Today’s 3 characters in calligraphy class. I just can’t seem to get the evenness and positioning right.
By the way, is anyone having problems viewing this site? I can post entries but can't actually view the website. Strange...
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今日、３回目の発表をしました。オーストラリアの大要、歴史を簡単に説明しました。間違えがそんなになかったようだったが、前の２回より緊張しました。>.<
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To make the most of today’s beautiful weather, KT & I went exploring around campus and discovered that our uni keeps peacocks?! I’ve uploaded some more photos to the Uni folder.
It was hard to get up before
Anyway, back to yesterday’s field trip…about 70 people signed up (2 buses). First we stopped by the Tianchi (天池) Apple Orchard. We had 30 minutes to pick (or eat) as many apples as we could – up to 5kg. I picked enough to give one to each of my classmates and teachers with a few left for me. I ate one fresh off the tree – unbelievably crunchy and juicy…a hundred times tastier than apples bought from the supermarket!
After we each picked our share of apples, we headed off to the nearby national park.
We had about 2 hours to spend at the national park, but after checking out the big Buddha and statues of the 12 zodiac animals didn’t leave us much time to walk up to the tower at the top of the mountain. It was perfect weather for a bushwalk. Though the actual “bushwalk” was a little different to what I expected. The path through the bush was paved, with steps along the steeper sections. It’s no wonder they make people pay an entrance fee. It’s a pity that the washroom was in the shocking state it was in. Anyway, I think were about halfway up when we stopped to rest. But by then it was time to make our way back to the bus.
The third and final stop for the day was the reservoir just outside the national park entrance. There was not much to see, but the scenery was quite nice. The mega long flying fox looked exciting but there was not one customer the entire time we were there. I wonder if it’s still in operation…
There was a bit of a traffic jam so it took a bit longer to get back to uni but we arrived by late afternoon. For dinner, we (KT, AL & I) tried out a new eatery between Zijing dormitory buildings 18 & 19 – it had pretty classy interior and the food was quite tasty, though still much too oily. We actually had to pay for the hygienically packaged disposable chopsticks and hand towel. Perhaps we should bring our own next time…
It's suddenly become so cold! People were wearing big coats, gloves, etc. today. I'm wearing my big coat in my room coz it's just about as cold as it is outside. I heard that the heating won't be switched on until mid-November. The water took particularly long to get hot tonight...I had it on max. but it was still only just warm by the time I was done. Not looking forward to winter...
Anyway, I chose to do a newspaper article about Gunther's "Worldprocessor," a selection of which were exhibited in
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さむい～～！室内の温度は外とあまり変わらなく、寒いです。寮の暖房がつくのは１１月中旬だそうです。お湯をいっぱいに出しても、十分に熱くならないし...今日だけかな？そうならいいんだけど...
この頃、なんかすごく疲れやすいです。寒くなってきたからかな？頭を使いすぎてるからかな？＾＾
先週から、毎回"新聞購読"の授業に、１人は自分が事前に選択したニュー ス、新聞記事について、クラスに発表します。昨日は私の番でした。中国語で発表するのが初めてで、ものすごく緊張しました！香川で、よく人前で話してい て、少しでも慣れてきたと思っていたけど、一生なれないことだなぁと思います。>_< 私が選んだ新聞記事は、ドイツ人のGuntherが１９８８年に始めた“Worldprocessor” というプロジェクトについてです。人々が統計データを一目で了解できるために、Guntherは「地球」を使って世界の色んな統計を表示しました。例え ば、テレビ所有、耕作適地、難民の流れ、など。今年、北京で展示会が開かれたので新聞に載せたのです。本当に面白くて、びっくりさせます。＾＾
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Just came back from watching Superman Rtns and nibbling on guazi with K in her room. Quite an entertaining movie.^^
This past week was pretty full on. Every night after class (except Friday), I either had an elective class or some other activity. Monday night was calligraphy and the class party, Tuesday was Chinese corner, Wednesday was Business Chinese and Thursday was Japanese corner. Had to get up early this morning…for the Badaling Great Wall excursion. So sleepy…
Over 120 international students – 3 buses full – signed up for the trip. It was chilly and looked like it was going to rain, but we left as scheduled at
The 30 yuan ($5..!!) tour included lunch at a hotel restaurant as well, and it was pretty good. Bargain! I love being a student.^^
I could not keep my eyes open on the bus. Both K and I fell fast asleep. I was still sleepy when we arrived at the dorm. I showered then lay in bed for at least an hour but still couldn't fall sleep. Oh well, early night tonight I think.
