The two weeks spent exploring the more western parts of China was fun, but now it is time to get serious.
I am now officially a sophomore! Today was the first day of school and I had two classes. I started the day really early with an 8 a.m. Chinese class, which went pretty well. Although I was a bit nervous since my Chinese level is not were it is supposed to be, the teacher was extremely helpful and positive. Also, I am not a morning person, but the Wang Lao Shi knew how to keep her lessons interactive and entertaining. A couple of hours later, I had my second class: Introduction to Buddhism. Despite the fact that it was a three hour long class, I enjoyed it and learned a couple of new things actually.
I just finished the homework for today and cannot wait for my classes tomorrow!

Ni Hao! I am officially arrived in Ho Chi Minh City after spending six days in China.

China was amazing. Very crowded and very hot, but still amazing.

The first day (August 17), I arrived in Shanghai after my 15 hour flight, met up with Trenton (my friend from high school) and we caught an overnight train to Xi’an. We almost missed our train, and so my first experience of China was basically sprinting through the train station with my giant backpack. It was stressful, yet invigorating, and we made it onto the train with five minutes to spare. The sleeper train was its own experience. It was actually very nice, and I actually was able to sleep though I was in a cabin with three other non-english-speaking Chinese natives.

We arrived in Xi’an the following morning (August 18) and caught the metro to the center of Xi’an where our hostel was. From the moment we stepped off of the metro we were sweating. It was between 95 and 100 degrees fahrenheit the entire time that we were in China (except for up in the mountains). One of the most apparent culture shocks that I felt right away was just how crowded China is. It is very obvious that 18% (1.35 billion people) of the entire world population lives in that one country. I think it is because of this that the Chinese people have a total lack of spacial awareness also. When there are so many people in one place, the idea of personal space is almost at zero percent. This took some getting used to, but by the end of the trip, it was not as bothersome, and in a way, kind of endearing.

Our plan for our first night in Xi’an was to travel to Mount Huashan, and hike up overnight, so we did not plan on checking into our hostel right away. Though we were not sleeping there the first night, the hostel staff allowed us to leave our bags there, and also shower. This was greatly appreciated, if you are ever in Xi’an, I highly recommend the Han Tang Inn Hostel. After dropping our bags off, we picked up some dumplings (delicious) and took a bus to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. This has been a lifelong dream for me, and I was not disappointed. Although sweltering hot, the rooms of the warriors were huge. We learned that each warrior was actually designed to look like one of the emperor’s slaves, and after a specific warrior was finished, that slave would be killed. The slaves carved their initials into their personal warriors though, so that they could be remembered forever. Also, here’s a tip: view the three excavation rooms in opposite order. Rooms 2 and 3 are not finished being excavated yet, and look more like a few piles of dirt. If you see those before room 1, you are very likely to be underwhelmed.

After the warriors, we returned to Xi’an to prepare for our hike up Mount Huashan. We packed our bags at the hostel, and grabbed some delicious biang biang noodles from a nearby restaurant. Xi’an is known for these noodles. They are very large, almost like lasagna noodles. They’re also famous for it’s character because it uses 58 strokes.

After our noodles, we took a train and then a taxi to the Huashan scenic area. Another culture shock: taxi drivers, actually almost all drivers in China drive like madmen. This taxi ride in particular was one of the scarier ones I have ever taken. Something I noticed as the days in China went on though, was that since everybody drives like a crazy person, you almost feel safer, just because, although I witnessed “almost” accidents about 500 times a day, nobody actually ever hit anybody else. Anyways, I digress; we got to the entrance of the hike around 10:30pm, and began our upward climb. It was still extremely hot at this time, and I was sweating profusely before we even started hiking. I was blown away by the amount of people on the trail. Huashan is one of the top 3 famous mountains in China, but I was not prepared for how crowded the trail was. I guess, even in the mountains, one cannot escape the Chinese crowds. Another surprise was that for the entire time we were on the mountain, we were the only non-Chinese tourists that we saw. China is a big place, and throughout the entire trip, most of the tourists were actually Chinese.

