beijing (part 4): treking through history -- epic last days in

The last 2 days in Beijing

On Saturday, I opted out of going to the Great Wall with my teacher and a couple classmates. Instead, I decided to SLEEP IN. Although that was as an epic fail, because I woke up at 6am, wondering WHY I was awake, and tossed around in bed until 8am --when my classmate woke me up fully by telling me he wanted to eat brunch. I told him to give me a few, so I could shower and get ready. By 9am, we were all ready, so me, Tim and Wes took a taxi to get to GuoMao (huge skyscrapers, fancy hotels, expensive shopping area). In a hotel, there's a restaurant that served buffet breakfast. IT WAS THE MOST EXPENSIVE BREAKFAST I EVER ATE IN MY LIFE. The 3 of us = 717 RMB, which is about $113.7.  No doubt it was good. They make anything you want and it's all fresh. Not only that, but they make fresh juice, and smoothies upon request.

Yes, the green juice is cucumber juice :)

After munching down breakfast, I took the subway to meet my uncle. We went to the Old Summer palace, a place I've been to in 2002, but haven't been back since. So I thought it'd be interesting to go. It was bigger than I remembered, but then again the last time I was there we only went to a small section of it.

So basically this entire place comprises of the Old Summer Palace. It's even bigger than the Forbidden City. The Old Summer Palace was destroyed in 1860 when European soldiers set the entire place ablaze. Only a few things remained, including the Xi Yang Lou, which are buildings constructed in the European Style -- since those were made of stone and not wood.

so pretty

One of the ruins, a partially destroyed bridge

Labyrinth

Labyrinth

Very pretty and would be prettier if it were during spring or summer. I'm glad I got this chance to go back to see it again.

That night, we had a MIIS alumi event which we all attended. It was for the 25th anniversary of the Chinese Translation and Interpretation program. It was nice meeting new people, eating and having fun. Oh also, my friend with whom I had studied abroad with was passing through Beijing that day before transferring to Taiwan the next day. So he managed get ahold of me via public telephone at the airport, got a one-day visa. I was scared that I might not find him (since he doesn't have a cellphone), so I gave him step by step instruction on how to get out of the airport. Then afterwards, I raced out of the event, took the subway to get to the transfer station. Lo and behold, he was the second person to get on the escalators.

And there he is, having his first meal after the flight. It was such a coincidence that this happened, but I'm glad it did.

So there goes a week in Beijing. Intensive, stressful, fun and awesome. Being it my first professional experience, I think it went pretty well!

Cheers to the next upcoming adventures. I'll never know what God has in store for me next, but I'm happily following Him wherever He'll take me.

beijing (part 2): found in translation

March 20^th, 2012

Second day of the program. I think the jetlag is still going through its rounds in most of us students. I keep falling asleep during all the car rides. And I’m really tired right now, so I’m really trying to finish writing this before I pass out on my bed.

Anyways – I forgot to mention one thing yesterday. In the afternoon at CACDA, there was a guy there with red sunglasses that looked exactly like the late North Korean leader. It was kind of uncanny.

Ok, this morning was pretty interesting as we were able to visit the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today. All three participates from the Ministry were visiting scholars at MIIS. One of the ladies there talked super fast. One of them asked us to tell them about our topic – which sounded a like thesis to me, as if I were going for a PhD…. Not yet! I’ve just barely begun my Master’s. And speaking of our topic..I really need to get on with my presentation practice. Everyone’s like “oh, I’m not worried about your speaking skills.” And I’m like, “….”  

Getting ready at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Lunch was an easy affair, with lots of veggies and noodles. I stopped by a pharmacy to pick up some throat drops as it was starting to feel uncomfortable. The lack of sleep and stress from the past couple of weeks has been taking a toll on my immune system. It doesn’t help that I haven’t been working out in quite a bit. I’ve also been having stress dreams – which also doesn’t help my sleep quality.

NOMNOM

Yes, that's couchsurfing for you

The afternoon activity was at the Center for American Studies in which the Professor discussed the issue of nonproliferation and China’s stance on that particular issue. Oh and I’ve been told twice today that I don’t look Chinese…..  @___@ Seriously? The answer I’ve been getting is either I’m from out of the country or I’m an ethnic minority. Actually it’s kind of fun to mess with people’s minds.