The south side...
The north side...
We were here!
>> More photos here
Aren't they just adorable?!?!^^
Peak-hour traffic. Xizhimen station is on the first floor of the 3 upright oval-shaped buildings.
Yesterday after class, we all went for dinner and then for an hour of karaoke (minus 3 ppl)...English, Chinese, Japanese and Korean songs! We got a huge room which had a small stage/dance area. Towards the end, everyone got up and danced. It was great fun.^^
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この頃、宿題が急に多くなって、週に３回テストがあって、ちょっと大変です。＞＿＜
なのに、昨日の夜、クラスパーティーが開かれました。（＾＾）/ ２人だけが出席できなかったです。ご飯を食べ終わったら、BさんはMagic Ballという面白いゲームを皆に教えて、皆で楽しく遊びました。かなり頭の使う、集中しないといけないゲームです。説明が長いので、また今度にすると思います。
二次会はカラオケで。歌は英語、中国語、日本語、韓国語の四ヶ国語で、色々歌いました。１３人もいたので、私の部屋より大きな部屋をくれて、十数人が踊れるほどのスペースがありました。最後の数曲、皆が一緒に歌いながら、踊って、楽しかったです。
クラスを変えなくて良かったです。＾ー＾
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I was a little surprised when I was given this as change at the railway station!
Unfolded...
Went out for pizza with 2 classmates this afternoon. We stopped by the shopping centre just south of our uni, and JY took us to this stall that sells nuts and the like. They have these yummy sweet potato chips and freshly roasted chestnuts…I’m hooked!
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昼を食べ終わってから、ビリヤードをしに行きました。１時間半で２ゲームしか終わらなかったです。下手だたけど、楽しかったです。それが一番大事ですね。＾ー＾
後、Lotus Centreに入って、ジヨンはすごく美味しい甘栗と紅芋チップスの売っているナッツのお店を紹介してくれました。三人も甘栗などを買って、寮へ向けました。歩きながら喋べたり食べたりして、３０分も歩いたと感じなかったです。
今日、中国語会話の練習が沢山できたし、楽しかったし、良い一日でした。＾＾
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今夜、日本人留学生会の歓迎会に行きました。私は一体何人でしょうね。とにかく、今は日本語モードです！＾＾
大きい、丸いテーブルが９～１０あって、席はくじで決まりました。全部で約１００人が出席したと思います。私のテーブルは１１人いて、女性が３人ばかりでした。関東地方出身の方がやはり多かったですね。
色々なゲームを用意してくれて、面白かったです。うちのテーブルは一つのゲームを勝って、大きなチョコレート・ケーキをもらっちゃいました！その場で、みんなで食べました。;P
久しぶりに日本人に囲まれ、長い間日本語で喋って、懐かしかったです。中華料理のレストランでなかったら、日本にいるって感じでした。
日本語を忘れないように、上手にもなるように、木曜日の「日本語コーナー」も参加しようかな。。。＾＾
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We’ve had no water supply since about 11:30pm last night coz there’s something wrong with the water tanks Apparently this happens at least 2-3 times a year. Well, I just hope that it’s fixed by tonight!
Going to the Japanese Students’ Association gathering tonight. I heard that about 100 people are expected to attend. I wonder how they’re going to seat everyone…
Ahhh!!! 55 words to memorise for dictation tomorrow morning!!
Elective classes have started this week. There’s Taichi, Erhu, Chinese Painting, Chinese Calligraphy, Business Chinese, Chinese Pronunciation, Martial Arts, An Introduction to Chinese Film...
I went to Calligraphy on Monday. The teacher is a 70-year-old man who claims that studying Chinese calligraphy is good for one’s health and actually helps one live longer. Hmmm…
Tonight I went to Business Chinese. It’s more like “Chinese Business” than “Business Chinese.” I know, I could just learn about Chinese corporations on my own, but the likelihood of that ever happening would be rather slim.^^; Plus, it’s interesting to listen to a local’s perspective.
The teacher actually graduated with a teaching degree (Chinese as a second language) from BLCU, then went on to study law at Tsinghua. He lectured as if he was telling a story, making what would probably be considered a dull class to most surprisingly interesting.
