Yellow Dragon Caves!

Today after school, a few classmates and I decided to take a short trip to the Huang Long Dong, or Yellow Dragon Caves. Now it isn't exactly what I had imagined- it is much less of a cave, and more of a beautiful park with bamboo forests and stony walkways.
After walking through an enchanting walkway lined by flourishing trees, we saw a delightful little square with some stores and a stage called the "Happy Fate Stage," featuring Chinese opera. Next to that was the Fate Pond, with states of 6 golden children, each representing a different kind of fate- fate of love, fate of marriage, fate of children, fate of wealth and so on.
We hiked around the garden some more, up stony stairs, and around little caves, until we ran into the Wish Realizing Terrace, which has a big round stone with lots of small locks clustered on ropes. You can buy a small heart-shaped lock, write your wish in it, and lock it at the terrace, and the match-making god is believed to then help find you your lover.
Later we stumbled upon a little statue of Child-Wishing Dragon Angels. Apparently, by touching these little angel's butts, you are granted special help with getting babies! I guess that's why there was a yellow patch on the butts- because everyone keeps touching it?!
The Yellow Dragon Cave/Park is definitely a beautiful place to walk around and relax, away from the hustle and bustle of the city and other super crowded touristy areas.

Lingyin Temple!

On Friday we took a class trip to the Lingyin Temple! I didn't know much about it before I went, but we were briefed on a few things about Buddhism and temples before we took our excursion. Turns out the Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou was first built in AD 326 and it's one of the most renowned temples in China!!! It's absolutely beautiful, with its 1600 years of history, it's a place for a "soul's retreat"- the literal meaning of Lingyin Temple.
Next to the temple is the Fei Lai Feng Grottoes and caves. Fei Lai Feng means "Peak flown from Afar" and the legend is that an Indian monk once visited ths rocky region and claimed that it looked exactly like a peak in India, so the peak must have "flown" from India. It's really cool with a bunch of Buddhist stone carvings, around 1000 years old!!!! The carvings weren't all made at the same time though. They were made through different dynasties, spanning over 500 years of time. The damp and dark caves even contained some awesome statues and carvings.
Once we got inside the temple, we were told we weren't allowed to take pictures. I managed to snap a few, though.
The temple was huge- and is made up of many individual buildings and temples. Each building contained statues of buddhas and different dieties or monks. Many of the statues were huuge and overwhelming when you looked up at them. Each had an intricate face and outfit on. In the middle building, there is the most "important" and biggest Buddha.
The temple was crowded, with many people burning incense and paying their respects to the buddhas and various statues. I even got to see some monks!!

Weekend in Shaoxing

Hey! I spent this Saturday in Shaoxing with the other NSLI-Y students!! The city is known for its beautiful canals, like Venice, and it is home to one of the most famous Chinese writers, LuXun. In fact, he's known as the father of modern Chinese literature! We got to tour the house were he was born and grew up. This house (more like many, many buildings), known as the "San Wei School," was built around 1890, and was owned by the wealthy Lu family. LuXun grew up there and studied there since his childhood. After becoming a successful writer, he returned and expanded the house into a school, which many young Chinese students attended. We also got to see two beautiful gardens where he studied!!! These pictures are from the gardens :)

Yesterday, I went to the swimming pool with my host sister and her cousins and had a great time!!! It is indoors and huge! There were many people there of all ages exercising and getting swim lessons. We just did laps and talked. I spent the rest of the day at her grandparents house and finished it off watching a Mission Impossible movie marathon with them! (they're a huge fan of Tom Cruise, lol!)

Today after school some classmates and I went to a nearby hotel to get a special massage, called "cupping therapy!" One of my Chinese teachers got it done and recommended it to us, and told us that it's healthy and promotes blood flow and gets rid of any muscle knots...so we tried it.  It's an ancient Chinese form of medicine where hot cups are suctioned to your back for about 10 minutes, then afterwards they are taken off I was given a short massage. It only cost 10 US $ and was definitely worth it! I wouldn't say I would ever do it again though. I don't particularly feel any better now and I wouldn't say the massage felt so great either. Maybe the lady thought my back was really tense, but for some reason she put way more cups on me than the rest of my classmates and she massaged me for longer too. And I'm not much of a fan of massages, lol. But now I have a bunch of bruises on my back. (cool???)


