Enjoying summer,
Terrance Johnson
Friday, June 4, 2010
Terrance Johnson - June 3, 2010
This past weekend I celebrated my 23rd birthday.
On May 22, my birthday, I planned to cook dinner and go out around Nanjing with Auny and a small group of foreign friends. Earlier in the week, my job ask me if I would like to attend a national soccer game, China Allstars vs. Germany Allstars on May 20. I said "Yes!!!" It was a unbeleiveable kick off for my birthday weekend. Thursday, we ended our work day around 4:00pm to pick up the car and make to three hour drive to Jianxi National Stadium. There was a crowd of about thirty thousand Chinese ready to cheer for their country. We joined the crowd of about thirty cheering for Germany! To my surprise we were lead through VIP to watch the game from fieldside! We had so much fun and meet all the players. After Germany won, 4-1, we celebrated on the field. Friday, we had a BBQ on campus and cooked spaghetti. My chicken turned out great, dispite catching fire a few times. On the big day, Auny surprised me with the best gifts ever! Cool rain boots, a graphic t-shirt of bananas from H&M, and seven duck heads. We had a great time. Special thanks to Auny, Jamyla, Helder, Kelvin, D. Nowak, and Deanzel.
Enjoying summer,
Terrance Johnson
Enjoying summer,
Terrance Johnson
Monday, May 24, 2010
Gabrielle P. Frazier - May 20, 2010
Completion. I was given the opportunity of visiting an amazing place here in China which is known as one of the richest provinces in China.
Known for the breath taking typography, my group members and I soon fell in love with this excursion. We were able to see hills, unbelievable gardens and even replicas of the very “Great Wall.” Indeed this experience is one of the most memorable of all. As my classmates and I walked through the gardens, we saw beautiful vegetables and fruits as well as an array of flowers. The natural fragrance seemed to have cast a cultural spell on us all, leaving us speechless because of what we were in the midst of and now apart of, beauty at the most natural and simplest form.
After leaving the gardens we rode an electric car up a mountain. This mountain and overall view once the top was reached was a feeling that we all longed for, although we had not realized this feeling was longed for before. The term “completion” spoke loudly once I reached the very top, and a certain fulfillment of satisfaction was granted that can only be received through this term. Of course after staring at all the beauty before me in awe, a glance of the land below seemed necessary. To actually see where we all had come from, which was many miles below, only made the satisfaction of completion that much sweeter. The emotions and feelings felt prior to getting in the electric car such as fear and uncertainty was revealed and differentiated between the undeniable truth, the top must be reached!
After leaving the gardens we rode an electric car up a mountain. This mountain and overall view once the top was reached was a feeling that we all longed for, although we had not realized this feeling was longed for before. The term “completion” spoke loudly once I reached the very top, and a certain fulfillment of satisfaction was granted that can only be received through this term. Of course after staring at all the beauty before me in awe, a glance of the land below seemed necessary. To actually see where we all had come from, which was many miles below, only made the satisfaction of completion that much sweeter. The emotions and feelings felt prior to getting in the electric car such as fear and uncertainty was revealed and differentiated between the undeniable truth, the top must be reached!
Rodney Wince - May 17, 2010
周末和朋友说. I hope all of you are doing well. I am having a great time in Nanjing, China. This past weekend was great.
On this past Saturday, I visited some of my friends who attend the Nanjing University of Economics and Finance. This is a great school. We started the day with me helping them to develop their English listening ability. After this we went for a walk around the area. This school’s library is inside a ball. I called it the ball of knowledge. It is really amazing. I also walked across their pond. In order to do this, I had to walk across circular stones that stood on top of long columns. It was a unique experience. After I finished touring their campus, I was taken to another school’s campus. We went to the campus of Nanjing Normal University. This campus was very similar to those in America. We walked across this campus until we reached the basketball court. Once we reached our destination, we saw that there was a basketball tournament taking place. I wanted to join in and play, but I did not have anyone to play on my team. The grand prize was a cell phone. There was also a space jump, and a rock climbing wall on the court. When we left the basketball court we went to go eat. We ate at the local school cafeteria. It was truly a great meal, and a wonderful display of friendship. I really love my friends. We had a very awesome day.
