The End...

So, for the past month and a half, Blogspot was blocked by the Chinese government. Who knows why, but then again, who knows why the Chinese government does anything that they do? Anyway, I am back home and attempting to recover from jet lag. It's going alright. I still have to update about my Yunnan trip...which I wrote half of until China decided to block my blog!

Just as an brief update, I completed my papers and Chinese exams with flying colors. The rest of my stay in Shanghai was pleasurable and relaxing. The Shanghai heat was soothing and although humid, I enjoyed it very much. I will miss all the friends I made and there is no doubt that I will be seeing many of them shortly.

As a conclusion to my year abroad, I would recommend an experience like this to ANYONE. I had the time of my life and learned so much about Chinese culture: lifestyle, customs, etc... I would not trade this year that I had for any other experience. Sure, I missed a season of ice hockey, and a year with my Smithies, but when will I be able to study in a different country again? When else would I meet other college students with the identical travel bug.

If you were to ask for a one word description of my year abroad, it would be...WOW.


My besties. Amber & Shannon

All the photos from the below slide shows can be found on my Picasa site: http://picasaweb.google.com/cassandra.chao


Slide Shows:
Trip to Suzhou



Last Week in Shanghai

Back in Tan, from Yunnan!

Hey all! I'm back from the most amazing time I've had in China thus far. I am maybe 10 shades darker than when I left Shanghai, with a whole new attitude for my study abroad experience. I will attempt to write the happenings of this past week in detail, but I can't guarantee everything to be posted. I will upload photos to picasa of Hang Zhou and Yunnan, once I remember to upload Picasa, haha.

Anyway, here it goes:

SATURDAY, APRIL 25
Woke up early (8am) grabbed a bubble tea, and took our charter bus to HongQiao airport. Flew for 3 hours to Kunming. Sat next to Char and Esteban, both of whom are so lively that it helped the three hours fly by. Figured out why my camera could only take 150 photos, and found out how to reformat it so I could take 600+ photos, but I did lose 10 hilarious photos of people doing exercises on the airplane.

Arrived at our hotel, not too far from the airport. Had an hour or so of free time, where Amber and I walked around the pedestrian street to find food, ice cream, and bubble tea. :) Sadly, Amber's camera was drowned in her purse because her water bottle leaked so we headed straight back to the hotel to fix it.

Met up with the 7 Beijing kids, who were all really fun to chat with. We, as the entire Alliance group, walked to dinner at a nearby 'traditional' restaurant where we enjoyed food and live music. More free time thereafter, which included Amber konking out around 8 pm, and me sitting watching some random Chinese tv show.

SUNDAY APRIL 26
Bright and early start to the day. Took the bus to the Stone Forest. Kunming has tons of rock formations, explained to be from continuous fault line activity. At the Stone Forest, a bunch of us decided to go off the beaten path and go rock climbing. I think as I have gotten older, my vertigo has progressed. Rocks...slippery= exciting, but scary.

Had lunch and the afternoon off to walk around Kunming. Had "over the bridge noodles" which consisted of a large bowl of boiling broth, and they give you separate plates of noodles, and ingredients for you to put into the broth, somewhat like hot pot. Tasty.
Ryan, Joe, Kyle, Jake, Shannon and I decided to go find Muslim street, which we never did find, but came across Pet Street. As cute as all the kittens and puppies were, I felt terrible that they were sitting in the hot, hot heat. Of course we all fancifully thought that we would buy them all and free them off the bus while we drove to the airport.

I wish I could describe the streets of Kunming to you. Let's just say that "under construction" signs don't exist. And if they did, NO ONE abides by them. We were walking on half cemented, poorly brick-lain roads. Sewage pipes were sticking out with liquid seeping out...anyway... we headed to the airport for our experience in Xishuangbanna. Got to the hotel rather late, so headed off to bed.

MONDAY APRIL 27
Xishuangbanna!! Definitely my favorite stop on our entire trip.
Woke up bright and early again and headed towards the Mekong river...the group split up to several raft/boats where we would float down the Mekong for the next 2.5 hours. Our boat driver was a sneaky guy and gave us little pans to have water fights with the other rafts. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous and the weather was divine. Not too hot, not too cold, and the best part was that we all got soaked from the water fights. But, where were the super soakers when you needed them?

All the rafts stopped at a random beach along the river where there was a computer and printer set up for people who wanted the guides to take photos...Of course, we all had our own cameras. There was a volleyball net set up so people played a game of like 15 vs 15, yes, a huge volleyball game. Wasn't on the beach long until we got back on the boats to our destination. Omar then took us to the local market where we had some food and others bought dried fruit, extremely cheap fabric, and other goodies.

