I hope everyone is having a very merry Christmas!!Christmas is not the same without my friends and family from home but my friends here have made it both very special and memorable! I will post pictures soon!
Sorry it has been so long since my last post but life got crazy. Break starts in less than a week so I will be updating you about my last few months (and my new winter break adventures) very soon!!
Yesterday, October 1st was Chinese National Day. The People’s Republic of China was founded on October 1st 1949 and later that year the government declared October 1st to be the National Day.
A picture of the special display for National Day we saw in Tiananmen Square.
I celebrated National by enjoying a delicious feast cooked by three of my wonderful Chinese friends at my apartment.
The delicious meal the ladies cooked!
National Day marks the beginning of the National Day Golden Week across China. Golden week is a seven day long vacation. Traveling and shopping are two very popular ways for the Chinese to celebrate Golden Week. Since we have the week off from classes and teaching Maggie and I decided that we would do the traveling thing and go to South Korea for Golden Week. We will be leaving Wednesday morning from the local airport and will be flying into Seoul, South Korea! I am so excited!! I can’t wait to tell you all about our trip!
Thursday, September 22nd and Friday, September 23rd Beihua University students did not have classes because of campus wide Sports Days. I wish I could tell you more about Sports Day but I am unsure myself since I did not attend the big event. When we found out we would have two days off Maggie and I decided to go down to Beijing for the weekend to celebrate her birthday that Friday. I was also excited about not having classes on Thursday because that meant I would be home and could watch the Campus Ministries’ Coffee House on live stream. I connected to the live stream Thursday morning but the connection was really poor because of the internet speed over here, but from what I could see and what I heard from others it went really well! YAY Iona Campus Ministries!! Thursday afternoon I went over to the convent and taught for the afternoon and then I got ready for our trip!
I went to Beijing with two of my American Maryknoll Volunteers, Tim and Maggie. We took an overnight train to Beijing, so we left Jilin Station at 9:45pm and we arrived in the Beijing Station at about 9:40am. Overnight trains here are sleeper cars so each car is filled with three tier beds and there are a few fold down seats for those who do not want to stay in their beds for the whole trip (the middle and top bunks are a wee bit cramped but the fold down seats didn’t look too comfortable).
A photo of a Chinese sleeper car. The bottom bunk is hard to see in this picture but you can see the middle bunk and the top bunk.
This was my first experience with sleeper cars and let me tell you it was hilarious. First off, we weren’t sure if we had an assigned bed because we couldn’t read the ticket, so we went with nah just pick a bed. Tim had a ticket for a bottom bunk and Maggie and I both had bought tickets for the top bunks so we picked an empty group of beds and decided to get comfy. In order to get comfy though we had to get up to the top beds which was a serious challenge (and extremely entertaining for everyone else). Once I got settled in my bed I said I was glad I wouldn’t have to come down until we were in Beijing but I spoke too soon!
Maggie chillin on the luggage rack on our climb up to the third bunk.
I used my mad monkey skills to get up here and I was ready to be there for the night!
A few guys were giving Tim the stare down for a few minutes and finally we got the hint that nope we were wrong, there are assigned beds. So down we came to repeat the whole ordeal of climbing up to our beds a second time. Shorty after we got settled the train took off and we were on our way to Beijing! I used my Kindle until they turned off the lights and then I decided it was time to get some rest since we would have a busy few days in Beijing. I slept surprisingly well and woke up with only about 1 ½ to 2 hours left of our trip.
Train ride picture!
When I got off the train I looked around on the platform and it seemed pretty empty considering we were in Beijing but as soon as we walked towards the exit and entered the corridor to leave the station it got super busy and crazy. I have never seen so many people in one place moving about…that was my first taste of the Beijing I had been expecting. We left the train station and found the subway station that would take us two stops to our Hostel. The subways in Beijing are amazing! They are really clean, they smell fresh, and they are clearly labeled!
Beijing subway station!
