During my recent mid-semester break from school I did a lot of traveling. I started traveling to a few cities in England with my friend Heather. My favorite place was Bath. It was exactly what you think of when you think English countryside. Also that night I ate one of the best dinners of my life. Next it was off to Italy by myself. I spent 3 days in Cinque Terre alone. I did enjoy traveling alone when I didn’t have to wait for anyone to get ready in the morning, but I found eating in restaurants rather sad.

I spent the last half relaxing at a family members home in Tuscany. During these days I really started noticing the different in American and European lifestyles. I think Italians have it right; they eat good food, spend a lot of time with family and generally it is a slower pace of life. They slow down to smell the roses. Being a student, always having what’s coming up on my mind, I really enjoyed having this time to think about what lifestyle I want when I get out of school. I liked in Italy that meals were long. You are supposed to enjoy the food and the company. There are many courses, but they are small and in between you have conversation. It’s hard to picture my future after school because it is so up in the air right now. Being abroad has really challenged my thinking about growing up. It is nice to take a step back and have time to myself to reflect upon these things. When traveling it’s fun to try to get to know a place and ask yourself if you could live there.

Whatever ends up in my future, I hope I enjoy it as much as I am enjoying being abroad. However, this morning I started to miss home more than I have since I’ve been here. Living far away permanently would be hard, but it may be the adventure of a lifetime…the search continues.

This past weekend we treated ourselves to a nice little post-midterms vacation … to Shanghai. (I’m really digging the one academic break a month life, though this was the last one so that’s kind of sad). Shanghai is such an international city that compared to Beijing, it felt like we weren’t in China at all. Walking down all the roads and seeing the tall skyscrapers all lit up and streets surrounded by modern buildings, the only thing that reminded me that I was in China was the food and the signs themselves.

Highlights of our trip included spending the day at the Shanghai Zoo, viewing the famous skyline during both night and day, going to the top of the 2^nd tallest building in the world, and sleeping in an actual bed with a shower with actual hot water. Non-highlights include sitting on the highspeed bullet train for 5 hours smashed next to a sick girl one way and a man polishing his nails for 30+ minutes the other.

I hadn’t been to a zoo in such a long time, that it was fun to be a kid again. Additionally, the Shanghai Zoo boasts species that are super endangered and specific to Southeast Asia. Some of the animals we were able to see won’t be in existence in the next 10-12 years. What I found funny was the lack of regulations there were at the zoo. All the animal cages especially the pits where they housed mammals, we could get right up to … there was no real gate. Despite the signs saying don’t feed the animals, people at these zoos still fed the animals whatever they wanted. Below is a picture of someone literally pouring the Chinese equivalent of Gatorade into this bears mouth. Please note how close we were to the bear.

While Halloween in Shanghai was pretty anticlimactic, the views from the rooftop we went to celebrate it made up for it. It’s funny how Halloween is a holiday that is only celebrated by foreigners in China, so finding a costume is pretty hard. And I miss the whole American candy part of it as well.

We also visited Shanghai Towers which just recently opened up and is the second highest building in the world. It takes 55 seconds to climb around 118 floors which is just ridiculously fast. We went on a pretty clear day so they view was astounding. I live my life whether it be in Chicago, or Kansas City, or I guess Shanghai now taking pictures of different views of each city, but I have to say this 360 degree walk around building had to be one of the neatest.

Some other fun facts:

• Food wise the best food I ate was at a street cart where this lady would whip up noodles or rice.
• Since they want to keep the skyline in tact, really the only ways to cross the river are via a 2 kuai ferry ride or the subway. BUT they also have a sightseeing tunnel. Originally it was supposed to be built as a glass walkway, but then the developers discovered that the muddy water wasn’t anything special and that there were roller coaster car things in Europe, so now you can take this ride under the water through a tunnel that is filled with lighting and sound effects. It’s one of those things that you walk out of being like that was so weird it was cool.

Besides that, we had a nice more western vacation. But now it’s back to below freezing temperatures. So exciting.

Until next time … peace

 

I know I’m starting to sound like a broken record, but seriously, every place I visit is better than the last.

