What to do?? (>_<;)
Got another translation assignment. This time, it’s translating a questionnaire from Chinese to English for my Grammar teacher. I think I’m starting to like translating. Maybe I should work on my Japanese as well and take a translation course…
The weekend trip to Xi’an was quite an adventure. Here’s an overview of what we (Aa, Ed, Xy, S & myself) did… Friday night – After last-minute packing and a cold shower (water still not hot by 4pm…), we made our way through peak hour traffic arriving at Beijing West station just in time to catch the 5:30 train. There were hundreds of people just sitting on the ground (or on their luggage) at the station, and yet the platforms were deserted. Strange…
We all brought instant cup noodles to have for dinner. After several hours of small talk, S decided to buy a pack of playing cards and so we played card games until lights-out. I slept on the middle bunk. The beds were about half a metre wide, and very close together (vertically); with the exception of the bottom bunk, there was not enough space for anyone taller than a small child to sit up. It wasn’t too uncomfortable, but I didn’t sleep well. I woke up each time the train jolted, stopping to let some other train to pass us by.
As we crossed over the Shaanxi Province border, I received a strange SMS. “Welcome to Shaanxi, the origin of Chinese civilization!”…and then provided the mobile provider’s hotline for tourist information, and one for customer service. Everyone got the same message. Pretty advanced, eh.
After about 14 hours, we finally arrived in Xi’an. We got off the train and I got my camera ready to snap a photo of the train at Xi’an station. My camera made an odd clicking sound and then the display blacked out, showing only 3 small characters in the bottom left hand corner: E18. I tried switching it on and off a couple of times, took out the battery, the memory card…but nothing worked. When the power was switched off, the lens not only made a strange clicking sound but stubbornly refused to retract. Grrr…
Walking out of the station was kind of like walking out of customs and into the arrivals hall of an airport. We scanned the crowd for the person holding up the sign with S’s name on it – our tour guide. We were first taken to the hotel to pick up 2 other travellers and to drop off our luggage then headed east to Huaqing Hotspring. It was quite pretty and kinda looked like a set from a movie, but actually has quite a long history.
Next, we stopped by Qinling Underground Palace for a quick tour. The reproduction of Emperor Qi’s tomb was rather impressive (though the mangled dead bodies - fake, of course - kinda freaked me out). After lunch, we visited the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum which resembled a considerably large garden with exhibits of ancient artifacts scattered throughout.
The final stop for the day, and the place I found most interesting, was the Museum of Terracotta Warriors. Apparently, there has only ever been one person who has successfully (though illegally) climbed over the shoulder-high fence and into the excavation pit without being spotted. It was an overseas student who was said to love the terracotta warriors so much that he made himself a costume, dressed himself up and climbed into the pit pretending to be one of them. Even the museum staff couldn’t pick him out. Hehe! :D
For dinner, we were on our own. We went out to the city centre to one of the most famous dumplings restaurant in town: De Fa Chang. I only tried their steamed vegetable-filled buns, but the others commented that the dumplings didn’t taste much better than the ones at the school cafeteria.
Day 2 (Sunday) – We were originally told by our tour guide to go for breakfast at 7:30am. Just after 7am, the tour guide called and told us that we would be picked up earlier that said by another tour guide who showed up like 20 minutes after the call. And so we rushed through breakfast (congee, steamed buns and small cold dishes) and followed tour guide #2 to the bus. Just outside the city wall, the bus stopped and we were told to get out and change buses. What the…?!
After a 2-hour nap (^^;), we arrived in the vicinity of Huashan. However, where we first stopped was some run down building (supposedly a pharmacy) in which we were subjected to a lecture by a doctor selling Chinese health products made from plants found only on Mt. Huashan. Needless to say, no one bought any. We had lunch at a nearby restaurant (we got to order our own food this time) before actually heading up the mountain.