We got off at the Qianmen Stop and I just had to snap some pictures. I didn’t realize until later that I was actually looking at the far end of Tiananmen Square. We stayed at the Qianmen Hostel and we really lucked out! The building itself was really neat because they had preserved it in its original form. There were two different inner courtyards (our room looked out into one) and one of the walls in our room was an original with glass over it so the place had a really nice feel to it. We were also about a five minute walk from the subway station and Tiananmen Square and a ten/fifteen minute walk from Forbidden City.
A photo of the larger inner courtyard in our hostel.
Our room in the hostel. The wall on the left side is the original wall with engravings and drawings protected by glass.
Our room overlooked this smaller inner courtyard.
Friday after exploring one of the Hutongs (old alleyway neighborhoods in Beijing) near our hostel and having lunch it was time to head to the Great Wall. We decided to go to the Badaling section mainly because there was a bus that would take us there, and it is also the most visited section of the Great Wall so we figured it would be good! The bus ride took about an hour and a half but the ride was well worth it!! With about 20 minutes left of the ride we started to see sections of the Great Wall here and there. It was such a tease…I felt like a five year old on Christmas morning looking at all the gifts but not being able to open them yet. Finally we arrived at Badaling and it was time to walk on the Great Wall of China!! Tim, Maggie, and I had a lot of fun and took tons of pictures. We went on a Friday there weren’t too many people on the wall so we were able to really enjoy it without huge crowds!
The Great Wall of China at Badaling!
Standing on the Great Wall of China!
Maggie, Tim, and I loving the Great Wall!!
I can't believe I was actually on the Great Wall!
Another section of the Great Wall!
haha got to love Mao, " He who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a true man."
Friday evening we went out to eat at a really awesome Mexican restaurant that Maggie suggested. We were all psyched because we had CHEESE for the first time since Hong Kong!! Cheese is proabaly my favorite food but there is a serious lack of it here! You can’t really find decent cheese where I live and no restaurants serve it so it was such a nice treat. Maggie and I also enjoyed a few tasty margaritas to help celebrate her birthday in style!!
Birthday margaritas at a Mexican restaurant in China?!? YESSSS! Happy Birthday Maggie!!
After dinner Maggie and I went out to meet up with some of her friends who she studied with in Beijing during her semester abroad and are now back in Beijing teaching English. We had a good time and it was great to meet some other English teachers living in China.
We spent Saturday morning at the Summer Palace. I found the Summer Palace to be a little overwhelming because of its size, its beauty, and the details put into each building and structure. It’s crazy to think that such a large estate was for just one man (along with the Emperor’s wife, family, concubines, and servants—but you know what I mean). Not only was it for one man but it was only his summer residence…what a life! I took tons of pictures but the Summer Palace is just one of those places you have to experience because it can’t be properly explained with words or illustrated by photos.
The Summer Palace is beautiful!! It’s hard to believe people lived in such luxury!
One of the many pagodas in the Summer Palace.
The rich colors and beautiful details painted on everything makes the Summer Palace stunning!
Standing in front of the large stone boat in the Summer Palace.
A beautiful traditional Chinese painting. This is a photo of a small portion of a gorgeous pavilion/walkway that must have been over a mile long and paintings like this were along the whole walkway!
After having Dairy Queen Blizzards we headed over to UIBE, University of International Business and Economics, to have lunch with Maggie’s host student and to see where she spent her semester abroad. The University was celebrating its 60th anniversary the following day so there was a lot of activity and the campus looked beautiful. After a late lunch Maggie did some shopping and Tim and I headed back to the hostel and checked out Tiananmen Square and the surrounding area at night. We were not allowed into Tiananmen Square because it was closed by the time we got there but we walked along side it and saw it lit up.
Monument to the People’s Heroes in Tiananmen Square at night!
The Gate of Heavenly Peace looking really pretty all lit up!
We met Maggie and her friend Kevin for Pizza (Western style with sauce and real cheese) at Tube Station. We were served the largest pizza I have ever seen which is ironic since it seems to be extremely hard to find good pizza and yet I see the largest pizza of my life. Luckily Tub Station did not disappoint! The pizza was delicious and the wings were pretty good too.
