Ordering gas

So this is a picture of my stove as well as my gas tank. Funny story...as I told you earlier, I ran out of gas about a week and a half ago. Well, I only ordered more gas yesterday. I called the guy to bring me another tank. When you first get one you pay a deposit for the first tank as well as the gas inside (similar to buying propane in the States). He brings and replaces the old one with a new one and you pay for the gas. So he lugs this tank of gas on his bicycle over to my house and then up two flights of stairs. I hooks it up and I realize I don't have enough cash on me. I had gone to the bank earlier that day to get money but the ATM had run out of cash (it's typical if you get there after xiuxi (similar to the Mexican "siesta" time). So I didn't have money. We agreed that I would go and get some and come back to pay him. So I hopped on my bike and peddled over to a friend's house to borrow 100 Yuan. The gas cost 70 Yuan. I peddled back over to my complex to pay him but I couldn't find him anywhere. So the nice men that guard the gate helped me look for him. We still couldn't find him. Eventually he called me wondering where I was. He had been hiding in the shade behind some trees all along!

Sick

So yesterday I got sick. I woke up feeling fine, but by noon I was feeling week and then by 2:00 I was really sick. I got food poisening from something. So laid up in bed for the rest of the day. I had a friend bring me some drinks and then I went to sleep around dinner-time. Slept all night and woke up this morning feeling good! Back to my old self. Thankfully because I have my exam this morning. Aagh!

Paying up front

So last week when I got back from Xi'An I found my house...well not like I like it when I'm coming home from a trip. I came home to a bad smell. It was the food in my refrigerator and freezer. Apparently on Friday (I returned on Monday) I ran out of electricity. So the fridge turned off and of course, none of my lights worked, including my hot-water heater. So I also couldn't take a shower after being on a stuffy train for 16 hours. I also realized that I had run out of drinking water in my tong. So nothing to drink. I had also run out of gas for my stove and toilet paper. So no food, no water, no gas, no toilet paper. The picture above is of my tong. And the cup that's there is on purpose. It leaks so that's there so I don't get water everywhere and so that I don't waste that precious water!

I tried to remedy the electricity immediately. I went down by the gate of my complex to buy electricity. The way they do it in China is that you pay up front. They put the units on a card and you insert the card into the slot that's in the hallway and then you have electricity. You know when it's going to run out because it tells you, but you can't put more money on until you've run out completely. So that's why I had to wait. I did the whole thing. Bought the electricity and put the card, but it wouldn't work. So I had to call an electrician to come down. He didn't know what was wrong with it either. Two hours later he comes back to my house and tells me to come with him. I follow him back to the place where I buy electricity and they talked and laughed about how I don't understand what they're saying (little do they know, but I DO understand! :) ). Then it was fixed! Voila! (Pictures are of the box where I put the card and the card itself. This is the box that I broke the first week I was here and it made my neighbor mad. Whoops!)

Learning all the new processes here does make for the experience! Most things you do have to buy upfront. China doesn't operate on credit like the US. No bills. It's kind of nice! You don't get into debt or behind on payments that way. Of course, when you run out of gas and water and electricity all in the same day, it's kind of annoying.

It's a Hot One

Last Thursday was one of the hottest days. So Diao Laoshi (male) taught us how to make paper fans. Then we had fun posing together with them. And these have come in quite handy since. It really is hot in that classroom. And Wei Laoshi (female) is trying to teach us the midst of the heat. It's so weird going to school all through June. The last time I was going to school was in college and we got out for the summer at the beginning of May. So yes, our minds wander a bit and we play some. But in the end it helps us to focus better if we're having a good time. We do have so much fun! You can see Diao also teaching us using Chinese characters. I can't believe I can actually read some now! Last semester when I started I remember thinking that this was virtually impossible! It was so hard! But now I can read and even write some characters and I can carry on conversations with the older people that live in my complex (sometimes they're hard to understand because they don't speak standard Mandarin).

Chasers

Welcome to China! I went out this morning at 6:00 for a run with two of my friends. Around mile 3 a guy on a bike is yelling at us from afar. As we get closer to him we realize it's the landlord of a friend of mine who lives in the same complex. He had been riding his bike around town looking for us. (The people at the gate know we go running in the early morning and told him.) He found us, stopped his bike and asked us to stop as well. We continued to run and told him to ride the bike alongside. He was chasing us down to find out where his tennants had gone to. Their visa was about to expire and he was concerned so he came to fine me to ask. Yes, we were running and talking in Chinese. Then around mile 4 this man comes running up next to us. Yes, he was literally running to catch up with us to give us something. An Amway card! He hands us each his business card, yells "Welcome to China!" and continues running on past us. :) Only in China I tell you.