We took the cable car up about halfway and hiked to the north peak (1614m). And maybe two-thirds up the east peak (2038m). The hike itself was not tough – just thousands and thousands of steps. Though there were one or two sections where the steps were almost vertical. We held on to the heavy iron chains on both sides and climbed up the rockface, much like you would climb up a ladder. The weather was more or less perfect: sunshine, little wind. It was cold at first, but I quickly warmed up from the exercise (I’m so unfit!) The higher we climbed, the more snow there was. The view was absolutely amazing. Too bad my stoopid camera was broken. But still, I don’t think my photography skills are good enough to have captured the picturesque landscape on film. Mid-afternoon, we started to make our way slowly down the mountain and back on the bus for Xi’an.
Our hotel was the last stop, so it was almost 8pm by the time we got back. We wandered the streets around the hotel and decided to have dinner at a Moslem restaurant where the owner was very entertaining. Even though we were all tired from the day’s adventure, we wanted to make the most of our time in Xi’an and went for an evening stroll. We stumbled upon Moslem Street and wandered around there for an hour or two. It was almost 10pm when we hit the markets at the end of the street (or perhaps the start of the street?) and most of the stalls were closed. However, we still had enough time to grab some local goodies for the train ride back to BJ the following day. No one was paying much attention to where we were going and we got a little lost on our way back to the hotel, but a kind local pointed us in the right direction.
Day 3 (Monday) – Our tour guide was more than half an hour late. Actually, she didn’t actually turn up. The driver came to pick us up. He tells us that the tour guide was at the train station waiting for arriving 3 travellers. And so the bus driver took us to the station to pick them up. We ended up waiting 1.5 hours. No comment. But I learned one thing: don’t touch a Chinaman’s keys. (Some people use it as an ear-picker thingy.)
Once the others arrived, we went to check out the East City Wall. We were passed on to a City Wall tour guide, who spoke about feng shui, before being given free time to wander around. Second stop: Da Ci’en Temple. We didn’t go inside the 7 storey pagoda as we had little time, but walked around the garden and took a quick look at the exhibit of old Buddhism scripture translations. After a hearty lunch, we were taken to the Bell & Drum Tower area and given free time to explore. To our surprise, we discovered that on the other side of the Drum Tower was the Moslem street we had walked down the night before. We made our way through the narrow back alley, checking out the tiny souvenir shops on either side. We tried a steamed-pudding-on-a-stick with haw-flavoured sauce (tasted better than it looked), a steaming hot persimmon-flavoured glutinous rice cake (oily but yum) and glutinous rice cake with rose-flavoured caramel topping (so-so).
Last stop: train station. We were dropped off at the train station 2 hours before our train was due to depart. And so we decided to walk around the station area and have afternoon tea. We chose a little coffee shop that looked pretty decent from the outside. The interior looked ok as well. S wanted a cold beer – “Sorry, no cold beer, but we can give you ice.” Xy & I ordered bubble milk tea – “Sorry, we don’t have bubble milk tea, but we have milk tea.” Plain milk tea wasn’t actually on the menu at all but we ordered it anyway. Hot milk tea. It was served in a tall glass with a plastic straw. Aa ordered hot Chinese tea – it was also served in a glass, with the loose tea leaves still in it and no strainer!! Ed ordered a mocha – it was served black, but came with a small dish of sugar cubes and a small dish of powdered milk. What the…..?!?! Interesting experience.
As soon as we got on the train, we started played “Big 2.” S & Ed had tried to teach Aa & Xy how to play it on the train ride to Xi’an but they were not too successful, so wanted to give Aa & Xy more practice. After 2 hours, Xy had pretty much gotten the hang of it, but Aa was still confused. Let me just leave it at that. After a light dinner of mantou (steamed buns) left over from lunch, Xy and I got ready for bed. I was on the top bunk opposite Xy this time. It was only 9pm but I was so tired after 3 long days that I fell into a deep sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. When I woke up in the morning, we were in BJ. Looking out the window, to the left was the full moon glowing in the blue-grey sky; to the right were the vast fields beneath a backdrop of warm colours painted by the rising sun. A beautiful start to the day.^^
Then reality hits and we’re crammed in a taxi stuck in peak hour BJ traffic. Luckily the traffic wasn’t too bad, and we arrived at uni with enough time for me to unpack my stuff, have a shower, eat brunch and finish off my homework due that afternoon.
