Coming to an end

Alright the time is really coming to an end now. Only 1 full day left!! I can't believe it. Time didn't exist at all these past four months. I never knew what day or time of the day it was because I was so caught up in everything around me. I can't figure out if I am sad or happy about leaving. 6 people have already left this morning at around 6 am. It isnt' the same without everyone around. I can't walk down the hallway anymore and knock on my friends doors to see if they want to go eat lunch. I have truely lived the dorm life these past months and I have grown to like it. It is an experience every college student needs to experience! Community college is nice because I live so close to the school and I can still live for a little cheaper when I am with my parents, but it is nothing like living on campus. I will miss it. My Chinese friends have been spending the last days with us to make sure we get all the time in together that we can. I can't even imagine at this point how it will feel to not have them so close, but rather oceans apart. Tips for the future students of the CLC Study Abroad Program...dont waist your time sitting in your dorms all the time because you will regret it towards the end of the trip. Go out there and make friends, cuz a chinese friend is probably the most kind-hearted and dedicated friend you will ever have.
Our finals ended last week and it feels great. You know that end-of-semester satisfaction that you get once you realize how much you have accomplished. I am looking forward to the next semester at CLC.
Well, America you better be ready to take me back...I've been gone for too long. See you in a couple of days!

Time is running out.

Alright well there is exactly 2 weeks left until we go back home. I have been so busy doing things that I have forgot to write a lot of things down. I think I have learned that it is important to keep track of everything you have been doing when you go on a trip, otherwise you wont remember later. So tips for all of you new travelers..carry around a journal to record all of your thoughts and activities that you do.
Here is a list of a few of the things that I will miss when I leave China:
-Being able to walk down the hall and knock on all my friends' doors to see what they are doing.
-Hanging out with my chinese friends everyday
-Being forced to use a second language all of the time (it's good practice)
-Not worrying about anything except for school work. Life is so relaxing here. It's in their culture and I have definately adapted to that.
-Being able to take a bus around the city to places I have never seen
-Walking down the street and seeing an ancient relic in the middle of a cluster of new built apartments
-Eating healthy delicious chinese food (thats really cheap)
-Buying tons of gifts for really cheap
-Feeling like a celebrity when walking down the street cuz everyone is staring at you
-Everyday is an adventure in China
-Meeting new people from all over the world living in China
-Going to local shows to see Chinese bands playing
-Watching HBO cuz its the only channel that is in English..o wait who can forget CNN to keep me contacted to the outside world
-Asking my Chinese friends to teach me a new chinese word
-Walking around in a T-shirt in December when it is snowing in Chicago
-Any so many things that I just cant think of right now
China has made me appreciate the outside world even more than I did before I left. Walking on the Great Wall and climbing on beautiful mountains have made me found my peace with nature. I have seen things that I will never see in America. For example, when riding on a city bus the second an elder walks on the bus EVERYONE is willing to give up their seat without questioning it. The younger generations have respect for their elders. They were raised in that environment and I really wish that more people were like this at home. I want to thank my amazing school (CLC) for setting up such a great program. Although it has been stressful at times because we are the first group of students to come out here, the two schools have worked well together to make everything comfortable for us. Our rooms are amazing and the service they provide in the rooms has been very helpful. XAIU has done a lot to make our stay the best. They provided us with a thanksgiving dinner to make us feel more like home. A week after that everyone on the floor got together to have our own thanksgiving dinner. Each one of us made a dish as close to a thanksgiving meal as possible. We all shared laughs, thanks and lots of food..leaving with a traditional full stomach that we regretted the next day. But hey thats what makes thanksgiving.
I miss my family and friends a lot and am finally ready to go home to live my less adventurous life again, but I am ok with that. I know that the second we lift of the ground that I will be missing all of my chinese friends. I know it wont be the same without them. It is going to be sad leaving them but I guess I should have expected that when I said I wanted to meet new friends in a new country. This just gives me a better reason to come back.
Many of the preconceptions that I had about China before I came have changed. Everyone, who gets the chance, should come here and live for awhile. It is an amazing culture to immerge yourself into. Please come visit China!

