Summer Update

So...getting away from the news-related items about China and a little bit about my life.

After finishing up finals on May 15, I moved out of the international student dorms (to which I had returned after I was evicted from my homestay - not my fault, but due to their grown son's sudden onset of "psychological problems" forcing him to move back into their apartment - not that I was complaining because after the son's wife came in one day yelling, "I want a divorce! I want a divorce!," I was thoroughly ready to be out of that environment) and into an apartment down the street from my campus.

I am living with a young Chinese couple who are the friends of a friend of my Chinese tutor who I had asked for help finding a place to live for the summer. Their names are Michelle and Arthur, both 31 years old and work, respectively, in a shipping company and at a bank. They are incredibly nice, offering me a rent-free room in return for language exchange. The initial agreement was to help them practice English, but after telling them that I was hiring a Chinese teacher to keep up on my Chinese during the summer, they insisted that was unnecessary and that I should just practice speaking with them.

They introduce me to new restaurants, new massage places, new foods, new movies, and even new destinations (last weekend we traveled to Qingdao together - a coastal city and home of the famous Chinese Qingdao beer and delicious seafood). Although it is a very small apartment, the living arrangement is perfect and I wish I had spent the last semester living with them instead of just a couple short months.

Since the end of school, I have done a little bit of traveling (to Qingdao, like I mentioned, and to Tianjin - a city close to Beijing) and sight-seeing around Beijing - making sure I hit all the places on my "To Do Before I Leave Beijing" list.

AND there was a really exciting change in my summer plans. Instead of just my dad and Oliver coming out to visit me, the entire family managed to make it. My mom, dad, Oliver, and Jacqueline all came to China to visit me for ten days in June. After spending three days in Beijing showing them my home for the past 10 months, we traveled to Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Guilin, getting a little bit of cities, lakes, rivers, and nature all in one trip. Although it was a little stressful playing tour guide for them, the trip was amazing and it was really good to be all together - the last time that happened was in August 2008!

  

Wangfujing - Night Market

  

The Great Wall - Mutianyu

  

Guilin

  

Guilin & Shanghai

Before that, I had been tutoring English and continuing my internship at the UN - I was crazy busy, going from 9am to 9pm some days with 3 different jobs in between. However, after the June vacation with my family, my tutoring jobs ended (students ended for the summer holiday and one just left to attend boarding school in Massachusetts) and I completed my projects for the UN.

  

My Kids!

Thus, I am left in Beijing with nothing to do. Actually, I'm continuing to practice Chinese, just trying to stay up on characters so I don't forget everything I learned by the time I return to BC. Some of my friends stayed in Beijing for the summer to work or attend ChinaVoice (my study abroad program's summer Chinese language course) and we have been enjoying our last few weeks in China together.

19 days til home - JULY 21st!