This weekend, it was in Barcelona, Spain where me and a few friends did some real adventuring. I have probably mentioned this before, but traveling in Europe is SO ridiculously cheap, and it seemed like there was a catch when our flight to Spain was only 80 euros round trip (we booked it a week before). Within just a couple hours of arriving to Barca and exploring the sights, two of my friends had their phones pick pocketed out of their purses on the metro. At first there was panic, then it was “ok, let’s figure this out,” and then we all collectively agreed we would still have amazing weekend, phones or no phones. We were, after all, in BARCELONA. These are moments where I’ve learned that it really does matter who you travel with. To quote my friend who got her phone stolen,

“If you’re with positive, wonderful human beings, the worst situations turn out to be the most epic adventures.”

I know what you’re thinking. Is it even possible to fall in love with a city in three days? The answer is yes, DUH, and I wrote a list explaining how. So listen up, here it is.

How to Take Barcelona in 3 Days:

1. Embrace being a tourist. We started off our weekend by seeing one of the most touristy spots in the city: The Sagrada Familia. This basilica is way bigger than you think or see in pictures, trust me. It was still under construction, but still incredible. A couple other places worth visiting are Park Guell, and La Rambla. I don’t see anything wrong with visiting the sights that many people do. From my experience, the crowds and waiting in line is totally worth it.

2. Utilize the train. It is surprisingly easy to navigate, unlike most train systems of cities I’ve visited. There are metro stops leading to all of the famous parks and monuments. It saved us a ton of money in the end; it was fairly safe to take at night, too. Only negative is watching out for pick pocketing, as I mentioned before. R.I.P. to the phones of Alex B and Alex K.

3. Go out at night. I was told before going to Barcelona, “You just have to go to Opium!” (It’s a famous club located on the beach). It was fun, but I had a better time at Dow Jones, one of the many local bars. It’s decorated inside to look like Wall Street in NYC, and the drink prices are shown on TV screens all over the bar. When the stock market “crashes” the bar gets crazy and all of the prices go down! It was as fun as it sounds.

4. Shop. Here’s where I personally fell in love with this place. La Rambla, which is a famous shopping street located in the city center, has multiple smaller streets off of it with local stores. The one we found ourselves on was all vintage and tatoo shops, bike rentals, and graffiti-covered buildings.  I think I need to live on that street someday.

5. Eat tapas. Tapas are basically Spain’s version of aperitivo, where they serve small food portions of Spanish dishes with drinks. The best part: the cheap prices. Sangria and patatas bravas (spicy potatoes) pair nicely together!!

6. Wander. Lastly, My advice for any and every city, always. This weekend, I was having the best time when were completely lost together, wandering into random shops, restaurants, parks, and bars. These are the stories I know I will still remember years from now.

In conversation, I am constantly asking the people I meet abroad to name three places they’ve traveled: the most beautiful, the most fun, and the one they could see themselves actually living in. This question usually comes to mind when I return to Rome after a weekend of traveling. The answers are always changing for me, ever since stepping foot in Europe. I add more and more cities to the list and interchange them out for one another. But they are starting to become complicated in my mind. Each city is so wonderfully different than the last.

I was positive I wouldn’t see a place more beautiful than Switzerland. Then, Greece was different than anywhere I had ever imagined. The Amalfi Coast and Capri were undeniably stunning. Now, it’s Barcelona that has made its way onto my list somewhere.

I don’t know how I’ll ever decide. I just know I’m a lucky girl.

It’s been a little over a week since we returned from our last long excursion to the wonderful Kingdom of Cambodia. To put it lightly, I fell in love with Cambodia and was sad to leave. Since we returned to Saigon, we’ve been pushed back into the swing of school again. With only 4 weeks left in the program, it’s crunch time.

I’ve been a very avid student throughout most of my undergraduate degree: I do my homework, start research papers early and hate missing class. I didn’t know if senioritis was a real thing for college students until this semester. With the last four weeks of my BA upon me, it is bad to say, but I feel like I have sort of checked out prematurely. Real life, adulthood (although to we ever really feel like adults?) and all that doom and excitement await me on December 8th – the long-awaited last day of class ever. Wrapped up in these strange, adult things like graduate school applications and job searching, Emily and I were given the ability to be children again this morning and it was magnificent.