Alright – I am going to make this short and go to sleep (and maybe, just maybe, not need caffeine tomorrow?)

Here’s to the 3^rd day  --- 

March 21^st, 2012

We’ve hit the middle mark of the program! Even though we didn’t have too much on our plate today, most of everyone was wiped out. On the car ride from our hotel to 798 Art area, almost everyone fell asleep during the half hour ride. This morning, we got to go to the Center for Chinese reform to meet with General Pan. What really amused me were the two statements made by the General. He said that Americans are really…stupid and that America is like a kid that can’t grow up. It amused me to no end because in some ways, what he said was rational. The general just said that instead of spending money outside the country, we really should be using that money to fix internal problems, to finance education, to fix infrastructure or social programs.

It was actually a warm bottle

You know you want some birthday cake flavor

 So I had a bottle of coffee this morning, then proceeded to have a shot of espresso in the afternoon, followed by a cappuccino. My caffeine addiction shall be the death of me. I really need to go on a detox when the semester is over in May. It doesn’t help that even though this week is spring break for us, we’re not really on break. I’m still lacking in the sleep department and my entire body is sore from being tired. I feel like a creaking door hinge that needs to be oiled. @_@ Just another symptom of all the working piling up. I have a test next week. Lovely, ain’t it? Not only that but I also have a paper due. I’ve already pushed back the deadline…so it would be nice to actually get it done.

Today’s afternoon program, I really enjoyed. Contemporary art is a growing interest I have, so looking at all the things was really interesting. I picked up a few things for myself and friends. Also, in the shops today, one person told me that I looked extremely Korean…that the vibe I give off is…Korean. Another sales person told me I look like I’m a foreigner, or from Hong Kong. Seriously, what’s with the last trip to China and this one? Somewhere between 2010 and now, I’ve changed? Maybe it was my trip to France that gave me a different vibe? I don’t know.

I got to climb on this structure

My friend says Wes, the guy in shades behind me looks like a creeper XD

I walked by myself today during the 798 Art Area, and I found myself enjoying my solitary walks. Ear buds in, music on, makes me feel like I’m back in France again. Being alone makes me contemplate, and I find myself praying or just having a conversation with God. I like it.

I’ve been eating enough to last me for about a month, I think. When I get back to the states, I really need to get back into shape. The money that my grandmother and uncle gave me can help me pay for a gym membership. I’d love to get back into playing the piano again but I don’t have one in Monterey. Perhaps I’ll bring my guitar back. My best friend keeps telling me I should invest in a punching bag. Maybe.

I’m learning a ton of new things here…it feels like an intensive course for nonproliferation and I like it.  A lot.

  

beijing (part 1) : run, run, as fast as you can!

I'm back from Beijing and not really looking forward to classes starting. Hooray for jetlag again! Anywho, my adventure begins on Wednesday the 14th:

First morning back in China. Back in the city of my birth and to my grandparents… it’s currently 7:35am, and I just heard a rooster crow. The plane ride was relatively smooth, except the dude who was next to me kept on snoring. And all the Chinese guys kept on asking for rounds of beer…AGAIN. Oh, and not to mention a middle-aged Chinese lady kept on asking for rum….to go with her coke. Needless to say, she had the severe case of the Asian glow during the ride.  I struck up with a conversation with a guy from Michigan, who is going to Taizhou (near Shanghai) to teach English for a year. Rare to find someone who wants to go to Russia just as badly as I do. I got both of us through customs and find our next leg of journey. Since both of us were taking Air China, I got checked in and told him to go this place to get checked in the next day. He had a long layover – 15 hours. Afterwards, we sat down at Costa Coffee and had a much needed double-shot espresso.

So, I was just handed to what I thought was a scarf. Turns out to be fur…fox fur to be exact. At first I thought it was fake fur, something to play with. It was actually real fox fur… @_@ I’m actually pretty against real fur…..although I don’t think I’ve ever touched a dead animal--- makes me feel like Cruella De Ville. Apparently, my grandmother thought my sister would love it, which is probably true…except now I’m wondering if I can actually carry it with me on the plane. I can just imagine the conversation now:

Going through security….

Security dude:  “Er….huh….there’s something mysterious looking in that luggage…..

WHO’S BAG IS THIS?”

Me: “Er, that would be mine….”

