Is it true?
Weebly is back up? Can it really be so? Hallelujah!
Catch Up
Ok, due to a little Internet hic-cup, I am starting this blog fresh....kind of. The entries below are the originals, but now I'd like to re write my entries. Quickly glancing at my previous entries, I remember writing about:
My airport experience (the dog who could smell cheese)
Buying shampoo with Yusi and eating baozi ( which I thougth was jiaozi with Yusi and Jomo)
My first weekend in Beijing
Fragrant Hill
Pictures of the student signs in the new campus
Halloween at Heda Ben boooooooo
The Great Wall and Kanye West ( Best Halloween Weekend EVER)
The Honey Pool
November 17th, special day ( purple thunder)
Thanksgiving tofu turkey
Christmas Sandy's and Secret Santa
Spring Festival at Cherry's
Yunnan with Alex and Yusi
Hong Kong Feb
(NEW IDEA: Being a question master at speech competitions)
Shanghai April
June 6 Entry ( I forget what it was about)
Latest entry ( July 02 2009) about wrapping up the year, saying see you later, my students, my goals next year
I think this is a good thing, it'll give me a chance to improve my writing. : )
A big, honest, thank you shout out to Woolner, thanks boo.
Ok, time for a shower and then going to the Honey Pool!
My airport experience (the dog who could smell cheese)
Buying shampoo with Yusi and eating baozi ( which I thougth was jiaozi with Yusi and Jomo)
My first weekend in Beijing
Fragrant Hill
Pictures of the student signs in the new campus
Halloween at Heda Ben boooooooo
The Great Wall and Kanye West ( Best Halloween Weekend EVER)
The Honey Pool
November 17th, special day ( purple thunder)
Thanksgiving tofu turkey
Christmas Sandy's and Secret Santa
Spring Festival at Cherry's
Yunnan with Alex and Yusi
Hong Kong Feb
(NEW IDEA: Being a question master at speech competitions)
Shanghai April
June 6 Entry ( I forget what it was about)
Latest entry ( July 02 2009) about wrapping up the year, saying see you later, my students, my goals next year
I think this is a good thing, it'll give me a chance to improve my writing. : )
A big, honest, thank you shout out to Woolner, thanks boo.
Ok, time for a shower and then going to the Honey Pool!
May 1, 2009
May 1, 2009
10:28 PM
It’s May. Holy cow. Happy May everyone! Today is a holiday in China, International Labor Day. Leave it up to America to have its own Labor Day. Anyway, many people are excited for this three-day weekend, but it’s no different for me, for I don’t teach at Hebei University on Fridays. I usually tutor four little girls, whom I call my Golden Girls, but I cancelled class, because I wanted a class-free Friday. Today was great actually, I went strawberry picking with Alex, Yusi, my former student Ava, and her two friends, Jing Jing and Yuan Yuan. We met at the Hebei University campus and then, by bus, left the inner part of Baoding, and went to a greater part of Baoding called Man Cheng. There, we got off the bus and walked for a few minutes and then found a strawberry field. This strawberry field was no ordinary field, no, there was plastic over the strawberries.
10:28 PM
It’s May. Holy cow. Happy May everyone! Today is a holiday in China, International Labor Day. Leave it up to America to have its own Labor Day. Anyway, many people are excited for this three-day weekend, but it’s no different for me, for I don’t teach at Hebei University on Fridays. I usually tutor four little girls, whom I call my Golden Girls, but I cancelled class, because I wanted a class-free Friday. Today was great actually, I went strawberry picking with Alex, Yusi, my former student Ava, and her two friends, Jing Jing and Yuan Yuan. We met at the Hebei University campus and then, by bus, left the inner part of Baoding, and went to a greater part of Baoding called Man Cheng. There, we got off the bus and walked for a few minutes and then found a strawberry field. This strawberry field was no ordinary field, no, there was plastic over the strawberries.
April 6, 2009
So, today is April 6, 2009. I’ve been living in another country for a little while, and whileIhope I’ve entertained you all with descriptions of my adventures here in the Middle Kingdom, I realized I haven’t really shared my feelings in this blog, or at least not as much asIwanted to. So now, I think it’s time to start. So during my time here, I’ve felt probably every feeling imaginable but the ones I want to focus on are joy, love, happiness, excitement a sense of family, REALLY finding out what I want in my life, life-long lasting friendships, an experience that is changing my life and will help me shift my thinking to a broader perspective after my time here.