Closing Ceremonies

The Chinese are very into the formal side of things. So we had a "closing ceremony" at school on Wednesday. They called it the "close ceremony" but that's Chinglish for you. The first picture is of my class (Diao Laoshi, Jackie, Ty, Myself, Hediah and Wei Laoshi). And the second picture is while Meng Laoshi was giving a speech. Meng Laoshi is the dean of the international students. And we all got KFC gift certificates to celebrate. But oh, they surprised me on Tuesday with telling me that I have another exam this coming Monday. It's a written one. So be thinking of me. I'm practicing my Chinese characters!

Forest Park

Girls' night in the park. This is the new park in Yinchuan. You have to pay 5 Yuan to get in and walk around, but it's worth it because there aren't that many people there and...there's grass to sit on! We all headed out for a picnic and some girl time and had a ball doing it!

Xi'An

In Xi'An-some of the columns near the Big Goose Pagoda (a Chinese guy is posing in front of it) and I'm having a cup of real Indian Chai. Oh so delicious!

Thriller

All the international students performing "Thriller" by Michael Jackson for the entire student body of Ningxia University.

Sports Day at Ningxia University

This is Sports Day at Ningxia University (where I go to school). It was full of performances by each department (including ours) and dancing shows (pictures shown) as well as an actual torch run and then real sports races. The international students carried flags in from our countries (most of us anyway, Americans, Romanians and Koreans carried their own flags, but everyone else had to carry Chinese flags :) ). We were the last department to walk in. Our group performed the "Thriller" dance by Michael Jackson. Everyone loved it! These are the pictures from the day. I'm going to try and post the video. It will have all of us from 16 different countries. So funny!

I'm back

I'm back from Xi'An now. I had a great time helping my friend do some things that she needed to get done. I also spent all day on Sunday with my Chinese friend, Morning/Maureen. We had a great time! I hadn't seen her since March. And of course we went to Starbucks and tried their new Dark Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino and yes, it was delicious! Pictures later!

Going to Xi'An

Well, as a celebration to the end of the semester I'm going to Xi'An with a friend of mine. I had my "final exam" today. It was all oral and was actually a lot of fun! Diao Laoshi (my teacher) said I passed and did a great job! :) Yeah, so going to Xi'An on the train today. We'll enjoy Starbucks, of course, as well as relaxing and I'll see one of my Chinese friends, Morning, while I'm there. I'm super excited!

And...mom and dad will be here in 14 days! Can't wait!

Dinner with friends

Hanging out with Hediah at her house.

New kinds of glasses

Trip to the local mosque... The white hats are what Hui men typically wear and they also usually have the long straggly beards. These guys let me take their picture. The glasses they are wearing are popular among the elderly Hui men. They are pieces of thick glass put together with a frame. I think they're cute.

Hui Museum and Mosque

For a school field trip we went to Ningxia Hui Museum to learn about their history. The pictures were amazing and just to see it all. Unfortunately, understanding the explanations of what was written as well as the tour was difficult. The first picture is the mosque behind the museum, the rest are the museum itself. More pictures of a local mosque to come.

Helan Shan

Mine and Hediah's hike in the mountains. Our view from the top and where we had lunch! Such a great day!

Hiking Helan Shan with Hediah

Hediah (from Iran) and I went hiking at Helan Shan a few weeks ago. This is only the beginning of the pictures. I'll post more. Here's a pic of the trees, a house that some workers live in up there, me and Hediah at the entrance and me with a giant stick. You see, Hediah and I heard this huge dog barking in the distance. I'm kind of scared of animals (not sure why) and apparently so is Hediah. But me being quite a bit bigger than Hediah (she's like the size of child) I felt like I needed to protect us. So I found this huge stick on the ground. It was going to be my defense against the German Shepherd. I don't know what it would have done actually. As we walked closer to the dog we saw that he was chained up. Thank goodness! But the men up there got a kick out of me carrying this huge stick, especially after I told them that the reason I had it was because the dog scared us.

Tour through the Pharmacies

I've not been feeling well in the last few weeks. I consulted my doctor in the States and he wanted me to take some medication. So...I set out today on a borrowed bicycle to go to the pharmacy and get what I needed. I needed a supplement, two other drugs and an antibiotic. I went to the first pharmacy and was able to pick up half of the antibiotic I needed and the supplement. They didn't have the rest. I head to another pharmacy and get the rest of the antibiotic and one of the other drugs. Still on the hunt for the last medication. I ended up going to two more pharmacies before I found one that had this last medication. Quite a little trip I had. And some good exercise. I was also able to practice some language and learned some new words!

All of these medications cost me a total of $4.50 and without prescriptions. Can you believe it? I know!

Hopefully now I'm on my way to recovery.