SD: “There’s something in your luggage that looks like……A DEAD ANIMAL?”

Me:  “……”

SD: “Can you open your bag please?”

Me: “Sure”

*Opens bag….and promptly tossing the fox fur at him to scare the crap out of him….

---ends convo----

Right, anyways. Since I’m only spending one day in my hometown, I’m going to make the most of it. Might as well not be sleeping tonight, since I’ll probably be spending time with my cousin (and because we love scaring the crap out of each other). Great sisterly bond, eh? I still remember that conversation I had with her…

Cousin: “Hey…so I was wondering….”

Me: “…yes?”

Cousin: “When are you getting boyfriend/husband?”

Me: “…… uh. What?”

Cousin: “Yeah, I really want a brother-in-law”

Me: “….”

I’m actually pretty excited about this nonproliferation program in Beijing. I head off to Beijing tomorrow morning, and my aunt and uncle will be picking me up from the airport. My aunt is taking me to get a facial J. Can’t say no to that! So I’ll be meeting up with the rest of my classmates tomorrow evening. They will be all suffering from jetlag….and I’ll be comfortably not suffering from jetlag…OR NOT. I was looking forward to sleeping on the plane – and I did, but apparently, I need a lot more sleep than that to overcome my sleep deprivation. This is going to be so much fun when I get back to Monterey --- THE DAY BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS. 

It’s actually snowing lightly here….. and there’s still frozen snow on the ground. Kind of cool, eh? Cold, yes, but nothing I’m not used to.

On finishing my last trip to China last year, I did say, cheers to the next voyage. Well, here it is ---- May God grant this trip to be fulfilling, full of learning, and fun things. I also hope that all of us will be healthy and safe.

March 17th: So, I was supposed to get on the plane at 8h30 for Beijing and get there around 9h35, except our flight was delayed until further notice because of fog in both cities. Then one by one, they cancelled all flights to Beijing for the day except ours. So, another girl going to Canada and I feared that we would never leave, so we ended up taking a taxi to the train station and getting extremely lucky to find someone who helped us buy tickets and get on that train. It took 5 hours to get to the Beijing and my generous uncle and aunt came to pick me up. We had dinner and finally got to my hotel.

Beijing in the snow

March 18th

What a way to wake up this morning at 4am, still jet lagged and waiting for the sun to rise. Instead, I opted for some further bedtime and listened to music, as my roommate hasn’t arrived yet. Finally 2 hours later, I got up, got ready, got a call from my professor about breakfast and went to meet her and Angelica for breakfast! Oh, and apparently it snowed last night. I got to see Beijing blanketed in white snow; beautiful, light layer of snow, even the trees were covered in the cold flakes. At 7am, we went to KFC for their awesome, delicious breakfast. I spent a grand total of 17RMB on soymilk, porridge, fried dough, and egg tart. It was delicious. And after that, we stopped by a street vendor and bought some buns!

I almost ran a bit late after getting back to our hotel since everyone was supposed to meet downstairs at 8:30am. Although we had gotten back at 8am, I got caught up watching a super old Jackie Chan movie. After everyone convened downstairs in the lobby, we all gotten on the bus and started our adventure. The driver dropped us off near a Christian Church to meet another teacher who was Professor Dai’s classmate. The place we met was called Qianmen Tianjie. The teacher told us the point of meeting there was to show us the mixture of modern and traditional Beijing. Walking from Tianjie to the actual Qianmen, some of us were enticed by the street vendors selling Tang hulu (Sugared Hawberries). As we got closer to Qianmen, some of us also stopped by starbucks and had some much needed caffeine. I opted for a double-shot espresso, since caffeine makes me go to the bathroom like crazy.