The biggest pizza I have ever seen...super yummy too!
After our late dinner Maggie and I went out to a night club called Vic’s for round two of her birthday celebrations. We had a lot of fun dancing and met people from all over the world! Vic’s was the place to be on a Saturday night in Beijing!
Sunday morning Tim and I walked around Tiananmen Square and then explored Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square is HUGE! We took lots of pictures but there isn’t much to really do in Tiananmen Square other than walk around, look at the statues, and wait in a super long line to go into Mao’s Mausoleum—it doesn’t seem like a square you go to just to hang out and relax at. It was pretty cool for historical reasons though and I was really glad we walked all around. I think it’s pretty neat that the current Chinese Government rules from the area right across from the old Imperial City where the Emperors used to rule the Chinese Empire.
Standing in front of Mao’s Mausoleum in the middle of Tiananmen Square.
A view of Tiananmen Square looking towards the Monument to the People’s Heroes.
The Monument to the People's Heroes in Tiananmen Square.
The National Flag in Tiananmen Square with the Tiananmen Gate in the background.
After walking around Tiananmen Square we crossed the road and stood in front of the Tiananmen Gate or the “Gate of Heavenly Peace.” This is where Chairman Mao stood in 1949 and declared the birth of the People’s Republic of China. It also marks the entrance to the old Imperial City.
Standing in front of Tiananmen Gate (also known as The Gate of Heavenly Peace).
After crossing under the gate and walking a little further we entered the Forbidden City. A little side note before I tell you about Forbidden City. Chinese Security is very strange—they have x-ray machines and security people before you enter most of the famous touristy spots in Beijing but they always motioned for us (the Americans) to go through without having our belongings checked. I thought this was very strange and it happen on a number of occasions—I guess I look very innocent and harmless. Now back to Forbidden City! I had felt overwhelmed at Summer Palace but I felt even more so at Forbidden City! There are SO many different buildings to see, I could have spent a day there and not seen everything. At the same time walking around and looking at the different buildings seemed repetitive after a while because people are not allowed into the buildings and most of them are pretty empty because the artifacts are now all over the world in different museums. The enormity of the city is amazing and standing there looking out over hundreds of roofs that all belonged to one person was really neat! The Forbidden City is a must see spot in Beijing because of its historical importance and its sheer size but I think I would want to have a guided tour next time so I could learn about each of the buildings along with other interesting facts and information.
The front gate of Forbidden City!
The Hall of Supreme Harmony--the most magnificent in the Forbidden City because it housed the thrown of the Chinese Emperor!
Chillin with an ancient Chinese Lion!
I had an AMAZING and extremely packed weekend in Beijing so as soon as I got on our speed train headed back to Jilin I feel asleep. Our train ride back was about 8 hours and I slept for most of it! I got home and called Dad for his birthday and then headed to bed after our wonderful world wind tour of Beijing!
I have been taking lots of pictures and I share them in albums on my Facebook page. I wanted to share the links for these albums so everyone can view them (whether you have a Facebook account or not). Just click on the link and click on the first picture and then you can look through each picture like a slide show. I try to label each picture so you know what you are looking at!
Enjoy!
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150773938775321.718639.501745320&l=dc1a9cccb3&type=1
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150805897900321.725863.501745320&l=0d33cffa0b&type=1
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150823997785321.729829.501745320&l=1a9cae71c8&type=1
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150828230635321.730844.501745320&l=699cef5870&type=1
I can’t believe it’s Saturday evening already, this week flew by!! Classes and teaching didn’t start until Tuesday because we had Monday off for Mid-Autumn Festival. Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, is the fall harvest festival celebrated around China. It is a time to spend with family and friends and admire the beautiful full moon. One of the Mid-Autumn Festival traditions that I became quite fond of is eating moon cakes. Moon cakes are a delicious dessert item made and sold only during this time of the year. Moon cakes are not super sweet but they are filled with various different nut and fruit flavors and I have become quite fond of them over the past few weeks!