Comprehensive Chinese teacher (left) & classmates
My friend gave me a miniature mandarin...isn't it cute?!^^
I’ve signed up for a 5 day tour (actually 3 days) to
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今日の日本語コーナーは楽しかったです。日本歌を中国語に翻訳するゲームをして、勉強になりました。難しくて、全くできなかったです。(>.<) 来週は中国の歌を日本語に訳すようです。どうかな？＾＾
日本語コーナーで日本人のMさんと中国人のZ先生話しました。ほとんど、政治や歴史についての話でした。分かった部分は半分しかないかもしれません。(>.<;) ５０代のMさんは一人で51ヶ国も行きました。しかも、日本語以外に英語、スペイン語、そして中国語が話せます。本当に尊敬します。ある韓国人は20代前半で母国語以外、日本語も英語も中国語もほとんどぺらぺらです。すごいでしょう。始めて会ったとき、日本人か韓国人か本当に分からなかったです。ここへ来てるみなさんは、こんな熱心満々、素晴らしい人ばかりです。私は何に熱心ですかね。まあ、とりあえずもっと真剣に色々勉強しないとね。＾＾
でも、明日から5日間（実は3日間しかないが...）、AaとSと彼らのクラスメイト２人と西安に行きます。夕方出発して、北京へ帰るのは火曜日の朝です。往き返りは電車で、現場での交通方法はツアーバス。まあ、帰ってきてから写真などをアップロードします。以前、一人旅行でも楽しいと思いましたが、今はやはり友達や家族と一緒に行くほうが楽しいと思います。一人でならどこでも行く気がならなくなってきました。何でだろうね。＾＾
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Much like every other day, I awoke to the sound of my mobile phone ringing this morning. Thinking it was the alarm, I hit the snooze button without hesitation. But then it rang again. This time I looked at the display: Incoming call……it was my good old high school buddy whom I haven’t seen in 2 years! It was such a nice surprise. Though we only spoke for a short while, it made my day. Thanks buddy!^^
We had a cool substitute teacher for speaking class this afternoon who is much better than our usual teacher in many ways. She had everyone’s attention for the whole 2 hours.
In calligraphy class, we practised writing our own name. I’m always so exhausted, not to mention hungry, after 4 hours of language classes that I can’t concentrate in calligraphy class. The teacher actually looked at and commented on my writing today.
Just in case you can't tell, the writing on the white paper was done by my teacher. The writing on the yellow paper is my work.
Calligraphy teacher, his work (to be displayed in an exhibition) & me
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今朝、いつも通り携帯電話の鳴る音で目が覚ましました。いつも通り、スヌーズボタンを押して、また寝ようとしたら携帯がまた鳴りました。ディスプレーを見たら「Incoming call」が表示されました。二年も話してない中学校からの親友が電話かけてきました！ちょっとしか話していなかったが、とても懐かしくて、うれしかったです。ありがとう！＾＾
今日、書道の授業でみんな自分の名前の書き方を練習しました。4時間の授業後、いつも疲れていて、おなかが空いていて、あまり集中できないのです。講座が開始された以来、先生は今日始めて私の書いたものを見て、ほめてくれました。
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I stayed in pretty much all last week, including the weekend. Going out into the cold requires a lot of motivation! I left the school grounds just 3 times: to Tafi (the best Italian restaurant in town) for some yummy pasta on Thursday night, to Wudaokou markets on Friday afternoon, and to sushi train yesterday.
Yesterday, I slept in til noon, went out for sushi with KT and worked on my CV the rest of the time. Today was pretty much the same, except that I woke up early enough for breakfast, had noodles for lunch at Zijing cafeteria (the soup didn’t smell so good; not coz it had gone bad…I think they used lamb soup), had dinner at the cafeteria in the building next door and was working on a translation & a stack load of homework. It doesn’t sound like much, does it? My problem is that I take too long doing one single thing...
