Friday, June 17, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011
西安 - Xian Continued
Just a quick post about what we did in Xian before I do my Russia post.
Xian was wonderful. We were incredibly busy the whole time, but it allowed everyone to learn a lot of Chinese and learn about a lot of interesting things. Every morning we had to prepare a 2-3 minute speech about the previous day's activities and then learn a little bit more before our afternoon activity. We went to visit a bank, see the Terracotta Warriors, visit a railroad company, and visit some small Chinese villages.
Everyone in my class was really great. We had six students in our class, and since we all ate lunch and dinner together almost every day, as well as 3+ hours of class and then activities, we all became pretty close. One section of our class was taught by "Little Teachers" who were a bunch of grad students teaching for the first time in their lives.
On our last night, we all held a performance. Three other students and I hosted the event. During the performance we all sang "Goodbye". I sang a duet, "Friends", with another classmate, and my whole class danced to a song.
The whole time was a wonderful experience and is truly unforgettable. It is exciting to know that one day I will be working somewhere in China and will have this kind of exposure all the time.
Here are the songs we sang if you are interested to listen:
Goodbye - 再见 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFnmTeSWYI0
Friends - 朋友 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJJfLSYuDQQ
Xian was wonderful. We were incredibly busy the whole time, but it allowed everyone to learn a lot of Chinese and learn about a lot of interesting things. Every morning we had to prepare a 2-3 minute speech about the previous day's activities and then learn a little bit more before our afternoon activity. We went to visit a bank, see the Terracotta Warriors, visit a railroad company, and visit some small Chinese villages.
Everyone in my class was really great. We had six students in our class, and since we all ate lunch and dinner together almost every day, as well as 3+ hours of class and then activities, we all became pretty close. One section of our class was taught by "Little Teachers" who were a bunch of grad students teaching for the first time in their lives.
On our last night, we all held a performance. Three other students and I hosted the event. During the performance we all sang "Goodbye". I sang a duet, "Friends", with another classmate, and my whole class danced to a song.
The whole time was a wonderful experience and is truly unforgettable. It is exciting to know that one day I will be working somewhere in China and will have this kind of exposure all the time.
Here are the songs we sang if you are interested to listen:
Goodbye - 再见 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFnmTeSWYI0
Friends - 朋友 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJJfLSYuDQQ
Monday, May 30, 2011
西安 - Xian
Sorry, I don't have time to make a full post right now because I'm headed off to Russia in less than an hour. Pictures will be up when I get back. Just a brief summary, it was an amazing time. My class and I got really close. My teachers were great, and I was speaking a ton of Chinese the entire time I was there. Hopefully, I'll have an opportunity to make a post at one of my hostels, but if not there will be a long, long post coming soon.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Exploring Hong Kong Through Running
Well, I'm a bit hesitant to make this post in thoughts of making another false promise. Hopefully this is chapter 1 of many, but we'll just see how it goes.
Tonight, for some odd reason, I decided to go on a run. I think it was just to take a nice break from studying for exams. This was my first run since I went to Korea, so it's been close to three months since I've last ran. Unofficial duration is about 35 minutes based off my last text message sent and my time of returning.
I hope to go on runs through some more interesting parts of the city and region, but I think I'll need to work on stamina a bit more first. Today's run took me through the Science Park of Hong Kong. It is about 10 minutes away if you run down the back road here at Student Hostel 2. I've actually never been to the Science Park here, but it has a really nice location right next to the water. While running towards there, I got to cross over the metro system and a major highway as well as running along a very poorly lit road.
One of the strangest things I encountered on my run was having to look the opposite way while crossing the road. I've gotten used to doing it while walking, but it just seemed strange since whenever I used to run it was always cars driving on the right side instead of the left.
Since I'm a bit out of shape, my run through the Science Park was very brief. From my view, it looked very much like an office park like you would find in the U.S. This is all for now. More to come while I can; however, I will be on hiatus pretty much all of May. Hope everyone had a great Easter!
Tonight, for some odd reason, I decided to go on a run. I think it was just to take a nice break from studying for exams. This was my first run since I went to Korea, so it's been close to three months since I've last ran. Unofficial duration is about 35 minutes based off my last text message sent and my time of returning.