Hey there everyone! We just got back from Beijing 2 days ago and I already miss the place. It has made a good impression on me. The atmosphere is very laid back compared to other major cities like Chicago and New York. I think this is because the way the city is laid out. All of the big, important buildings are a lot shorter than Chicago's skyscrapers and the streets are very wide. I didnt feel any of that city stress when I was walking around, because all of the people are spread out.This is not the only reason why I loved this city so much. We saw all of the major hot spots like Tianamen Square, the Great Wall, The Forbidden City, the new CCTV building (look at pictures the architecture is awesome!),the Summer Palace, and all the cool shops around the city. What impressed me the most is the music scence out there. A music shop on every corner. Compared to Xian it's exploding throughout the city. My roomate and I tried to check out a show at the MAO Livehouse but the power happened to go out when we got there, so we walked the streets and found some interesting bars like "Beijing's Smallest Bar" haha. That's what it's called. We couldnt find any other shows to go to while we were there, which was dissapointing cuz that was one of my goals to accomplish while I was out there. I was told there is a show almost everyday but, of course with our luck, we couldnt find one.
We tried the famous Beijing duck and it was delicious. The other food was good but it didnt settle too well with my system so I dont think I will miss it too much. I was craving Xian for the rest of the trip. Suprisingly, I find the cafeteria food to be the best in the city haha. I think I will be missing it when I come home. No more waking up at 12 and walking right over to the cafeteria to get one of their famous egg sandwiches.
The days are flying by now that I know I have less than a month left. I miss my family and friends a lot but I dont really miss being in my hometown. Can't you all just come and see me here in China, so I dont have to leave? I think coming to China is the best thing I have done so far. I sure will miss it.
For the next few weeks I am going to try and explore most of Xian. I feel like I havent seen it all , so I will be squeezing in as many things as possible. So far there is a concert on the 7th of december. Brain Failure is playing and I cant wait. They are a famous punk band from Beijing and they are going to be playing at the Moonkey, here in Xian.
My Chinese has been getting a little better. I can finally order my own food and I am capible of getting myself around town without help from a Chinese student. Although, there is much more for me to learn. I am already signed up for Chinese next semester at CLC. I hope to come back here in the future..hopefully by then I will know enough Chinese to have a full conversation!!! What an accomplishment that would be.

China is treating me well.

