So...I'm trying to update more because I want to try to remember all the experiences I have with China, and I don't want to forget.  Hopefully, there's someone reading this blog..

China has been quite interesting; my whole study abroad experience so far has been interesting.  I've seen more of China than Chinese people have seen their own country!  I guess of all the things I think about when I think of China is its growing economic and military strength in the world.  I think that when it really comes down to it, only a certain percentage of the Chinese people are rich and have money.  I don't think people realize that China is still very rural (someone said about 70% of China is rural).  Therefore, most of the Chinese people are still very poor and work for small wages....

The government brings in the Chinese from rural areas into the city (like Beijing) and make them fix the roads or build a new building.  In preparation for Beijing 2008, Beijing has been under constant construction.  They are always building a new building or fixing their highways!  They work literally all night and day until the job is done.  I've seen these guys take breaks for lunch and dinner, and continue working, even at 4 o clock in the morning (that's when I get back from drinking or clubbing).

There are street venders everywhere!  I can get fruit, sweet potatoes, books, and even popcorn as I walk down a street!  Everything is so convenient and cheap here! 

The only way to really survive shopping in China is through bargaining.  It's probably one of the most stressful and time consuming activities to do.  These crazy Chinese people start at a ridiculously high prices for their products.  I mean for Americans and other Westerners, these prices aren't that expensive, but for the Chinese, they would never pay the prices we do.  For example, a polo shirt should cost about 30 kuai (4 u.s. dollars), but Westerners would pay about 100 kuai for one (12 dollars) because it's still cheap to us.  Another thing about the shopping here is that the quality of the products are sooooo bad!  The saying, "You get what you pay for" really does apply in China.  It's been crazy, but most of the time, I get the price I want.  Bargaining is a hassle, but I love shopping...

I guess other obvious problems with China are its large population, horrible traffic, and the terrible pollution!  I honestly don't know how the Olympics are going to be held in a city where you can't even breathe in the air...

I love meeting new people in Beijing because they are so nice and many of them are here for some really interesting reasons (to teach English or to go to school).  I guess it's because these people are here not so much as to travel, but to immerse themselves into another culture completely different from the one they know of.  That probably takes a lot of guts to live in a country where manners don't matter as much as "giving face" or where the government censors all things they consider "bad."  All the people I have met thus far are just very open-minded about life and other cultures...I appreciate that quality in people, especially my friends...

I'm kind of going all over the place...there's just so much about China that cannot be so easily explained in one xanga entry.  I'll have to continue...

On Friday night I went out with the guys again.  Raquel did my make-up as usual...I have to admit, she does a really good job.  We first went to Tomas' place and met up the guys before we journeyed our way to Butterfly.  The night started out slow, but after a few drinks, I got wild and just wanted to dance and be crazy.  The night then led us to Destination in which I had more to drink.  I had so much fun dancing with the guys and going crazy!  I just keep thinking about how my time is running out and how I'm going to have to leave them  ....

Saturday night, Raquel had a Buddhism field trip so I went out with the Maryland kids for Liz Gunner's Birthday fiesta.  First, Tim (Marigold_1 and my half viet friend) and I went to a Vietnamese restaurant called Le Hugo.  It was soooo good compared to all the other Viet food I have been eating here in Beijing.  I miss my sister's homecooked meals, but this restaurant brought me as close to home as I could get.  It was really nice spending time with him alone and talking about life and the loves in our lives.  It was also cool talking to the chef who was actually Vietnamese!  Apparently, she speaks Viet, English and Chinese.  We're definitely going back sometime soon...  Anyhow, after the dinner...it was off to Nanjie.  My first time at Shut Up and Drink.  The night started out with taking tequila shots, and I just kept drinking after that.  I got drunk.  It was bad news, but I had some of the coolest people from TBC there...Eric, JKIL, Pan Ti, En Ri, Liz, Conor (both of them), Topher, Stuart, Krelein, Tom, Marie..and a few others.  The night started out wild and ended wild at 4 in the morning...  I'll just leave it at that...

Anyhow, I've been missing the boyfriend a lot lately.  I'm not one to talk about my love life so much because I think it's something for me to know and for people to not think about.  I also want to be one of those girls who just enjoys life for what it is, and not let my happiness be depended on anyone else (no matter how much I love that person).  BUT, it's been about 4 months since I've seen John (not including the month I was in England before I left to CHina).  I miss him a lot.  I knew it was going to be hard, but I didn't think it would be this hard.  He's such a sweet guy..so caring...respectful...amazing...wonderful and more!  I'm so excited to come home and spend my time with him.  I'm so in love... (I know, it's soooooo gross!)   I'm counting down the days.... 