Took the bus from the market straight to JinHong(sp?), a Dai Village where we stayed at different host families. This was such a neat experience to live and experience the Dai lifestyle. Amy, Lindsey, Leona, Shannon and I were in one host family. That afternoon we hung out with our host mom, her daughter, and son in law. Taught the son-in-law how to play President's and Assholes as well as B.S. He won both games after we taught him how to play... At 5:30, we had an Alliance vs. Dai basketball game. Shannon and I decided to have our own fun and take the son-in-laws moped (with his permission,of course), and rode down the Dai village streets. After a few bugs in the eyes, nose, and mouth, we turned around and headed to the basketball game.
Alliance lost, but not by much.

Had dinner at our host family's house. Yum is the best word to describe it. Then afterward, we headed back to the basketball court to watch a show that the Dai people put on for us, but this didnt go on without Alliance participation. Of course I volunteer for a game, without knowing what's going to happen. 4 guys, 4 girls...rules of the game...Guys blindfolded while girl gets piggyback ride...objective...pop four balloons on the opposite side of the court. Ok..we lost, but didn't cheat!

Got to light these huge lanterns and saw some crazy homemade 'fireworks'.
After an exhausting day we headed back to our homestays where we were covered with mosquito nets for the night, nice.

TUESDAY APRIL 27

TO BE CONTINUED...SOMEDAY

Because I was unable to finish this post...
photos follow! as always...

Back from Hangzhou

I have been back for three days, from my exciting, but short-lived visit to Hangzhou.


Friday
Shannon, Charlotte, and I left for the train around 3pm on Friday, finding out that we paid way too much for a train ticket. Of course, we were seated in the highest class, which really is nothing to complain about for 10USD. We sat by a traveling flute group who ended up entertaining us the entire train ride to Hangzhou. They played their flutes, chatted with us, and sang for us. In return they wanted us to sing a song for them..Sadly, the only song the three of us knew lyrics to was the Star Spangled Banner, and I'll be the first to tell you how embarrassing it was. Especially to have the conductor tell us we were too loud!

Fortunately, all the entertainment on the train ride made 2 hours fly by. When we arrived, we grabbed a taxi towards our Couch Surfing host's house. Took about an hour due to traffic, but after getting confused where we were for 30 minutes, we finally found our lovely homestay. We dropped off our stuff only to then be picked up by my uncle for a dinner with him and his daughter. We walked around the corner to a hotel's restaurant where we feasted on scrumptious food.

Thereafter, we met our host at a local winery, where they were celebrating the one year anniversary of the cellar. Hangzhou's standard of living is much cheaper than that of Shanghai, considering cocktails are priced 15RMB as opposed to 50+RMB of Shanghai's nightlife.

Hitting midnight, I planned to head home first since I was meeting my extended family early in the morning. Shared a soft and comfy king size bed with S and C, and we all slept soundly.


Saturday
Woke up around 8 without disturbing my fellow bunkmates. Visited my aunt and uncle who lived within 5 minutes proximity. My aunt showed me around her apartment complex, which were bountifully filled with flower gardens and beautiful scenery. She then took me to see my grandpa's younger brother and his wife. It's great to see how my grandpa's brothers all look and act alike. Seeing them made me really think of home. Snapped a few photos with them then headed out with my aunt and uncle for a nice lunch north of West Lake.

After they dropped me off, I waited for Shannon and Char to get back from the wondrous American style buffet brunch (extremely jealous after they described what was on their menu). It was already late in the afternoon, but we decided to walk to West Lake (Xi Hu), which was about at 30 minute walk from the apartment. There we, and our host's friend, rented bicycles to ride around the lake. We rented 3 bikes for 20RMB/hour (3USD/bike/hour). I can say, I will never ride a bike in China again. First of all, the tourism in Hangzhou is out of control, especially around West Lake. Second, the traffic is horendous. Put 4 girls single-file biking into the picture, unsure of where they were biking...disastrous. Ok, so it wasn't that bad, but it was definitely dangerous. I would be much safer on my motorcylce in the streets of Northampton.

We walked home after an hour around West Lake and we picked up some Taiwanese dumplings on our way home. I think the most exciting time in Hangzhou was the happenings of this night. Our CS (Couch surfing) host knew a underground music scene in Hangzhou, where local artists would be displaying their art, and a few bands would be playing. It was interesting because Charlotte and I knew one of the bands playing: Boys Climbing Ropes, a band that opened for Hardqueens in Shanghai. There was another band whom all of us loved called Retarded Reptiles; their music was a mix of techno and alternative...quite interesting.
We were getting tired so headed back to the apartment where we all konked out and didn't wake up til morning.