I hope to go on runs through some more interesting parts of the city and region, but I think I'll need to work on stamina a bit more first. Today's run took me through the Science Park of Hong Kong. It is about 10 minutes away if you run down the back road here at Student Hostel 2. I've actually never been to the Science Park here, but it has a really nice location right next to the water. While running towards there, I got to cross over the metro system and a major highway as well as running along a very poorly lit road.
One of the strangest things I encountered on my run was having to look the opposite way while crossing the road. I've gotten used to doing it while walking, but it just seemed strange since whenever I used to run it was always cars driving on the right side instead of the left.
Since I'm a bit out of shape, my run through the Science Park was very brief. From my view, it looked very much like an office park like you would find in the U.S. This is all for now. More to come while I can; however, I will be on hiatus pretty much all of May. Hope everyone had a great Easter!
Sunday, April 17, 2011
学期快结束了 - The Semester is Ending Quickly
Well as of right now I have about two weeks left until my last exam, and I'll have two papers after that. I have 1 accounting case, 1 Chinese oral exam, 1 Chinese written exam, 1 accounting exam, 1 marketing exam, 1 English exam, 1 English paper, and 1 marketing paper standing between me Korea, Xian, and Russia.
I only have about one month until summer classes start up again. I'll be in Korea from May 4th until the 15th. After I get back from that I'll be spending a whole 1 day in Hong Kong, and then I'll be off to Xian to do some Chinese studies there while taking in the culture. I'll be in Xian from May 17th until the 28th. I'll be back in Hong Kong for another whole day then I will be off to the Motherland a.k.a Moscow, Russia. One of the Hong Kong airlines was having a 100 year anniversary, so flights were significantly cheaper than usual.
This will probably be the most serious my blog has ever been by a long shot. I've been being very pensive recently just about my current situation and where I'm headed. As I hear news of friends moving away from Atlanta, it feels more and more less like home. Including being in Columbia for a year and now Hong Kong for a year, I'm growing more and more out of touch with everything that I've known for so long. Living here is a great experience. It's forcing me to grow up much quicker than I ever would have in Columbia and giving me a taste of what it will actually be like to live and work in Asia. Friends will always be friends, but it's just weird not talking with them on a regular basis which I'll have to learn to live with as we all move away and work in different places. Seeing them maybe once a year at best most likely much longer than that.
/deep thoughts off
Easter's coming up next week, and I'm thinking of camping on a beach for a couple days to relax from all the studying. We'll see if I have time
I only have about one month until summer classes start up again. I'll be in Korea from May 4th until the 15th. After I get back from that I'll be spending a whole 1 day in Hong Kong, and then I'll be off to Xian to do some Chinese studies there while taking in the culture. I'll be in Xian from May 17th until the 28th. I'll be back in Hong Kong for another whole day then I will be off to the Motherland a.k.a Moscow, Russia. One of the Hong Kong airlines was having a 100 year anniversary, so flights were significantly cheaper than usual.
This will probably be the most serious my blog has ever been by a long shot. I've been being very pensive recently just about my current situation and where I'm headed. As I hear news of friends moving away from Atlanta, it feels more and more less like home. Including being in Columbia for a year and now Hong Kong for a year, I'm growing more and more out of touch with everything that I've known for so long. Living here is a great experience. It's forcing me to grow up much quicker than I ever would have in Columbia and giving me a taste of what it will actually be like to live and work in Asia. Friends will always be friends, but it's just weird not talking with them on a regular basis which I'll have to learn to live with as we all move away and work in different places. Seeing them maybe once a year at best most likely much longer than that.
/deep thoughts off
Easter's coming up next week, and I'm thinking of camping on a beach for a couple days to relax from all the studying. We'll see if I have time
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Quick Post
Well, I've been informed not to apologize for length in between posts. Since my last post, I've been to Singapore, Korea, the U.S., and now back to Korea for Chinese New Year. Classes this semester seem more interesting and not as difficult. It's only been a few weeks so far, but I think this semester will be way more fun. I'm hoping when I return that I can actually start keeping up with my blog. Until next time...
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