I can't believe its week 4 already. There is still so much to explore in Hangzhou!!!

Midterm

Wow I cannot believe my NSLI-Y summer is HALF way over already!!!! It's felt s long and SO short at the same time!!! I still haven't done hardly any of the stuff I want to do and accomplish! But at the same time I have been so busy everyday and have done soo much in just 3 weeks.

I took my midterm exam today. It was stressful to prepare for, because of all the vocabulary that I have been trying to cram into my head, but overall I think the test went well. I can feel my Chinese skills have dramatically improved in such a short time span, especially my listening skills and picking out words that I understand and pulling my knowledge to make out what someone is saying in Chinese, even if I don't know all the vocab used. Also I have been forced to understand and know how to say everyday phrases like "please open/close the umbrella; lets cross the street over this way; we're running late, let's hurry; choose your favorite tv channel; etc." I'm so happy that I'm now able make fun conversations with my host family, especially my host sister, and that we enjoy each others company so much. :) And its amusing to me to always hear people exclaim "foreigner" in Chinese, as well as "oh, she doesn't understand," to which I sometimes reply to their surprise, "dong yi dian" (I understand some).

A few days ago we were visited by some really cool actresses from the famous Beijing Opera! The woman gave us a preview of the show, a singing lesson, dance/acting lesson, then allowed us to paint our faces and dress up as a character!!! It was so much fun! Then we had to create a brief skit using the "opera skills" that we had learned. I hate to say, but I was really really bad... I guess the Beijing Opera isn't my calling...


Today we learned how to play Chinese Chess. I played with my host sister, Wang Zhe, and she was much better than me. I don't know how we ended up getting stalemate, but I'm pretty sure she went really easy on me.. :)

Later my host mom and aunt took Wang Zhe and I out to dinner and the mall. I ate my first eel and lichen! Both the dishes were interesting... And at the mall my family was so excited to buy me some "cuter" outfits, haha, because the styles in China are different and they want me to fit in better. The Chinese women actually do dress really cute, they dress like little dolls, with lots of pastel colors, ruffles, flowers, pearls, and heels. Oh, not to mention all the graphic t-shirts with English phrases on them (most make no sense whatsoever). I really didn't want any of the outfits my family picked out for me, because their taste is just a lot different than mine, but I finally allowed them to buy me an outfit, and my host sister bought the same thing to match with me. :)

Even though I don't wanna leave this city, I do miss my family and friends at home! (shoutout to Heather! miss ya!) :)

 

Sincerely,

Susanna

2 weeks in!

I can't believe it's already been 2 weeks here! It feels a lot longer actually, but the program is already 1/3 of the way over, which is really sad! I've been having a blast so far!

For our cultural activity on Thursday we were introduced so several foods that Hangzhou is famous for. Zhejiang cuisine is one of the "8 Great Cuisines of China", and Hangzhou flavor is a specialized part of Zhejiang cuisine. Since they have access to lots of fish, many of the foods here include fish or other seafood like eel and shrimp. They also emphasize sweetness (I have had almost everything sweet- they even put sugar on top of raw tomatoes and cucumbers!- but its never too sweet and always tasty). We got to try a few snacks, including green bean cake (liu dou gao), sesame bun (shao bing) and steamed rice cake (bak tong gao), which was actually really good even though "rice cake" sounded weird to me at first!!

On Friday we all went to KTV for or cultural activity. it was pretty fun because there were American songs but there were mostly older American songs. (just by a couple years).




Later that day my mom and sister took me to a restaurant and we had the famous West Lake fish in vinegar sauce (西湖醋鱼) that I have been hearing about! it was good, but I don't like all the bones in fish. I was surprised when I saw them eat the mouth and eyeballs tooo..... I passed on that one, lol.