Sunday
I got up early again, around 9 while the other two got up around 11. Unfortunate for us was the weather was dismal: cloudy and rainy. Because the other girls woke up so late and the weather was atrocious, we grabbed lunch at Subway and took a cab to Hangzhou's cheap market. There I bought 4 sweaters 35RMB (~5USD) each, a yellow blazer 60RMB (~9USD), and some necklackes 10RMB (~2USD) all of which got tangled together and are unwearable.

Knowing that our train was at 4:50, we prepared to leave the apartment around 3pm, which on a usual day would give us ample time to arrive at the train station. But of course, there were no taxis willing or able to take us to the station. We stood outside in the rain, lacking umbrellas, with all of our bags, waiting for a cab. Fortunately, I have relatives in Hangzhou, so I called my uncle hoping he could take us to the station. He could, but we waited another 45 minutes for him to drive through what normally would be a 10 minute ride, due to traffic. We got to the train station in one piece at....4:52 pm. Our train had already left.

I went to the ticket office and requested that our tickets be changed...but of course they couldnt because the ticket wasn't a direct way to Shanghai, so I had to get it refunded. I waited in another line to get it refunded, only to find out I could only get the first half of my trip refunded, because it was outgoing from Hangzhou, but the arrival into Shanghai ticket could not be refunded. We were left with 23RMB of an originally 60RMB ticket, each. With that money, I went into yet another ticket line to purchase new tickets to Shanghai, only to be denied when I was two people away from the window...."没有票去上海了" (No more tickets to Shanghai). So we were left with one last option...take an illegal bus back to Shanghai. I definitely did not think it was a good alternative, yet there were many people lined up for it. So, we took out another 40some RMB to pay for the 65RMB bus ticket back to Shanghai. We were all soaked, wearing skirts and shorts, sitting in the back of a charter bus riding through the traffic of Hangzhou back to Shanghai.

Well, I'm home and safe aren't I? Just remind me next time I go to Hangzhou that I should hire a driver.


This upcoming weekend, Alliance is taking the Shanghai Fudan group and the Beijing group to Yunnan. All of us are so excited to go. I am most looking forward to Xishuangbanna because it is considered to be the Hawaii of China. I saw our itinerary and we will be floating down the Mekong river in a raft for three hours. I am so ready for a tan and ready to leave the Shanghai pollution behind!

Until next time.

Bronzed and Back on Track

Well, it's about time for another post. It's been a week since I last indulged you in my physical well-being. I haven't been so well, considering I still have a crazy cough and can't sleep at night sometimes because of it. The doc is definitely too far away, so I don't think its worth it, since he's probably just going to say I have a bacteria infection. As of now, I'm doing well, fortunately, no cold symptoms.

Over the weekend, I met up with my mom's cousin's family. Yay for relatives and Hongbao (Red envelopes= $) Let's just say I probably don't have to visit the ATM any time soon. I met my grandpa's older brother, and they look so much alike! They talk and act the same, too! Learned a lot of family history about my grandpa's family as well. Quite interesting.

Yesterday, we only had an hour of class, and Alliance took us on a field trip to Shanghai's Flower Port. When we got there, I felt I like I was in the Netherlands rather than Shanghai. There was a plethora of tulips, all colors, and all hybrids (stood oddly tall). Spent the day there, and they finally dropped us off back home around 5pm. Ate some MaLa Tang for dinner, then proceeded with next weeks homework.

We got a new book for Chinese class, filled with surpisingly interesting topics. Our first lesson is about the KFC franchise in China and how it is prospering. Our second lesson is going to be about Starbucks. Finally, a good and funfilled textbook!

The weather has just been PERFECT in Shanghai. Today was encroaching on 80 degrees, just a tad bit humid, but nice and sunny. I definitely got my bronze back on, and somewhat of a tan line :( boo. I hate tan lines. Shannon, Charlotte and I went to a travel agency to purchase our train tickets to Hangzhou, which saved us a long trip to the Shanghai South Railway station. Then, I got some passionfruit green tea with coconut jelly and pearls to enjoy out in the sun where I studied for my test and Shannon, Eric, Kyle, and Mike threw a frisbee around.

