tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17687706631062922812012-01-21T09:41:45.138-05:00A blog about learning Chinese, and the occasional study trip to China...Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.comBlogger311100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1768770663106292281.post-75323204651634721962007-08-23T18:12:00.000-05:002008-11-13T14:16:20.398-05:00

Xi'an is a city that thrives on its history, and it is a beautiful place for tourism. On our second, and last, day here, we get up early and load the bus to the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, built to honor a monk's mother. It's BIG and, there we see monks, as there is an active community there (but it's not very nice to take pictures of them).The rest of the day is dedicated to one of the most famous

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1768770663106292281.post-14113065805028050642007-08-19T22:11:00.000-05:002007-08-19T22:35:25.126-05:00

We're finally done with our classes! This morning, we leave for Xi'an. It's time to move out of our dorm room, but I am being slow. I should have moved faster, as it would have kept me from a 10-minute argument with 3 dorm maids about why my roommate's teacup is missing. I finally end up just paying for it, because they won't take "We don't know where it is, and it is obviously not in here," for

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1768770663106292281.post-29286014750194617312007-08-17T21:53:00.000-05:002007-08-17T21:55:35.738-05:00

This story is funny, especially to people who have Chinese language knowledge.

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1768770663106292281.post-31165854193295214292007-08-10T10:58:00.001-05:002007-08-10T11:05:48.215-05:00

It's the end of the term at BLCU, which means it's time for exams. I get there on time, and recieve a 10-page package of Chinese craziness to decipher. It is very intimidating, and quite honestly, I don't know whether a sentence is supposed to be written "yesterday I went to the park" or I yesterday went to the park", or any of the other word-order specific questions. Didn't I learn more than

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1768770663106292281.post-83707901964283213862007-08-04T12:02:00.000-05:002008-11-13T14:16:21.719-05:00

Almost every person from Mason decides to go to Inner Mongolia this weekend, except for me and Lara. Rather than sit around the dorms moping, we plan a spectacular weekend of fun things for our last weekend in Beijing. Our first stop is the Summer Palace, which is a ridiculously extravagant park built for imperial courts to play, er, live in. It's kind of the Chinese equivalent to Versailles.

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1768770663106292281.post-68404166811922641382007-08-04T11:42:00.000-05:002008-11-13T14:16:21.856-05:00

A big tourist attraction in Beijing is the Temple of Heaven, which was constructed for people to pray for a good harvest. 10 of us take Sketch's taxi van across town to see it on a very hot afternoon. When we line up for tickets, the lady at the counter refuses to give us a student discount, even though we all have student IDs from a Chinese university. She says it's because we're not Chinese

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1768770663106292281.post-49983838183331457692007-07-26T09:05:00.000-05:002008-11-13T14:16:23.597-05:00

We have the evening free, so our group of 10 students decides to go out and explore the city. We soon find that there is little to explore. Nothing is open, except grocery stores, and everyone is staring. An old man with missing teeth and dirty clothes follows us almost half a mile, gawking. When we stop to reconsider our walking path, he asks our teacher where we're from in Chinese, thinking

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1768770663106292281.post-213639653878188862007-07-23T20:55:00.000-05:002008-11-13T14:16:24.916-05:00

We've been riding a sleeper train all night. At 6 AM, the lights go on and this weird mood music starts to play over the car's intercom. The train operators want us to wake up, but we all want to go back to sleep. It's barely morning, and sleeping in a tiny mobile bed is not the best way to be rested. Unfortunately, the train stops moving, and everyone makes a mad dash for the exit, not really

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1768770663106292281.post-8705237080163448702007-07-19T09:39:00.000-05:002007-07-19T22:25:51.747-05:00

A common question among first-time travelers in China is whether or not to eat food bought on the street. Food stands are everywhere, and they offer everything from corn cobs on sticks, to meat kebobs, to shaved ice with fruit toppings. Generally, the word from travel agencies and play-it-safe tourists is not to eat anything found on the street. But after wandering around in China for a month, I

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1768770663106292281.post-44709149145063543382007-07-18T09:53:00.000-05:002008-11-13T14:16:25.190-05:00

After some feedback about my Friendship Store image post, I decide to personally investigate this mysterious snack food, in a vegetarian-friendly way, of course (sorry, this bag is Garlic Toast flavor. I can't try the bacon-cheese package I originally featured).Why is that corn cob on the right holding a cilice?Someone please explain to me how this is an Aromatic Grilled Corn Stick. And why does