I also got to go to a swimming pool!! It was indoors, because Chinese people don't like to be exposed to the sun, but it was huge and really crowded. It was a little different than pools that I'm used to because the people weren't really playing around in the pool, either standing there with their children or slowwwwly doing laps. So my host sister and I did laps for a couple hours, but we only got to do a few, because it was so crowded and there wasn't much room to pass anyone in the lane. But it was fun to hang out with my host sister and get to know her better!!!

I can't wait to see what the next week has in store for me!

Today for our cultural activity the class went to a really cool museum and Wu Shan Square together!! We went into an on building where the emperor used to come and do work. We also saw the first public library in China!!! Then we toured around a building displaying a lot of ancient artifacts, mostly pottery that had been found in Hangzhou. It was amazing to be looking at something that was made thousands and thousands of years ago. And each color and carving in the pottery had a meaning to it. Like at one point, the wealthy Chinese painted many porcelain pieces green because they were trying to create the image of jade. Its suprising to think that these thousands of years ago, the people didn’t know all about chemistry and everything, but they still figured out how to make perfect pottery, which is all about chemistry.

ancient desk of emperor

ancient Chinese pottery

 

Then we went to WuShan Square for a little bit. There are lots of little shops and things to look at. I tried to bargain for the first time but the seller was really not interested at all in bargaining with me. I don’t know why, but I feel like it’s because I’m a foreigner. People have been taking pictures of my classmates and I all the time, especially my blonde classmates! Sometimes, people even pose with us, or pose in front of us while getting their picture taken. Haha! Oh and I’ve heard A LOT of “wai guo ren!!!!” which means “foreigner(s)!!!”

For dinner, my host sister and mother and I went to a little restaurant in the mall. The food was AMAZING. There was sooo much food and the entire meal only cost 40 US $!!! And we took home 3 boxes of leftovers! My family is SO nice and sweet and funny. I am so grateful for them and their hospitality!!!!

delicious dinner! I love my host family!

cute "bao zi's" decorated like pigs!

 

p.s. Dodo, the familys dog, eats everything. He eats ice cream, noodles, dumplings, sweet and sour chicken, apples, and tofu! I can’t believe they feed him all of this…

Family time and fun activities!

Okay so I've been so busy this weekend! I'm so glad my sister Sarahann was able to stop by Hangzhou and meet up with me! My host family is so sweet and were so excited to see her too! She had dinner with us a couple times and I was just able to walk around the lake with her and catch up while traveling around the city a little!!! Now I cant wait to see her again!

I also had a lot of fun with my host sister and mother this weekend. On Sunday was my host sister's waipo's (grandmother on mothers side) birthday so we went to her house (she lives nearby) and my host sister and I made Jiao zi's! Her waipo prepared a lot of food for her birthday lunch, and my host sisters aunt and uncle came also. We had very long noodles as the main dish because long noodles symbolize longevity in China.  I mean, seriously, these things like had no end to them. It was a struggle trying to get them into my bowl!

 

later that day I went with my host mom and sister and her friend to see Transformers 4! its really big in china, and theres posters and signs and advertisements everywhere! I hear the other Chinese kids talk about it a lot. like half the movie was set in China so maybe that's why its so big here. the audience was sooo excited to see the movie set in China, lol, it was funny to see them all exclaim and laugh at it.

The movie theater was really nice though. the lobby is more like a waiting area because you cant enter into the hallways and cinema rooms until 10 minutes before the showing. the ticket booths are like electronic stands like a redbox machine. and theres a huge screen on the wall showing a bunch of trailers for movies. I enjoyed it a lot!

 

On Monday we started our second week at school. We got our test scores back from the weekly Friday test and found out that this is a lot harder than everyone thought it was... haha i'll just put it that way. We did Chinese dancing as our cultural activity which was a lot of fun! But we weren't very good at it, even after an hour and a half of practice.

