A beautiful weekend in Xi'an 西安

This weekend we all traveled to Xi’an which is in the Western part of China (Xi stands for West).
The trip started off on a 9 hour train ride. Fortunately for us, and for the rest of the train, we got a train car to ourselves (there were about 40 of us). The train ride was really fun but we were all pretty exhausted when we landed in Xi’an at 8 am.

Our first stop was the Great Mosque of Xi’an. It is a Muslim mosque and was extremely beautiful. The weather was about 70 degrees and the sun was shining. This was the first day since I’ve been here that I actually saw the sun so you can imagine how happy I was.

For lunch we went to a really nice restaurant but the highlight of it was there was a wedding reception taking place in the restaurant. The wedding party was very delighted to have us partake in the festivities. It was also really cool to see what a Chinese wedding looks like.

After lunch we headed to the Terracotta Warriors. There were three pits all filled with warriors and horses. You could even get a picture and signature of the farmer who stumbled upon the warriors for 300 kuai (about $40). Considering this man is now loaded I figured it wasn’t worth it. The warriors were really impressive but I was more in love with sitting outside since it was such a beautiful day.

That night we headed to a few bars and one huge Chinese club. We were the only foreigners in the club so we quickly got greeted with free beer and VIP seats. It could have been a really cool experience but unfortunately my friend Charlie got pickpocketed so we left in a bad mood.

Sunday we woke up and had the day to do whatever we want. A few of us headed to the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda. It was a really pretty Buddhist pagoda. There was also a huge water fountain show that we got to enjoy. But of course, we were the local tourist attraction. Numerous people asked to take our pictures but even more people just took our pictures thinking we didn’t notice. Having been in China almost 6 weeks I am still not use to having my picture taken by strangers. Not sure I’ll ever get use to that though.

After the Pagoda we headed to bike the city wall. The city wall is the most complete city wall to have survived in China. This was the highlight of the trip and perhaps one of the coolest things I’ve ever done in my life. We decided to rent a tandem and bike around the city wall (its 8 miles around). My biking partner, Charlie, and I were quite the site to see on our tandem. He is a about 6’4 and 260 lbs so we decided it would be best if he steered the bike. The only problem with this is I could not see anything over him. However, when we tried to switch positions I could not even peddle the bike one foot. To say the least, it was a hilariously amazing experience.

That night we headed back to Beijing on another train ride. It was definitely a less energetic train ride since we were all exhausted.

The only problem with the city (besides Charlie getting pickpocketed) were the taxi’s. There always seemed to be ample taxi’s around but none of them would ever stop for us (not sure if it had to do with our skin color..). But this just made our adventures around the city even more fun.

I was really bummed that I wasn’t going to be at the Cup this year but I am glad I got to experience a beautiful and what seemed like a calmer city than Beijing. Hope everyone at the Cup had an amazing time. I thought about y’all all weekend. Much love.

Market near the Muslim Mosque

Mao's inspirational words come in many languages
So beautiful!!
All the babies here wear slit pants so they can just pop a squat where ever they feel like it
At the Mosque
A Chinese bride
Pit 1 (the largest one) of the Terracotta Soldiers
Giant Wild Goose Pagoda (and yes, we climbed to the top!)
Getting my picture taken with a Chinese stranger
Of course we won the Tour de Xi'an
My view from the tandem
The city wall

A trip to the grocery store

Today my friend Charlie and I decided to make a trip to Carrefour which is basically the super target + publix combined into one and multiplied by 5. If that makes any sense (you know how I am with math...). Going anywhere in public tends to take quite a lot longer than it would in the states because there are so many people and this was no exception. But four hours later I ended up with croissants and a block cheddar cheese so it was all worth it! I think the only way to describe the experience is by pictures so enjoy!


People everywhere!



Pastries mmmm
Where's Waldo ( or Lauren...)

Couldn't even tell you what this is

Finally some food I recognize!

Meat anyone?We had no idea what this was so we asked in hopes that they would point to the part of the body that this comes from but no such luck. Our guess though was intenstines or penis...


The cheese aisle!! aka. Lauren's heaven

Chinese people cook everything in oil so its only appropriate they have an entire aisle with Costco size containers of it.

This was the 40 minute check out line..if you can call it a lineHope this gives a good feel for the craziness that is China! Love you all.

The First Annual Baijiu Challenge

A few of the guys in my program put together a scavenger hunt around Beijing titled "The Baijiu Challenge". Baijiu is basically this clear horrible smelling liquor that they sell here. The scavenger hunt included going to tourist sites, eating weird food, doing random activities, and of course going to bars. There were 8 teams divided into groups of 4 and each team had one person who spoke Chinese well (clearly that wasn't me). We all thought it would be a great way to see the city and have fun. And boy did we ever!

