rant/crunch time.

Insane. 10 more days in Jinan and that's all I have left until my vacation/family reunion in Hong Kong. It's CRRRRUNCH TIME, BABY! 

I'm so excited to see everybody again. It's kind of unreal how fast the time flies. I've been meaning to blog but I've been absolutely swamped with work. I spent this past weekend in the study room on the 5th floor, basically holed up for 9 hours a day on my laptop just TYPING and reading. And you know what sucks? That NONE of it was for my Chinese classes! Ugh. Insert rant here... Basically I am so concentrated on the "Cities In Transition" course study that I haven't got time to review the new Chinese vocab and grammar structures that I'm learning every week . I'm studying the Baotu Springs for my site, and it's really intricate, extensive, and time-consuming. It's fascinating and I like what I'm doing, but I guess I didn't expect it to take this much time out of my life here in Jinan. It's gonna be worth it, though, because my final project is frickin' sweet and my fieldnotes are awesome. (brag brag brag). These next 10 days are going to be riotous hell, though. There are the things I need to do before I leave Jinan:

- Get Mary and Sage to figure out their pet shipping/travel plans because they need to ship Link to California! Therefore I need to basically hold onto him until they figure out what they're doing with... this whole thing.

- Packing! Oh shit! Packing! This shouldn't be that bad seeing as I think I'll still be able to pack everything up (aka) I didn't buy that much shit here in Jinan.

- Study for THREE CHINESE FINALS! Since I'm leaving on December 20th, before the actual Shandong semester ends, I have to take my finals earlier. This sucks because: a) I have so much other shit to do and b) I have so much other shit to do and c) I have SOOOO much shit to do.

- Buy gifts for friends! I guess I can do this in Hong Kong, too. (This is not important, but it's self explanatory, and also something I want to do. But on my list of priorities, this is kind of next to remembering to put on makeup. So it's not high on my list AT ALL.)

- Cities In Transition Work: I still have approximately 2 major assignments (meaning pages upon pages of fieldnotes, questions, and analysis ... each.) to polish up and send in to Natalie (because my fieldwork has taken so long to condense and organize), wait for her comments and suggestions, and then start on the final project progress report. (Which is a whole 'nother huge bucket of worms.)

- The Final Project Progress Report: Basically what this entire semester abroad boils down to. It's a 1,500 word minimum essay, another 1,000 word minimum essay, and entire compilation of ALL the fieldnotes (I have like... journals full) I've done on the Baotu Springs, several appendices, bibliographies, and I also have to remember to bring home hard copies/ evidence (like tickets, reciepts, pamphlets, news articles that I should've amassed in my time studying the Springs)....THIS THING IS GOING TO BE HUGE AND BEAUTIFUL! I am pretty optimistic about the direction I'm going with this project (I'm actually kind of proud of myself at the moment... we'll see how I feel in about a week when it's REALLY CRUNCH TIME.) so the only thing I'm scared about is the time that I have to do this, and all of the ABOVE things I've mentioned.

- I was thinking of applying for a Kappa Delta Appointed Position of SET Leader, but I'm pretty sure I missed the deadline. I'm also trying to consider everything next semester with classes and shit... it may be a bad idea.

- I also have to do buttloads of surveys and course evaluations for this past semester. Eep! More paperwork! Fuck!

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I haven't completely lost my sanity, though. Things are okay. My friends are all battling their own demons alongside me so we're all in this shit together. I'm going to be so sad to leave them!! :( Jinan has really grown on me! I'll post later and keep you guys updated on this crazy crazy crazy crazy next week and a half!!!

<3

thoughts!