S, C, and I are taking a train to Hangzhou (about an hour and a half by bullet train). We decided to couch surf this trip because there were no more hostels open. We figure the living situation would be the same if we were in a hostel, but this would be much more comfortable. We're staying with a 23 year old American female who loves boating and art events, sweeet! I will let you know how my first couch surfing experience goes.

I better get back to studying since tonight Shannon, Amber, her two friends from back home, and I are going to Volar to get free manicures and free martinis (I'm in for the manicures) for their Fashion Industry Night promotion.

Tata for now.

Death by Air

As morbid as it sounds, I am pretty sure I have lost 5 years of my life by living in China for a year. I am sitting in Economics class struggling to pay attention because my lymph nodes and lungs are swollen. My lungs and trachea are filled with mucus and I'm having a hard time breathing. Apparently, the three main things that can cause respiratory issues is 1)environment/industrial pollution, 2) cigarette smoke, 3) indoor air pollution...all three of which China facilitates...

Well, just wanted to rant about my physical health. Other than that, I get MSG headaches daily..I think that my time in China is about to expire. Take me back to the States, land of SALADS AND HEALTH NUTS, and real clean air.

Bye Bye Break

So, spring break is coming to a close, and I have not really "relaxed" this entire time. As much as I wanted to get away from the Shanghai pollution, destiny had me stay right where I am. On Monday, Amber and I discussed going to Sanya in Hai Nan Dao, a beautiful region of China, a southern island in the South China Sea. Unfortunately, we checked the weather forecast, and most of the time it was going to be raining with thunderstorms. Even though the tickets to Sanya were cheap, there was no way I was going to spend money on a vacation in a hostel.

Then, we thought about going to HangZhou, which was definitely more plausible, considering you can purchase a train ticket the same day, and it only takes an hour or two to get from Shanghai to HZ. But of course, just my luck. When I went to the ATM machine, the machine rejected my card...even though I have plenty of money in the bank. I called B of A for 3 days but they kept saying that my card was fine, and so was my account. So after Mike left, I was left with 50RMB...so I had to survive off of that amount for four days...Some days I only had one meal and usually it was from sketch alley.

Didn't really do anything eventful except go to a CD release party for a Shanghai band called "HardQueens". At first, the cover band made me feel like I wasted my time and money going, but once HardQueens began to play, I really enjoyed it, minus all the smoke in a completely fire-hazardous club. The music was like punk-rockish Beach Boys. It definitely reminded me of being back in California, where I hear the weather is beautiful right now. Extremely jealous.
Didn't really accomplish much this break, except for submit maybe 10 more internship apps which I will probably get denied, oh wait, already have within the week, lame. I know that I have one already, but who knows what other opportunites there are.

Got hooked on Gossip Girl, which was NOTHING how I expected the show to be, instead it's much better than I imagined. Got hooked on Scrubs too; guess it was a week of new addictions.

The weather forecast for Shanghai is sunny this next week, in the high 60's and tomorrow it will be a high of 70! Pretty excited for the heat, but definitely not the humidity.

I should probably head to bed, considering there is class in the morning...lame since it's a Chinese national holiday tomorrow, and yet my CHINESE teachers, will still be teaching.

Ok. Off to rest.

Spring Break Begins

So Mike just left about an hour ago for the airport :( It was so great of him to come to Shanghai for his spring break, and even though I was still in school...during midterms...we had an amazing time. Thanks to him I finally got to see what Shanghai is all about. On St. Patty's day, a whole lot of us went to Bulldog, some pub in the French Concession. Got to use the billiard skills Mike taught me to win a round of pool :)

We went out that week to see the Shanghai museum, walked the whole day and definitely got shin splints the next day. Showed Mike the Bund, and PuDong at night. Beautiful. Will upload photos. And of course, as weird as we are...we named some buildings. So Shanghai now has a Megatron building and an Optimus Prime building. Yeah..thats what we do when we sit on the subway and rickshaws down to the center city.

Other than sightseeing People's Square, the Bund, and of course my favoritie place...(the fake market). We only had 2 more little adventures to Shanghai's Old Town, where ChengHuang Miao (temple) is. The first time we went was on a whim. We jumped on the first bus towards that direction and hoped to get off on the right stop. Of course it starts to rain that day...and we don't find what we are looking for. Two days later (this recent Wed) we hop on the same bus from People's Square and we find what we are looking for..You may ask...what in the world were we looking for...