I think at every point in a traveler’s life, (or in any person’s life) they have moments, some have hours, some have weeks, some have months, maybe some even have years where they reflect on the past and see how to they got to where they are, who they were, who they are now, and most importantly, start to envision who they can become.
There is SO much more to the world than the worldIcreated for myself in Burlington MA. I’m not saying that it is a terrible place, but my old Social Studies teacher, Rachel Zucker described Burlington best when she described it as an average town: the population is average, the residents’ imcomes are average, it’s not a city but it’s not the countryside either, it’s just Massachusetts suburbia. Looking back on my time spent in Burlington, I see that my view of the world was so narrow and I didn’t even realize it until I left to go to MCLA. My time at MCLA was really the first of many stepping stones which helped me start to grow up, because I went through some really personal but much - needed life changes, and I realized I had to stop treating other people (and more importantly myself) like crap. A spoonful of initally soure- but sweet-after tasting reality was shoved into my mouth, but I swallowed it, along with my pride and learned that if I wanted to go anywhere in this world (literally and figuratively) I had to break down some walls I built up and trust people and more importantly, trust myself.
As I was preparing for my graduation, I was very uncertain of my future, and I really thought that if I wasn’t exactly sure that I knew what I wanted to do after May 17 2008, I’d be a failure, but sure enough I convinced myself that coming to China would do me some good, whatever it would be. So, back in March and April 2008 I told people that I was in fact going to China, hardly believing it myself. Back in March 2008, I didn’t have the money for a plane ticket, so I lit a fire under my ass and made it my number one priority to get the money I needed. I worked my ass off in the C-Store, the BT front desk, tutoring and being a Writing Associate, sold a lot of my stuff, and started to get some dough for the “Get Kim to China” fund. I missed Beta events and parties and many of opportunities to hang out with my friends, but the funny thing is thatIwas REALLY happy working toward a goal that I initially thought was impossible. I had a blast working in the C-Store, watching August Rush and making smoothie after smoothie for myself, my boss and my co workers. I couldn’t get enough of sitting in the smelly office of BT. I loved working hard, getting many small but valuable pay checks, and getting closer and closer to China.
After I graduated, I still had work to do, so instead of going home and celebrating with my family, I put on my McDonald’s hat and I started my 11pm – 4am shifts for about 3 weeks.That was fun too, and as much as I bitched about that job at the time, I look back and realized that it really wasn’t that bad. In the middle of June, IEP finally came along, so I quit Mc Donald’s and was Margaret Whitney’s TA for the 3rd summer in a row. Once again, I met the most amazing group of recent high school graduates, full of excitement, fears, homesickness but most importantly, potential to improve the MCLA campus.
While I was thrilled to assist the students with the transition from highschool graduate to college student, I was faced with the biggest enemy of the summer: getting my visa. This was the part where I learned that I needed to break down my walls, and let people know how I was truly feeling, scared and doubtful of myself, not sure if I could really live in a foreign country for a year, and still unsure of the future. I shared my concerns with the 5 MCLA alumni who were still in Baoding at the time, and they were beyond helpful and considerate. I don’t think they know how much they really helped me. I was truly blessed when I talked to Katie L. online, and she told me she would visit her former( my current) boss, Mr. Liang and get the important paper from the Chinese government, the one crucial paper I needed to process my visa. I remember standing in my room in Hoosac Hall, reading the facebook message from Kaite stating that she’d be getting the piece of paper for me, and bringing it to MCLA a few days later. My knees buckled and I collapsed on my floor, cried and shouted “THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!” After all of the frustration and uncertainty of the visa form, knowing that the paper for my visa was coming restored faith in myself, and I KNEW that it was my destiny to go to China.
So, I began to work on my new game plan: took a deep breath, filled out all of the stupid paperwork, and I had a new ingredient in my life’s recipe: faith. I was certain that my visa would be processed and that I’d get to China. I had no idea how, but I knew it would happen.
