17

This week has been pretty crazy! 

It was a little strange being in school for New Year's Eve, but it also made me realize how arbitrary the meaning really is that we give to some days of the year. 

It's another year full of possibilities, but the opportunities to live my life to the fullest don't just start when I enter into 2014. I do feel empowered to continue taking good care of my body, mind and spirit so that I can feel proud of my language progress and make the most of my overall experience in China though.

Also in our art class this week, we did write down things we'd like to see / make happen in 2014 on these awesome red lanterns that you let drift off into the sky. Returning to the States in June and starting school in September will be much larger transitions than that between December 31st and January 1st, so that's when most of my lantern-list will be realized, but in general I feel really excited and optimistic about this coming year. 

As for this week: 

On Monday we gave our NSLI-Y 1st semester research project presentations! It was fun to see what my American classmates had discovered through their research: 

Sara's project was on student diet and health; Tilden explored the world of Chinese wedding culture; Megan looked at child-rearing; Brady described Chinese gaming culture; Maike's topic was Shanghai's elderly population; Carmen talked about foreign trading in Shanghai; Paris discussed Chinese math curricula; Keiondre did his project on Chinese social networks; and of course I examined the cultural role of public green space (parks and squares) in Shanghai.

They were all excellently researched/presented topics and it feels really good to finally be done, at least for this semester. 

For next semester's topic, I'm planning on researching Chinese medicine, which will give me the push I need to go out and explore that part of Chinese culture a little more. 

Tuesday night I spent at my host family's to celebrate the New Year. I took it pretty mellow, staying up with my host sister and watching Inception (which I had never seen). 

Although Shanghai is a very international Chinese city where there is a large party/performance downtown (a little of which we watched online), the shift from one calendar year to the next isn't a huge deal here. Lunar new year on the 31st of January is where it's at! 

I really look forward to celebrating that here this year. 

New Year's Day I made dumplings with my host mom and grandma. I'm definitely improving the aesthetic quality of my dumplings and look forward to making them all the time for everyone when I come back to the States :) 

After the brief respite, I went back to school for night study and to finish up the rest of the week. 

Next week is our last before winter break! We have finals and the HSK and then we're freeeee! I'm quite stoked.

16

It has been an exciting week, the conclusion of which brings me to the four month mark! 

On Monday, we got to make 饺子 (dumplings) in our culture class! It was fun to cook with the cafeteria Ayi's again, and the dumplings were simply delicious! 

Tuesday was the Christmas Eve assembly (晚会 or "party")  in which I performed with the choir, singing "This Love", "Silent Night", and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". There was about 3 hours in total of IB Chinese performances including dances, plays and comedy routines. It was awesome to see some of the hidden talents and passions of my schoolmates. 

That evening, we got to watch a movie during our normal night study time (6:30-9:15). We watched the Bollywood film "Three Idiots". Even though it isn't directly related to anything christmas-y, in my opinion, it is one of the best movies in existence. Luckily my NSLI-Y classmate Paris shared this sentiment and bought the DVD at a local video store. Everyone on planet earth should watch this movie. Period. 

We also exchanged our NSLI-Y "Secret Santa" gifts! Brady got me the perfect gift: a t-shirt that he had seen me eying when we were at TianZiFang. See the design of super cute pandas performing all the 太极拳 (Taiqi) moves below.

Our Resident Director Shasha also made us all "granola bars" (basically oatmeal cookies with tons of oatmeal in them), which were great! And Tilden's grandmother also hand-knitted us all socks! They are pure coziness! 

Wednesday (Christmas day), the school treated all the international students to an amusement park trip. We went to Happy Valley (欢乐谷), which is the biggest theme park in Shanghai at the moment (they're currently working on a Disneyland that'll be larger). It had some pretty wicked roller coasters! There were also some bizarre themes such as a haunted house and old mining town which were all a riot!  We also met a man from Djbouti dressed as a Santa selling sticks of honey-covered fruit who tried to convince me he was Russian because he thought I was. 

It was all in all a great time: I enjoyed some really wonderful tears-of-laughter and front-row-hands-up-roller-coaster screams. 

Wednesday evening, we all got to go to KTV (a private karaoke room) and sang and danced our hearts out. It was rad to hear Smiley (from Korea) rap the entirety of Gangam Style and Eric, the Norwegian go hard to "Livin' on a Prayer". Such a blast! 

