Escaping Dinner

After a productive morning hitting the City Wall and Jimingsi Temple, my host family took me to a business dinner. We drove* about half an hour to a mall in what seemed to be borderline the suburbs. The waiters escorted us to an enormous private dining room, complete with couches, a small kitchen, and a…

Did That Really Just Happen?

Today, we climbed a mountain, spontaneously had the Korean meal of a lifetime, then had the family-cooked meal of a lifetime. The Korean students accompanied us to Purple Mountain, ready for the climb to the summit. Unlike the Koreans, we were not prepared for what was to come. 1500 feet. That’s how tall Zijinshan is. It…

Saturday Afternoon Classes

On Friday morning, I was a bit bummed to find out that we had class on Saturday afternoon. I wanted to spend time with my host family, now that there are only two weeks(!!!) left in the program. By Saturday evening, I was so, so, so glad that we had class on Saturday. It wasn’t…

Assassin & Karaoke

Flashback!!! NSLI-Y Nanjing is hosting its very own game of Assassin, and I’m the Gamemaster. Tune in later for betrayal, deaths, and the baddest scavenger hunt in Nanjing Uni. On an unrelated note, Benjamin invited Hayley, Justin, Anushka, and me (#originalFBsquad) to fancy karaoke at Wensha Bulkhead Karaoke. It was the bougiest karaoke place I’ve…

Second-to-Last Sunday

Today has easily been the most spontaneous day I’ve had in a couple weeks. My sister and I woke up this morning to head off to Fangpo Gaotuan for breakfast. While the restaurant (fine, mom and pop shop)’s famous 油条 (fried dough sticks) were sold out, we still had an amazing breakfast of mochi cakes,…

Here Come the Koreans

Thanks to suspicious WiFi and malfunctioning VPNs, it’s been difficult to find my way into the online world over the past week. Regardless, I wrote my thoughts down in the hopes of finally finding some connection. Across the last four weeks (we’ve already been in Nanjing for a month!!!), other study abroad programs have been…

Updates

The last few days have been so busy that I’ve had no time to write! Have a brief account: Thursday As always, classes were rather lackluster, but the culture class was fantastic! A NanDa professor came and presented on Chinese classical music, both in the scale system and instruments. His presentation skills were fantastic, and…

Thank You Notes

Dear IOPP, Thanks for giving me an excuse to put pictures of Kristen Stewart, my friends, and hamburgers all in a single State Department-sanctioned presentation. See you in two weeks, Jessica Dear FengYouJing, Thank you for being so wonderfully useful across the past week. You’ve been there for us everyday, the only thing keeping us…

30,000 Steps

One of my favorite things to do in new places is exploring. No plans, no preconceptions, no directions; just me, BaiduDiTu, and comfortable walking shoes. I took Saturday off from socializing to explore some Nanjing sites on my own. Right now, my host sister, host mom, and host brother all off in another city for…

On…

On Feng You Jing Feng You Jing, according to Pleco, is an essential oil. It smells a bit like a mixture of peppermint, tea tree oil, and eucalyptus all at once. From treating mosquito bites to staying awake during long moments in school, Feng You Jing is useful for such a diverse number of things.…