心满意足 "To be perfectly content"

Hey guys!

Sorry for the late post (again), I’ve been really busy lately and haven’t had any time to update ya’ll :( 

The plan for this past week was to post the vlog of my Shaolin Temple experience to my blog as a substitute for last week’s update, but according to the internet here, it would take around 3 days to upload my video, so 算了 (forget it), I’ll upload it when I get home :) Sorry for the wait, it’ll come soon! :)

This past week was very fun albeit very tiring. Classes were (again) pretty normal, though the second half of the program focuses more on Chinese literary works so our texts have become even harder (which I didn’t think was possible). I still really like it though - the past few texts have taught us a lot of 俗语 (common sayings/idioms), which is fascinating, since it gives us a in-depth peek into how Chinese minds work. For example, there’s this saying: “不做亏心事，不拍鬼敲门” which means “If one doesn’t do a harmful act, one does not need to fear ghosts knocking at the door”, or “善有善报，恶有恶报” which basically means “the good will be rewarded, the bad will be punished, or what goes around comes around.” I think the funniest one I’ve learned so far is “之乎者也” which means “pretentious archaisms” or as it’s listed in my textbook, “blah-blah-blah.” I also learned where my Chinese name comes from (even though my mom has told me a billion times, but it just has never stuck): “为善最乐” “doing good deeds brings the greatest joy.”  This has definitely become one of my favorite sayings — thanks mom! 

As for extra curricular activities, last Tuesday we learned Tai Chi from a Tai Chi master who’s also a college student — what’s with all these attractive, young, athletic students doing here in China? — and it was really fun! There’s a strong connection between Tai Chi and Wushu, and it’s so interesting to see where one ends and the other begins. For example, tai chi has the same basic stances as wushu and it does involve powerful actions like punches and kicks, but every thing is slowed down, more graceful, and more drawn out. Basically if you’ve seen Avatar the Last Airbender it’s like water bending (thanks Yale Wushu for making me addicted to that TV show…). 

We also made our own dumplings. It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it, and the dumplings were so good! 

Before!

...After! Yum! :)

Our teachers also taught us the art of paper cutting - it's fascinating, incredibly hard, and truly an art form. 

My take on paper cutting - what do you think? :)

On Friday, we visited an antique shopping mall (think China version of a flea market), which was really interesting. I didn’t end up buying anything, which was a bummer, but it was pretty cool seeing various kinds of Chinese antiques (albeit fake ones) strewn out over such a large area. 

Panjiayuan 潘家园 Shopping Market

That night we had dinner at a nice Korean restaurant then went out dancing and to a KTV (my first time in China!) for karaoke. It was so much fun, and really cheap (around $2 U.S. per person). 

On Saturday morning, a couple of friends and I went to 金马大厦 (Golden Towers), a popular — and cheap — shopping mall to buy some clothes, shoes, and adorable stationery. I love shopping here because you can 谈价还价 (bargain) and usually get stuff for around half their listed price. It’s also a great way to interact with the locals and build relationships with them — I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been, but I definitely plan to go again in the future, and I’ll take pictures next time! (oops). In the evening, we watched an acrobatics show, which was incredible, as watching so many talented and flexible people twist, balance, and flip their way across the stage had me mesmerized. 

Afterwards, we went out to 三里屯 (Sanlitun) to a KTV to dance and sing karaoke again. As a result of us not eating dinner before, around 11 we were starving, so we randomly went out exploring for food and managed to find a pretty good Mexican restaurant (IN CHINA, ISN’T THAT SOMETHING?). I forgot to take a picture, but the food was actually decent — it wasn’t too weird, though it can’t compare to the Tex Mex back home. :) One of the BLCU students also told me that there’s a pretty good Mexican restaurant around the 五道口 area, so one day we’re definitely going to go try it!

After eating we came back and sang and danced for a couple of hours. Needless to say, I practically lost my voice over the weekend, BUT IT WAS SO MUCH FUN. I have no idea why KTV isn’t popular in America — I’ll definitely miss that aspect when I go home. 

On Monday we learned how to 打麻将 (play mahjong). IT’S REALLY FUN, and I managed to win once (it had to be by chance, and I'm pretty sure my friend let me win...), but nevertheless, take a look at what a winning hand looks like!

On another note, I realized that I never took pictures of the inside of our cafeteria, so here we go!

The first and second floor are your standard school cafeteria layouts — you just pick and choose which dishes you want and then pay. 

The third floor (where the international students usually eat) are where more of the 快餐 (fast food) are located. There’s more diversity in the food, for example, there’s hot pot, noodles, fried rice, sushi, and even Korean food here. All the food is pretty good and cheap, it ranges from buying dumplings for around $1 U.S. to hot pot to around $2-$3 U.S. I’m really going to miss how cheap the food is here when I go back home..

On the 4th floor are restaurants as well as a very nice cafe. I usually go to the cafe to work on homework because the internet is fast and the atmosphere is so cozy. :)

The cafe. 

Here are some (read: 4, because I always forget) pictures of the meals I've already had - all of which were really good! I'm really going to miss this cafeteria food when I go back to the U.S.

A typical breakfast food - it's kinda like the American equivalent of a breakfast burrito?

I also stumbled upon a beautiful space on our campus a couple weeks ago when I got lost on my way to class. 

Isn't that beautiful? It looks more like a park than a campus space. 

We also have our own Chinese families that have affiliations with the university who take us out every so often to explore Beijing. Mine have already taken me out once and it was really fun! They have an incredibly smart daughter who's around 9 and already fluent in English. The father also works for the Aerospace University here in Beijing and is currently in France doing some research right now. Really cool. 

That's all for now! I only have around 2 weeks left here in Beijing, which is insane. I can't believe summer is basically already over and I'll be going home soon. I have been feeling a bit homesick the past few days, but I really don't want to leave Beijing. Why are feelings so complicated!? Anyway, until next time! :)