Friday was the international student speaking performance, where Luca (from Italy) and I were the hosts.  

There were so many great essays  and poems written in Chinese on the topic of our "impression of China". 

I ended up reading my poem 五味中国 (The five flavors of China)!

Saturday, I went back to the XinTianDi Y+ yoga studio for a workshop taught by Jessica and Stéphane (friends from the U.S.) and translated by Duoduo. It consisted of an excellent physical practice based on the five elements (土，火，水，风，空间：earth, fire, water, wind, and space) and then a great sutra lesson on the 8 limbs of yoga with relation to Buddhism. 

It's always was very enjoyable for me to study these philosophies, but it was even more cool to do it in Chinese! 

15

There was a lot of rain at the beginning of this week.  Although it felt cleansing, it was also a little unfortunate because it was also accompanied by a huge temperature drop and I'm not a huge fan of damp cold. However, it made me greatly appreciate my tea and fried-egg-and-vegetable noodle soup every morning:

it also provided me with the opportunity to snap this cool shot in our school building's lobby: 

The weather cleared up on Wednesday for our 月考 (YueKao: monthly test), which went well! 

Thursday, during our culture class, we got to make and taste the traditional Chinese dish: 火锅 (huo guo: hot pot). Because the city of Chengdu (famous for its huo guo) was my first Chinese home, I have a special love for this spicy spicy dish. Although it wasn't as good as Chengdu, it was pretty great! It was also fun to get to go back into the school cafeteria kitchens and help the "ayi's" ("aunt" is what everyone in China uses to respectfully refer to cleaning/cooking staff as well as middle-aged female strangers in general): 

(Reo, Carmen, and Maike)

(Yasu): 

Thursday we also had a fire drill, which was an interesting experience. They actually had fake smoke and we had to run from the dorms with a wet towel pressed to our faces. They also had a fire extinguisher demonstration after we all successfully "survived". 

This week we wrote middle-school-esque essays about The Kite Runner for our Writing teacher. They're going to put them up on the wall too which is kind of embarrassing, but I am also surprisingly proud of my work because this type of thing is a kind of a language milestone in Chinese. Next up is my semester research project presentation, which will take place on the 30th of December! 

On another note: I mentioned before, I have discovered a new love of jazzercise while in China. I want to share the best jazzercise song that my PE teacher plays for us. It could just be the best song, period. Enjoy! 

加油歌 (jia you ge or "go go song") 

Also I wanted to share some evidence of the burgeoning recycle system:

I'm so proud of the Chinese IB Roots and Shoots Club! 

This Saturday I went to bustling shopping district XinTianDi （新天地）for another NSLI-Y outing. We got to visit a museum that exhibited the gorgeous intersection of historical Chinese/French style architecture and interior design:

I then took Tilden to a flow hour class at the Y+ Yoga Studio at XinTianDi, which was awesome. 

After class, we celebrated the Solstice with some delicious apple crumble pie and explored some. We found a lot of really excellent street art: 

14

The pollution finally cleared up this Tuesday with the onset of some pretty frigid weather! 

I have never been so happy to see a blue sky and breathe fresh air! :) 

Even though I hope I won't be needing it again any time soon, I also received the special mask with a PM2.5 filter that our teachers ordered for us. It's purple and quite stylish! I guess I've also never been so excited about the fashionable qualities of a face mask...New emotions and experiences in China everyday! 

In choir this week, we prepared for our Christmas concert at the assembly which will take place either next week or the week after (I'm never quite clear with the timing of events here). 

I'll be singing the alto part in a "Silent Night" harmony along with a smaller group of IB Chinese girls (Chenglu, Xieyi, Francis and Miu) as well as "This Love" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" with the whole group. 

I want to congratulate Miu (one of the cutest, most fashionable and kind people I know) on her acceptance to one of her top college choices: School of the Art Institute of Chicago. 恭喜恭喜！

I'm also really excited though because I found out that Xieyi runs the "Roots and Shoots" club, which I wanted to join at the beginning of the year but couldn't because their meetings coincided with my classes. Although I still can't attend meetings, I've starting helping with the school's recycling program, which is the club's main objective this year! I'm excited because I hate seeing how much material is wasted at our school. 

