Jen: Campus Days

Lately our schedules are too varied to make concrete plans or go anywhere so we've been making mini day trips around the area. Yesturday I did tonnes of laundry and went shopping with a girl in our group. I don't think I've ever done so much window shopping in my whole life! But in reality I've barely spent that much. Prolly about $150 Canadian but I've bought tonnes of souvenirs and enough food to feed and army and then some! The food is so unbelievably good! I even like the milk here. And I don't drink milk!

Today me and the Becca went back to a place called Frid Plaza. Or sometimes Fred. Depends what map you're looking at. That's China anyway. There are 3 and a half something floors and it sells everything except the kitchen sink. I'm surprised that I haven't come across any kitchen supplies stores. Hmm. But I guess a pot and pan wouldn't exactly fit in my suitcase. Hmmm.

Tomorrow is the opening ceremony of sports competitions and we are the last group to go around the field. Which means lots of standing. Oh goodie! I have not known this kind of foot pain. The Chinese must be super fit because they walk EVERYWHERE.

Jen: I Could Definitely Live Here

So much has happened sonce the last post I don't even know where to start. China is best when you wander off the beaten path. (Don't worry mom I'm always with a group!) I've surprisingly not bought as much as I expected I would. Shopping here is a bit of a nightmare because people really want to sell to foreigners. Chinese people know just enough English to yell: "Hello lady, you want buy _____." And I know enough Mandarin to say "Too expensive, goodbye." It's a little overwhelming wheb everybody wants to sell you the exact same thing.
Me and Rebecca plan on going back to a little strip of malls on Tuesday becayse we both have the day off. Its suppose to be less busy on weedays.
The University has a cerfew of 10pm which is really interesting. The buses and subways all stop running after that for the most part. China really wants people to be inside the Higher Education Zone. The students have everything they need within the campus though. Tonnes of food, shops (that sell anything and everything), hospital, a movie theatre and a soon-to-be shopping mall. It legit has everything here on campus! It seems a little strange but China is a pretty smart country. This way not all of the students will be out late at night and they save $ on late subways and buses. And they don't have to leave campus for a lot of amenities. There are guards and signs with instructions everywhere but honestly it makes me feel safer! If only subway rides weren't so brutally long...

Jen: Getting on a Plane in 4 days

Slowly coming to the terms that I'll be leaving the country soon. There's just a few things that need to be done. I just got back from an overnight meeting in another city for a trip to Japan that immediately follows the China trip. HELLO JETLAG CITY. It's a 13 hour flight so that's what? 13 albums or 3 books or 100s of bad puns that Rebecca is gonna have to live thru. MUAHAHAHA. My bag is actually mostly packed! Most of the daily stuff I'll get in China!

I bought a book today that has pictures of Canada from Newfoundland to B.C. It should be pretty helpful to tell the students about Canada! I'm still pretty nervous about the language barrier but I've had a few chances to practice my Mandarin lately!

In 4 days I'll be on a plane and on a new adventure! Can it just be next week? Ahhh!

Jen: I don't want to be a Tourist

早上好 readers! China is still quite far away but I thought I post about the little revelation I had in class this morning.

I don't want to be a tourist in China.

Yes, yes I know what you're thinking. Well, what else are you going to be then? By definition a tourist is: "a person who is travelling or visiting a place for pleasure" which isn't wrong per say... I don't want to be a mass tourist in particular. These are the people that are bussed around from place to place and only go where the tour guides tell you to go. I'm going to China to experience living there from the inside not the ouside.

Let me give you an example. There are a lot of things China is known for: Forbidden City and The Great Wall, both of which I will likely see, but I don't want the touristy cookie-cutter explaination of what it is and why it's important. I want to hear directly from a student what they think about these monumental landmarks.

I want a first hand account of what it's like to live in the city, not what tour guides are paid to tell me. I want to go on day trips and slip away with my native friends to see things that aren't on the schedule. I want experience China outside of the University as much as I can.

This requires me to make some pretty fast friends and gain the trust of our leaders that I won't disappear and never come back, but let's say that's my goal in my first few days.

再见,
Jen

Jen: Learning the good ol' 普通话

So naturally, since we're going to China I'm brushing up on my minimal 普通话 (putonghua). I'm in the unique posistion where I see a fair amount of Chinese students in a given day. All of which, upon hearing that I was going to China, were interested in helping me study. I've also downloaded the app WeChat which a lot of Chinese friends have to talk to each other. A lot of them told me I was the only Canadian they had on the app. Too funny! I also have a very extensive Mandarin Dictionary on my phone called Pleco. I've also added a Chinese keyboard to my phone so hopefully with all these resources I'll be a little further along then when I started. I usually just ask them about vocab or phrases that I think would be handy to know. Then I send them messages using what I've learned to make sure I'm applying it correctly! I have until April to practice so... 
加油!!! 加油!!!
My resources:
http://www.wechat.com/en/
http://www.pleco.com/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.inputmethod.pinyin&hl=en

Until next time,
Jennifer

Jen: Why I'm a Mean Person

Well greetings! 你好! This is the first post of Jen & Rebecca in China! 
Today we got our acceptance e-mails for SEPP (Spoken English Promotion Practice) in a university in Hongzhou, China. Both me and Rebecca swore not to tell each other if we got accepted until we saw each other (which wasn't until 8:30pm). I got the brilliant idea to pretend that I didn't get in. I even got my other housemates to go along with it. They told her to be sensitive to me when she came and told me about her e-mail because I was distraught I hadn't gotten mine yet. I even listened to Lilly Allen for a half hour to get into a somewhat depressed mood. Rebecca comes up to my room and she says she got the e-mail. I'm all sad because I "didn't". 
"Did you check your university e-mail or just your general?"
"Just my general, but I'll check my university...so you got yours?"
"Yeah."
"...I'M KIDDING."
I think Rebecca hates me now. Muahahaha.

Until next time,
Jen