dry!

I also have now taken the subway entirely by myself (when I needed to get home). It wasn’t so bad!

I have also visited 2 other art shows with Vivian today and yesterday, one Italian, and the other photography about Britain in the 60s to present day. I really enjoyed the latter, it was fascinating to see. That’s something I really enjoyed about being a host family, I get to see less of the tourist-y spots and more places regular Chinese people enjoy.

I’m really grateful for my host family and will take these memories with me as I progress to the last stages of this program.

The Weekend

My weekend was great, busy, and lots of fun! It has been very hot here and today I got sunburned! Whoohoo…

Anyway, here’s he recap. On Saturday, I visited the Mao Zhedong museum. The museum was actually the place he stayed at when he became a Communist. I learned more about his life and found it very interesting. Mao came to power because he gave the people of China a feeling of security and hope during a dark time in Chinese history. I also learned that Mao seems to be held in high esteem, even today. 

Then, I visited an art show by the deceased artist Andy Warhol (I think that’s how it’s spelled anyway) . It was very cool. I also visited many bookstores and enjoyed an afternoon of reading.

Then today I visited the Botanical Gardens. It was so pretty and I took lots of pictures. I also ate a roast fish today for dinner. It was delicious but I felt bad for the fish because I sort of helped pick out which one we would eat.

That’s all for now, but there will be more to come!

To the Opera!!

Hello family and friends, I have a few amazing days and want to tell you all about it. So my host sister, Vivian took me to the opera on Wednesday and Thursday. These operas, although on a screen, were incredible!

On Wednesday, I saw Elecktra, which was a dramatic, and powerful opera about a woman named Elecktra who wanted revenge on her mother, who slayed her father. 

Then, on Thursday, I fell in love with the opera A Midsummmer’s Night Dream! It was absolutely amazing, this is my favorite Shakespearean play and it was incredible to see. I can hardly describe how much I loved it!

So today is Friday, I had school, learning a challenging Chinese lesson, and visited 2 museums. The first was interesting, but didn’t understand much because it was about phone chip construction. Then I really enjoyed the second one, which was about ancient Chinese medical practices. And let’s just say, I definitely learned the difference between a pangolin and a penguin! (Inside joke, I’ll explain it when I come home;)  So today was great!

A reflection, I’m finding it increasingly easier to read signs and things around me. I definitely notice a difference in my Chinese, it’s improving!

A New Family!

Hello everyone, I’m writing this blog post in my host family’s home, and it has been an amazing and challenging time! I pause even now to eat my rice so this is slow progress writing this post but I’ll get through it!

So Nanjing was great, everyone seemed to enjoy our Frozen performance and even though Bollywood got slightly messed up, it was a lot of fun. We also played a fun game kind of like tag the next day with the students at the place we were staying. The adults had to tell us to stop playing because we had played for a long time. Later, we visited a cave which was pretty cool and drove home. Earlier this week, we were told that a small typhoon was coming and I got really excited, it would be my first typhoon. However, it barely brushed by us, such a let down…;)

Then on Sunday, we prepared to go live with our host families. I had time to kill so I played chess with Connor (short) and it was a draw. Then I played against Theo, checkmated him, and allowed him to start a few moves over. He checkmated me, so we both won a game.

I met my host family, which consists of, Uncle Fang (host father), Helen, (host mother), and Vivian, (my host sister, a year younger than me). We live in a very nice apartment with two floors. I have my own bathroom and the downstairs basement is practically mine, so I’m very blessed to have this family. Vivian and I share a lot of the same tastes, she loves singing (especially the Phantom of the Opera), she loves to read, and loves Chinese opera. This week, I will get to see 2 operas! I’m very excited for that! My family is very nice and I look forward to the next few weeks.

现在！

What’s Happened So Far?

so I’ve been having a lot of fun these past few days…

Yesterday, we had class in the morning and in the afternoon, we went to Tianzifang, which was a crazy shopping place and I bought some cool stuff. T shirts for my family, a Baymax T shirt for myself, a little nutcracker, and some gifts for my mom’s daycare kids. 

Then today, after classes, Emma and I shopped for qi bao or traditional Chinese dresses. After searching in super expensive places, we revisited Yuyuan Garden and bought her really cute ones. I also bought two silky dresses! Emma finally found her long desired Picachu backpack! I also had an Oreo fudge Blizzard at DQ, (which is the same no matter where you are)! In the evening, we prepared for our show for the show at the Nanjing school. I will be Bolllywood dancing with a group and singing Let it Go with Emma, Seth, and Connor (short one). I may also be waltzing with tall Connor, because I’ve been teaching him to waltz the past few days. So I will you about the show sometime soon!

And here’s a funny story, when Emma and I were waiting for the light to change at a crosswalk, a lady started to talk to Emma in Chinese, pointing to Emma’s face. I looked over and the lady talked even faster, smiling and pointing at my. I thought she meant my freckles so I pointed at my face too, and repeated the word she was saying. She definitely meant my freckles because she smiled again and said they were very pretty in Chinese.

An Incredible Day

Happy 4th of July to me! It has my first Independence Day away from home and it has been an amazing day I can hardly describe. In the morning, we went to the art museum in Shanghai and I saw several beautiful and thought-provoking pieces. 

After lunch, we went to the Pearl Tower in the Pudong District. It was amazing to see Shanghai from that height. Beautiful, and inspiring.

We ate dinner, where I tried cow stomach (which wasn’t bad) and jellyfish (which was absolutely horrible in taste and texture)!

The we went on a boat ride on the river. This was probably the best part of the day! We saw he city light up in colored gorgeous displays. It was truly remarkable, I cannot describe it properly, how wonderful it was.

So today was more than great and I still can’t believe that I experienced it. I hope all is well with you all.

Shopping at the Yuyuan garden

The Past Few Days…

Sorry for not blogging sooner, but I’ve been super busy lately! So here’s what happened so far.

I left off with the book filled day right? So that leaves 4 days to make up. On Monday morning, we watched several marching bands and color guards. That’s right, color guards and it was awesome! I even talked to one guard and took pictures with them! Then, I showed the guard and some of my own co,or guard moves, everyone was very impressed!

Then on Tuesday, after morning class, we went to the Jewish refugee museum. So the story goes, when the Nazis took over Germany, Jews tried to flee to different countries but most closed their doors. The city of Shanghai however, opened their arms to Jewish refugees. Those Jews remained In Shanghai until the end of the war. There was also a musical public debut kind of thing there and that was cool to see.

Then on Wednesday, one highlight was a Chinese tea ceremony. It was very cool,the lady who was demonstrating was so graceful, we all tried to imitate her graceful moves when we practiced the tea ceremony. The other highlight was when I visited to Bund. If you don’t know what it is, type in Google, Shanghai and you will see the most common picture. That’s where I was! It was incredible and I have a lot of great pictures to show later!

So nothing else super cool to mention, tomorrow I have my first test so I’ve been studying a lot! So I didn’t go far today from home, I went to Family Mart (which is like a gas station w/o the gas and it’s everywhere!) and got some snacks. I bought Snow Plums, which are really good, cashews, a dried fish thing, and Pockysticks. So I’m set for weeks! I’ll blog some time later! Love you guys!