The trail up Mt. Huashan was entirely paved, and yet it was still the most physically demanding hike that I have ever done, though one of the most rewarding hikes I have ever done. Everything that I had read online said that the climb would take between 3-5 hours. Being a pretty avid hiker, I assumed it would probably take Trenton and I 3 hours. I now realize that the 3-5 hour time estimate was the estimate only for the hike to the North Peak. Trenton and I ended up hiking 6 hours to the East peak where the Chess Pavilion is, so as to get the best view for sunrise. So basically we walked up thousands of stairs, some of them more like ladders, for six hours straight. My body was killing me by the time we got to the top at around 4:15am, where we waited for a little over an hour for sunrise.

It ended up being too cloudy for a good sunrise, but the view of the Chess Pavilion was dreamy. 

It ended up being a huge blessing that we spent the night on the mountain, because we were able to beat the lines for the famous plank walk. This part of the hike was basically the reason that I wanted to go to China, and it was everything that I had hoped. I will let the pictures do the talking for this one. 

We decided to catch the cable car back down the mountain because our knees were hurting just thinking about having to walk down all of those stairs again. By this time, the clouds had cleared though, and the view was incredible.

Upon our return to Xi’an, we showered and rested for a bit, and then decided to head out into Xi’an to do some sight seeing. We explored the famous Bell Tower, and were able to get a beautiful 360 degree view of the city from the top. From there, we headed to the Muslim quarter of Xi’an, famous for it’s lively marketplace. It was very interesting gaining insight into Chinese-Muslim culture. I enjoyed coconut milk and a fully fried squid on a stick, delicious! That night was my first night sleeping in an actual bed since my arrival in China, and I slept like a baby. The next morning, we woke up, picked up dumplings from our favorite dumpling shop, and then headed to the airport to catch our plane to Huangshan.

As soon as we arrived in Huangshan, we realized that we were DEEP in China. The owner of our hostel picked us up at the airport, the hour long drive to the hostel was entirely mountains and farm land. The food in Huangshan was very traditional also. We ordered a chicken dish that was basically every part of the chicken, cut up, and cooked in a delicious sauce. When I say “every part” of the chicken, I mean EVERY part of the chicken, feet and head, and beak included.

The next morning, the owner of our hostel drove us to the bus that we needed to catch into Huangshan scenic area. The night previously, we had decided that it would be more beneficial to catch the cable car up to the top of the mountain, so as to save our energy for actually hiking at the top, and for the hike down in the evening. Although we had to wait for an hour in line to catch the cable car, this turned out to be a very good idea, seeing as it was over 60,000 steps to the top. At the top, we were very disappointed by the initial view, as everything was completely covered in clouds. Other than seeing a couple of monkeys, we were extremely dismayed, and I became very frustrated as I had high hopes to see the famed “sea of clouds”.

We spent a few hours, getting super excited every time the clouds seemed like they might clear, until finally around 3pm we had our first real view cloud clearing. It was incredible. At this point, we decided that even if we didn’t get to see sunset, the whole trip up the mountain would be worth it.

We still had high hopes for sunset though, and so we continued to hike to the point where we wanted to watch it. When we got to this point, it had become cloudy again though, and we again, felt very frustrated. The only excitement was the large number of Chinese people who asked me on multiple occasions to take a photo with them. This was a popular occurrence throughout the entire trip for me, being a tall caucasian, I was a bit of a celebrity. I still wonder where all of those photos ended up.

Anyways, we waited at the top of the mountain for about another hour, and finally, around 5pm, we had the most amazing cloud clearance that I ever could have imagined. Honestly, I have seen a lot of beautiful mountains in my lifetime, and these were nothing like I had ever seen before. We were blessed with the sea of clouds, more beautiful than any of the google images that I had spent hours looking at during the weeks leading up to this trip. I still cannot believe that it was real. On top of that, we also had an incredible sunset. It was pretty much the most amazing day.

After sunset, we hiked down the mountain in the dark. It took us about 3 hours to walk down 5 miles worth of steep steps, and we felt like we were on some Indiana Jones type of adventure, deep in the heart of China. Finally, we reached the bottom, and caught the last bus back to Tangkou, where we happily showered and sank into our beds.