THIS. is what we were looking for:







This one is mine. Mike's is black with a red trim. OF course I paid too much, which is unlike my bargaining skills, but this old couple is the ONLY one in the entirety of tourism that can cut personalized paper. It sounds so weird...I know. But looooook, its us! Haha. We look like aliens...and it doesn't realllllly look like us, but it definitely looks a lot better than the normal ones that they sell on the side of the road...where all of them look asian and chubby.

I see Shanghai in a totally new light now. I guess I was a little depressed that Shanghai was not like Beijing, but realized that I enjoyed Beijing so much because Mike always wanted to see what the city was about. Now that I have seen a lot more of Shanghai, I definitely enjoy it's own characteristics. It's still a very different city, and now that Mike's gone I probably won't see it as much, but at least I know where all the districts are now.

Took my Chinese midterm yesterday, not to sure how I did on it, but I studied the entire week last week, and have over 200 vocab phrases memorized through recognition and can write them all...It's actually quite scary if I say so myself. I am definitely learning a lot more Chinese here than I did last semester. I don't know if it's because of my sticky notes though...I will have to upload a photo for you all to see.

Almost down to the floor with words!

Well...time to clean my room. Happy spring break to me :(

Back in the Mix

Hi again.
It's been about a week. I'm getting back into the habit of forgetting to update about my life adventures in Shanghai. Fortunately for my sanity, there hasn't been too much going on this week. I have updated my photos on Picasa, so you can click on the link and find all the pictures from Nanjing and my birthday dinner!

Recent news.
I have been somewhat overwhelmed with JUCCCE work, but fortunately my boss wants to hire an event management group, YAY! She has been so accommodating and the greatest person to work with.

Was sick this past week...ate something wrong, and I know what it was...but I'm sure I'll be back for more. Got to give a shout out to my roommate, Amber, for supplying the Pepto. ;)

MIKE IS FLYING IN TODAY!!!!!!!!!! I AM SO EXCITED TO SEE HIM. It has been 6 weeks since I last saw him, and I can't believe he is on a plane right now to Shanghai, from Chicago, as I type! I just hope that I can free up some time from work, I know I have a few meetings while he's here, and let me say these meetings don't run short.

GOT AN INTERNSHIP OFFER FROM NORDSTROM IN CALIFORNIA! Stoked. Still waiting on Seattle (HQ) and Kellogg in LA. We will see what happens. No longer in my hands.

Older News
Nanjing was an experience. Period.
So much to see in 2.5 days.

Day 1
On Friday, we took a bus from Shanghai to Nanjing -- 4 hours! Had lunch by a place near our hotel. The hotel was chic, black and white ensemble with silver trim, tacky but subtle Burberry wallpaper in the shower, and Audrey Hepburn photos plastered on the walls. I guess a photo will help describe this uber chic set up.



After a 10 minute rest in our rooms, we headed to Sun Yat Sen's Mausoleum, where his body is "buried". The area had a nice scenic view of Nanjing, as well as amazing cherry blossoms....the kind my dad has tried to achieve in our yard for years :)

Headed to dinner, where the restaurant was decorated with full-scale living trees, with red lanterns hanging from the branches. The food was amazing, as all Chinese food is after a long day. After dinner, whoever wanted to see the Confusion temple could go. I was quite disappointed with it as it was completely decked out in tacky Christmas-esque lights. Not worth 20RMB.

Amber and I conked out at 10. Haha.

Day 2
We had a nice breakfast buffet at the hotel. Had some rare GREENS! Afterward, we walked to Sun Yat Sen's presidential palace. Got to talk to one of my professors about my Great grandpa (mom's side) and his relation to Sun Yat Sen and Chiang Kai Shek. After further research, I have found out that my Great grandfather was Chiang Kai Shek son's best friend and a reknown military leader. Coooooool.

Our lunch consisted of ALL veggies. Can someone say...FINALLY! My tummy was much happier after that meal. I have missed my veggies for the past 2 months.

Went to Nanjing's city wall, one of the largest city walls in the world. Didn't think much about it while walking along the wall...however, there were rock climbing walls and small roller coaster-ish parks off of the wall. Reminded me of Xi'an's wall and the Great wall combined.

BANG FOR PEACE! haha. Got to ring the bell for peace before we headed to meet the monks. Had a nice Q&A session with a few monks, including one from Italy residing in Nanjing.

A group of us decided to go to the Nanjing massacre museum. As expected, it moved a lot of us emotionally. I do not want to talk much about what I saw. The images were graphic and the stories were horrific. I could not imagine the terror in the street of Nanjing at that time.

