summer in the city

Since nothing's really happened here lately, this is just going to be a random stringing together of whatever thoughts float through my head. There's my disclaimer/apology. Onward!

Now that the weather has gotten warmer, Nanjing has started to smell so bad. The combination of sewage, half eaten food, and trash cans is lethal, and it feels like it seeps into your nostrils whenever you pass an unfortunate amount of grossness. Of course, it's just how China smells, so there's really not much you can do except laugh and breathe through your mouth.

It's not that I don't love China, because I do; especially Nanjing. It's just that when you're in China, you start appreciating things that make America...America. I've gotten used to a lot here, but some things still get me, like getting stared at when I walk to the market, or having little babies look up at me with terrified expressions (I've coaxed a few smiles and giggles from some braver kids).

















I managed to ninja this picture in Shanghai--this baby's grandmother was giving Erin and me suspicious glances.

My parents left on Monday, but not before we ate at Jack's Place again (of "slow woasted pork" fame), this time with a few of my friends.

















I'm really trying not to think about how little time I have left here. It doesn't seem like I've been in Nanjing that long, but I'm more than halfway through--in fact, I only have about 6 weeks left. I've made a Nanjing playlist on my iPod that I already know I won't listen to once I get back to the States because it'll make me miss here too much.

It's been really interesting being in class with people from different cultures.  Yesterday, we had an intense, two hour long discussion about the necessity of marriage (no surprise in the verdict: most of the girls say yes, marriage is important; and the guys say, no, living together is the same thing). Today we talked about what causes generational gaps (verdict: economics and technology, although I made the argument that my grandmother has Facebook and Skype), and a Polish friend mentioned that her parents don't have a TV. I can't imagine my house with a single TV--I think my dad would lose his mind.

And of course the Brits crack me up when we get into faux-arguments about American English vs. Queen's English (direct quote: "You Americans take the u's out of everything...and replace s's with zeds!" Btw, 'zeds' are z's in American.). There's a few Brits I just want to take home with me so that they can live on my shoulder and make snarky comments about American life (just imagaine: "Yew coll this ci-ty Oxfohrd? Yew Ahmairicans ah always cop-ying us!"). If only that technology were available (if only I wasn't a Muggle)!

Anyway. Time to catch up on some TV shows. I'll update when something interesting happens, or until I get tired of Matthew bugging me about it.

















PS- I absolutely love my roommate! :)

Xi'an/西安

Matthew Archer, I'm dedicating this post to you since you've been harassing me about it all week. :)

My parents arrived in China on Monday and spent a few days in Beijing catching up with Pong and her family and then I met them in Xi'an on Thursday for my May Day/International Labor Day holiday.

I've been to Xi'an once before, last summer with the Flagship crew and we all absolutely loved it, so it's no surprise that I still love it. I don't know if my parents really understand how much I love this city, especially because they seem to think it's pretty run of the mill. I don't get how they think that, especially when you walk out of your hotel, you see this:

















Friday was our first full day in the city and we went to see Xi'an's biggest claim to fame, the Terracotta Warriors!



















The really cool part about seeing these again was that the farmer who discovered them was at the gift shop, signing books they were selling! He wouldn't take any pictures, but I bought a book and had him sign it. He was pretty baller, not gonna lie.

The Terracotta Warriors took almost all day, so we didn't do much else on Friday. Mom and I went to Subway to grab dinner--one awesome thing about Subway is that no matter where in the world you are, it still smells like Subway...aka America.

Oh and how to know your ancestors were Irish? You sunburn when you walk outside for an hour. Yep. 

On Saturday, we decided to venture over to the Muslim market, which is behind the hotel where we stayed last summer.  The Muslim market is definitely a unique experience; people are everywhere, the air smells like spices and cooking meat, and cars and motorbikes are zipping through streets that are really too narrow for them and honking like mad.

















There's tons of food for sale:





















And some things that made me want to vomit.

















Bargaining in China is an incredibly fun experience (for me, anyway) and the seller attracts your attention like this: "Herro! Buy t-shirt? Watch? Bag? Give good price for you! Good discount!" And so on and so forth. When I bargain, I feel so good about my Chinese, because the shopkeepers always tell me my Chinese is so so good, they must give me a better price (total lie, but whatever, I'll take it). So Mom and I loaded up on gifts for people and some really pretty decorations for my room in my apartment.

On Sunday, Mom and I left Dad to his own devices (scouring the Internet for news--using my Mac...and now one of my Top Sites is The Lonely Conservative. Thanks Dad.) and went to see the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, or 大雁塔.  It's a very very old temple built by Buddhist monks in the year 652 and it's gorgeous, but unfortunately, my camera's memory card was pitching a temper tantrum and so while I do have pictures, they're stuck on my camera until I get the connector to my computer.

Anyway, now we're back in Nanjing and back to the normal routine. Except while I was in Xi'an, Nanjing apparently skipped spring and went straight to summer because it's HOT.

Good luck to all the Ole Miss crew taking finals this week! And if you're already out on summer break, I envy you.