Today we learned some basic martial arts. its definitely A LOT more difficult than it seems.

 

I went to Wu-Shan Square after school with some of my other classmates. We hiked up part of the mountain there and explored the square that had tons and tons of stores and specialty shops and souvenir stalls. It was beautiful and the buildings looked more traditional.

 

 

Photos!

jian zhi- paper cutting

Xi Hu- West Lake! Its beautiful!

Sarahann and I at West Lake. Haha, we look the same ;)

The lake is absolutely stunning. I could stay by the lake forever, its so pretty, now I know why people say Hangzhou is known for its natural beauty

I walk here on the way from my house to the bus stop in the morning!

 

Sarahann and I- I'm so glad she is able to visit me this weekend! I love her to death and have missed her so much!

When Sarahann and JB visited me one night- my host family is so nice, they insisted that Sarahann and JB come over for dinner. In this picture is my host sister's friend, my host sister Wang Zhe, her cousin, me with the ADORABLE dog Dodo, Sarahann, and JB!

Week 1- meeting China

I've been meaning to update my blog a lot more often this week, but I have just been so tired and the internet is a hassle here. But I finally got it! So the first week has gone by very fast and slow... if that makes sense. The trip to China was so long and exhausting...about 24 hours of straight traveling, and when we arrived in Shanghai, we immediately hopped on a bus and took a 3 hour ride to Hangzhou. The view out of the bus window was amazing. Unfortunately, I was so tired and my stomach hurt from the plane (and its plane food) that I slept most of the way. The first stop we made, a rest stop, was definitely a shock to me. It was a little area with food and bathrooms, and the food was...traditional Chinese food...the first thing I saw was a pile of duck heads, or "ya tou," and then other piles of food like whole frogs, chickens, alongside other unidentifiable interesting things...

 

fast forward: meeting my host family: a family of 3- my host father, mother, and sister, Wang Zhe- she’s 17. My family’s very very very nice and hospitable. They had a room all ready for me, and even installed an air conditioning machine in my room to make me feel comfortable...! they don't know much English, which was a bummer, but I guess it's actually good. My host sister goes to the school that I am attending this summer, and she is a grade below me. At first I was afraid she didn't like me, because she wouldn't really talk to me, but I found out that it was because she was embarrassed because she thinks her English is poor. haha, its better than my Chinese... I think its great!

 

so school: the second day in China I took a placement exam to determine which class I will be put in (there are 20 students and there are 3 classes- based on level). it was terrible. I thought I failed lol but I got placed in the middle level! School has been difficult so far... we have 4 hours a day and the teachers will not speak English... only a few words if need be. most of the class time I’m confused and lost, (not much of a surprise), but I manage to quickly scribble down notes about everything I don't understand. we have about 25 characters/phrases to memorize every night and a quiz ("ting xie"- which means "listen, write") every day on our vocab.

After Chinese class, we have lunch. All the American exchange students eat lunch together in the cafeteria. they serve us a tray of Chinese food, which is definitely interesting. the first day I was given a pile of cartilage-like meat. I didn't find out until later that I had eaten pig ear for lunch. The next day I asked for "su cai", which means vegetarian food, haha!

After lunch we have 45 minutes of free time, or nap time for Chinese students. I really like this time period and think we should have this in America... ;) but then again, my host sister told me that she regularly has school from 7 am to 6 pm, then goes somewhere else for an after-school math class, because she doesn't think the math at her school is good enough... now I understand why these students need a little nap period.

Then we have a couple hours of culture class. Culture class has been a fun, relaxing time for me. We have explored the art of Tai Chi, paper cutting, making dumplings, and folk songs. The only difficult thing is still that our teachers only speak Chinese, so I can’t understand much of the information. Also, Tai Chi was surprisingly tiring. I see a bunch of older Chinese people in the parks in the morning doing some sort of daily taichi routine, so I assumed it’d be a piece of cake. Actually, it required so much concentration and balance and by the end I was so sore! Now I have a new level of respect for these men and women I see in the park every morning.