The next day, our plan was to take the bus to Hangzhou. We caught the noon bus, and made it to Hangzhou around 3pm, but to our dismay found that due to the G20 conference coming in September, many of the streets were shut down in an effort to lower the amount of driving on the roads to clear up some of the air pollution. Because of this, it was nearly impossible to get to our hostel by the West Lake, and after a few tries we decided that it would be much more worth it to just go straight to Shanghai. We quickly booked a hostel and a couple of train tickets, and hopped on the next high speed train. This ended up working in our favor as it gave us a full day the next day to explore Shanghai. We were able to spend a couple of hours at the Bund, and walking around the market and eating dim sum where in the area of the city where the houses from the 1930’s are still standing. Pro tip: instead of booking an expensive river tour on the Bund, for 2 yuan, you can just take the ferry across the river, and see the same sights. Also, even though the Shanghai museum closes at 5, they stop allowing visitors to enter at 4, something we discovered six minutes too late.

Shanghai architecture is amazing. There is a mix of old and new that is extravagantly more apparent than the same mix that Chicago architecture is famous for, mainly I think because the newer architecture is almost space-like in its modernity.

Overall, China was incredible, and I hope to go back soon to explore more. I caught my flight to Vietnam on time, and have now been here for almost a week. A post will be coming soon! Thank you for reading this extra long one!

 

I found myself repeating this phrase over and over in my head as I laid on my bed trying to fight back tears. Only forty-eight hours until I would step on a plane and begin my 16-week adventure in Rome, Italy, and these words were my attempt to control my emotions. I don’t know why I was crying—I had just finished a highly amusing episode of Parks and Recreations. But for whatever reason, just as Netflix was about to start the next episode, I began to cry.

Don’t get me wrong, I am beyond excited to study abroad. I have been since I submitted my deposit seven months ago. I spent hours sitting in my dorm planning trips and making lists, listening to Italian music, and counting down the days until I would finally be in the Eternal City.  But then came August 1, and I saw my departure day lingering in front of me—then lodge itself in the pit of my stomach.

It wasn’t until I hit the 10-day countdown that the tears began to slip out. The I-will-be-gone-for-almost-four-months reality finally triggered my inevitable emotions. I spent more time crying then relishing in the excitement of this amazing experience waiting for me across the globe. It frustrated me, yet I couldn’t figure out how to switch my perspective.

But these words seemed to work, for now. I was finally able to hold back my tears and relax. It felt nice.

The anticipation of studying abroad has its wide range of emotions. There’s a high level of excitement as you pack your bags and look forward to the adventures ahead. There’s also a lot of stress, nerves, and anxiety—trying to fit your life into one suitcase, preparing for the culture shock, and saying good-byes. Mix all these feelings together, and sometimes the only way to make them all fit is to shed a few tears.

But it’s okay to cry. It’s okay to be nervous. To be sad. To worry. To miss your family, to miss your friends. It’s okay to forget a few things at home, and it’s okay to feel a little out of place in your new home. It’s okay to adjust. It’s okay to just be okay.

Rome, I cannot wait to meet you. I’m looking forward to all the pizza, gelato, and adventures you hold. I’m nervous to speak your language and adjust to your culture. I’m sure I will miss my family and feel a little homesick at times. But I know it will be okay. It will be more than okay.

Here I am on Tuesday, August 30th 2016. With my suitcase (weighing less than 50 lbs. yay!) and my backpack. I thought that I would be very nervous about this day. Saying “see you later” to family and friends is always difficult, but today feels like a normal day. Odd enough, I feel prepared to start my study abroad journey…

The next time you hear from me I’ll be in Rome; what a great way to start my junior year!

Now, you must be wondering what the Silk Road trip is. The Silk Road is a historical trade route between China and Eastern Europe where Chinese silk made up a significant part of the trade. The route ran along many different cities in China and the middle east but since The Beijing Center planned this trip for two weeks, we got to visit a few of them and experienced the vibrant cultures each had to offer. The Silk Road trip was an incredible adventure that I will forever cherish in my heart. I had the opportunity of discovering many cultures, places and people. The amount of new discoveries I got the chance to experience is innumerable and this trip allowed me to see China from a different angle. The most fascinating encounter for me was the Uyghur people who are Turkic-speaking living mostly in northwestern China. When we were in Turpan, a Uyghur family welcomed us to lunch with succulent dishes, oriental music and dancing. I will never forget the barbecued mutton skewers and the juicy baby grapes the area is known for. As a traveler myself, I would have never planned on visiting these areas because they were unknown to me but thanks to TBC, my love for Chinese cultures and heritages has grown even bigger. The Silk Road trip has confirmed my doubts on studying abroad in China. I am an international student myself and leaving home is always challenging and choosing your destination is even a harder decision to make – Am I going to like it there? Am I going to make friends and do well in my classes? There are so many questions and fear of the unknown. Thankfully, my sister who is also studying abroad in China with me has made the transition much smoother. Being on this trip, meeting new people and making friends along the way has solidified my study abroad choice. The TBC staff members are also incredible and have made this trip an unforgettable one. It’s always comforting to have Bill Feng, the trip leader, come up to you with a huge smile and a good morning or his constant request for group pictures in which he smiles while taking the picture. Also, there’s Father Gene who’s always ready to give more insight into the places, the people and the food! Let’s not forget Nick Poche, the Dean of Students, always eager to share his snacks on train rides. I think the people I got to know on this trip made my Silk Road trip experience the most memorable one I had so far. I didn’t want to accept the fact that the trip has ended when we got back to campus because I wanted it to go on but since everything has to come to an end, I mentally prepared myself for the start of classes. It took me a whole day in bed to do so. Who knows how much sleep I’m going to get once exams and papers are due? Might as well catch up with some sleep when I can. The Silk Road Trip has been a very enlightening introduction to my semester in China and it’s all thanks to the amazing TBC staff that made this trip possible.