This week we watched The Kite Runner in our Chinese character class! I know it's pretty random, but I'm not complaining. 

It's such a devastating story though. 

On Saturday, my host sister came along with me on our NSLI-Y excursion to TianZiFang (a famous architectural site and shopping area in Shanghai), which we were supposed to visit last weekend but couldn't because of the pollution. 

It was nice that my host sister came. We had good Chinese discussions on the metro about hairstyles, astrology, and child adoption and then she got to practice her English with the other Americans. 

At TianZiFang, we walked around in the maze of little shops and ate some really delicious and genuine pizza! 

The NSLI-Y crew is also holding a "Secret Santa" Exchange on Christmas Eve, so it was a great opportunity to buy our gifts for that. I'll certainly be returning there to buy gifts before I come home to the States in June as well! 

13

I can't believe that we're already a week into December! 

We have a Christmas Day trip planned for the 25th (not sure where they're taking us, but last year the students went to a roller coaster park and went out for a Chinese classic: hot pot). 

Our research project presentations will also take place at the end of December. I'm basically done with all my research and just need to neaten it up and practice presenting it. 

We'll have three days off in total for New Year's Day (元旦 yuan dan), but I'd actually rather not because the government makes up the missed days by taking away our weekend (having two weeks straight of school with no break does not sound fabulous to me). 

After we take our finals (early January) and the HSK on January 11th, we get our month-long break for the Chinese New Year or Spring Festival (春节 chun jie), for which I am totally stoked. 

The air pollution this week was horrendous. We saw the most severe levels that Shanghai has ever had. 

Levels of PM2.5 (particulate matter of 2.5 nanometers) were above 500 (0-50 is good; 50-100 is moderate; 101-150 is unhealthy for sensitive groups; 151-200 is unhealthy; 201-300 is very unhealthy and 300+ is hazardous). 

Check out this website if you'd like more information and for a real-time air quality index of Chinese cities. 

Notice that the track is closed due to the air. Although it may look like morning mist, it's not. The first picture above was snapped just outside my dorm.

Although some schools closed down completely because of the pollution, Jiao Da Fu Zhong marched on (our track was closed though and our daily morning exercises and flag raising were canceled due to the conditions). 

I've been wearing my scarf wrapped around my face as a mask, but our teachers are ordering us special masks with filters for the future. Luckily, the levels are a supposed to go way down after this weekend though. 

Because of the pollution, of course we spent our PE classes this week indoors: we've been playing ping pong, learning a kung fu sequence and I have now come to realize how unbelievably fun jazzercise can be. I love our PE (jazzercise!) teacher. She also asked me teach yoga to the class and is just the coolest. 

Also due to the pollution, our NSLI-Y excursion to Tianzifang this weekend was canceled (everyone was encouraged to stay inside), so I'm taking this weekend to study and chill out a little bit. 

I'll be working on my first Chinese poem (for a speaking competition in late December that is happening along with a photography competition in which I'll also compete)! 

Although the air quality has been pretty disturbing, I feel like it's a very real Chinese experience and one that is so important in tangibly understanding why we need to act in ways that sustain and protect our environment--the consequences of not doing so are very severe. 

That being said, I have been very lucky in my life not to have been directly exposed to environmental hazards or injustice and still feel lucky to be living in a city now where this is at least not the norm, compared to many other cities in China.

Stay safe everyone!

twelve

This post marks the three-month mark! I am a third way through my time here. 

It's strange how simultaneously it feels like the time is flying by before my eyes but how the time has also been full to the brim with valuable experiences. 

I've definitely gotten into a routine here and have had the opportunity to affirm a lot of the things I find most important to sustain in my life no matter where I am or what I'm doing (for example doing yoga, playing the guitar and singing, keeping my callouses and forearms strong for when I can climb again, reading philosophy and listening to science-y podcasts, etc). I've also come to recognize the important role of loved ones in adapting to this new environment and have come to value my relationships with my family and friends (old and new) more than ever before. 

For this week: 

In our Monday choir meeting, we continued to work on "This Love".