To liven up the mood, many people wanted to celebrate my birthday early, so we went out to Hot pot at the 1912 district across from our hotel, reminded me of XinTianDi of Shanghai (little Europe). Then we headed out to Club V, half bar, "half" club. Stayed until 1, while others stayed until 4, GET SOME SLEEP PEOPLE!


Day 3
Breakfast buffet again, yum. Went to Pearl S. Buck's old house. She was an American writer who grew up in China and wrote many stories relating to Chinese history and culture. Toured the old city roads of Nanjing, which if not partially a tourist trap, would have really enjoyed. They were somewhat like Beijing's Hutongs.

Back to Tonghe apartments!

BIRTHDAY
Who said that Mondays aren't a good day for birthdays? Well whoever said it was WRONG. Went to class that morning surprised by a beautiful white chocolate, heart-shaped birthday cake. Of course I split it with my classmates because what kind of birthday is it if you don't share with your friends!

For some reason I had spring cleaning fever that afternoon, because I cleaned my entire apartment. Perhaps because I was already eagerly awaiting Mike's arrival. Got ready at 5 for my birthday dinner, where I celebrated along with 20 of my Alliance friends at Blue Frog, an amazing hamburger restaurant. Ordered the Montana BBQ burger, and it was divine. How I had been craving for a burger for the longest time! Thank you to EVERYONE who came to celebrate my 21st, the ENTIRE weekend. I was planning on lounging in my bed...but you all convinced me to go out and I really appreciate it!


LOVE FROM THE FAR EAST!

Happy Birthday to Me

So, there are a lot of photos and some videos that I will post up from Nanjing, but in the meantime:

HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY TO ME!

bahaha. Ok..until next time.

Relax. Take it Easy.

Hello comrades!

I am currently sitting in Politics class typing this little brief about my past two weeks. Life has been hectic! Who knew that part time work would surmount to every last free minute of my time being consumed? I certainly didn't. Although, I am gaining the best experience out of any job I have ever had. Currently, I'm working on site location, invitations and contact lists, and budgetary planning for our event. And of course, as all tasks are-- uncertain, JUCCCE changes the date of our event...to my FINALS week! Talk about being overwhelmed.

I had a 2 hour conference call yesterday morning, since Economics was canceled. Then had another hour conference call in the afternoon. Didn't get much accomplished because I pretty much had to teach one of the directors how to use "Smart Sheet" (an online organizer, database, file sharing) over the phone! That took up most of the time. Fortunately, I am getting a lot accomplished in a short amount of time. I have taken a look at our contact list and noticed a lot of high-level managers coming to this event. Glad to know that I am the first to contact them about the event, and the first to receive their response. Networking!

As for some more good news, I found the REAL fake market. Haha, oxymoron. This place looks like a deparment store on the outside, but inside, it is identical to Beijing's Silk Market, minus the hoards of foreigners. Of course, it is still a tourist trap, but prices start MUCH lower than in Beijing. So...I bought 5 LeSportSac bags:a computer bag with a computer sleeve for 55RMB (~$8), a large overnight bag for 40RMB (~$6) and 3 pocket bags...wait actually 4, each 5RMB (less than $1). They have clothing, designer bags, sunglasses, jewelry, the list goes on. I also had to buy a rain jacket, so I bought a knock off Peak Performance. Their fake North Face sucked...but then I heard real North Face isn't that great either, so I went with Peak. Great purchase too, around $10.

This morning, had a Chinese test, I know...on a Thursday. Waited for my teacher to correct my test, and I got a 93...one point better than last time! Although... we had maybe 100 vocab phrases, and I memorized how to write all of them... so I'm pretty proud of myself...You should see what my wall looks like now! I will take a photo in about a week or two when it's more sticky noted. I'm pretty happy with that score, since I was woken up by Kellogg at 5 AM THIS MORNING, for a second interview, which is tonight at midnight. SUPER. At this point, I realize I do best on interiews if I DON'T prepare. I get the 2nd interviews when I wing it and act myself, not rehearsed. We'll see how it goes, maybe I'll be spending summer in Los Angeles. Still hoping for Nordstrom's in Seattle, HQ baby! Don't hear from them until mid-March though.

For a treat, tonight we're going to watch 2 episodes of Band of Brothers. I LOVE THIS SHOW! Sad to know there is only 1 season.

Tomorrow morning, we're heading out to Nanjing for the weekend. Not exactly sure what we'll be doing there...but I'm sure it'll be a nice break from work! I'll make sure to watch my things, unlike in Xi'an. I'll probably be celebrating my birthday in Nanjing, since my birthday is this upcoming Monday...boo, I have class on my birthday.

