The GoGlobal Blog

Tag: Orientation

Is this real?

Is this real?

Studying abroad in Spain has been a dream of mine since I began studying Spanish and it is nearly impossible to wrap my mind around the fact that I am here, and that this is really happening.

‘The week leading up to my flight, I was incredibly nervous. I began to do what I do best: make lists. I made multiple comprehensive packing lists, detailing what I would be bringing and how it would be packed. The night before my flight, I sat in my roommate’s bed and cried, feeling overwhelmed and underprepared for this journey in front of me. Even in the moment I said goodbye to my dad in the airport, Spain was still just an idea rather than reality. I have been dreaming of this semester for so long, and it is finally happening, but it still doesn’t feel real.

I have been in Madrid for three days now, and it feels like a dream. The first day I was here, I spent the morning and early afternoon aimlessly exploring the city with a new friend, Emma, simply taking in the sights of the city. We ended this excursion with a pitcher of sangria and a large plate of paella, a delicious Spanish rice dish (we learned from our director later that night that only the Americans order sangria, oops!).

     Here we are, as we explore the city!

Visiting el museo del Prado was an incredible experience. I have been passionate about Spanish art since studying it in high school, and today I was able to see the obras maestras of Velázquez and Francisco de Goya– something I had been dreaming of. Las meninas by Velázquez literally took my breath away when I saw it. I was in awe– the painting was more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. The same thing happened when I saw el tres de mayo by Goya, pictures of the painting will never do it justice.

For lunch yesterday, I had the best tacos of my life. I know that tacos are definitely not Spanish food, but a friend told me that I needed to eat at Takos al Pastor, so Alyssa (another new friend!) and I went after the trip to the Prado. Those tacos honestly ruined all other tacos for me and I’m not even mad about it. For dessert, Alyssa and I went to a cute pastelería and got sweets: mine was called a pepito de crema!

     

Today brought about new adventures: an excursion to Toledo (a city south of Madrid in the region Castilla la Mancha), lunch at the local market, and a visit to the Reina Sofía which is home to my favorite painting. Toledo was stunning– we were taught about the history of the city, while exploring the cathedrals, synagogues, and the streets. During our free time, Alyssa and I stumbled upon gorgeous views overlooking the countryside. When we got back to the hotel we went to the market near the Plaza Mayor for lunch! We both had paella and I got a tapa with mozzarella cheese, jamón serrano, and jam on bread (can you tell that I am loving the food here?).

 

Visiting the Reina Sofía museum has been the highlight of my time in Spain so far. As I said earlier, I love Spanish art, and the Reina Sofía holds many paintings of Picasso, Dalí, and Miró. For years, I have been looking forward to seeing Guernica, Pablo Picasso’s obra maestra. This is one of my favorite paintings, and I don’t even have words to describe how it felt to finally see it in person. No picture can truly capture how large the painting is– I stood in front of it for 20 minutes just taking it all in.

It’s only been two days, and I don’t think the culture shock has hit me yet, but I also don’t know what to expect that to feel like! Tomorrow we will be going to Salamanca which will be my home until June, and I am very ready to be settled in. My nervousness from a few days ago has melted away, and I have a renewed excitement for the rest of this semester.

 

Previously aired in the last post…

Previously aired in the last post…

Attempting to beat the picture system.  let’s have a go at it, shall we?

This morning, we had to take care of our own breakfast, and when i went into the school cafe to pick up a pastry, i saw this bao that looked like it was filled with pandan paste.  Highly suspicious that pandan had not made it to china, i asked the cafe lady, and she said it was some kind of bean.  wang dou?  i dunno exactly…as i was inquiring, someone else in the cafe said, without looking, mind you, that it was red bean.

but it was green….and then we both agreed we had no idea what it was.  i ate it anyways.

We then had a guest lecturer give us a brief overview of modern chinese history, which was fascinating and…disturbing.  Disturbing only in the sense that some of the events elicited either an angry emotional response or an extremely sad emotional response.  But i suppose that just means that i still have a heart…even though i’ve sworn several times that it doesn’t exist.  After the hour and a half lecture, we took a bus to the center of beijing to visit tian’anmen square and the forbidden city.

for 4.5 hours.  it was hot.  and smoggy.  but so cool.  Beijing is an interesting mix of new and modern buildings and ancient structures left from the qing dynasty.  It’s also teeming with differnt types of tourists from all different nations. I’m attempting to, again, attach media, but for some reason i can’t attack anything larger than 1 mb….which is a rather small size for a file.  I dunno how the first one loaded…’cause it’s definintely bigger than 1 mb.  Perhaps only one photo per post.  So i’ve split up the posts to see if i can show you all a picture of the forbidden city.