 

One week ago, I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, fully unpacking my backpack for the first time. It was a surreal experience, but one that had to take place eventually. I had grown to love living out of my pack, even if it meant sometimes (or always) wearing a wrinkled t-shirt or getting frustrated because the way things fit perfectly meant having to dig deep for my contacts. It became my home away from home, and packing it – each time with a little something extra – became a relaxing ritual to help me prepare for the next leg of my journey.

Since unpacking, I have been introduced to a whole slew of new flavors, taken my first ride on a motorbike (I survived!), done my first load of laundry not in the sink, and gotten through syllabus week. I have met 16 other American students, as well as 17 dedicated partners from Open University, where we are studying, and countless students at our dorm, all more than willing to help us settle in, find the best food spots, and get involved.

Even with the tremendous support from our new Vietnamese friends, it has taken me until the last few days to be confident enough to order street food. I generally feel embarrassed when I cannot speak enough of a language to order what I want and have to use English, relying on others to know my language instead of knowing enough of theirs. So far, though, every local I have met has been kind enough to help me understand the menu, practice my pronunciation, or even show me how to eat local dishes. I always struggle, and we often laugh together, but each encounter gives me more confidence to interact and practice what I know. I have promised myself that come December, I will be able to correctly pronounce and order my favorite dishes.

So far, everything has seemed to be going so fast, and yet somehow still slow, but I am enjoying every second of it. Just five days ago I was zipping through traffic on the back of my partner’s motorbike after only a brief “Xin Chao!”, trying to soak in as much of my surroundings as possible while also talking over the noise of traffic. Like every new relationship, especially with my complete lack of Vietnamese language skills and incessant honking from every direction, our conversation started out a little choppy, but before long it felt like we had known each other for years. And, perhaps more exciting than my courses or the amazing view I have of the skyline from my room, in just two days, I will be heading with my partner, Quynh, to her hometown to try some more Vietnamese dishes and do some hiking. Friday cannot come soon enough!

Have you ever cried into a muffin? Because I have.

It’s not that studying abroad isn’t great. It’s great. Returning home is going to happen too fast, too soon, and I can feel it sneaking up on me.

Yet, I cried into a muffin today.

First thing is first, let’s describe this muffin. It is a totally Chilean muffin. Some kind of vanilla-flavored batter, coated in some kind of nut (get used to that, the word for “nut” here is pretty vague), and filled with manjar (read: dulce del leche a.k.a. CARAMEL (but better)).

Anyway, obviously, the routines you know and love at home are impossible abroad and for the majority of the time this is for the better. But today was a whirlwind of things which I missed and therefore I cried into a muffin.

Let me tell you, a muffin is not the best thing to cry into. There are crumbs everywhere, Evidence of my sadness is literally sprawled across my room.

That said, maybe this is a good time to focus on the brighter points of study abroad.

There are a ton of extranjeras! Seriously! And we all hang out together often! (Perhaps too often, because I should practice my Spanish more). And the extranjeras/os come from all sorts of places so not only is there this built-in experience of meeting people from a place you have never been before, but there is the experience of meeting many people from many places you haven’t been before!

Plus, the only reason I cried into a muffin is because my host dad knows I love muffins. Whenever I have a bad day, he shows up at my door with a muffin. How he knew I loved muffins is beyond me but the bottom line is that sadness-in-Chile=MUFFINS.

