Nanjing 2018-2019, Blog Post 6
January was a really, really good month and every one of my days, for the most part, were different.
Beginning with my week one, I began wrapping up my holiday feelings. No more festivities past our New Year’s Eve party, no more group dinners, and no more free time with friends. Well, I did go to a big dinner the night before a final exam, but that was an exception– we went to get the famous Beijing roast duck! The first week, I had to begin studying for my four classes of Chinese. Two classes were main “core” class, Chinese reading/writing and a listening/speaking class; the other two were for essay writing and composition and business Chinese.
I really felt confused studying for exams during the second week: not because I did not understand the content, but because I wasn’t quite sure what I was studying for. My grades did not transfer back to college in the US, and I never had planned to study anything Chinese related in college. My motivation definitely lacked during this week, but I crammed all the content in and finished with all A’s for the semester.
The third and fourth week of January were some of the best weeks I experienced in China. My friends and I had planned a big trip to Guilin, Guangxi for sightseeing around the city and visiting the nearby rice terraces after exams finished. Guilin happens to be my hometown and birthplace, so although I did hesitate at first about joining, but once I made my decision to tag along, I was exuberated! We took an 8-hour train ride down to Guilin, stayed in an amazing hostel, explored the city (with me as everyone’s guide, of course), and tried some yummy foods.
As wonderful as the week was, traveling with seven other people can be very exhausting. Some of my best friends, the Italians, were not returning the following semester, so I said my tearful goodbyes and wished them good luck, then flew back to Nanjing. I only had a couple days back in Nanjing before my family and I vacationed in Thailand for a week, so I settled in at my mom’s and focused on packing.
Switching from traveling with seven other young people, down to do anything and visit everything, to traveling with a four year old (my sister) was quite a transition. My mom, stepdad, sister and I spent a whole week in Bangkok, and our time there was very slow and relaxing. All the Thai food we tried, from nice and air-conditioned restaurants to aromatic street food, blew my mind. Also, the famous landmarks were amazing to sightsee and easy to get to, all with a venture on the SkyTrain and boat ride down the Chao Phraya River. Pictured below are some of my favorite sights, foods, and things we did.
I wrapped up my contrasting month with a big change– I cut off 8 inches of my hair! Before leaving the US, I planned that I would cut off as much hair as possible to donate to non-profit hair donation center. However, my hair grew really long over the first semester, almost hitting my elbow, and I could not stand it any longer. I got a salon recommendation from my Chinese friend, booked an appointment online, and headed over for the big chop with my friend Emily. The hairdresser almost cut off the eight inches without the hair being tied in the ponytail, which would’ve been tragic, but Emily caught his mistake, and I walked out of the salon with eight less inches of hair on my head. The haircut symbolized a new start, a fresh look, and a willingness to make the rest of my year as good as the last few weeks.