Today I went to my first Chinese barbeque. Tishira Echols and I were taken to a barbeque by my language partner Yu Le, and his girl friend Hen Hen. We left Ho Hai University at 10:00A.M. We went to the supermarket to buy the food. Once we had purchased the food, we walked to the park. I did not know what to expect. I was thinking of the typical American barbeque. Once we arrived I saw many people sitting around laughing and having a good time. The style of barbeque that we attended was similar to a hot pot. The attendant lit our charcoals for us. Then he gave us the spices, chopsticks, plates, and everything else that we needed. It was quite nice. Once we finished our meal, we took a walk through the park. The park was very beautiful. It had many gardens, and I took many pictures. Once we left the park, we returned to Ho Hai University where I then took a nap. When I awakened from my nap I had dinner at Jackie’s Café. The food at this establishment is very delicious. I am not back in my dormitory writing this blog about my fabulous weekend. I hope the readers of this blog enjoy what I have to say. Have a good night’s rest. I am about to sleep. 晚安！
Today I went to my first Chinese barbeque. Tishira Echols and I were taken to a barbeque by my language partner Yu Le, and his girl friend Hen Hen. We left Ho Hai University at 10:00A.M. We went to the supermarket to buy the food. Once we had purchased the food, we walked to the park. I did not know what to expect. I was thinking of the typical American barbeque. Once we arrived I saw many people sitting around laughing and having a good time. The style of barbeque that we attended was similar to a hot pot. The attendant lit our charcoals for us. Then he gave us the spices, chopsticks, plates, and everything else that we needed. It was quite nice. Once we finished our meal, we took a walk through the park. The park was very beautiful. It had many gardens, and I took many pictures. Once we left the park, we returned to Ho Hai University where I then took a nap. When I awakened from my nap I had dinner at Jackie’s Café. The food at this establishment is very delicious. I am not back in my dormitory writing this blog about my fabulous weekend. I hope the readers of this blog enjoy what I have to say. Have a good night’s rest. I am about to sleep. 晚安！
Jamyla Rogers - May 12, 2010
This week was a good week. I went to my Chinese classes, enjoyed them, as I always do, and learned new Chinese words and characters.
After my favorite class on Friday, TJ, Anuy, and I started celebrating Anuy's graduation early. The whole weekend was a celebration. Friday afternoon TJ took Me and Auny to this restaurant that severs good noodles. I was so full, those were the best noodles I have had since I have been in Nanjing. Later on that night we had a small per-graduation party for Auny in our friend Dean's room. There we had fruit salad (that we made), pizza, a photo shoot, and fun. I made Auny a graduation hat out of a take-out box. The next day, which was Saturday, I got up, clean my room, walked three miles, and prepared my-self for the evening. This evening was the big party for Auny's graduation. We all got dressed to impress, took another big photo shoot, and went out every where under the moon. Every where we went, we had to take photos. I showed Auny had to pose like Marylin Monroe. After our dancing/partying time was over, TJ had his mouth set for some DUCK HEAD!. He was talking about it when we were leaving the party spots. When we got to the location where he buys his duck head, the place was closed. He started holding on to the building crying "meiyou maidanlao" meaning: don't want to have Mac Donald. It was a good weekend and I am looking forward to the up coming week.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Tishira Echols - May 17, 2010
Today was an adventure. I woke up around eight thirty and went to the bank to meet Ayian, so she could help me get my debit card back from the bank.
It had been retained a few days before after getting stuck in the ATM. After getting my card back, I thanked her and went back to my dorm room and made a few phone calls on Skype. Then I hopped in the shower and threw on some clothes, grabbed my backpack with my school books and headed out, ready to begin my day.