After a quick walk along the obstacle course that is Saigon’s streets and sidewalks, we arrived at the bus stop just in time to catch number 14. In true Vietnamese fashion, we hopped on the bus while it was still slowly moving forward, found two empty seats towards the front of the bus and paid the bus monitor 2,000 dong (9 cents) for the ride. In front of our row sat a young girl, probably around three years old, her mother and another woman. The girl was immediately very playful with us and started right in with a lot of smiling and giggling. After sharing some waffles and playing a few rounds of peek-a-boo over the seat  with us, she stood up on the seat, her arms resting on the top of it and began making strange hand motions.

It took us some time to realize what was happening but soon the motions looked very familiar – she was playing food cart. The back of the seat became her food cart and Emily and I her customers. She would gather imaginary ingredients (her cart must have quite the variety), put them all together and then hand them to us. In the spirit of childlike imagination, Emily and I played along, taking her food, holding it up to our mouths and making ‘nom nom nom’ sounds as we nibbled on it. She was thrilled and so we continued like this for a while longer. Before we arrived at our bus stop, Emily pointed out how cool it was to be part of a Vietnamese child’s imagination. In the U.S, children would have been playing house or drive-through. This little girl’s game of choice was food cart.

Study abroad is wonderful because of the grand adventure it is, but in reality, it is these little moments that make the experience complete. It is the little girl and her food cart and all the other little things that I will remember the most in years to come. Someday it will be watching my own children play imaginary games that will cause me to remember the four months I spent living in Vietnam and that one time on the number 14 bus that I ate the best imaginary food of my life, prepared with all the love and care in the world by Vietnam’s best imaginary food vendor.

 

“Fai una foto?”-  You take a photo?

It was a Friday afternoon, and I had been journaling along Passeggiata del Gianicolo. It was a beautiful day, and I had found the most perfect view of the Vatican to inspire the day’s journal entries. Interrupted mid-sentence, I looked up at the older, Italian man who had spoken to me. He was holding out his phone.

“Conosci parlare italiano?” – You know how to speak Italian?

I smiled, and responded, “Sì, un po’.” – Yes, a little.

“Ah, un po’.” He noticed I was journaling, and said, “Scusa!” – Excuse me!

I smiled again and got up to take his picture in front of the Vatican.

“Bene?” – Good? – I asked.

He took his phone.

“Conosci italiano?” he asked again.

“Sì, un po’.”

“Scusa, grazie.” – Thank you.

“Prego.” – You’re welcome.

I sat down and picked up my journal, but he kept talking.

“Dei dove sei?” – Where are you from?

“Stati Uniti…a Chicago.”

“Ah, America.”

“Sì.”

We both smiled and I continued to journal. When I finished about ten minutes later, he was still there.

“Scrivi in italiano o inglese?” – You write in Italian or English? 

I laughed, and told him I was writing in English.

“Studi italiano? – You study Italian?

“Sì, studio in Balduina, at Loyola.”

I started to pick up that he was impressed by my little knowledge of the Italian language when he asked, once again:

“Parli italiano?”

“Si, un po’. I miei amici e i mie insegnante parlano inglese.” – My friends and my professors speak English. 

“Leggi italiano?” – Do you read Italian?

I responded yes. He told me it was important that I knew how to speak and read in Italian.

He asked, “Che cosa tua nome?” – What is your name? 

“Mary Beth…Mary. Maria”

 

I’ve found it’s easier to just say Mary, or Maria, if they can’t understand me. Then I asked his name. His name was Franco. We shook hands. By this point I had stood up. I was anxious to practice my Italian outside the classroom.

“Uh, come si dice, ‘nice to meet you?’ I forgot, um, oh! Piacere!”

He laughed. Then he said something about how I don’t speak Italian at school, but I could in Rome. He asked me when I had classes.

I started, “Dalle lunedì–” and he cuts me off, laughing. He prompts me to continue listing the days of the week in Italian, so I do.

“…lunedì, martedì, mercoledì, giovedì.” – Monday thru Thursday.

“Finito? No venerdì, sabato, o domenica?” – Finished? No Friday, Saturday, or Sunday?