A Moon Cake for the Mid-Autumn Festival
I celebrated Mid-Autumn Festival by hanging out with friends. In the morning three of my new Chinese friends, Wenna, Smile, and Eve came over and prepared a delicious Chinese meal in my kitchen. I personally don’t use my kitchen but they put it to good use.
Eve, Smile, and Wenna!
We had a few vegetable dishes (Yes, I eat vegetables now) and a few meat dishes, and shrimp.
Our lovely meal
I don’t eat seafood at home, especially shrimp and the like, but I said heck…I’m in China so I tried it. I had to work for my food because when you cook in China you prepare the WHOLE animal/creature but I did it!
Me and my shrimp!
We had a really good time making the meal and enjoying it together. I was also practicing writing my Chinese characters and speaking so I had some amazing tutoring.
Monday evening I went out to dinner and walked around the river area with a new friend from Beihua University which was a nice end to a long weekend.
I had Chinese classes Tuesday through Friday. I find it extremely hard but I am learning a lot!! Thursday my Chinese Intensive class was told we would be having a test on all the characters in Chapters 1 through 5 the next day. We were tested on over 80 characters…talk about pressure. I feel I know about 50 really well but that isn’t bad in two weeks. I just keep plugging away it!
Teaching is going well. I love working with Karol and Jerome. I tutor them in English and then they tutor me in Chinese. We have a lot of fun working with each other and I think we are all learning a lot.
Friday Maggie and I bought our train tickets for Beijing! Maggie, Tim, and I will be going down to Beijing Thursday night to celebrate Maggie’s birthday weekend! I’m really looking forward to the Great Wall, Imperial City, Tiananmen Square, and some great shopping.
Maggie and I also bought our plane tickets for South Korea today. The week of October 1st is Golden Week in China and we plan to be in South Korea for about 5 days!!
Friday night I decided to walk down to the river after dinner because I wanted to get some exercise and because the river walk is absolutely gorgeous at night when everything is all lit up! Here are some pictures!!
The river is my new favorite spot!
Today was perfect! This morning we went to a wedding reception for one of Tim’s Chinese friend’s who works as a teacher at Beihua University. The couple had already been married and hosted a reception in the husband’s hometown so this event was for friends and colleagues in the wife’s hometown. Chinese brides used to wear red for their wedding ceremony but they have moved towards wearing white dresses for the actual ceremony like we do in the West (in Chinese culture white symbolizes death so it is customary to wear white to funerals but they are starting to wear white as a purity thing like we do). The bride was wearing a beautiful red dress for today’s ceremony because red is such a special and lucky color in China. We had a feast of over 14 dishes of various foods. I have to admit it was the first time I have had steak, chicken, beef, and noodles for breakfast at 8:30AM. People were also pounding back beer and baijiu (an extremely strong white wine) before 9…solid start to your morning! I tried the baijiu but I couldn’t even do two sips let alone the customary bottoms up.
A wedding photo of the lovely couple.
Later in the day Tim, Alan, Eve, Wenna, another ’09 nursing student, and I went hiking at Zhuqueshan. This was some serious hiking!! After about a mile walk from the bus to the base of the mountain I looked up and said a prayer that I would survive. We had an amazing time. It was definitely hard work and tiring but the views were well worth it. After reaching the very top I had to admit it was more doable than I had expected. I took tons of pictures to try to capture the climb and the beauty but the pictures don’t do it justice!! I wish you could have been there with me! One of my favorite parts of the climb was when we had an option of going up a huge metal staircase or roughing it and of course we decided to rough it…we earned our spot at the top of that mini-peak let me tell you!!
Zhuqueshan Mountain
Wenna and I on the hike.
The view as we hiked.
Finally at the top of the mountain!