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1768770663106292281.post-24810614169019816952007-07-18T09:49:00.000-05:002008-11-13T14:16:25.442-05:00

It's 9:45 PM and time to go...10 people from BLCU, including myself, are taking a weekend trip to Datong, in the Xangxi province, between Beijing and Inner Mongolia. Apparently, it's really really cheap to take an overnight train, which is why we are herded onto a bus and driven to the train station at what seem like a really late time to be leaving for a trip.When we get off the bus, we discover

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1768770663106292281.post-83665335591403565992007-07-18T03:32:00.000-05:002008-11-13T14:16:26.275-05:00

It's a nice day with no class, so Lara and I decide to go to Beihai, a famous park in Beijing. Since we can't get there directly by train, we once again must hire a cab. We go over to the campus gate, where Sketch and her crew are sitting on the curb, eating ice cream. The seem quite unhappy that we are there trying to hire a driver because we have interrupted their Popsicle Time. After Sketch

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1768770663106292281.post-74345037608216147702007-07-17T04:38:00.000-05:002008-11-13T14:16:27.201-05:00

China comes with some unfortunate irony. Every evening, people congregate on the streets, eating food, shopping, and "just chilling", late into the night. Even parents with kids stay ride subway trains back to their homes past midnight and it's safe. Of course it's great that it's safe for people to walk the streets so late, but the reason it's safe to walk the streets late is because China is a

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1768770663106292281.post-18441531972519430612007-07-13T08:15:00.001-05:002008-11-13T14:16:27.408-05:00

Part one of a series featuring the weirdest grocery store items Kate can find. Which is not very hard, by the way. This time, it's corn on a stick! Now in bacon-cheese flavor!

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1768770663106292281.post-88707677281156871312007-07-12T06:40:00.000-05:002008-11-13T14:16:27.933-05:00

you Lots of GMU people go out to eat Hot Pot, a very engaging meal where everyone cooks their own food in broth right in front of them. This means lots of pots.Cooking lots of veggies in the pot I persuade everyone to not put meat into. I like the people on this trip. I still haven't had even one argument with anyone about my diet. 好吃了！(yummy.)

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1768770663106292281.post-29164087183691551702007-07-12T05:19:00.000-05:002008-11-13T14:16:28.229-05:00

China is an inexpensive country with lots of cool stuff, which is why, just four days after the stalker incident, my friends and I decide to brave another shopping trip. This time, we go to Yashio, a smaller building with less monotany than Silk Street, but often higher prices. It's not direct to travel to the market by train, so we walk to the campus gates and hire one of the most sketch cab

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1768770663106292281.post-4004357201458944682007-07-11T23:40:00.000-05:002007-07-12T03:13:24.072-05:00

Beijing Yue Yan Dauxue (my school) likes to send foreign students on free trips around Beijing. Tonight, it's a Gong-fu (Kung fu) show at the Red Theater. We fill 3 tour buses for the 45 minute drive across the city. With our tickets in-hand and an hour to kill after arrival, some of us decide to go eat dinner at a restaurant near the theater. It's a very strange meal, as the crotchety restaurant

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1768770663106292281.post-55290948313879074542007-07-11T23:15:00.000-05:002007-07-11T23:35:50.453-05:00

"Laoshi," It's monday and I've arrived at the classroom 15 minutes early and nervous as hell. I don't want to be stuck in Chinese 101 for my only term in Beijing, and class changes end tomorrow."I've studied Chinese for a year. This class is going to be completely review for me, and I was wondering if you could move me to the next level of class," I really wish I knew how to say this in Chinese."

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1768770663106292281.post-38759013251196359722007-07-07T00:52:00.000-05:002008-11-13T14:16:28.519-05:00

Good Idea: ordering lunchBad Idea: unwittingly ordering this cabbage soup. See the grey things? They're eggs that were boiled and buried in the ground (thousand-year-old eggs) And they jiggle.Good Idea: buying ice cream to combat lunch-induced nauseaBad Idea: buying ice cream with an identity crisis"What kind of ice cream am I???"

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1768770663106292281.post-12415616946456801452007-07-06T06:17:00.000-05:002008-11-13T14:16:28.699-05:00

Sunday means no classes, so a large group of Mason students decide to go shopping at Silk Street.Silk Street is a popular multi-floor building in Beijing where all kinds of people do their shopping, especially tourists. The area is covered with stalls where vendors sell everything from Buddha statues to counterfeit Gucci bags. All pricing depends on how good one is at bargaining, and buyers never

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1768770663106292281.post-65916845209668641832007-07-01T08:45:00.000-05:002008-11-13T14:16:29.192-05:00

It's 8 AM on a saturday morning. So why am I awake?We're going to the Great Wall!!The closest part of the wall to 北竟 [Beijing] is about 1.5 hours away from campus, and we drive through some really icky areas to get there. It's raining, and a grouchy man with a laminated clippy badge and a wood stick yells at pedestrians in the parking lot as he directs giant tour buses into their muddy spaces.