Anyway, I am sure there will be more muffins to cry my heart into– but that is part of the process and I am just really grateful that I have friends to brag about the flavor of muffin to, and a family to bring the objects-of-bragging directly to my mouth.

It is hard to believe that it is already September and we are already done with our first week of classes. As each day passes, it becomes more and more like home here, as the sights and gates and sounds become more and more a part of who I am. My ability to speak and listen has gotten exponentially better in the short time I’ve been here, and will only continue to grow as I decided to take Chinese class that is 10 hours a week.

Yesterday, some of us decided to take a field trip to the Great Wall of China aka one of the 7 wonders of the world. I’d been there once before when I was younger, but obviously did not remember most of it. Some of us chose to walk to the wall which required walking up a pretty steep mountain via stairs (stairmaster: real life). Ironically, once we reached the top, we were presented with even more stairs as the wall it self travels the path of all the mountains in the area. What is really interesting to me is that the stairs on each wall to get to each tower are not the same size, which was to prevent intruders from being able to attack as easily when they arrived on the wall. The guards of each tower would memorize the pattern of the stairs so they could quickly notify other towers if an intruder were to actually get atop the wall.

After enjoying a wonderful picnic lunch of subway atop the wall, it was time to return to the base. A lot of my friends decided to take a sled comparable to an alpine slide down the mountain, but 2 other people and I decided to stair master it down the mountain to enjoy the sights and sounds. Safe to say, my legs hurt very bad today as I’m writing this. It’s hard to imagine that this wall that is so old is still standing today for tourists like us to walk on and enjoy.

Then, at night, we decided to rally and go to a pub crawl. The amount of international students here is actually amazing, and it’s weird to think that I’m finally a cool international kid. The pub crawl was for the Beijing Ardvarks, which is a rugby team, and went around one of the expat areas of China. We got to go to a rooftop bar for one of them! Despite the fact that I got us lost. In one of those moments where you realize how hard Chinese is to learn, I had the taxi drop us off somewhere, and then we walked the wrong way. Then we decided to get into one of the pedicabs (or cabs on bikes) and he definitely over charged us. To dodge traffic, he drove on the sidewalk, and then dropped us off about 3 blocks in the wrong direction. After walking for 15 more minutes, we finally made it to the first bar. Interesting experience for one of my first nights out in China, and I may or not have been convinced to join the rugby team, but hey, when in China.

I’ll save the day in the life blog for another post, as I’m still trying to figure out exactly what classes I want to take and I’m still trying to find my day to day routine. Trust me though, the difference of life here in all aspects from food, to mannerisms, to working out are some that are worth mentioning.

— Finally got my American number working, so I actually can text now. Technology baffles me, and I feel like I’m growing so old. Anyways, I love to hear from people so stay in touch! If anyone is actually reading this 🙂

Until next time.

Is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

A group of women standing behind me recited these words as they prayed the rosary. At 6:45 a.m., they were just a few of the hundreds of thousands gathered to celebrate the canonization of Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

These words caught my attention as I stood outside St. Peter’s Square. Each time they came back to that part, I recited it silently to myself:

As it was in the beginning

is now and ever shall be 

world without end.

Or, to put it simply, eternity. I find this an appropriate word to sum up the beginning of my study abroad experience in Rome, the Eternal City.

This place is truly magical. Each winding street has a surprise around the corner—a lively piazza, a flowing fountain, the Pantheon (you should have seen my face when THAT appeared out of nowhere), or a welcoming gelateria. The city is a maze, but that’s okay. Time and place don’t matter when you’re wandering around lost in the moment.

Then, there is the Colosseum. Despite being centuries old and surrounded by apartments and a metro station, this structure isn’t going anywhere. Even the Roman Forum, most of which is gone, is still eternalized in the soil.

And then I was given the opportunity to experience an everlasting moment. As I watched Pope Francis officially canonize Mother Teresa, I experienced the beginning of her eternal sainthood. It was beautiful and moving. For a moment, the Vatican was frozen in time.

Before the canonization began, we prayed the rosary as a congregation. This time, I listened to the prayer in Italian.

Come era nel principio, ora e sempre nei secoli dei secoli.

As I reflect back on my first days in Rome, I pray the rest of this experience is just as eternal.