My team, the Party 动物's (animals), started our night off to an interesting start. In my last blog I mentioned how scary it was to cross the street but for the first time I felt more frightened being in the car. Our taxi driver literally hit about 5 pedestrians. And it wasn't a slam on the breaks type of almost hit. It was more of a "oh shit, that was your foot? Sorry" type of almost hit.

Luckily, our first stop of the night was Wudaokou which is a bar district close to our school. We had to visit four bars and do various tasks at each bar such as get 5 numbers, ganbei (the Chinese version of cheers) with strangers, smoke a hookah, etc. . If we completed all tasks you got an extra 100 points. Perhaps the highlight of Wudaokou was watching Charlie (my teammate) eat stinky tofu. I will include a picture of what stinky tofu looks like. Fortunately, I can't include what it smells like but it is very apporpriatly named. Thanks to Charlie's heroic efforts we scored a sweet 200 points for that!

Our next stop was touristy sites. We realized that Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and Mao's tomb were all in the same area so we headed that way. For visiting each of these sites we scored 300 points. A few of the random tasks that we did there was buy a team costume, take a picture with a Chinese baby, buy a Mao souvenir, and take a picture with a guard (which is very challenging). Of course, some of our precious time was lost to people wanting to take our picture.

Our third stop was what we hoped to be a strategic move to put us into first place. We headed to Chaoyang which is another drinking district. None of us had ever been there or knew where it was but if we went to all four bars there we would score 500 points. We knew we were risking it but decided to head there anyways. Perhaps we should have known it wasn't going to turn out well when we got off the subway and asked people where the bars were located but all we found out was we were in the business district. Luckily, my team member Blaire was able to use her Blackberry and googled one of the bars (gotta love technology!). We found out the bar was a good 15 minute cab drive but we had no other choice. What we didn't realize was that none of the other three bars were remotely close to this one. So basically, we took three taxi's to get to three bars and never made it to the fourth so we didn't get our extra 100 points. Our strategic move turned out to be a bust :(

As our deadline was quickly approaching (midnight) we headed to our final destination, Sanlitun. Sanlitun is the most popular drinking district. Now I know what you're thinking (Mom), this scavenger hunt included nothing but bars! Well that was slightly true but because we had such minimal time to do each task we didn't even get the chance to sit down and have a drink. So to say the least, after 5 hours of running around the city we were tired, hungry, and ready for a beer. We arrived to Sanlitun and quickly did our final tasks there. Around 12:30 we started to find the other groups and the rest of the night is history. 4 days later we still don't know who won...

It was truly a great night and I don't think any of us will ever forget it! Thanks to Brice, Dan, Alex and the rest of the boys for organizing it! I've included a few team pictures. Enjoy!


Just some stinky tofu. You literally can not imagine how horrible the smell is!


Picture with a Chinese baby- 50 points

Team Party 动物's in our matching costume!

Picture with guards- 50 points

The driving laws in China..or lack thereof

In Boulder we have this cute saying that pedestrians are God. However, in China pedestrians are almost equivalent to squirrels...if you hit one you feel bad but keep on driving. Not only do you have to look out for cars while crossing the street but you also have to watch out for bikes, scooters, street vendors, buses, and mobs of people. I am sure you can imagine just how scary it can be. I would best compare crossing the street in Beijing to the game Frogger...except you don't get five lives or any reward for making it safely.

One of the hardest driving laws to get use to here is that there is no stop on red when turning right. Actually there doesn't seem to be much stopping at any lights now that I think about it. U-turns are also legal anywhere and everywhere. We were told we should buy a bike here but seeing as I put my life on the line just walking I can't imagine biking. I'm too scared to even bike in Boulder!

As dangerous as it must sound there is a constant saver..honking. People honk 24/7. They honk even if you aren't in the way. Half the time it is annoying and the other half the time I am thankful for giving me the heads up that they are about to run me over. I've noticed the cab drivers don't believe in holding their hands at 10 and 2 but instead on the horn.

The crazy part of this all is that I have yet to see one accident or anyone get run over. I guess they are just so use to it. Definitely makes any bad day on I-75 look serene. I actually have grown to like crossing the street because it is like a game. Score 200 points for not getting my foot run over! Another 300 for making it across! It also helps me wake up in the morning for my dreadful 8 am's.

I have yet to take any good pictures of the insanity but when I do I will be sure to upload them..or maybe a video so you can really get a feel for it. Till then I will continue to thank my lucky stars every night that I have survived another day not sprawled out on someone's windshield!

Love you all and please drive safe!!