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1768770663106292281.post-16905071355267757072007-07-01T08:30:00.000-05:002007-07-01T08:42:58.583-05:00

It is the first day of classes at BLCU. At 8:00 AM, I arrive at the building of my first class, checking to see if my placement has changed. It has not, so I go upstairs to the room, only to spend the next four hours learning beginning tones and pinyin [the romanized pronunciation of Chinese characters].I am in the wrong class.I knew I shouldn't have said I knew "0 characters" on the university

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1768770663106292281.post-70094404215501837442007-07-01T07:49:00.001-05:002008-11-13T14:16:29.545-05:00

"Money! Money! Money!"A man with no legs follows my friends and I on a scooter, one hand full of 一元* notes he had collected from various tourists around 天安门 (Tiananmen) Square. Knowing fully that giving him even the smallest amount of cash would attract a horde of vendors and beggars to us, we walk away, some of us trying to further justify our stinginess. We are fairly certain that the man with

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1768770663106292281.post-64425015621741552152007-06-30T22:07:00.001-05:002008-11-13T14:16:30.869-05:00

yum!Yes, yes it is.appparently, he's attracting customers......and that makes me very afraid...OK! Wait, what????

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1768770663106292281.post-67992849294239908532007-06-27T06:49:00.000-05:002007-06-27T07:14:12.970-05:00

I've made it to China. Both plane trips were pretty terrible. My flight from Chicago was delayed on the runway for over a half hour, and by the time we actually took off I had finished everything I'd brought to read. At O'Hare, I bought a book, hoping that combined with in-flight movies it would last me the whole trip. Unfortunately, the "in-flight entertainment" was "malfunctioning", so

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1768770663106292281.post-43893141165338552202007-06-17T09:38:00.000-05:002007-06-17T09:50:16.218-05:00

I'm going to be experimenting with the blog design for the next week. I'll have everything finalized by next monday. But...it might have random periods of hideousness, so I apologize in advance if blood seeps from your eye sockets upon viewing this page any time in the next 7 days.The Journey Begins Monday, June 25th, 8:55 AM, EST.

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1768770663106292281.post-41434832001794556282007-06-15T13:38:00.000-05:002007-06-15T14:33:41.679-05:00

Travel in China, although enthusiastically encouraged by most who have done it, can bring up some big concerns. Aside from basic safety (the general consensus is that China is relatively safe), people want to have access to everything they need, and they want to make sure they don't spend more money than necessary in a sea of scams targeted at the 外国人(foreigners). To make sure I have everything I

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1768770663106292281.post-89080708147732524812007-06-10T18:50:00.001-05:002008-11-13T14:16:31.109-05:00

China hasn't realized I'm crazy yet! I got my passport back, with my visa. This is especially awesome because I hate sending federal stuff around in the mail. Just think...in two weeks, this blog will have actual content!

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1768770663106292281.post-28817941892628276342007-06-06T11:48:00.000-05:002007-06-06T11:53:32.446-05:00

He sent me this, which describes all of the huge reasons why people have a terrible time learning Chinese.I think I will go study now.

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1768770663106292281.post-23889117732270887382007-05-27T16:51:00.000-05:002007-05-27T17:14:51.917-05:00

My visa application is mailed, my books about modern China are stacked on the bedside table, and character flashcards are strewn about the floor. Every day I grow more excited and more utterly freaked out that I am leaving in less than a month.I keep asking myself how I, the vegetarian who studied French in high school and who has never been abroad for more than 3 weeks at a time, could randomly

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1768770663106292281.post-76789659964436824012007-05-11T16:10:00.000-05:002007-05-11T17:57:46.759-05:00

After a year of Mandarin classes at George Mason University, I will be travelling on a 5-week study abroad in China. I'll be taking language classes at Beijing Language and Culture University, and also visiting Xi'an, Shanghai, and Inner-Mongolia. I'm planning to blog as much of my trip as possible, so hopefully some crazy things will happen for me to photograph and write about.Right now, I'm in

Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01501505927315310827noreply@blogger.com0