Which should I take?? Maybe I’ll take both…^^
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今夜、アイパル香川の「日本語サロン」のような中国語会話の「中国語コーナー」に参加しました。全員、５０人を超えて、とてもにぎやかで楽しかったです。４人グループに分けて（私のグループには中国人と韓国人と日本人）、２時間以上ずっと中国語で色々話していて、面白かったです。かなり頭を使って疲れるけど、毎週参加したいと思います。そうすれば、上達が速くなるのかな。＾＾;
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I’ve just discovered the new Picasa “Web Album” feature…it’s awesome! It’s so easy to use. Public online albums are accessible without any registration or sign-in whatsoever. Just click on the “my photo album” link under "Links" to the right, and you should be able to see all the photos I have uploaded. From now on, I think I’ll just post a small selection of photos on this site and those of you who want more photos can check my online photo album. (^o^)/
Keep thinking it’s a weekday today. Coz we had a week of holiday, the school decided that we have classes today despite it being a Sunday. More than half the class turned up which was quite surprising.
Anywayz, apologies for the delay in updates. Here’s an extra long one to make up for it!^0^
For the past 3 days, I was on a bus tour to
The centre had two 2-hour and one 3-hour horse riding courses available. However, the majority of the group had not been horse-riding before and only wanted to go for one hour. Anyway, after a H U G E debate, they finally agreed to let us to go for a one hour ride. The horses were very well-behaved. We rode out into the vast grassland and turned back after half-an-hour. We were then to a Mongolian friendly wrestling match. It was kinda like “tootsie” but instead of treading on one another’s feet, one had to trip the other person over. One of the young Korean guys had a go and beat the pros!
As there was still some time left until lunch, some of us walked out to see the highest peak in the area which was used as…um…whatever you call those places used to signal the villagers in an emergency or something. Anyway, just a handful of us climbed to the top. It was rocky and quite steep, but not too difficult a climb. The descent was scary though…got a splinter in my finger from touching one of the prickly bushes on the way down. Nonetheless, the view from the top was well worth the effort. It kinda brought back memories of D of E expeditions.
See the pig in front of the gate? I thought it was going to run towards us, but instead it ran to guard the gate!
After lunch (pretty much the same menu again), we set off for the Resonant Sand Gorge which was about 4.5 hours away. It was past 
(Ain't she cute?!^^)
I wanted to stay a bit longer and talk with the group of young Koreans and the young Japanese couple, but Aa wanted to go back to the room for a shower, so I went with her and watched TV for the rest of the evening. Well, until Aa told me that our toilet was stuffed. In the information booklet, it said “24 hour service” so we tried the phone except that it didn’t work…no ringing tone whatsoever. So we went to find a hotel staff. There was a counter on the ground floor, but the corridor was dark and there was not a soul in sight. We then wandered outside and saw the full moon. (Happy Mid-Autumn Festival by the way!) While walking back and forth wondering what to do, we caught sight of a staff member walking toward the building. She got someone to come and take a look at our toilet. This lady came up to the room with us, pressed the flush button, told us that it was broken and walked away. Um…we got that part figured out! For a moment, we just stood and looked at her blankly. Once we found our voices, we started firing questions at her. “It cannot be fixed until tomorrow.” “There are no other rooms available.” “There are public toilets outside that you can use.” All we could do was to stay in our room and watch TV or sleep. It wasn’t yet
Day 3.
Breakfast at 
After the camel ride, I went for a slide down the dunes on a wooden sled. It wasn’t as fast as I thought it would be (maybe coz I was leaning backwards...^^;) and was actually quite fun. Aa wasn’t game enough to try, so I got her to snap a few pics for me.
As it was an 800km bus ride back to BJ, we left the dunes at around 
There were lots of veggies, but it tasted of meat once everyone put their stuff in so I went and asked the tour guide if I could order something else. He told me yeah, 
but I’d have to pay for it separately. The bus driver was nice and suggested that I use the half of their pot that they hadn’t cooked meat in. And so I dined with the staff. I didn’t really take to the tour guide, but the bus driver was considerate and quite friendly.