And it did. On July 22,2008, Alex Kalim from the visa processing company personally called me and told me that he was looking at my F Visa in my passport, and that my passport would be on my door step the next day. It was the BEST feeling. After that, the celebration began. I had a wonderful graduation/ going away party with my family and friends, and it was a fantastic day, and I began to get uber-pumped for CHINA!
Then August 25th rolled around. At 6 am, after running to a RITE-AID and picking up feminine products and Goldfish, I was at Logan, ready to go. I checked my bags, said, “See ya” to my mom, went through security, then boarded my plane to go from Boston to Montreal. I had a blast in the airport, and then, at 1:50 pm, boarded the plane from Montreal to Beijing. I was SO lucky to have all 3 seats to myself, so I could lay down and sleep for the 13-hour ride. I watched Smart People, and Kung Fu Panda, slept, fumbled with my chopsticks when I ate my chicken, had green tea, and talked with the steward. I read a little of the National Post, and then, I heard the magical announcement: “Ladies and Gentlemen, we will be at Beijing Airport in approximately 2 and half hours.” I thought, ‘How did we get here so soon?’ and I’ll never know, but it felt like the ride was only 6 hours. My 6 hour-plane ride to England felt 3 times longer.
And then I stepped off the plane.
So, I think that’s enough for now. Looking back at my story, I’m glad I can remind myself how I got here, what I went through, and how happy and thankful I am that I did it; I accomplished a life-changing goal. I know in the bottom of my heart that I can do anything I set my mind to, and knowing that is a wonderful feeling.
Alright you faithful readers, stay tuned for more!
Peace, Love, and Faith,
-Kim
Feb 27, 2009
Written February 27, 2009
Greetings! So there is much to tell! Ok, so my birthday was totally rad and I was so happy and thankful that I was surrounded by so much lovely people and got so many warm wishes! After my brithday, I chilled in Baoding until January 25, 2009. I went to my friend Cherry’s house where I celebrated the Chinese New Year. This year is the year of the Ox, and I was born in the year of the Ox, therefore it is my “lucky” year. (Imight have lots of bad luck or lots of good luck., let’s hope it’s good luck.) So I went to Cherry’s house and made dumplings and then ate 33 of them! They were big dumplings and so after my 33rd, I needed to lay down. I woke up before midnight and watched the TV special with Cherry’s family for a little while. Then, at midnight, we went outside and lit fire crackers and fireworks. People light fireworks and fire crackers during the New Year to scare away evil spirits. So, we went outside, lit up a storm, then went to bed. The next day, the 26th we (myself, Cherry and her family) ate the left over dumplings for breakfast, and boy were they deeeeelish! Cherry’s mom fried the dumplings and it was my first time having fried dumplings in China, usually I have boiled dumplings so the change was excellent!
So, I returned back to Baoding the night of the 27th, and then the next day, January 28, 2009 I began another adventure.. On this day, I went with Alex and Yusi on a 39 –hour train ride from Beijing to a city in Yunnan Province called Kunming. On the train, I met the most adorable 4 year-old. I almost had him fully in my packback before his family caught me. (Just kidding but I really did want to take him with us.) I also met an 11-year old who taught me a card game called Qi, Wang, Wu, Er, San, which translates to 7, King, 5, 2, 3. It was really neat. I had to have Yusi’s help translating at some points, but it was really fun learning a card game speaking a different language other than my native one. The train ride seemed so quick, I was so surprised. So the three of us (Alex, Yusi and I) arrived in Kunming. Shortly after our arrival, we bought tickets to our friend Ann’s hometown, ShiPing. Ann invited us to her home and so we gladly accepted her invitation. So, after a 39- hour train ride and a 4-hour bus ride, we finally made it to Shi Ping. We met Ann at the bus station, and she and her family warmly welcomed the three of us to Shi Ping.