Lauren
柯若兰

Hey y'all! Hope everyone is doing well. Life in Beijing is still great. Although, I did have one slight scare. The other night we went out to a restaurant/bar and I had to use the bathroom. First, I must explain what the bathrooms are like in China. Most toilets are not toilets at all. They are holes in the floor cleverly named "squatty potties". I personally am a fan of squatty potties because you don't have to touch anything. However, after a few beers it can get harder to squat and keep your balance..Anyways, back to my almost horrific story. After I had gone to the restroom I tried to open the door to get out of the horrible smelling squatty potty but this door wasn't budging. I tried to remain calm but that was tad bit hard when there was no way out of the bathroom and I didn't know how to say "help I'm stuck in a squatty potty". As I was banging on the door I kept wondering how long it would take before my friends came and got me. Of course, after about 5 minutes of freaking out about how my last few breathes of life would be spent in a squatty potty I managed to get the door unlocked. And go figure all I had to do was push this button. Once again the Chinese have out smarted me...

This weekend was much needed after my first week back in school. But don't worry mom and dad, I have been doing many other cultural immersion activities other than meeting Chinese people at bars! Today my friend Sarah and I woke up early and went to the National Art Museum. Yes, you read that right. Lauren Kaufman went to an art museum. I channelled my inner Lindsay Fritts and had a great time. The exhibit was all artifacts from ancient civilizations. There was also this amazing circular room with 20 ft walls and the wall was made out of stone carvings that depicted the entire Chinese history. Pretty cool to say the least. The theme of the day though was definitely pointing. Neither Sarah nor I speak Chinese very well (no offense Sarah!) so finding the museum was a little tricky but thank god pointing is a universal language. Maybe one of these days I'll learn how to say left and right...oh and help I'm stuck in the bathroom.

The weather has been verrrry chilly. It is snowing once again. One of the worst parts about it being cold is none of the restaurants have heating so we all have to eat in our jackets. Between eating with my big puffy jacket on and using chopsticks it is quite a sight. I know I keep mentioning food in every post but I seriously just can't get over how good and how cheap everything is. The other night we went to Korean BBQ which is just a little different than Fat Matts. The meat was soo amazing but it was definitely my most expensive meal yet. A whole $11!!!! That is practically unheard of considering a meal on campus is not even $1.00.

I found out yesterday my dad got invited to give a talk in Beijing in June so I will probably get to see him and by then I'll know this city like the back of my hand. Really hope it all works out. Well I need to stop procrastinating and learn some Chinese characters. Oh the fun never stops!

Here's to another fabulous week in Beijing..and not getting locked in to a bathroom. Love y'all!!

Lauren
柯若兰

Snowy night in Beijing


National Art Museum
My boy Confucius

And I was excited for classes why??

Oh man it's going to be an intense semester. Taking three classes in Chinese and one in English is extremely tiring.

My reading/writing class and my speaking class aren't too bad. The teachers are very energetic and I can keep up for the most part. We have quizzes every day on characters so I have to learn about 60 words a day including the pinyin with tones. The teachers don't speak English so all explanations are in Chinese. Half the time I find myself zoning out cause I just can't follow. I have classes with many foreign students (British, German, Bolivian, Japanese, Korean, etc) which is really cool. I feel so bad for some of them though cause all our translations in the books are in English so not only are they learning Chinese they are also learning English. Glad I at least have one up on them.

My listening class is painful. We have to listen to short dialogues and then answer questions. Unfortunately, this is the class I need the most because my listening is quite poor. However, between my horrible listening skills and the speakers they use from the 60's it is quite hard to understand anything. It doesn't help that the man speaking muffles half the time. To say the least I feel completely lost and frustrated.

On a good note though my Intercultural Communications class is awesome! And not just because it's in English. It is taught by the CEO of a Chinese consulting group that works with big names like Nike, Microsoft, etc. He is really entertaining and very knowledgeable. Plus, the class material is right up my ally. I am definitely going to try and get to know him really well so he can hopefully give me good advice since this is the type of stuff I want to do later on in life. He said, "I don't want you to become Chinese but I do want you to become better Americans." Could not have said it better myself.

These last few days I have been feeling pretty frustrated because I feel like I'll never learn this damn language (excuse my word choice but I think it conveys my mood accurately). It's almost like I have been transported back to my German days. Part of me knows it can only get better from here, but the other part just wants to give up.

Just as I am having a bad day I had to meet my tutor for the first time. We are required to see Chinese tutors three times a week. My tutor is named Mary and is studying to teach Chinese as a second language. She might want to go into a different field though cause the whole time she kept laughing at my Chinese pronunciation. And it wasn't a kind playful laugh either. It didn't help that she tried to convince me that Chinese is not a hard language to learn at all.

Sorry to vent but it was just one of those days. Tonight we are all going out to sing karaoke. I'm sure there's nothing a good Britney Spears song can't cure! As long as it's not in Chinese...

Oh and I got to skype with Mom, Linds, Jan, and Cassie this morning. Really great to talk to them and it always blows my mind that I can literally see them half way across the world. Technology is such an amazing thing! Hope everyone is doing well. Love yall ohh soo much!!

Lauren
柯若兰