Tim, being his usual crazy self

Tourist-ing

The trip through Qianmen led us to Tiananmen Square where some of us wanted to see Mao’s embalmed body, but they weren’t opened. The larger-than-life Mao portrait hung at the center of the building in the Tiananmen Square staring at the bunch of foreign people gracing him with our presence. We all did the tourist dance around the Tiananmen square and headed to the Forbidden Palace. It’s been awhile since I’ve been to the palace but I do remember it.  We entered the one of the biggest squares in the palace just before the Taiheguan. The paved streets are very intricate designed to hinder assassins from digging a hole from outside into the palace. The Taiheguan is used only about 3 times; once during the ascension of a new emperor, the emperor’s birthday and the emperor’s wedding. A bunch of us wandered off by ourselves because we keep losing our group. Luckily, I have a cell phone so we had contact with our professor so we were able to always get together. Although I had visited the palace before, having someone actually tell you the history without reading about it was kind of refreshing and I learned a lot more to add to my collection of knowledge on the Forbidden palace. Oh, and it was funny to walk around the city with foreign students. One Chinese guy accidently bumped into me and said “ sorry” in English. I looked at him and said, “ it’s ok” in Chinese. He was surprised and said he thought I was a foreigner. I was like, are you kidding me? Don’t I look Chinese to you? He said it was because I was with a bunch of Americans, so he mistook me for a foreigner. If I could make my face like this @___@, I would do it. Also, many people thought it was funny that Americans can speak Chinese. One would have thought that encounters with so many foreigners especially in a big city like Beijing, many Chinese people would get used it. But I guess one shouldn’t have so many expectations despite the fact that this is the country of my birth.

After exiting the palace through the Shenwumen, we went off on an epic search for lunch.

Lunch was an epic affair, in which we had spent 74 RMB for 4 people, we went to the hutongs, finally separating to meet at Gulou street at 5pm. Some of us went shopping and I picked up a few small things for my friends and myself. By the time it got closer to 5, most of us were cold and tired but definitely not hungry because there were so many street vendors that a few others and I couldn’t resist ourselves. I had so much food today that I possibly can’t stomach any more, much less dinner.

When all of us reunited at 5pm the Professors gave us 3 options; first was to go to the Bird’s Nest and the Water cube and actually see it. The second option was to pass by it by car and then go back to the hotel. The last option was just going straight back to the hotel. Most of us opted for the second option because we were just too tired to walk but wanted to see more of Beijing. Finally, we got back around 6:30pm. My roommate and I went straight upstairs and jumped on our beds. And now she’s taking a shower while I catch up on my blog posts. An epic first day. Tomorrow, we officially start our program. I hope that everyday is going to be filled with new things to learn, unexpected things to happen (good things of course) and challenges for me handle. 

And that concludes the first part of the trip in Beijing. :)

countdown to beijing

Another countdown until the day I land in the Middle Country once more? :) Well, I'm happy to be back in the country of my birth. With that said, 5 more days! But seriously, wait, I'm not ready yet! I have many things to do before actually leaving on Wednesday the 14th. People keep asking me if I'm excited. Well I am, but it hasn't fully hit me yet. I think it will when I'm actually on the plane flying a couple thousands of feet in the air. The above picture is what's awaiting me in Beijing...as well as good food. I can't wait to eat the food there.

NOMNOM

1. I have midterm in nonproliferation class
2. I have a Chinese presentation to do
3. I have work
4. I have to prepare for a French presentation
5. I have meetings to attend
6. I was also supposed to have a French essay due as well, but I've asked for an extension...so that's taken care of.

So where are all these things coming from??? I wish I knew. Still, it's a good thing I'm keeping busy. I can't say I don't like it because deep down inside, I really do like it.

Taking some time today away from studying, my friend and I went to Del Monte Shopping center to the apple store. You're looking at an apple owner :) I bought a 13 inch macbook air and I think I'm currently having a love affair with it. It has such a nice texture, I love it. Based on the amount I spent on PCs in the past 5 years, it probably would have been more expensive than the mac I bought and would have lasted just as long. So, this is a good investment.

I just applied for the Summer Intensive language program for Russian here again. We're hoping to get more people so we can form a class. Anyone interested, either beginning or intermediate, REGISTER NOW: www.miis.edu. We need more people! It's such a good program and you learn like no other. Intense, yes, but totally worth it.

I am currently a little frustrated at someone right now. I mean, she's a great person, just hard to see someone who's your friend being a little self-destructive (even though she doesn't think she is). 莫名其妙。

Anyways, I need to finish my lovely Chinese presentation. Who needs sleep? Ahaha, I can sleep on the plane. I think that's one of the best things I'm looking forward to.