Well since it has been so long since I have written I do not think that I will be able to fill in all of the details, but I promise that my next post will be as detailed as possible. Since our visit to the Terra Cotta Army and the Chinese Opera, we have been to quite a few other sites around the city. We also took a 4 day trip to Shanghai. The train ride there was an experience in itself. It was a sleeper train that was packed, jammed with people. The group was split up between the cars, but we had at least one other person sleeping next to us in the bunks. Megan was across from me on the way there so it made the time go by fast. It took 19 hours to get there, so I slept most of the time. It was pretty noisy, but I guess I was tired. Each little cubby hole has 6 beds without a door for privacy. It isn't like the sleeper cars you imagine in Europe with a door and a couple of beds. Shanghai was definately different from Xi'an because it is much more modern. When we got off the train I thought I was in a slightly different version of Chicago. There were many skyscrapers and perfect roads. Many McDonalds and KFCs. I was kind of dissapointed because I want to see more of the old China, but I took my chances and went anyway. Our tours that had been set for us felt very rushed for time. We saw the Orient Pearl Tower, a Buddhist temple in the middle of the city, went shopping on a street that was full of expensive clothing stores :( ..not my thing. We went to a place called The Water Village. That was my favorite destination becuase there were road waterways that traveled throughout the village. It reminded me of Venice. There was also many interesting shops to buy souviners from. They town is very old, so there was many buildings there that had been built over 900 years ago ,I believe. It was so beautiful.We went to the Silk Factory after that and saw how they make silk clothing and quilts. It was very interesting to see the process, because they boil the slikworm's cacoons and unthread them. It's crazy to thinnk that something so beautiful came from such a tiny worm. We did a few other things like check out the night clubs and try food from different restaurants. I really wish I could have stayed a little longer to get a better impression of Shanghai, but there is so much more to explore in China so it's ok.
The week after Shanghai went by pretty slow. We didnt do much except hang around the dorms, until the following weekend when I had my first KTV experience. It was Angela, Brian and Rachel's birthday so we celebrated it there. Everyone from the our group went, along with 15 or so Chinese friends that were invited. We had a giant cake fight and sang songs all night long until early in the morning. I would definately do it again.
The city wall was another great experience. It was like the Great Wall but in Xian. It is about 8 miles around, and has a great view of the city around it. My roomate and friends rented bikes and road around the whole city. At the time I wanted to save that experience for the Great Wall but now I regret that I didnt do it with them. But the wall isnt going to get up and leave anytime soon so I might find some time to do that. After exploring the wall we went to the Bell Tower in the center of the city and the Drum tower right after that. They look very similiar but have different purposes. The drum tower was my favorite because we got to see a little deomonstration inside with all different kinds of drums. They also had a small museum of old drums that have been designed and used throughout the different dynasties. After that we went to the Muslim Market. This is a road near the Bell tower that has a bunch of different stops and shops to buy goodies and souviners. It is a very crowded but beautiful street. This is where I hope to buy all of my christmas presents for people :).
We have also payed a visit to the Famen Temple and Qianling Mausoleum ,seen Pandas at a nearby zoo,visited the famous Wild Goose pagoda and saw the amazing music fountain show right next to it. Rachel (my roomate) and I also climbed Zhong Nan Mountain with our friend Hawk .He was so kind to plan the day out for us. It took a couple hours to get there and then a couple more to climb to the peak, where there was an awesome view of the surrounding mountains. A steep cliff next to the one we were on had a little temple on the top. It seemed quite impossible to reach. It was like a dream being up there. The fog started to rise and cover the view, until eventually everything around us was completely blanked out with a thick white cover. We had lunch and traveled back down. That took the longest. About 3 hours to get back down. We were so exhausted by the end of the day but it was worth it.
I finally found the music scence around Xian. If you know me at all you know that going to local shows is one of my favorite things in the world. Rachel and I met a few people who go to shows all of the time and they took us to one last weekend. A German punk band (No Opinion) and a Chinese punk band (Teddy's wish) rocked the house that night. I felt like I was at home for awhile. I got up on stage and sang Linoleum and stickin in my eye with the singer of No Opinion. I was also excited to see everyone rocking out so hard. It was the first show for a lot of them and I am glad they had so much fun. In fact, we are heading out to that same venue tonight to see another Chinese punk band (Reflector) and I can't wait.
My classes have been pretty easy for me so far. The teaching style is different, and at times boring, but I feel like I have been driven to learn a lot outside of class. I think that is the idea. My chinese is getting a little better from when I first arrived, but not close enough to have a full conversation with anyone. It is ridiculously difficult to learn. We havent even been taught how to write characters yet.
I have made many awesome chinese friends here. Some of them are the kind of people I want to keep in touch with for a long time after I leave. Everybody has been very nice to us and helpful. They think about others before themselves and it makes me happy to know that there are so many people like that here. I will miss China so much when I leave.
Alright ,well this is all I have for now. Hopefully I will post another one a lot sooner than I did this one. If you are reading this and you want to ask me a specific question in regards to anything , please ask!!!!
Until next time...