Hi everybody! I just realized that I am leaving Jinan in exactly 16 days! Crazy shit, right? And I still don't know what I'm doing for finals... seeing as the chinese semester ends sometime in January. We'll see what happens with that. Anyways, I just wanted to blog about some thoughts I've been having. They're slightly related to this study abroad; I'm not too sure what spurred these thoughts, but lately I haven't been able to stop thinking about the fuuuuutureee. It's not that I'm antsy to get there, but I'm really really really curious. I'm well aware of the "immediate plans" at the moment, like... cleaning my room... classes tomorrow... classes the day after that... the weekend... fast forward two weeks and I'll be in Hong Kong... then X-Mas... then the New Year... then back to Kansas... and then school. Okay, so that takes me to about.. mid-January. How's that for looking ahead? No, but in all seriousness- I've been thinking about summer plans and maybe even NEXT summer's plans. I'm definitely looking to get out of Kansas and get started with jobs/internships that have to do with improving my Chinese skill, building a resume, etc etc. This summer, I'm still not too sure what exactly I want to do- I can always come home to Bo Lings and work at the restaurant again, makin' the good money like I always do... it's a safe bet. However, the summer after that will hopefully be different. Summer after I graduate means NO MORE KANSAS. This is my tentative plan! I'd like to live somewhere in a big city- or somewhere near a big city. I'm looking at Chicago, Minneapolis, Madison, or even so out to Green Bay or Milwaukee. I'm really leaning towards the first two because I have family in both cities. :] It's more convenient, in my opinion, to have at least ONE person you know. Anyways, in regards to Chicago/MPLS, I know a ton of people there. And there are a ton more reasons that I'd like to get myself movin' up and out. I'll spare the details. On another note, I've been feeling really happy lately; like I'm finally stepping up and taking the reigns when it comes to "growing up," I guess. I don't know how to word it... I guess, I'm just trying to say, I'm ready. And for once in a really long time, I feel way more secure with myself than I have been. I'm going to roll with it and hopefully take the leap. I'm used to making plans and then making excuses for not following through, but god damn it , I am putting my foot down and I am going to make an executive decision to stay firm and DO SOMETHING WITH LIFE! Blarg. Thanks for listening. Just had to get that outttt! :]

PS: HEY GUYS!- I know I'm really shitty with uploading photos and crap; I haven't quite figured out how to make thumbnails of photos all pretty-like, so instead, I'm going to link you to some recent photos of my adventures in Shandong! (So click, Mom. CLICK ON THE LINK) Haha, okay. Love you guys!

Pagoda on Mountain (I ended up climbing the mountain in the background)

Intense King-Protector of Buddha

Gorgeous Trees by the Pagoda

My kitten, Link

He is so cute; I think he deserves two pictures.

Okay I lied, maybe one more. He is REALLY cute.

The view outside of my room... on the 6th floor... of the dorm that does NOT have an elevator.

Thanks! Enjoy :]

i'm lacking something

Fun Fact: There are no turkeys in Jinan.

Another Fun Fact: Today is Thanksgiving, and I've only had two major feelings: homesickness and hunger. 

It's kind of worsened given what today is. Earlier in class, we had an assignment to talk about "party preparations" and my teacher saved me for last because I had mentioned earlier that today was Thanksgiving, and he was like "Oh! I am going to make you TALK ABOUT IT TO THE CLASS!" So when my turn came up, I stood there for 10 minutes blathering on and on about preparing for a Thanksgiving feast, some shit about giving thanks and being with family, and some other shit about turkeys. At this point, my teacher interrupts me with an abrupt, "我有一個問題！" (I have a question!) He asks, "What are turkeys?" I said, "火雞," literally "fire bird." He gives me this look, and I start describing a large plump birdie with big feathers, ugly wattle, complete with noises and everything. He still doesn't get it. Oh well. Regardless, the purpose of including this small anecdote was to make myself feel a little better with being in China and not home for the holidays... it was supposed to make me laugh, but it didn't. Anyways, Tanner had also just called me and invited me to this "American Thanksgiving Buffet" at 7:30pm that the Silver Crowne Plaza was throwing. It's apparently 160元 per person (like 23 USD) which is a wee bit expensive by chinese standards, especially for a buffet. Plus, it's cold outside, and I just threw in all my laundry, so I'm not gonna go out in the sweats that I'm wearing at the moment. 

I'm starving. Haven't eaten at all today. Normally if I were at home, I'd be pigging out in the middle of the night on whatever pre-thanksgiving preparations my mom put in the fridge, then waking up around 2pm to find a huge Thanksgiving spread (I'm talking colonial style, all kinds of gut-busting  stuffingcranberrysaucepieturkeygravymashedpotatoesbutterycorncobsgreenbeancasserolefreshmuffins deliciousness on the table with a beer for me to gorge myself on, and then I'd look forward to a nice nap until perhaps 7pm, and around that time, I'd awaken slowly from my tryptophan-induced nappage only to pig out on LEFTOVERS. And then more passing out. Thanksgiving is awesome.

And that, my friends, is what I'm missing most out of today.

Gobble gobble, everybody. 