I decided that I would start the day with a chicken sandwich, and another piece of chicken to eat when I reached the top of Gujimingsi, which was my destination for the day. I didn't know much about it, but I had read it was a place where I could have an excellent view of the whole city after climbing the tower. I figured this would be a relaxing, as well as a safe activity for me, as my laoshi (teacher) had told me it was not far from the University. Little did I know, it would be a long time before I got there.
I started off getting on bus 20, which goes to quite a few historic spots. I could not hear the bus stops being announced, so I ended up getting off at a stop I thought was the bus station for bus 20. Unfortunately, it was not. I asked to girls standing at the stop how I should get to the bus stop I needed and they told me the easiest way was to take bus 11 and get off at the second stop. Even though they only spoke Chinese, somehow, they helped me to understand how to read the bus stop signs correctly. I had been reading them somewhat correctly at first, but they showed me that the characters went up to down, not right to left, and some had alternate names in parentheses.
After arriving at the correct bus stop, I remembered that Zhang laoshi said that I would need to ask people in the area which way to walk. I asked several people, who gave me conflicting directions (at least from what I understood) and ended up walking back and forth on the same street and through an unfamiliar neighborhood, only to have 2 security guards tell me I was headed the wrong way altogether and would need to walk all the way back to the bus stop.
Finally, after wandering for over an hour, I saw a middle-schooler. I knew this would be the easiest person to communicate with. Unfortunately, I was unable to express the exact place I was looking for in Chinese. After a minute, she said, "Wait, you speak English."
Then she told me to take a right, take a left, and then a right again when I saw a small mountain. I gave her a big smile and told her thank you. I wished I had told her she was extremely good at speaking English, but she disappeared before it fully registered in my mind that a small Chinese middle-schooler who had just given me directions.
Right before I got to the tower, I wandered into a park. Tired of walking, I decided to sit down there because it was so pretty and study Chinese characters for a while. Finally, my eyes got tired, and I figured I should get up and make my last right turn. Once again, I ran into security guards. "It has to be here", I thought. This is the right street.
I smiled at the security guards, who probably figured I was crazy and kept walking. Finally, I saw a sign and an arrow pointing to where I needed to walk. I walked up a long hill, but at the entrance I saw everyone handing the man a ticket. I sighed. "Now how do I buy a ticket in Chinese... and where are they getting these things anyway?"
I kept walking and saw the ticket counter and a sign that read Xianwu Lake. I looked at the ticket counter and back at the sign for the lake. I had been wanting to go to the lake forever. The sign said the tower closed at 5:30. I had plenty of time. I wandered around in the lake area. I saw a funeral ceremony or something similar, several photo shoots, numerous brides and grooms, families, and even couples just hanging out. The area was so beautiful and peaceful. I was actually tired of walking by this time and wasn't able to travel the whole parameter, but I knew I would be back again. I still wanted to climb to the top of the tower before they closed it for the day, so I made my way back out of the lake area and down the long hill to the entrance to the tower. There were so many stories I almost couldn't believe it. I was so tired, I didn't think I would ever make it to the top.
Along the way, I realized that the tower was some type of temple. There were statues and big sculptures of people on the walls. I also noticed that on each level, the people stopped to give their thanks and pray. I was a little afraid to take pictures, but I took a few because I saw that some of the people had cameras.
When I finally made it to the top, it was so beautiful! I was a little afraid that I might fall, but I could see everything, the whole city. I wished I could stay for a few more hours, but I still had to climb back down before they closed. I made it down about 5 flights before my muscles started tightening up. I had to stretch and then walk very slowly, but finally I made it down. Luckily, I knew exactly where the bus stop was. It only took me about ten minutes to get there, as opposed to the almost two hours it had taken that morning.