LOOK AT MAO'S 难看 face!!!!! apparently he fired his barber and had him beheaded...

apparently, 1 mb is still a restriction.  i don’t understand at all.  how do you make a picture file smaller?  apologies for the lack of pictures, but i’ll figure something out soon.  and i’ve made it to my goal of staying awake until nine before i let myself to to sleep.  tomorrow we have another day filled with exploring and such.  yay for spending lots of time in the sun!  and smog.  it’s all one happy experience!

more pictures!

for the fallen soldiers

There were two lions outside of the inner court, but it seems like my internet is once again being a butt and not letting me upload the other daddy lion….let’s see…..

it looks she's squishing the kid...

hm….nope, no luck.  perhaps a different time i’ll try and share the pictures of beijing from the top of the manmade hill on the north side of the forbidden city.  it’s there to block all the wind coming from siberia/russia area.  feng shui stuff.  this morning (it is now the morning of the 14th) we’re going to the science museum and the olympic park.

maybe i can snag something/touch something that michael phelps did too…..*drools*

地二天–我的讲话不当多好

地二天–我的讲话不当多好

so…the flight took a long time.  we were supposed to land in beijing at about 3pm, but due to thunderstorms, we ended up getting diverted to a smaller city west of beijing, taiyuan.  Most of us on the plane didn’t even realize we had been diverted until the captain decided to announce as we hit the ground, “Hello ladies and gentlemen, as you may have noticed, we are not in beijing…”

we can go to thousands of airports...but not yours

cue the collective gasp of surprise.

expression of disgust at the delay

We were only supposed to be in taiyuan for perhaps an hour, but we ended up waiting about four/five hours before we could refuel and get clearance to go to beijing, which took about another hour.   My thirteen hour flight turned into about a 20 hour flight, but in the end, i arrived, so i guess that’s really all that matters.  The people on the plane were really nice for the most part, but i guess everyone kind of bands together when they’re stuck without any option of aborting a shared enclosed space.  and when we have a common complaint.

I got in to UIBE, where the beijing center is located, at around 11:30, and got into my room at about 12 midnight.  I had an unfortunate experience of having to call my room to wake up my roommate so i could get in….i felt so bad!  but she was really nice, and we’re really getting along swimmingly.  right now we’re sitting in a cafe across from the western gate of our school that has internet.  i tried getting internet at school…but was thwarted, sadly.

Our ChinaGreen group has 9 people in it, and even though i was worried at first about the small size, it has served to actually allow for more interaction as opposed to irritation.  but i’m sure we’ll all get on each others’ nerves at some point in time…

The first day of orientation was good–we had some info sessions from the program director and such, and then we had some host students kind of help us get around and get situated…buy simcards, random groceries…stuff like that.  The names of the students were miracle and gina.  i really don’t understand how chinese people choose english names, but it always serves to be entertaining.  I’m sure they think the same thing of those of us who choose chinese names.  But, the best part of yesterday…?  definitely the nap.  i was going to check out the gym, but…i woke up later than i had planned, and then just threw out all plans of running and slept some more before our dinner appointment, which was at 6:30pm.

There was a culture show, and i’d love to attach a movie/video of the show, but the connection i’m on now does not really permit it.  I promise to put one up when i’m at better location for it.  As it is, getting pictures uploaded is proving to be a little difficult.

We went out to a bar to get a drink to beat jetlag at night, and then came home and passed out from exhaustion.  yay for zzzzzz’s!

This morning, we had to take care of our own breakfast, and when i went into the school cafe to pick up a pastry, i saw this bao that looked like it was filled with pandan paste.  Highly suspicious that pandan had not made it to china, i asked the cafe lady, and she said it was some kind of bean.  wang dou?  i dunno exactly…as i was inquiring, someone else in the cafe said, without looking, mind you, that it was red bean.

but it was green….and then we both agreed we had no idea what it was.  i ate it anyways.

We then had a guest lecturer give us a brief overview of modern chinese history, which was fascinating and…disturbing.  Disturbing only in the sense that some of the events elicited either an angry emotional response or an extremely sad emotional response.  But i suppose that just means that i still have a heart…even though i’ve sworn several times that it doesn’t exist.  After the hour and a half lecture, we took a bus to the center of beijing to visit tian’anmen square and the forbidden city.

for 4.5 hours.  it was hot.  and smoggy.  but so cool.  Beijing is an interesting mix of new and modern buildings and ancient structures left from the qing dynasty.  It’s also teeming with differnt types of tourists from all different nations. I’m attempting to, again, attach media, but for some reason i can’t attack anything larger than 1 mb….which is a rather small size for a file.  I dunno how the first one loaded…’cause it’s definintely bigger than 1 mb.  Perhaps only one photo per post.