For breakfast, I made some Oatmeal for me and the family so they can try some western food. I tried making it close to how it is at home, with some salt, brown sugar (they didn’t have any sugar), raisins, and butter. I guess it was alright. For lunch, we had some home cooked food. …
Author Archives: Lon
Day 90 – Beijing
It is the weekend today, so no language class. I ventured into the center of the city myself today. I started at the same Wangfujing shopping street as yesterday. I found this huge bookstore (5 or 6 floors), but not much in English. Then farther down the street I found a really good Foreign Language …
Day 89 – Beijing
Today I figured out how to type sentences in Chinese. For example, if you have the correct fonts installed: ???. Much easier and faster than writing out by hand. In the evening, the husband in the family, Liu Yang (or we call him “Lake”), took me to see Tiana**en Square (censored in hopes of not …
Day 88 – Beijing
My classes are on the 32nd floor of the SOHO building and I have an excellent view of the city from there. Of course there is heavy construction across the street – a new shopping mall. I noticed today what they say is true; there is not a floor 4. And no floor 14 or …
Day 87 – Beijing
The air pollution in China isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Unless you are standing in the middle of the street in heavy traffic, I don’t notice anything. I’m starting to get used to riding the bus and crossing the street to get to the bus stop. Crossing the street can be …
Day 86 – Beijing
Some more information on my home stay: Home stay Fee: $528 (includes meals I have with the family) Tuition for 5 weeks: $680 Average cost per day = $35 I have some photos online of the home and the couple I am staying with. The husband, Lake, has a degree in Chemical Engineering and is …
Day 85 – Beijing
I had my second lesson today and I practice writing some Chinese characters. Before class, I went to Wal-Mart. It is similar to the stores in the USA, except they have live turtles in the food area. I priced some things here: Blue Jeans = $5.60 T-Shirt = $2.60 – $4.00 Socks = $1.30 Shoes …
Day 84 – Beijing
This morning, the family bought some steamed dumplings (baozi) and some kind of soup + tofu (dofu) for breakfast. It is around 32 cents for 10 of these small dumplings. Today I took the bus alone for the first time. It is a 10-15 minute bus ride to the language center when traffic isn’t bad. …
Day 83 – Beijing
The train rolled into Beijing Rail Station right on time, 7AM. A huge crowd of people gathered in front of the station, I couldn’t find my contact Jake. I found someone with a phone, pointed to Chinese characters for “Mobile Phone” in my phrasebook and he dialed Jake’s number for me. So then we finally …
Day 82 – Shanghai
Today I’m getting ready to go to Beijing. The train (number Z14) leaves at 7:32PM and arrives at 7AM. Since I’ve been traveling to so many places for so long now, I’ve calculated a break for a while. About a month ago I found this China Home Stay service which would allow me to stay …