It's okay. I get the best present of all. Mike is coming out in 10 days! My parents shipped a brand new macbook for him to bring out to me too. Thank you mom & dad! I love you! Happy birthday to me.

That's all for now...haha so this post was not so brief.

I got a JOB!

Hey all,

So today was pretty eventful.
I woke up at 7:30am for a phone interview with Nordstrom CA at 8. Found out that it was the only interview I would have with them and I find out mid-March if I am accepted or not.
Then I met with the CEO of JUCCCE, at a hair salon...because she was getting her hair done.
Of course, I went expecting to interview for an internship position, but right when I got there, she started having me take notes for an event coming up in Shanghai for me to plan. Apparently, she just hired me as an event planning general manager. I am planning an event for 100+ VIPs from the States and China, sponsors including Pricewaterhouse, McKinsey, IBM, the list going on.
As much as I am excited, I'm also quite nervous. I have planned events before, but not for such high ranking peeps. I hope I can juggle this as well as my school work, which fortunately hasn't been too overwhelming. My Google calendar is going to LOVE me...because it will finally be used intensely.

After my meeting at the hair salon, she had her driver drive me to meet Amber on Book street, where she and I just browsed at books, and I bought a few postcards for all you special people back in the States. Be expecting a postcard in the next few.....months...maybe never because the mail service is oh so trust worthy.

Amber and I ended up on food street or 小吃街。 Ok, so I was stupid and saw oysters (I die for seafood) and decided to buy two...so yes, I did get a little sick, but Pepto saved my life for the second time this week. I'll just say my excuse for eating these things is to build my stomachs immune system! We got some lamb and beef chuan(r) too. But of course, we decided to get some froyo too from cefiora (an italian brand of pinkberry) and eat it at the same time...That definitely did not help the stomach ache.

So the subway ride home was not the most fun, but we took a Rickshaw from our subway stop back to our apartment for 6 kuai (<1USD) but it was scary as ever! But I guess, also fun. I would definitely take one again...if you wanted to give me a helmet first...maybe a seatbelt...and a life insurance plan.

Right when we got back, we went downstairs one floor to Tim's apt where he was hosting Lindsey G's birthday pre-party. Of course they all went out to M2, where I was planning on going tonight, but work calls! So, HAPPY BDAY LINDSEY.

Anyway, that's it for today. I have some stuff for JUCCCE to work on already, as well as a long shower, and finally I can hit the sack. It's been a long day, but most definitely an eventful one.

First Test in Shanghai

So I've been in Shanghai for a little over two weeks now, and have already switched Chinese classes, managed to get a bad haircut, and have become stressed to the max. Of course, I should be studying for my first Chinese test of the semester. I have been, but I think it's time for a break. I've been studying for the past hour and I came up with the most genius idea to decorate my wall. I'm in China...why not decorate my wall with sticky notes of Chinese vocab, grammar, and idioms. Haha!! After putting up one week's worth of words and sentences, I don't think that I'll be able to fit the entire semester up on my wall. Although it is my plan and I might just be put into the Guinness book of world records for most Chinese sticky notes placed on a wall. I will have to post a picture:

Doesn't it look like the periodic table...in Chinese?

Anyway. I am still trying to get an internship while I am here. I have had some luck with JUCCCE, Joint US-China Cooperative for Cleaner Energy, a fairly new company with a sky rocketing market plan. I'm meeting with the CEO on Saturday at some coffee shop, at a subway stop I've never been to, so tomorrow after my Chinese test, I'm going on an adventure to find this place, so I won't get lost on Saturday!

Well, I thought I should post, since I had a little free time (haha) and I was just proud of myself for my ingenious idea of making some wall decor that was beneficial to my studies.

在见for now. oops I mean 再见...thanks Angela. BAHAHA.

Asian Haircut

So a new week begins, and one would think a new week, a fresh start. Unfortunately, for me, it did not work that way. I have been having difficulty with my own self- evaluation these past few days whether it be my language skill, my long-distance relationship, or just my self- image. Just yesterday, I went out to get my nails done, and the lady didn't know what she was doing. Then, I went to go get a haircut, and I just wanted to have a trim because my posh bob was growing out too long. I even brought in a picture for them to look at. My roommate came along with me and witnessed the horror. Although, she thinks my haircut is cute. I think, I look like a boy. They layered WAY too much so that my hair is like form cut to the shape of my head. I want to go get it recut, but its already so short, that if I didn't like the re-cut, I'd have to live with the problem for a long time! No, I am not going to post a picture. I feel so dumb with this haircut, and wish that my hair would grow out already. Shoot me now, or just buy me some extensions.