Driving like a madman

   Alright, getting used to everything is a little tough but it gets easier everyday. We have finally explored a little off campus by ourselves. Well in smaller groups than before. Rachel and I went back to the grocery store to get some more food. It took about 20 minutes to get there. This allowed us to experience the street life. For the first time in my life I am terrified to cross the street. In this country traffic laws are just a suggestion. Bikes, cars, buses, motorcycles, and pedestrians all share the same road. And by no means does the pedestrians have the right of way. It is actually the complete opposite. They have BIG intersections that have no street lights!!   If you have ever heard the rumor that China smells bad its true. I mean it isn't like that everywhere you go but at least the streets around my campus smell bad. Babies don't wear diapers here either. They wear little pants with a big slit in the bottom and the parents let them do their business wherever needed: the sidewalk, street, ANYWHERE.    I really enjoy the style of clothing out here. All of the girls dress nice everyday and so do the guys.The only problem is that the clothes are made for such tiny structures and I haven't really seen a store with bigger clothing for us American girls who need a little more room. haha.     I have figured out a way to get my food in the cafeteria now. All you have to do is say hello and then point to the food you want and then the person behind the counter holds up their hand for the price and thats eat. I really wish I could  have conversations with them but I guess you can't always get what you want.     Our Italian friend Stefon took us out last night to a club called "One plus One" but in Chinese. We took the bus for about 20 minutes until we got inside the city walls. Our school is located outside of them. We drove past the center of town where the big turnabout is located. You know, like the ones they have in Europe. The club was 2 or three stories high but we mostly stayed on the main floor. It cost us about 100 dollars between 12 of us to get a small VIP section that had a couple of couches and a big table. It also came with a bottle of whiskey, vodka, and a bunch of beers. Compared to clubs in the city back at home this is really really cheap. This was my first real club experience. I had so much fun. I danced all night long. Hopefully we will go back soon.
    Tomorrow is our first school field trip. We are going to see the famous Terra Cotta Army and then see a Chinese opera. I believe it is a love story. I am definately looking forward to this. I am going to stop talking for now until I have more stories. Until later...

Hey everyone!!
I just want to warn all of you that if you ever decide to come to China please learn some Chinese before hand. I thought that I would be able to get by with taking it while I am out here but it turns out that, that isnt the case. Well at least for now. There are a lot less people that understand English than I thought. Even on this International University. The cafeteria has tons of different places to eat but everything is labeled in Chinese and the people that serve you do not know English either. A couple of Chinese girls helped us order yesterday so that was very helpful. It was also very difficult shopping at the grocery store because ,once again,EVERYTHING was labeled in Chinese, so you have no clue what you are buying to eat. Loooking around in my kitchen I can see a bag of rice, crackers, cookies, juice, and bananas. That is it! We were there for an hour too.
The campus is beautiful. It is very big and houses many students. There are about 8 to 10 buildings on campus. Maybe even more! There are two beautiful ponds/lakes around my building and a huge track and soccer field right outside my window. The best part is the huge playground located next to the track field. No, it isn't the playground you imagine with swings and slides to climb all over. It is a variety of different courts, including basketball, volleyball, tennis and badmitten (spelling?). That is what they call it here. There are many things to do off campus as well,but we haven't had a chance to leave yet because we do not have our school IDs. But soon enough. I start my first class today and I can't wait. It is Chinese Art and Literature. O and how can I forget! My class schedule works out to leave me monday and friday off. This means I have a 4 day weekend to spend on traveling. WOO HOO!!!
The school has done an amazing job at accomodating us. They completely remodeled our floor so our rooms are really nice. They look like hotel rooms and they treat it like one too. Someone comes in everyday to clean the floors and empty the trash. AND make our beds too! Everyone is so nice here. The only thing that really makes me uncomfortable though is the fact that EVERYONE stairs at you. I dont know if it is a good thing or bad thing. All I know is that it makes me feel like I am some sort of alien.
Well I better get back to sleep so I can be ready for my class in a few hours. The time difference is 13 hours ahead of Chicago so I haven't gotten a good night's sleep yet. Let's just hope it happens soon. Peace and Love to all my friends and family.
See you in the future...

2 DAYS till departure

Alright, the time has come. To travel through the skies and land in my new homeland. Which is only temporary but it is still going to be my home for four months. It is Wed. night and I just started packing. I woke up this morning all freaked out that I was behind and called off my plans to see my friend's band (40 oz sidekicks-really good music) in Chicago. Tomorrow night I have planned a late night swim with some friends and plan on staying up till sunrise so I can sleep on the plane. Man the plane ride doesnt look too exciting. Almost 24 hours, I was told, with all of the layovers and such. Then once we get there we get settled into our dorms, go through orientation and a nice banquet that the school is putting on for us and then we start class on monday. I hope that I don't have any classes on monday so I can have a four day weekend to travel and such.
Well, better get back to packing and figure out a way to tell everyone about this blog because it is hiding from the world right now. Peace.