We dropped our stuff off at Ann’s house and then went to her aunt’s house and had deeeeeeeelicious food, and when I say deeeeeeeelicious, I mean deeeeeeeelicious! We ate fish (well I did since I’m not a vegetarian) and spicy vegatables, and Yusi said it best when he said it was just so refreshing! We stayed with Ann and her family from January 30th to February 5, 2009 and during that time, we saw many things, including a beautiful lake, (where Alex and I steered the boat) a drum tower, a bell tower, a temple, two wedding celebrations, and we went shopping, and we met Ann’s friend Judy Rae and we also went to the village where Ann grew up. Going to the village, the Yi village, was so incredible. We got there on February 2nd, and stayed over for one night. The Yi women have the tradition of hand-embroidering their wedding outfits. They usually get married when they are 16, and so they begin making their wedding outfits when they are about 14 years old. All of us couldn’t believe that the outfits were hand embroidered, there is so much detail in each outfit. So we arrived at the village just in time for dinner, where we met even more of Ann’s family and got to see the women in their traditional dress. They were wearing their outfits because we were having a party. During dinner, we indeed ate like kings and queens. They also sang every time they made a toast, so after dinner, so all of us (Judy Rae, Ann, Yusi, Alex and I ) sang a round of “Row Row Row your boat” After dinner, Alex and I were able to try on the dress. Alex tried on the whole outfit, and I got to wear a hat. To say it was great doesn’t even begin to describe it. We all went to a school near the house and danced and sang. It was absolutely irreplaceable. No tour group or guide could ever show us this experience. I’m so thankful to Ann for inviting me to her home, for it really was an experience I will never forget. The Yi people are full of such love and life, it was great! They continued to dance even when Alex, Yusi and I were tired. We left the village the next day, but not before two absolutely delicious meals, breakfast and lunch. For breakfast, we ate a meal called er kuai, which is rice that is compressed into patties. When you grill this er kuai, it gets crispy on the outside but gooey on the inside and it was deeeelish! For lunch we ate a feast, too much food to describe! Ann and her family were beyond nice, paying for EVERYTHING (one time we had to fight Ann to pay for some French fries) and were just so patient and spoke slowly for me. It was so much fun!
We said farewell to Ann and her family on February 5th and returned to Kunming. We stayed in a hostel called The Hump, and rang in Mr. Gao’s birthday, which was on the 6th. On his birthday, we walked around Kunming and did a little shopping. Later that night, we met a very handsome British bloke named Will, and he joined us for dinner. We all decided that the next day we would go to the town called Shi Lin, other wsie known as Stone Forest. Basically, millions of years ago, the town was underwater. Over time, when the water evaporated, the GIANT stones were still there, and so it looks like a forest of stone. So on February 7th, went went and saw the giant stones. It was AWESOME. To spice things up, as we were heading toward the exit, we lost Will, and so we spent a good hour screaming his name in the Stone Forest. It was a fun time. After that, we grabbed dinner and hung out at the hostel. On the 8th, Alex and Yusi left for ChengDu, the capital of SiChuan province (SiChuan was the part of China that had the GIANT earthquake on May 12th 2008) and I stayed put because on the 9th,Iheaded to Hong Kong to change my visa.
So I gotta get going for now, but I’ll try to tell you all about my adventures in Hong Kong asap!
Peace.
Greetings! So there is much to tell! Ok, so my birthday was totally rad and I was so happy and thankful that I was surrounded by so much lovely people and got so many warm wishes! After my brithday, I chilled in Baoding until January 25, 2009. I went to my friend Cherry’s house where I celebrated the Chinese New Year. This year is the year of the Ox, and I was born in the year of the Ox, therefore it is my “lucky” year. (Imight have lots of bad luck or lots of good luck., let’s hope it’s good luck.) So I went to Cherry’s house and made dumplings and then ate 33 of them! They were big dumplings and so after my 33rd, I needed to lay down. I woke up before midnight and watched the TV special with Cherry’s family for a little while. Then, at midnight, we went outside and lit fire crackers and fireworks. People light fireworks and fire crackers during the New Year to scare away evil spirits. So, we went outside, lit up a storm, then went to bed. The next day, the 26th we (myself, Cherry and her family) ate the left over dumplings for breakfast, and boy were they deeeeelish! Cherry’s mom fried the dumplings and it was my first time having fried dumplings in China, usually I have boiled dumplings so the change was excellent!