So I survived my first week of Chinese classes and teaching English! I always felt so busy at Iona with classes, school work, and campus ministries responsibility, but this week I truly found out what the work busy means. Mondays and Tuesdays I have three classes—Intensive Chinese, listening, and oral Chinese and am in classes for five hours on these days. On Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays I have two classes—Intensive Chinese and oral or reading depending on the day. Wednesday, Thursdays, and Fridays are light because I’m only in classes for a little over three hours. Before I came I expected Chinese to be a struggle and it definitely is very hard to learn. I have to do a lot of studying and practice each night in order to be prepared for the next day’s lesson if I want to really get anything out of the class. The education system over here is extremely intense…I don’t know how Chinese students do it! I can’t really seem to find free time, and I am only taking 4 classes!
I am learning a lot from my classes and my Chinese friends say I am picking up the language very quickly for a foreigner. I love going to Beihua because the building I study in is full of foreigners from all over the world. In my class we have students from nine different countries—U.S. (my friend Maggie from Buffalo is in one of my classes but in my other three I am the loan American), El Salvador, Poland, Kenya, Pakistan, Russia, South Korea, Mongolia and Vietnam. I have become good friends with Rocio who is from El Salvador and a girl named Kim from Vietnam. Most students in my class speak some English so where my Chinese fails me I can talk to most of them in English.
One of the highlights of my week was Thursday morning when I had to take a cab to Beibua by myself because Tim’s first class was cancelled. Tim usually does all the talking but it was sink or swim time. I had a very nice cab driver and he was impressed with my pronunciation. Not only did I tell him where I needed to go but I had a conversation with him in Chinese. It was a basic conversation but a conversation none the less!!
After I finish classes for the day I take the bus over to the Church where I teach English to two of the young nuns at the convent. I am having a blast working with Karol and Hieronymus (these are their English names they already had when I met them). We have a lot of fun together! They will be travling to the U.S. in 2013 so I am helping them practice and improve their English skills. I am really enjoying this teaching opportunity, especially because it is so different than teaching the lil ones I’m used to. Yesterday Karol asked if they could tutor me in Chinese because I am teaching them English and I gladly agreed! So now I have my own personal tutors. We worked on Chinese for over an hour yesterday after the English lesson and I can tell their help is going to be wonderful!
After I finish teaching each day I rush back to the college to have dinner. Starting in a few weeks Tim and I will be having dinner with different ’09 (the year they enter college) nursing students as an informal English class to help them practice oral English. Until then it’s just a time to catch up with the other Maryknoll teachers living near me.
My evenings are full of planning lessons and studying, studying, and more studying. Even thought I am super busy I am enjoying every minute of it!
On Thursday evening we went out to a really nice dinner because one of the priests from Hong Kong was in town. We had 14 different dishes and the food was amazing. I was brave and can now say I’ve added another food to my exotic food list. I tried jellyfish. I found it to be very strange because it was crunchy and kind of slimy. I wouldn’t have it again but it wasn’t horrible.
The jellyfish i tried
Last night (Friday evening) Maggie, Rocio and I went to Bar Code Bar which is the closest thing to a Western Bar in Jilin City. Bar Code is a big hang out for foreigners once it gets late so we made a lot of new friends and danced the night away. The bar part of Bar Code Bar is lacking with very limited drink choices but I go to dance anyways and we were the life of the party.
Bar Code Bar with Maggie
My "Rainbow" drink
Ricio and my new friend Sim
I am looking forward to a long weekend. It is Mid-Autumn Festival this weekend so we have Monday off!! It’s pretty sad that I am psyched to have three days to study and try and catch up and then get ahead but that is the life of a Chinese student.
Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve written! I just got internet in my apartment the other night and quickly learned that the internet here is a lot slower than I am used too. I am going to back track and fill you in on the last week.