After waiting for over 20 minutes, I got on bus 20. I believe they were late. It was the most crowded bus I had ever been on in my life. I got off near the school and got dinner. My piece of chicken from earlier, a piece of fried bread from the street, and a fudge sundae from Maidonglai (McDonald's). Then I happily walked back to my sushe (dorm) and climbed in the bed to give my legs a good, long rest. It had been a good day, a very good day, indeed.
~Tishira Echols
Ai Ting Sha
I decided that I would start the day with a chicken sandwich, and another piece of chicken to eat when I reached the top of Gujimingsi, which was my destination for the day. I didn't know much about it, but I had read it was a place where I could have an excellent view of the whole city after climbing the tower. I figured this would be a relaxing, as well as a safe activity for me, as my laoshi (teacher) had told me it was not far from the University. Little did I know, it would be a long time before I got there.
I started off getting on bus 20, which goes to quite a few historic spots. I could not hear the bus stops being announced, so I ended up getting off at a stop I thought was the bus station for bus 20. Unfortunately, it was not. I asked to girls standing at the stop how I should get to the bus stop I needed and they told me the easiest way was to take bus 11 and get off at the second stop. Even though they only spoke Chinese, somehow, they helped me to understand how to read the bus stop signs correctly. I had been reading them somewhat correctly at first, but they showed me that the characters went up to down, not right to left, and some had alternate names in parentheses.
After arriving at the correct bus stop, I remembered that Zhang laoshi said that I would need to ask people in the area which way to walk. I asked several people, who gave me conflicting directions (at least from what I understood) and ended up walking back and forth on the same street and through an unfamiliar neighborhood, only to have 2 security guards tell me I was headed the wrong way altogether and would need to walk all the way back to the bus stop.
Finally, after wandering for over an hour, I saw a middle-schooler. I knew this would be the easiest person to communicate with. Unfortunately, I was unable to express the exact place I was looking for in Chinese. After a minute, she said, "Wait, you speak English."
Then she told me to take a right, take a left, and then a right again when I saw a small mountain. I gave her a big smile and told her thank you. I wished I had told her she was extremely good at speaking English, but she disappeared before it fully registered in my mind that a small Chinese middle-schooler who had just given me directions.
Right before I got to the tower, I wandered into a park. Tired of walking, I decided to sit down there because it was so pretty and study Chinese characters for a while. Finally, my eyes got tired, and I figured I should get up and make my last right turn. Once again, I ran into security guards. "It has to be here", I thought. This is the right street.
I smiled at the security guards, who probably figured I was crazy and kept walking. Finally, I saw a sign and an arrow pointing to where I needed to walk. I walked up a long hill, but at the entrance I saw everyone handing the man a ticket. I sighed. "Now how do I buy a ticket in Chinese... and where are they getting these things anyway?"
I kept walking and saw the ticket counter and a sign that read Xianwu Lake. I looked at the ticket counter and back at the sign for the lake. I had been wanting to go to the lake forever. The sign said the tower closed at 5:30. I had plenty of time. I wandered around in the lake area. I saw a funeral ceremony or something similar, several photo shoots, numerous brides and grooms, families, and even couples just hanging out. The area was so beautiful and peaceful. I was actually tired of walking by this time and wasn't able to travel the whole parameter, but I knew I would be back again. I still wanted to climb to the top of the tower before they closed it for the day, so I made my way back out of the lake area and down the long hill to the entrance to the tower. There were so many stories I almost couldn't believe it. I was so tired, I didn't think I would ever make it to the top.
Along the way, I realized that the tower was some type of temple. There were statues and big sculptures of people on the walls. I also noticed that on each level, the people stopped to give their thanks and pray. I was a little afraid to take pictures, but I took a few because I saw that some of the people had cameras.
When I finally made it to the top, it was so beautiful! I was a little afraid that I might fall, but I could see everything, the whole city. I wished I could stay for a few more hours, but I still had to climb back down before they closed. I made it down about 5 flights before my muscles started tightening up. I had to stretch and then walk very slowly, but finally I made it down. Luckily, I knew exactly where the bus stop was. It only took me about ten minutes to get there, as opposed to the almost two hours it had taken that morning.