So, I returned back to Baoding the night of the 27th, and then the next day, January 28, 2009 I began another adventure.. On this day, I went with Alex and Yusi on a 39 –hour train ride from Beijing to a city in Yunnan Province called Kunming. On the train, I met the most adorable 4 year-old. I almost had him fully in my packback before his family caught me. (Just kidding but I really did want to take him with us.) I also met an 11-year old who taught me a card game called Qi, Wang, Wu, Er, San, which translates to 7, King, 5, 2, 3. It was really neat. I had to have Yusi’s help translating at some points, but it was really fun learning a card game speaking a different language other than my native one. The train ride seemed so quick, I was so surprised. So the three of us (Alex, Yusi and I) arrived in Kunming. Shortly after our arrival, we bought tickets to our friend Ann’s hometown, ShiPing. Ann invited us to her home and so we gladly accepted her invitation. So, after a 39- hour train ride and a 4-hour bus ride, we finally made it to Shi Ping. We met Ann at the bus station, and she and her family warmly welcomed the three of us to Shi Ping.
We dropped our stuff off at Ann’s house and then went to her aunt’s house and had deeeeeeeelicious food, and when I say deeeeeeeelicious, I mean deeeeeeeelicious! We ate fish (well I did since I’m not a vegetarian) and spicy vegatables, and Yusi said it best when he said it was just so refreshing! We stayed with Ann and her family from January 30th to February 5, 2009 and during that time, we saw many things, including a beautiful lake, (where Alex and I steered the boat) a drum tower, a bell tower, a temple, two wedding celebrations, and we went shopping, and we met Ann’s friend Judy Rae and we also went to the village where Ann grew up. Going to the village, the Yi village, was so incredible. We got there on February 2nd, and stayed over for one night. The Yi women have the tradition of hand-embroidering their wedding outfits. They usually get married when they are 16, and so they begin making their wedding outfits when they are about 14 years old. All of us couldn’t believe that the outfits were hand embroidered, there is so much detail in each outfit. So we arrived at the village just in time for dinner, where we met even more of Ann’s family and got to see the women in their traditional dress. They were wearing their outfits because we were having a party. During dinner, we indeed ate like kings and queens. They also sang every time they made a toast, so after dinner, so all of us (Judy Rae, Ann, Yusi, Alex and I ) sang a round of “Row Row Row your boat” After dinner, Alex and I were able to try on the dress. Alex tried on the whole outfit, and I got to wear a hat. To say it was great doesn’t even begin to describe it. We all went to a school near the house and danced and sang. It was absolutely irreplaceable. No tour group or guide could ever show us this experience. I’m so thankful to Ann for inviting me to her home, for it really was an experience I will never forget. The Yi people are full of such love and life, it was great! They continued to dance even when Alex, Yusi and I were tired. We left the village the next day, but not before two absolutely delicious meals, breakfast and lunch. For breakfast, we ate a meal called er kuai, which is rice that is compressed into patties. When you grill this er kuai, it gets crispy on the outside but gooey on the inside and it was deeeelish! For lunch we ate a feast, too much food to describe! Ann and her family were beyond nice, paying for EVERYTHING (one time we had to fight Ann to pay for some French fries) and were just so patient and spoke slowly for me. It was so much fun!
We said farewell to Ann and her family on February 5th and returned to Kunming. We stayed in a hostel called The Hump, and rang in Mr. Gao’s birthday, which was on the 6th. On his birthday, we walked around Kunming and did a little shopping. Later that night, we met a very handsome British bloke named Will, and he joined us for dinner. We all decided that the next day we would go to the town called Shi Lin, other wsie known as Stone Forest. Basically, millions of years ago, the town was underwater. Over time, when the water evaporated, the GIANT stones were still there, and so it looks like a forest of stone. So on February 7th, went went and saw the giant stones. It was AWESOME. To spice things up, as we were heading toward the exit, we lost Will, and so we spent a good hour screaming his name in the Stone Forest. It was a fun time. After that, we grabbed dinner and hung out at the hostel. On the 8th, Alex and Yusi left for ChengDu, the capital of SiChuan province (SiChuan was the part of China that had the GIANT earthquake on May 12th 2008) and I stayed put because on the 9th,Iheaded to Hong Kong to change my visa.
So I gotta get going for now, but I’ll try to tell you all about my adventures in Hong Kong asap!
Peace.