Last Friday (August 26th) was our last day of training. We each taught a mini lesson in the morning to practice our teaching skills. I had stayed up until 1am preparing my lesson on asking and following directions—typical procrastination…not too much has changed in that regard. After all the lessons, lunch, and some serious packing for our departure the next day we got on a bus and went to one of the Primary Level Maryknoll Fathers’ School in Hong Kong. This school was out of this world. It was four levels, had open hallways, a roof top garden, multiple playing fields and games for young kids, and it prides itself on being green. As we toured the school I feel in love and thought multiple times that I could see myself as one of the foreign English teachers there.
Primary Level Maryknoll Fathers’ School in Hong Kong
Maryknoll Volunteer Teachers, Priests, Brothers and School Staff
After visiting the school we all went out for a delicious authentic Cantonese style meal. I was adventurous and tried many things. I had been told by many people that Chinese cuisine often includes the whole animal, head and all, and I experienced this for myself at dinner with the chicken dish.
Fr. Brian and I at dinner
The WHOLE Chicken
Saturday was the big day I had been waiting for: time to leave Hong Kong and head up to mainland China!! We had a VERY early start! I woke up at 4 something AM and our bus left at 5:30. The group heading up to Jilin was dropped off at a train station and after a train ride we crossed the Hong Kong/mainland border on foot. We then traveled for about 45 minutes on a bus to get to the airport. I thought the bus ride was beautiful. China tries to make ir roads pretty. There were tons of flowers and trees in all the medians the whole way to the airport. At the airport Mom & Dad’s information about lots of KFCs in China was confirmed because we waited for our flight in KFC and three of us (including me) went down to the Pizza Hut to get a early lunch.
Hello KFC in China!!
Pizza Hut Pizza...I think so!
Two flights later we landed in Changchun, the capital of Jilin Province. By the time we got to Jilin City it was dark but I think it made the experience even better! I’ve noticed the Chinese like to illuminate their cities and driving into Jilin City was amazing with all the lights and the temples lit up on the hills in the distance. We went to my apartment quickly to drop off my stuff then we went over to Tim (and Father Brian’s) apartment to have dinner. Jing Mei is our amazing cook and we had a delicious meal together, then it was back to my apartment to get settled in and unpack. I was surprised at how nice my apartment is! My apartment overlooks Jilin Medical College. I can see the field and various courts from my bedroom and living room windows as well as many of the buildings on campus. I love the location because it is close to campus and the other volunteers.
The front of my apartment building
My apartment when you walk in the door
Dining room area and my enclosed balcony through the door
My Kitchen
Living room
My bedroom
Sunday we did a lot of running around to get important things done. Wang Wei took us to our first Hot Pot restaurant. We each had our own pot of boiling water in front of us and we ordered a lot of different raw foods such as veggies, meats and noodles, and we put the food we wanted into our hot pot which cooked the food very quickly.
HOT POT!!!
After Hot Pot we went to the supermarket to get some of the items on our list…what an experience!! The RT Mart was HUGE and super packed but the prices were amazing. After shopping we rushed to mass. The Catholic Church in Jilin is beautiful! I was unable to take pictures because we had been late but it is the same church I will be going to daily to tutor two nuns in English so I will take picture and post them later.
University classes started Monday the 29th. To my surprise I was woken up at about 4:30am to someone setting of fireworks in the courtyard in front of my apartment building and then again at 5:45 to yelling and chanting outside my bedroom window. I looked out and there were tons of people in green camouflage marching and yelling. It is mandatory in all of China that freshman college students do a month a military training, and at the Medical College they just so happen to do it on the field behind my apartment so I have a lovely wakeup call each day.
Freshman military training
My Chinese Classes and teaching job do not start until September 5th so I had the week to get settled in and explore the city. On Monday we went to do some more shopping at the “orange market.” The orange market is four stories of stalls selling pretty much everything you can imagine. This is a cool place because the prices are not set so you can try and talk down the seller to a lesser price. Good thing Wang Wei went with us as a Chinese person because she was able to get us some awesome deals.