For last week's “speaking” assignment, we interviewed the ThU Green Society about their used paper collecting campaign and I’m in charge of putting together our findings for our presentation on Tuesday. What do you think?
The TGS organise one paper-collection day a fortnight. They give out small prizes in exchange for unwanted books, newspaper, magazines, cardboard and the like, which they then “sell” to recycled-paper factories for a small amount of money. Well, it’s a start. BJ would be such a nicer place to live in if only people didn’t leave a trail of rubbish behind them wherever they go, spit and blow their nose on the street…
This week’s topic for newspaper reading class is “alcohol”. Although published 10 years ago, one paragraph particularly caught my attention. According to that newspaper article, each year over 6 million and 13.5 million tonnes of grain/cereal is used to produce alcohol and spirits/sake respectively. This amount is equivalent to the annual grain consumption of 30 million people. Need I say more?
By the way, we got our final test paper back today...I got 95! (^o^)/
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総合中国語のテストに関しては、作文が4分の1も占めるから、成績をちょっと心配だったけど、今日やっと返ってきて、95点も取っちゃいました。（＾o＾）/
今週、新聞購読授業の課題は＂アルコール＂です。教科書に載っている10年前の新聞記事ですが、深く印象に残っているパラグラフがあります。その記事によると、毎年アルコールを造るのに600万トンの穀物を使用しています。酒を造るのに年毎に1350万トンの穀物を使用しています。その数字は3000万人一年間の刻物消費と同僚です。現代、どんな数字になっているだろうね。
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No I haven’t disappeared off the face of the earth. All blogger sites were mysteriously blocked for the past few weeks and, just as mysteriously, unblocked. Apparently the same thing happened to wikipedia and hotmail. To all those who religiously checked my blog nonetheless, thank you for thinking of me!^^
Being cut off might’ve been a good thing though – I had mid-term exams in the first week of November. In the 3 tests we got back, I got over 90%...woohoo!
Hmm…what else have I been up to? Class dinner with teachers last Friday then a friend’s birthday drinks afterwards. As for sightseeing, I went to check out Yuan Ming Yuan on Saturday, Beijing Uni campus last, last weekend and Fragrance Hill Park the week before that. Ooh, and I went for yumcha (in novotel) – not bad. Their custard bun was delish! =P
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お久しぶり！
２週間もブログをアップデートしなくて、ごめんなさい！国にブロックされていたみたいで、ずっとアクセスできなかったのです。今日、新しいブログを始めようかなと考えながら、見られるようになりました。Wikipediaもhotmailもそうだったようです。不思議。。。
それでも、定期的にブログをくれている皆さん、私のことに関心を持ってくれて本当にありがとうございます！＾＾
いつの間にか１１月下旬にならましたね。気温もかなり下がりました。
さて、最新の情報を簡単に伝えてあげましょうか。
11月の第一週目は中間テスト期間で、勉強でかなり忙しかった。テスト結果が4つのうちに3つが返ってきて、3つも90点以上を取れて、非常に満足しています。＾＾
金曜日、クラスの飲み会があって、先生たちも参加して、とてもいい感じでした。(＾o＾)/ 総合中国語の先生が行けなくて本当に残念でした。
観光は北京大学を歩き回るぐらいかな？あっ、それと、圓明園と香山。飲茶も食べに行きました。かなり本格的で、美味しかったです。あそこのカスタードパンが特に美味しかった。=P
家族に関しては、上の弟が大学入学試験を終えて、おじいちゃんが入院してしまって、母が急にしばらく香港へ行くことにして、いとこが4月に結婚する知らせがあって。
この頃、インターネット上で仕事探しを始めて、考えないといけないことがありすぎて、また別の悩み事がひとつあって、かなりストレスを感じていて泣きそうですが、頑張ります！＾＾
全く関係ないんだけど、友達はこっちの男性何でかっこう悪いばかりなのとよく言ってるが、今日、中国語コーナー行ったら、グループ・リーダーの一年生が相当かっこうよかったよ！
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