...I'm also counting down the days until I have to leave China and all the friends I have made...

It's going to be sooo hard, but I know it's definitely not going to be the last time I'm going to see them...

I'm still trying to go to Shanghai next weekend.  I know I need to travel once more before I leave China.      

Have a wonderful week guys...

hello world!  it's been quite a while since i last wrote in this thing.  i'm in the computer lab in my dormitory, therefore i will have no pictures in this entry :( i am terribly sorry about that.  well, i will keep you all up to date with my life thus far....

so we went to guilin 2 weeks ago.  it was so amazing.  i really enjoyed it tremendously.  for those of you who do not know where it is, it is in the south eastern part of China, and it just happens to be one of the most famous cities in China.  so what did we do there?  the trip started out with a 24 hour train ride with everyone in TBC (almost everyone).  anyhow, it was a easy train ride.  we had a lot of fun learning about each other by playing "never have i ever" SOBER.  it was so funny because somehow, we were able to fit 10 people on two small tiny beds.  after we took the game to the dining cart and played some more with actual pijiu (beer), the game got a little more interesting.  the train ride was a fun bonding experience among both of the groups before we had to separate for the week.

after the long train ride, we arrived to Guilin the city.  i took a 10 minute shower and went to elephant hill.  it was really late, but we still decided to check out the park.  apparently, there's a hill there that looks like an elephant dipping its trunk into the river.  the park would have been so beautiful to spend time in and to see during the day, but we really were limited in time.  after it got dark, we went to get dinner.  believe it or not, we ate DUCK.  even after hearing all the horrifying stories of the bird flu in the south, we still ate it...hahah...i'm still alive.  we also went shopping and i bought some unshaped pearls for myself...it was only like 3 u.s. dollars.  i ended up losing them :(.  my friend tim told me that he thinks girls who wear pearls are sexy...i hope that's the truth.  i'll get some more in beijing...  ALSO, to end a wonderful night, i got an hour back and neck massage for less than 4 u.s. dollars.  it was the best thing in the world and the cheapest massage i have ever gotten in the WORLD!

the next morning we had a bus ride to longshen.  this place was in the mountains where all the rice terraced fields are.  it was so nice there.  besides all the ducks and chickens everywhere, we had a really good time.  our hotel was a bit of a hike, but totally worth the walk.  we lunch, we had frog, chicken, duck, and other stuff.  obviously, the food was not very appetizing.  after lunch, we went on a 1and a half hour hike.  it was so tiring, but the scenery was amazing.  i must post up pictures as soon as i can.  we had rice wine, which was absolutely delicious, at the top of the mountain.  Raquel and i got lost on our way down, but we found the track.  later that night, we went to the dazhai school where the community threw a party for us.  they gave us a wonderful show of dancing and game playing.  this was definitely one of my most interesting Halloween experiences...

In the morning, we left to the hotsprings.  OMG...it was the BEST place EVER!  the resort that we stayed at was apparently a four star hotel.  the rooms and restrooms were so nice.  the best part about this place was that it had hotsprings which are like naturally heated jacuzzis.  it was fun getting over 20 TBC students in our own hotspring pool (there were like 12 different ones you could choose from-each with a different temperature).  i was a very happy camper by the end of the night (besides the fact that i lost 50 kuai which is about 6 dollars)!

next stop was yangshuo!  this place was the best place for western food!  it was so nice to be able to eat woodfired pizza, burritos, tortilla chips, pita with chicken, hummus, and the best...APPLE¡¡£Ã£Ò£Õ£Í£Â£Ì£Å£¡ not only was the food good, but the activities planned for us were great.  we had the chance to see the comorant fishing show.  apparently, these comorants can hold large fish in their throat and bring it back to the fisherman (they are trained to do so).  i ignored the fact that the bird flu existed for about 5 minutes, and i held the comorant on my arm.  it was funny seeing Raquel go crazy because everyone was doing it...she was so scared throughout the trip that we would get the bird flu.  anyhow, we went kayaking one day...it was fabulous because the day was perfect.  next day, we had a good bike ride of an hour and 15 minutes to the mud caves where we were able to bathe ourselves in mud!  it was so much fun and so relaxing.  the bike ride back by myself was nice because i was able to stop and relax whenever i wanted.  the scenery in yangshuo is so gorgeous because all you see are big green mountain tops.  apparently, they look a lot like the ones in Vietnam (I'm excited to go back by the way).  even though my butt hurt for the rest of the ride home, i was very satisfied with the day.  i was also able to watch a fantastic water and dance show directed by liu sanjie who also happened to direct the movie hero.  it was such a beautiful show, but the dang chinese people around me kept talking (very annoying).  hahah...our tour guide said the show was the best light and water show in the world; obviously, she hasn't seen fantasia at Disneyland!