“Sì.”

He asked me when I was leaving Rome. I got excited because I was using phrases I learned in class.

“Sono arrivata in agosto e torno in dicembre.” – I arrived in August and I return in December.

My Italian professor would be so proud.

He jokingly said something about how in December “andiamo,” or we go, back to this spot and he can see if my Italian has improved.

“Ho lavorato ma…” – I worked, but…he said, then pointed to his head and said a word I did not recognize. He said he had an Italian/English dictionary in his car and went to get it. He then pointed at a word that translated to remember and I concluded he had a poor memory.

Then I figured I better continue on with my day.

“Ho bisogno andare.” – I need to go.

“Ah, sì.”

I thanked him for letting me practice my Italian. Then, like a true Italian, he pulled me in for a kiss on either cheek, and said:

“È importante, sì.” – Is important, yes.

And that was my first, real Italian conversation. Despite stumbling on my words and not always being grammatically correct, I was able to communicate with him.

These are the moments that make study abroad so extraordinary.

Trump won last night. I am angry. I am sad. I truly did not believe he would win. I woke up to the news I feared and never thought would happen. Trump has done little except incite violence and foster hate towards so many groups of people.

I was looking forward to helping vote our first women president into office. I was looking forward to progress. Clinton was experienced, she has seen what the job of president entails, I think Trump will be in for a great shock when he realizes the hard work the president must do.

I understand that Trump won. I recognize that I am a white female and Trump’s presidency will likely not change my life that much.  However, he has continually put down others, fear monger and spread hate.  He will negatively affect so many lives and I am sad for our country today.  All I hope is that he will not follow through on everything he has said throughout his campaign. Lets hope that Trump can become a composed and level-headed leader. BUT one reality is that now many bigot and ignorant people feel empowered to spread their hate. We do need to unite as one people, I hope Trump can be the man do that but I am not convinced. Even his acceptance speech was rambling and I thought not well done at all.  As a leader of a country the least you could do is talk to your people with poise.

For now, I need time to be angry.  Soon, I will have to return home and face the reality of him becoming president.  But for now I reserve the right to be angry and confused. Patriotism is stupid. It is. Americans need to stop believing they are the best because of where they come from. We are all people living in the same world and trying to get along. Why are you “better” than anyone else? America needs a reality check and this might be it…

I hope as the younger generation we have realized the importance of politics in our lives. We all need to actively participate for democracy to work.

For now, anger and sadness.

Who knew that one of my favorite people here at TBC would be so similar to me in so many ways! Coming to TBC you have the option to live with a Chinese roommate, I chose not to have one because I had already previously lived with a roommate and figured that I would be fine if I was assigned to another international student. That was not the case. I ended up living by myself in one of the apartment dorms available on campus. My first week was so hectic and so scary because I had no idea what I was doing or who I could ask for help!

The Beijing Center Staff do their best to make the best environment for students to study abroad here at UIBE and they accommodate us for just about anything that we need. This included the TBC lounge: The place of gathering for many TBC goers. This is how I met Jimmy, and he has changed my entire experience here in Beijing.

If I recall correctly, I walked into the lounge one night and hear the very familiar sounds of Sam and Dean battling demons, ghosts, and other supernatural creatures on the television. I walk over to the couch to see Jimmy sitting there in his minion onsie, sprawled over the entire seat, and drinking the Chinese version of Arnold Palmer half and half. One look and I could tell that we would be friends. We stayed sitting and laughing on the couch arguing about who was the better brother between Sam or Dean, until morning.

10 seasons later into the series Jimmy had become, not just mine, but also everyone else’s go to man when it came to any help being needed. He is always always there for you no matter what, and all of the TBC students love him for that. I remember the one time it was “my time of the month” and I was stuck in bed, he came to my room and gave me candies and our favorite drink   and told me not be sad or sick so that we could go get spicy hot pot later in the week. He will do anything to help anyone and is such a sweet guy. If it is money, a recommendation, a plus one, ANYTHING- Jimmy will be there and even dress his best for the occasion.