Pre-Departure Orientation!

This is my second night staying in a BEAUTIFUL hotel in DC. Life could not get any better. Honestly I would love to spend 6 weeks here- it's amazing!! NSLI-Y and American Councils have been treating us so well, the food, the hotel, everything is just so unbelievable!

Most of the NSLI-Y students had to fly into DC from their hometown. Many had a long flight and were exhausted by the time they walked through the hotel doors! I'm glad that I live close because I was able to drive here with my family. We met the NSLI-Y program implementer, the Resident Director, and the Assistant Resident Director. The RD and the ARD will be coming to Hangzhou with us and staying there during the program. They will provide my much needed support during the program. I've sat in endless hours of meetings in the past day and half, going over our expectations and many tips to help us have the best experience this summer.

We met people who work for the Department of State and I learned about more study abroad programs! In addition to the NSLI-Y summer program, there is also an academic year program. Also, the Critical Language Scholarship (CLS), is much like the NSLI-Y scholarship, but for college students. The Fulbright Critical Language Enhancement Program and the Gilman Scholarship for Study Abroad provide awards to study and intern abroad. Other programs include the Language Flagship Program, Boren scholarships, National Language Service Corps, FLAS, StarTalk, Thomas Pickering, and the Charles Rangel Program. 

We talked in-depth about our daily schedule in China. We will have 120 hours of intensive language immersion in 6 weeks, which is about equivalent to a year in college! We will have 4 academic hours daily, and about 4 hours of cultural learning in the classroom. We will also have regular testing (not sure how I feel about this yet) and we are required to keep our grades up. But outside of the classroom is where we will really have to implement what we learn in our conversations. Almost everyday we will have a few hours of "free time" to explore the city and the culture of Hangzhou. During this time we will have interactions with others and really stretch our language proficiency skills. Additionally, in the host family's home, I will be required to speak Chinese.

I know this will be an amazing experience and I can't wait! Our plane leaves in 7 hours and I'll be in China before I know it!!!

NSLI-Y Summer Program!

So, with the start of my adventure only 20 days away, I still can't seem to convince myself that I'm actually going to China!!! I've been working towards this for over a year now and the application process started more than 8 months ago. The program that I'm participating in is called NSLI-Y, or National Security Language Initiative for Youth (http://www.nsliforyouth.org).  It's sponsored by the US State Department and provides full scholarships to high school students to study "critical languages" abroad. Critical languages are those less commonly taught languages for which there is a large demand for language professionals. NSLI-Y provides scholarships to study Chinese, Russian, Korean, Arabic, Turkish, Persian, and Hindi. These 7 languages are spoken by huge populations, yet not commonly taught in the US! In my school at least, the most popular foreign languages are Spanish and French. Recently we started offering Chinese, but not many students take it. In fact, when I tell people I'm in Chinese class, sometimes people are surprised because they were never even aware that we have Chinese classes!

Critical languages are a lot different from English in their grammatical structures, sound systems, and writing systems. Having taken 2 years of Spanish and 3 years of Chinese, I can honestly say that Chinese requires a totally different way of learning because it doesn't use any familiar letters and words. Chinese has a completely unique way of writing, through picture-like characters, and speaking, with tones and totally foreign sounds that had never come out of my mouth before. The memorization of characters is the hardest for me, and each character is an intricate pattern of lines and strokes. Just one missing dot, line, or curve can completely change the meaning of the character! But the beauty of the language is revealed in these 80,000 complicated characters- the patterns are not random at all and the more you study the language the more you discover how thought-out every character seems (unlike English which makes 0 sense sometimes).

Not only is the language so different, but so is the culture and way of thinking. And that's what I'm mostly excited for this summer. I want to experience this culture on the other side of the world- one of the oldest cultures, dating back to more than 5000 years ago! This culture that I identify myself with (my fathers family is Chinese), yet know so little about.

So, as I'm getting ready to embark on this adventure, I'm both nervous and excited. I'll be posting blog updates on this trip as I go!!