That comes to the conclusion of my journey for one week of no school and no worries.  JUST£Æ£Õ£Î£¡It's going to be so hard going back to school next semester because I won't be getting weekly breaks in the middle of the month.  the best thing about the trip was that it was all a part of the tuition, so everything was indirectly "free."  Gosh I£Ì£Ï£Ö£ÅTBC!  it's definitely going to be hard to leave in the next few weeks, but i'm not gonna lie...i'm getting tired of the pollution and the cold weather...

i will be looking forward to my next journey to vietnam...my motherland...wooot...

songs i've been listening to: Michael Buble Home, Danielle Rose God Is, and John's dedication to me Gone so young by Amber Pacific...        

So my laptop sucks ass...it turns off on me after one hour!!  Talk about ghetto!  I am getting a new one as soon as I get back...or I could find someone to fix the one I currently have.  What sucks is that I have had it only for a year and a half...

Well I have pictures of Thailand.  Since pictures are worth a thousand words...I will let it speak for itself...

Thailand was absolutely paradise...I highly encourage people to go there.  Activities are so cheap...I went bungy jumping, snorkelling, water rafting, elephant trekking, and swimming at various islands.  Meals were included.  I even got a whole spa package!!  For 50 dollars, I got 2 hours worth of spa time: full body massage, facial, herbal/steam room, jacuzzi, body scrub, foot relaxation massage...  I got two suits tailored for me.  I bought so much stuff for so cheap...  We went out to the beach and swam at 12 o clock in the morning.  It was probably one of the best breaks I have ever had in my life!  Definitely worth all the money...  Everything was just so awesome.  I am definitely planning to go back as soon as I have the chance and the money. 

I finally received my package from John Trieu....He's the sweetest.  Everything I had asked for...I received.  He got me a canon digital camera (SD 400).  It is so beautiful...I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!  Everything else in the package was a plus.  How did I ever get so lucky as to have a boyfriend like him?  Anyhow, I used the camera this past weekend for the summer palace.  I'll post pictures up later.  It was such a beautiful place...maybe because it was such a beautiful day!?

Life has been good here in China.  Everything is so cheap...drinks, food, taxi rides, clothes...everything a girl could possibly want.  I am enjoying the weather here too...Autumn is so pretty here.  It's been cold, but that's better than it being hot.  :)  The other night, I was in Taxi cab with 3 guys, and the taxi driver was hitting on me.  He said I was pretty, and he asked me if I liked having boyfriends.  It was a very interesting experience.  I love taxi drivers though...they give me the chance to utilize my chinese speaking abilities...

Until tomorrow....bye world!

Hello all!

The past few weeks have been quite interesting.  I'll start with the most interesting.  So in my last entry, I wrote about my gay bar experience and how I met the gay men who are now good friends of mine.  It started with British Tomas calling Raquel and asking us if we wanted to go have dinner with a few of his friends.  It just so happened that we knew some of his friends from the bar, so Raquel and I were really welcomed into the group.  The group is so diverse...we have Javier(Spanish), Christian (Dutch, Columbian, Portugese), Tomas (British), Tomas (German), Bakty (Indian), Juo (Canadian), Jose (Japanese born Mexican) and a few other french men.  Raquel and I are the only Americans and women in the group (both of us are straight too).  The weekend before my trip to Thailand, we hung out with these guys three days in a row.  I have come to know so many of them, and I truly enjoy my time spent with them .  Here are some pictures from that weekend...

Raquel and I having drinks...

Christian and I...he is one of the sweetest guy I know besides John... Raquel needs to get on him as soon as possible

Tomas and I after our fashion show (he was faking the gucci models from the fall collection)...

Raquel being oh so seductive with the men...or women ;) (Christian, Jose, Tomas, and Bakty)

Picture is blurry but we're in "Bosnia" at 3 in the morning... Tomas wanted to be silly...

Well this has been life since the gays came into our lives.  We have so much fun with them because they are so sweet and know how to take care of us.  We chat about crazy things like relationships and stuff, but we also laugh a lot too.  It's been great with them (I will definitely miss them when I have to leave in December)...

I am looking forward to having a slumber party and going bowling with these guys...they are so great!