I brought this photo, and my hair was perfect for this cut at the time:

This is the cut that my hair turned out, mind you it looks better on this woman. Still not a flattering do:

What in the world was the hairdresser thinking. How does this look the same?
I guess you get what you pay for....10kuai cut. He was skilled...just didnt seem to get my picture.

Valentine's Day

So, I'll tell you that my Valentine's day did not start off how I would have liked. But, as they say, poop happens. However, I did have a phone interview with Nordstrom in Seattle this morning and was offered a second interview on the spot. I guess that was a saving grace as I was still upturned by the horrible night I had the night before, of Friday the 13th. I'll just say my eyes are still puffy from the distraught. Long-distance relationships are tough, but if they are worth it, happiness will come at the end.

Tonight, a few of us ladies are heading to Xintiandi, the expat area, to buy a Raspberry Love biscuit, that Amber has been drooling over in the "That's Shanghai" magazine. The ex-pat area is gorgeous by night, so expect many pictures coming your way. Although my heart has sank from what seems like "marital" issues, the night on the town with my lovely ladies will keep my mood upbeat. I'm not sure if we'll have dinner out there because it is quite pricey for us "Chinese" students, so maybe we'll just eat their for dessert. I am kind of expecting a) the biscuit is overpriced or b) it doesn't taste as good as it looks or c)both.

This is for the men out there, treat your woman right tonight. What the heck, treat her right all the time. You don't want to end up lonely and in love like the rest of us over here in the Tonghe apartments. Guard their heart, because although us women are a fickle species, we ALWAYS like to be treat right. Sweet dreams and Happy Valentine's Day.

Rant, not.

So I was planning on ranting out all my feelings today, since they were all pent up. I was originally extremely upset with my placement in my Chinese class, because I found out that I was practically retaking the same class I did in Beijing. However, Alliance did a great job in accommodating my worries of being challenged, and opened up a new class for me and two other girls, whom were both under-challenged as well. Thank you Alliance! Although I would have liked to move back to Beijing, especially after speaking with Omar about how there are only 7 students! But that plan has come and gone, so here I sit in my lovely, spacious room doing my, yet again, extensive homework. I've also heard that the Sociology class in Shanghai is pretty eventful. Kind of wish I was taking it this semester. Instead, I fill my hours in Economics and Politics, which aren't bad either.

I'm not sure what the plan is for dinner, but I'm sure it will be delightful. As it always is. And yes, I have my Hep A shot. :)

Yet another day in the Shanghai (clouded with smog) sun.

Latern Festival

Happy Lantern Festival, all. Although I wish I were out in People's Square tonight, I'm going onto my 5th hour of homework right now. Ergo, I must keep this post quite short. First day of classes went surprisingly quickly. I went from bottom of Advanced 400 class in Beijing to top of the Advanced 500 class in Shanghai. Already learned some of the things in the book from last semester, however the homework is so much more extensive and is all busy work, but it's helping!

I don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight because there are so many fireworks going off nearby, causing car alarms to sound as well. HELLOOOO, I AM A CARRRRR - Dane Cook.

Went to Wal-Mart today, for basic needs. Of course, stopped along the way at Tea Storm, a franchise Pearl Milk Tea shop. Had my usual Milk Green tea, but had some awesome green tea pearls this time. Had dinner with Amber, Lindsey, Eric and Jake and only spent 5RMB (~75cents?) on dinner, which consisted of XiaoLongBao, JiaoZi, and eggrolls.

Bought a phone today too! Suggestion to those who lose phones quickly, as I do: Buy a used phone from the side of the road (chances are they are lost, aka stolen phones) So today, I bought a nice motorola phone, color screen, slider with the SIM card for 260 kuai (~40bucks) when other ppl went to "legit" stores and bought theirs for 400RMB and was a very simple heyday phone, black text and nothing special. Just word to the wise, from the wise!

Lantern & Fireworks love from the far east!

From Shanghai

Sleepless Night One

It's been a while now hasn't it? Well I'm back in China, but this time in Shanghai. Its approx 4 in the morning and I can't get to bed because I'm freezing my tush off in my room. I arrived a little late, so the group went to dinner without me, so I only got to meet my roommate last night. We're both late risers, good job Alliance.

Well, I've just now decided to keep this post short. I will upload photos of my apartment tomorrow.
The digs are SWEET by the way! Very different from Beijing, but much more spacious!

Night, for now.