On Tuesday, I presented my extracurricular project (model UN) along with my fellow NSLI-Y classmates. Some of the other projects, meant to engage us with Chinese students and speakers in general include a Korean elective class taught in Chinese, Running club, Investigation of Shanghai street food and its vendors, a Shanghainese elective course, Basketball club and extra language partnerships! 

I've been enjoying the art from our class's painting unit! This is from our class on Wednesday: 

This Thursday during lunch, the Americans held a Thanksgiving celebration to share the glorious tradition with our host siblings and others. We had apple and pumpkin pies and my Estonian friend Johanna made an apple crisp! It was fantastic. We played "pin the feathers on the turkey" and made hand print turkeys inscribed with what we are thankful for. I wrote that I am thankful for my the family and friends back home as well as all my new friends.

"Happy Thanksgivukkah" 

To celebrate further, we went to a Mexican restaurant for a wonderful (albeit unconventional) Thanksgiving dinner! My burrito wasn't as good as the ones back home but the owner was from Vera Cruz and so so sweet! 

Saturday, I got the chance to meet an old friend of a relative, Molly, who is living here with her husband and 14-year-old daughter, working as a Google programmer. She invited me to attend her Thanksgiving brunch! It was a small yet cozy affair and together we made up a rather "unconventional family": it was wonderful to make connections and feel a sense of home away from home during the holidays. 

There were two NYU Shanghai college students (Kevin and Kristen) who are my age and from Seattle. It was evidence of how small the world is that they are friends with two alumni of my NSLI-Y program! There was also a chocolate engineer named Dan, who's working at a Hershey's factory here but whose dream is to make his beer brewing hobby into a career (if his beer is anything like his fresh squeezed orange juice than I'd place my bets on him). Dan's girlfriend Emilie was also there and is about to get her Anusara yoga teacher certification next week (again: small world)! There was also Qing, a Chinese professor and her Polish boyfriend, as well as an Israeli tech-y and a Chinese teacher named Lisui. 

Overall, it was a very lively time and I got to have some delicious food (Molly's homemade pumpkin pie was AMAZING). 

Even though I miss my family (and tofurkey), I had a satisfying first holiday away from home :) 

Sending thanks and love to everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving! 

! חנוכה שמחה

eleven

This Monday in choir we started working on the song "This Love" by Maroon 5, which is a fun and upbeat piece. 

Tuesday, I gave a presentation to my host sister's class about BASIS, the American high school from I graduated and to which Jiao Da Fu Zhong will send some students next year. It's quite the coincidence and I was very happy to provide a picture of the school and what they might experience next year, since I'm in a similar position as an exchange student now. 

Thursday, I met with my language buddy, Yichen. She still hasn't been interested in speaking any English, which is great for me! Anyway, we had some interesting conversations including one about Chinese high school dating culture. Dating (at all) is technically against school rules, but that does not mean it's not happening in secret...

On Thursday, I also got myself all signed up for the January 11th HSK 4 (Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi or Chinese Level 4 Test), which is said to be about the same level as the AP. We took a practice test this week and I felt pretty solid! 

Saturday, we had our monthly NSLI-Y group outing where we explored Shanghai's Seafood Market, which has an unbelievable diversity of sea life, most of which I could not name. The fishermen were super lively, sometimes even alarmingly so: one man who was insisting I buy his gooey-ducks (the huge clam-like things) kept asking me in Mandarin if he could be my boyfriend and only stopped yelling "girlfriend girlfriend, come back" when I was almost out of earshot. But there was also a nice set of siblings from Guangdong province who were happy to explain to me the names of different enormous crabs. 

It was definitely not my favorite place in Shanghai, but it felt very local (foreigners don't often come there) and was none-the-less a valuable experience. 

Afterward, we went to a beautiful Buddhist temple, where the fragrance of incense soothed me greatly after all the seafood smells!

I then explored the city a little with my American friends Tilden, Sara, Megan, and Keiondre until we met back up with Paris and Brady (who had opted to eat at the seafood market) and saw the second Hunger Games film! Jennifer Lawrence is such a goddess!!!

Finally, this week we received the exciting news that we'll be spending one week of our month-long winter break in Nanjing doing service projects with the Beijing NSLI-Y students and another week of the break in Hangzhou (where my sister was this past summer) living with temporary host families and focusing on cultural immersion studies! January and February will certainly be an exciting time!