5 more days. YES.

last day in Beijing

Today, I went to the Capital museum in the morning. I think the Chinese government did quite an impressive job renovating this museum; the building and the content are quite nice. The only thing is that most of the descriptions are in Chinese, and only in Chinese. There are very few descriptions in English.  But overall, I found the museum quite informational, filled with interesting facts. They were also doing a temporary exhibition on the Ming Dynasty on Emperor Wanli and artifacts from the 13 Ming Tombs. This is a very interesting emperor. He became the emperor around the age of 10. His mother, the empress Dowager and a person of an important rank called Zhang Juzheng helped him govern his country. So when this Zhang person died, he decided to do things his way. Finally one day, he decided that going to work every morning to meet with his ministers was boring so he stopped going to work for 20 years. Oddly enough this was the time when the Ming Dynasty flourished the most in terms of its economy, culture, and literature.

The second floor consisted of a timeline of the history of Beijing from 221 AD to the present. There was also a separate room talking about the communist revolution in 1949. On the other side of the wall, is the timeline of the world. So, this was a quite interesting exhibition.

After the museum, I went to see the Bird’s nest, where they held the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics. I also visited the place where they held the swimming competition, where Michael Phelps won 8 gold medals. There is also a water park there, which I’m sure I would have leaped into the water had I brought my swimming suit.

Saw a whole bunch of these people walking around

After that, I went shopping, but I really couldn’t buy any more stuff because I can’t put it into my suitcase anymore.

So there goes my few epic days in Beijing. I’m going to drink some wine with my aunt. Here’s to the next voyage, wherever it may be in the future, or the near future. It is back to the states, back to studying and my daily life. 

so much learning in so little time

Ok, I have one more full day in Beijing and a half day on Wednesday.

Yesterday, after arriving at Beijing, I headed to the Tiananmen square. We made it just in time for the taking down of the flag, so my uncle and I stayed to watch that. 

Soldiers marching in to take down the flag. Traffic was stopped in all directions

Tiananmen square in its splendor

After that, we went to the DaShiEr, streets filled with traditional Beijing food and cultural things. There’s a old silk store, and right across the street is the traditional shoe store. My aunt bought a pair of shoes for me there. It’s quite comfortable. After that we just wandered around the streets, with my aunt and uncle occasionally buying me something to eat.

Today:

The first destination was Tiantan: The Temple of Heaven. It was constructed in 1406-1420 under the Yongle Emperor of the Ming dynasty. Later on, the Jiaqing Emperor during the 16^th century expanded it. Today, it is a UNESCO world heritage site. 

constructed in 1530 during Jiajing's era, this circular mound was used to hold the ceremony for worshiping Heaven during the winter solstice. The steps of each leading flight, the slabs of each tier are 9, or in multiples of 9, symbolizing the 9 layers of heaven and emphasizing its supreme importance

The circular structure that the only the Emperor could stand on to worship to the heaven

The Imperial Hall of  Prayer

Stone step reserved only for the Emperor. The clouds symbolizing the bottom level. The phoenix is the next level. And the highest level is the dragon, symbolizing the emperor

This is known as the 70 year old door. During Qianlong's reign of the Qing dynasty, when he was 70 years old, he was getting too old to be walking the distance. So his advisors had people build this door as a shortcut. However, Qianlong was afraid that his offsprings would abuse this privilage, so he issued a decree saying that his offsprings could only used this door if they reached 70 years of age. Since Qianlong, this door has never been used since none of his offsprings who were Emperors lived to be past 70 years old.

After the Tiantan was Yonghe gong. Today, this is a Lama temple. It used to be residence of Yinzhen, the 4^th son of Kangxi Emperor of the Qing dynasty. When Yinzhen became Emperor, his reigning name was Yongzheng. Thus, his place of residence was called Yonghe (harmony and peace) Gong.

It's quite extensive. You have to get incense to pay hommage to the Buddha, if you choose to do so. 

I also went to the Confucius temple and the Imperial College Museum. Today, parents go to this place to pray that their child will do well at the college entrance exam.

Coming back to China this year has been a bit strange. I've been getting a lot of comments telling me I'm an ethnic minority. Some tell me I look like I'm a Korean , or Mongolian, or Russian ethnic minority. Other people tell me I resemble people from the middle east, or Indian or Pakistan. Huh, interesting, what interesting comments. 

A day and half til the states! Tomorrow's plan is the Bird's Nest, and the National Museum. 

Ciao!