<3

thanksgiving...ish

Looks like Thanksgiving is right around the corner for me here in Jinan. It's weird, because I almost forgot about this holiday. Things here have been slow, it's the same-old same-old going to classes, and eating routine. Lately, I've been focusing on hitting the gym, and tonight I'm actually going to try yoga with Allison. We'll see how that goes. Today was relatively warm (which is weird) and I'm happier, for some odd reason. I can't believe that I leave this place in a relatively short amount of time, like 3.5 weeks. I'm just now feeling like I'm settling in here in Jinan. Currently at the moment, I'm sitting here in my room, blogging, with the delicious smells of this Mongolian group (maybe like 13 people) cooking dinner in the mini kitchen next to me. My friend Jak'a was making dumplings and she stopped by to give me a sample. Let me just say, it was fucking delicious, and like the rest of the crazy international foods that I've tried, I'm really going to miss it! By the way, Mongolian is such a beautiful language. I'm like obsessed. Anyways, today in class, it was really interesting because our assignment was to bring in a photo and talk about it for a few minutes, and Jak'a brought in this little album with pics of her family, and of Mongolia... and it is literally like, yurts and yaks with horses and green fields everywhere. Insane. Anyways- sorry for that little anecdote, but I wanted to blog about Thanksgiving over here. Basically, it's not going to be Turkey Day for anybody other than us 4 Americans, but I was thinking of getting a nice dinner together with some BEIJING ROASTED DUCK. Mmm. I also was feeling nostalgic because I'm sort of missing home at the moment- for class today I brought in a picture of my mom holding the cat, Tyler, and I've been thinking about home- I'm also missing THE HOLIDAYS! Anywho, I just wanted to take a moment and reflect what I'm thankful for. It's actually several things. I'm thankful for busting my butt this summer like I had for the past 4 summers at Bo Lings and just gritting my teeth even with work just got so hard... to make money to come to China. And I'm glad that I decided to study abroad this semester; it's really been a lifechanging experience. I'm also thankful for my family and friends that have been good to me. <3 Can't wait to go home and see everybody!! :]

updates

Wow. I have really been slacking off with the updating. There really hasn't been anything new. Jinan is still Jinan, albeit getting a little bit colder. The homework is still the same. It's not too exciting, but it's nice to have some routine again (with classes and such.) I've been working on my Cities In Transition project involving the Baotu Springs, so I've been going there to take down fieldnotes and photos. However, its 40元 to go in, and therefore today I decided to stop blowing 40元 everytime I needed to enter. I ended up buying a 年票 (nian piao: yearly pass) for 100元. Now I get to enter whenever I want! Convenient, right? Anyways, that's about it. Just been studying and taking care of Link. I've also started eating MUCH healthier; buying cucumbers, tomatoes, and other varied fresh foods mixes up my diet. Eating in China kind of made me gain and lose weight. It's really weird. My day normally consists of a breakfast of instant oatmeal with brown sugar (yum! right, mom?) before classes, then lunch at the cafeteria- usually a bowl of rice with two vegetable dishes (i may be going vegetarian ... again), and then usually a late-night greasy dinner at the night market vendors. I always go to this sweet old couple that make a sort of burrito with big, flat crispy wonton strips and pickled vegetables and lettuce all wrapped up in a purple soft bread-y tortilla that has egg on it. The vendors only come out around 9pm, and there's always so much to eat that sometimes I go out of boredom and come back absolutely stuffed with delicious (albeit oily) snacks! Can't help it... haha. I'm going to miss the food when I go back to America. Hard to believe it's almost half over. I leave for Hong Kong on December 20th... which is basically in a month. Crazy. China's grown on me... I feel like my Mandarin has improved alot since being immersed. Now, I'm not so nervous talking to complete Chinese strangers. I used to basically shit my pants (not literally, mom! haha) with being so nervous and self-conscious of my terrible mandarin speaking skills, but now I'm really much more confident. My classes are still going well, and I like speaking to people all around the world in Mandarin. There are people from Russia, England, Korea, Australia, Holland, Germany, Israel, Canada, and Slovenia... it's pretty ridiculous. I find myself speaking a lot of English to basically all of the above I had listed minus the Koreans. They think it's pretty funny whenever I say "Hi (Annyong Hasaio)" or "Thank you (Gamsamida)" I'm sure my Korean spelling is heinous. But regardless, that's all I know in Korean, haha. Anyways, I went to the bookstore today and bought some new fine-felt tip pens and a book with tiny squares to practice my handwriting in, so I think I'm going to do that until I fall asleep. Class at 8am tomorrow! Goodnight :]

Oh PS: Another update: I've chosen my classes for next semester and they look really good. I'm taking Race Theory (philosophy), The Art of Translation (it's a chinese class), Writing and Embodiment in Ming-Qing China (also chinese), and Culture, Power, and Place in SE Asia (anthropology + chinese), and then of course, Piano! My schedule is also sweet, I have lunch breaks during the entire week (not like last semester when I didn't have lunch on Tuesdays or Thursdays). Silly me, always thinking with my stomach.  :]