After lunch, we promptly got back onto the bus and set off. They played “Poseidon” twice, some Chinese music VCD twice, and a really really old Jackie Chan movie twice. My bum was so sore from sitting for so long. A few people stood in the aisle. We stopped about three times before arriving in BJ. It was 
All in all, it was a great experience. However, I think it would’ve been more fun had I gone with, say, my good old travel buddy in
久しぶりです！^^
この３日間、友達のAaと内モンゴルへ行ってきました。長かったよ～！北京から、バスで８時間位かかりました。しかし、途中で昼を食べたり、博物館に入ったりしました。
目的地の大草原に着いたら、夕飯の時間でした。メニューは昼とほぼ同じものでした。ほとんど野菜料理でした。中国人のおばさんは肉が少ないと文句を言っていましたが、私のせいかな？私が食べられる物がないかとちょっと心配していたので、観光会社に聞いてみてて、観光会社はガイドさんに言ってくれたそうです。
食後、伝統的な音楽や踊りの演奏がありました。外で寒かったけど、みんな楽しんで見ました。
一日目の夜は伝統的なモンゴル式のテントに泊まりました。ドアが低くて、頭を何回も当たってしまいました。一軒に５～６人で、うちは５人でした。Aaと私、そして若い韓国人女性が２人、オーストラリアからの女の人が１人いました。５人が布団を３つに寝ました。コートを着たまま寝たにもかかわらず、寒くて何回も目が覚めました。
翌朝、早く起きて、日の出を見に行きました。２０分位待っていて、寒くてテントに戻ることに決めました。中途まで行って、振り向いたらひとすじの陽光が見えてきて、きれいでした。
戻ったら、朝ごはんの時間でした。お粥、揚げパンと不思議な漬物がありました。ミルクティーが美味しかったです。半分以上の韓国人は個人のカップ麺とキムチを持って行きました。そういえば、ツアーの３２人のうちに韓国人が２１人もいました。残りは、中国人が４人、中国・韓国ハーフの子供たちが２人、日本人が２人、オーストラリア人が１人。
午前中の予定は乗馬でした。２時間と３時間のコースがありましたが、みんな１時間だけにしたかったので、長～い討論がありました。結局、従ってくれて、広い草原に出発しました。馬はおとなしくて、気持ちよかったです。乗馬が終わったら、モンゴル式の相撲試合を見せてくれました。若い韓国の男性が入ってみて、２回も勝ちました！
昼を食べる前に、まだ時間があったので、その地域で一番高い所を見に行きました。そんなに高くなかったけど、岩が多くて、斜面がかなり険しかったです。数人しか登らなかったです。その一人は７０歳以上のおじいさん。すごい！登りは大丈夫だったけど、下山したらちょっと怖かったです。でも、山頂から見た景色は素晴らしかったです。なんか、中学校・高校時代のキャンプを思い出しました。
山のふもとに住んでいる優しい老夫婦がいて、家に上がらせてくれました。シンプルな２部屋の家でした。家の前に、畑があって、そこで鶏を飼っていました。家に入ったら、おばあさんがスツールに座っていて、小刀を使って、水いっぱいのたらいに入っていた豚の頭の皮を削り落としていました。晩御飯かな。
昼を食べ終わったら（昨日のメニューとほぼ一緒）、バスで４時間半離れたResonant Sand Gorge （砂漠）へ向かいました。ホテルに着いたら、もう夕方でした。Aaと２人で一部屋でした。シャワーを浴びて、ご飯を食べに行きました。メニューはほとんど変わらなかったけど、ほかのところより美味しかったです。
あまりすることなかったから、部屋に戻って、テレビを見ました。そのとき、Aaはトイレが壊れて、水が流れなかったことを発見して、フロントに電話をかけてみました。しかし、電話も壊れて、使えなかったです。そしたら、２人でホテルのスタッフを探しに行きました。フロントは暗くて、誰もいなかったので、外へ出ました。しばらくして、スタッフが来て、話してみたけど、あまり役に立たなかったです。「トイレが壊れた」「外の公衆便所を使ってください」と言いました。
翌朝、朝ごはんのメニューはお粥、スープ麺と漬物でした。８時半にリフトに乗って、迎え側の砂丘へ行きました。そこで、１時間ラクダに乗りました。乗馬より気持ちよかったです。それから、砂丘の坂を木製のそりで滑り下がりました。思ったよりゆっくりで、楽しかったです。
昼前にバスに乗って、北京へ出発しました。８００ｋｍの距離でした。途中で昼を食べたり、休憩を取ったりしたが、長い時間座ったままでお尻がしびれてしまいそうでした。北京に着いたら、もう１０時半過ぎでした。
全体的にこのツアーは良い経験で、楽しかったです。
それでは、またね。＾＾
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My building (#21) is the second one from the right
View from 6F...
...between the buildings
I like my new souvenir mug.^^