Sometimes it is frustrating to live in a completely different country and coming from such a privileged one like the US, it could make our perspective on the world different. A lot of times when I have a hard day at work and I am upset over a cultural barrier I call Jimmy and he takes me out to eat to talk about it. He is such a good resource to speak to because he understands enough of where I may be coming from in a certain situation, but then explains to me why, over here the thought process is another way. Getting his perspective on ideas have opened up my eyes and relieved the frustration. I am forever grateful for him.

Routinely, Jimmy and I like to take walks to the 7/11 across the street from campus for our “green tea” talks. We have very different schedules so this is our time to talk about our days and go through highs and lows. It is our unspoken stress reliever. We also like to make it a point to try a new place to eat at on his secret list of the best of the best joints! I have never eaten so much than I have with this man!!

In conclusion, Jimmy is the pickachu of the Chinese roommates. Everyone loves him and he is what brings people together. If you ever see him on campus, you will know right away who he is. Constantly surrounded by people, holding a togo order of dumplings, and in his comfortable blue slippers. It is a shame that no other future TBC students will get to meet him as he is graduating this year.

 

Again, TBC staff has given us an amazing opportunity to gain cultural awareness through weekend activities. For this opportunity I was able to attend my first ever cooking class at a place called The Hutong. The cutest little gem inside the huge maze of old Beijing. I went with Sebastian, a fellow TBC student to make a special soup dumpling that is popular to eat in southern China.

As soon as Sebastian and I arrived we were warmly greeted into their kitchen with tea and snacks. Classes are small, ours only had 5 people, but this helped so that our teacher, Yao could pay more attention to our wrapping technique.

On of the great attributes to the Hutong center is their location. A bit difficult to find coming from the subway stop, but not far at all. A two story hutong that overlooks the vast jungle of other stone houses and structures. Quaint and relaxing, just what you need on a Sunday morning.

We exchanged stories about our Chinese proficiency and knowledge of cooking all in just a few hours. The Xiao Long Baos were so easy to make! The only thing was that they were time consuming. There is a lot of prep work to make all of the ingredients for these little bundles of juicy dumplings. Most of the prep work was done by our Ayi, and they even gave us a cute little packet on how to make them at home! The most difficult part if wrapping the dumplings. I had an easier time to wrap them considering I had smaller hands, as compared to Sebastian. All in all it was a great experience and they tasted delicious!!

Here is some of the process:

The photo you see on the top was taken during the very beginning of our tenure at TBC. Everyone from our group came from different backgrounds, upbringings, and lifestyles. I am happy to say that I have established at least some sort of relationship with every single person. That brings me to the photo on the bottom. It was taken  at Lina’s birthday party, one of my closest friends, here in China and back in Chicago. It is crazy to think of all of the memories we created from the first to our present pictures here in China.

There has been so much shared between everyone in these photos; laughter, struggles, and so much delivery food. Study abroad friendship is so much more than just your average one. Yes, it is temporary and everyone goes home eventually, but what you take away from that limited time will be with you for the rest of your life.

I feel like TBC is unique in a way because China is not just any place to study abroad. It is CHINA. It is a completely different lifestyle, outlook, and perspective than what we know and are comfortable with. Taking on China, with our very diverse group makes the bonds between us all so much stronger. Learning, exploring, and adventuring with each other has brought everyone so close together.

Lina’s birthday particularly was a memorable night for me. Lina is an international student who is studying at LUC. Her and her sister are from a tiny island close to Madagascar called Mauritius. I met her my freshman year and have since been trying to do as many “firsts” for her as possible! This night was her first surprise party. Our party planning group consisted of fellow babies Members: Moni, Yessi, Tessie baby, baby Jo, and Isabel. This was Lina’s 21st so we wanted to do something super special for her. We planned rushingly within a week to get all of the decorations, the venue, and the cake ready for her party. The best part about the entire night was that so many people came out to help us celebrate this night for Lina.

The night of, the babies and I were running around in panic getting last minute things ready. The TBC students and Chinese roommates gathered at the restaurant early with us and waited for Lina’s arrival. We screamed her name, popped confetti, and surprised her so much that she had tears in her eyes by the time she understood what was happening. It is great that you can get such a huge group together to spend a fun night celebrating our happy times in China.

I could not have asked for a more fun group to study abroad with other than TBC 2016.