Orange Market
On Tuesday Tim showed me around Jilin. We walked down to Century Square and across the bridge. I though these areas were beautiful and hope to walk down to the bridge in the future and take a book and read along the bank. After some exploring we meet up with one of Tim’s Chinese Friends, Holmes. We went out for lunch and shared three yummy dishes. We had chicken wings, a beef and noodle dish, and a tofu noodle dish. I am loving the food so far!! After dinner Tim and I went for another walk and we went back down to the bridge. It was even more amazing at night because EVERYTHING was lit up. They have a musical fountain and lots of little float like scenes on the river which my pictures don’t do justice to.
looking across the river at the Catholic Church
Musical Fountain
The bridge we walked over
Wednesday Tim, Maggie, Alan and I spent the morning at Beishan park. We hiked up the mountain (more like a large hill) and saw Buddhist temples and beautiful views. We even got to ring a massive bell at the top of the peak we hiked up. When we got back to the bottom we decided to try some Chinese ice cream. We all had strawberry vanilla twist. I enjoyed it but the others didn’t (they said it was too sweet). Maggie, Tim, and I went back to the restaurant Holmes took us too and had the same beef and tofu dish and ordered a potato dish they we named the potato pizza because of the way it was served. Later we all met up with Holmes and had dinner at his house. His mom’s cooking was delicious and we enjoyed spending time in a typical Jilin City apartment.
Enjoying a day at the park with the water besides me and a Buddhist Temple on the hill behind me
What we found at the top of our climb
Ringing the bell was a three person job
Chinese ice cream!!
Spicy tofu noodles for lunch
"Potato pizza"--our name not theirs
Dinner at Holmes’ house
Yesterday Tim, Maggie, and I went to Dragon Pond Mountain for another hike. This was probably my favorite place I have been to so far. Dragon Pond Mountain seemed less of a tourist spot and more of a gathering place for the locals of all ages. Towards the bottom we saw a group of older folks singing in the park. On our hike up a little boy said “HELLO” so we stopped and talked for a while (more like I smiled and Tim used his Mandarin skills to communicate with the little boy and his grandma). I however did get a cute picture with the little boy! There are different Buddhist temples on the way up the mountain so we stopped on our way up. Once we reached the top there were amazing views. We could see much of the northern part of Jilin City. We took a different trail and came to a more scenic and picturesque spot that I enjoyed a lot more. At the top of the mountain we ran into a manly ninja guy with a little white dog named Toto. The guy gave Tim some pointers.
Pretty Hike up Dragon Pond Mountain
Manly ninja guy and his little dog named Toto
Me and my new little friend
Large Buddhist Temple
Tim learning some moves
At the top of the mountain looking over Jilin City
A more scenic view at the top of the mountain
We met Holmes for lunch near the infamous “shopping street” in Jilin City. We had McDonalds Mcflurries and then went to a pizza place for lunch…yes how American I know! The pizza was very different than American style (no sauce) but it was really good! After lunch we walked down the shopping street. There are tons of stalls in the middle of the street and stores on both sides of the street. We were on the hunt for a DVD store and we finally found it. I had a hard time deciding which movies to buy but I ended up getting the complete box set of Sex and the Cityand 7 other movies for 177 RMB which comes out to less than 30 US dollars!! What a steal!!
My new movie collection
Today Tim and I had to go to Beihua University to register for Mandarin classes, take our placement test, buy our books, and get our schedules. I am in the beginners class with an intense schedule. I have classes from 8am to 2:40 with a lunch break in between my second and third classes on Monday and Tuesdays and classes from 8am to 11:40 Wednesday through Friday. I also bought my books (all 6 of them). I know I’m going to struggle I am really excited to start classes on Monday!! I also start working with the nuns on Monday. I will be tutoring the two nuns Mondays and Tuesdays from 3:30 to 5:30 and from 2 to 4 Wednesdays through Fridays.
Tonight I invited some of my new Chinese friends to dinner and we had a great time! Alan and I were teaching them English and they were helping us learn Chinese. We were teaching them big words and they were trying to make sure we pronounced the different sounds correctly…but hey we gotta start somewhere 