After waiting for over 20 minutes, I got on bus 20. I believe they were late. It was the most crowded bus I had ever been on in my life. I got off near the school and got dinner. My piece of chicken from earlier, a piece of fried bread from the street, and a fudge sundae from Maidonglai (McDonald's). Then I happily walked back to my sushe (dorm) and climbed in the bed to give my legs a good, long rest. It had been a good day, a very good day, indeed.
~Tishira Echols
Ai Ting Sha
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Tishira Echols - May 5, 2010
Today, I had a blast!
I woke up and went to Chinese class, which was fun, as always. After class I took a short nap. When I awakened, I walked outside to visit my friend Ka Ka at the night market. While visiting with him, he introduced me to his big sister. I had a bit of trouble conversing with her because I did not understand everything she was saying in Chinese and she did not speak much English. She was very nice, though, and since it was hot outside, she told me I should pick out a dress. I politely explained that I did not have any money, but that I would come back another day. In the meantime, Ka Ka gave me a book to look through to see if there were any designs I liked and told me he would give me a dress for 50 RMB because we were friends. Usually, he only bargains as low as 65 RMB for the local people.
While I was looking through the view book, I heard someone call my name. It was Rodney's language partner. We exchanged greetings and he introduced me to his girlfriend. She was very shy, but we had fun finding a dress for her and she helped me find a dress that would look nice on me, so I would know exactly what I wanted to buy next time.
Later that evening, around nine o'clock, Rodney, his language partner, and I walked to a Mexican restaurant, called "Behind the Wall" to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, with some of Rodney's Hispanic friends. It was a lot of fun. Rodney's language partner tasted Mexican food for the first time, and loved it! We also played "UNO" together. Patrick joined us, as well as a Chinese couple who was sitting in the corner. In the end, we played a game that was a mix between Spanish, American, and Chinese "UNO." It was great because we were all able to communicate with each other and everyone learned new words in a different language. I look forward to many more times like this in China.
Tishira Echols
While I was looking through the view book, I heard someone call my name. It was Rodney's language partner. We exchanged greetings and he introduced me to his girlfriend. She was very shy, but we had fun finding a dress for her and she helped me find a dress that would look nice on me, so I would know exactly what I wanted to buy next time.
Later that evening, around nine o'clock, Rodney, his language partner, and I walked to a Mexican restaurant, called "Behind the Wall" to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, with some of Rodney's Hispanic friends. It was a lot of fun. Rodney's language partner tasted Mexican food for the first time, and loved it! We also played "UNO" together. Patrick joined us, as well as a Chinese couple who was sitting in the corner. In the end, we played a game that was a mix between Spanish, American, and Chinese "UNO." It was great because we were all able to communicate with each other and everyone learned new words in a different language. I look forward to many more times like this in China.
Tishira Echols
Friday, May 7, 2010
Jamyla Rogers - May 7, 2010
Today was a great day. I did a good job on my Chinese exam, the weather was so beautiful, the sun was shinning, and the birds chirping.
I went walking around the school track and watched TJ and Auny play soccer with some of our new friends from Africa. It was so funny watching them try to kick the ball and falling over each other. After we all played, I, Auny, TJ, and our friends Helder, Dean, Calvin, and more; all went out for a night on the town. Every place we went to we danced, we danced the night away. We all had and have the best times with each other. It is funny, when I first got here it was hard for me to smile. Now I can't stop smiling. The language I am beginning to understand and I am enjoying learning the Chinese language. I am making so many friends, friends that I know will be around for a long time. I am beginning to understand that when certain situations happen, at that time I may not understand and am sad; but as time goes on, I realize that those situations happened to set me up for something better and my next move in life. God has a plan for me and I see that he lets situations happen to me to make me stronger and move me where he wants me to be. All I know and can say now is that my direction has changed and is looking very promising.
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