Back in Business

So, as many of you may know (if you are a good friend of mine) I have returned to the Meiguo. It's been a few weeks, but I'm finally on the ball of getting things done in my life.

I aplogize for not posting up anything in the past few months, but friggin Blogspot was blocked in China. They just love to block everything, I tell ya. AND I didn't know that there was a website that I could use to work around that block until the week I was coming back to the states. Anyway, I'm going to try and make these things more up-to-date because I have a whole rack of things that I want to post up to this thing. Videos, pictures, stories to explain the videos and pictures. I mean, really. I had you guys all excited to hear about my Spring Break and then when I got back to Shanghai I found out that this website was blocked. Sucks, doesn't it?

Well, in between me studying for my new classes, being lazy, and trying to enjoy my summer I will try (and this time I DO mean it!!) to post up all these stuff. It's just there sitting on my (broken) computer so I will work with that and get it up for you guys to see. Excited? I know I am! Haha..

Anyway, I am in the process of a new direction in my life. I'm not ready to expose it just yet, but when it's time I shall. Hopefully, the next post will be my thoughts on returning to the Meiguo and the withdrawals I've had to face. In the meantime, sit back, relax, and enjoy your summer! Hopefully many of you are as unoccupied as myself so you are online quite often. Haha..alright. That's enough.

See ya!

Spring Break '09

Ok..I know that I have been slacking on the blog posts, but I ALSO know that you guys are not surprised. I like to pop whenever I can. I like to give you guys some suspense. Like.."When is Nancy going to write a new blog??" Haha...ok, ok. Not really. I'm just lazy. I WILL try to post up the rest of those videos from Beijing. There are a lot more, but for some reason the video software that I'm using on my computer isn't working so I had to try and get a new one but THAT one wasn't working..its a hassle...but they WILL be posted up because you guys really enjoyed them :o)

ANYWAY

Here I am..writing a new blog post..and A LOT has happened since the last time I wrote in these here pages...That, though, I will have to save for another time (mental note for Nancy: remember all the things you want to write!)

But, back to the present. TOMORROW a dear friend of mine (HEY ALEX!!!) and I are going on an EPIC adventure! Our Spring Break has FINALLY arrived (while all of you are
hastily studying for finals..I'll be traveling China! It's ok, I'll be thinking about ya! Hehe...) and we have planned an AMAZING trip!

Tomorrow after Chinese class we will RUSH (and I mean RUSH) back to our rooms, drop our stuff and gather ourselves as quickly as possible to make it to the airport. We have to take a maglev and all of that to get this done, so we are leaving SUPER early since we have never done this before! Then, at 9 something p.m. we will be darting off to the wonderful land of Xi'an to see the Terra Cotta Warriors!! (Look to the right) We will, also, do many other epic and amazing things in Xi'an, but the Terra Cotta Warriors are what we REALLY want to see.

Now, we will only be in Xi'an until Saturday night...then its OFF to Guilin!!! I'm so excited about Guilin. We're supposed to be going on a day cruise, bike riding through some little village, and much MUCH more! Look at the pics I found online!


And thats ALOT of pics, right?? Well, I will take MANY more!!! :oD I'm so excited!!

BUT WAIT!! THERE'S MORE!!!

I go to Sanya after Guilin!! AHHH!!! BEACH BEACH...and did I say BEACH?!?!? This is our relaxing portion of the trip. Where we just laze away and watch the water hit our feet as we lay in the sun. Well, more like Alex lay in the sun because I don't go to the beach to tan. Haha...but here are some pictures of Sanya so that you can get an idea of where we are going!


And there you have it! Those are the places that I will be next week. So now I have a (real) reason as to why I won't be blogging!!! Enjoy the pictures and I'll be thinking about each and every one of you while I'm enjoying my vacation! Until I have to dread through finals...boooo...

See ya!!

Beijing: Day Two

TIENANMEN SQUARE AND FORBIDDEN CITY!!

Beijing: Day One

It was a bad start to a pretty good week. Haha...

Nanjing Vids!!!

Videos from Nanjing!!!

From Beginning Until Now

I'm always MIA...I know. BUT!! I have blogs from the (almost) beginning of the CIEE CGC program up until now. SO the next few posts will be videos.

P.S. Right now I'm in Beijing, for I plan on having vlogs (thats right, right??) on my time in Beijing! ENJOY!!!




This blog is just me talking to friends.

The first girl is Liz: goes to Georgetown. Intelligent. Hilarious. Holla at me if you need her number!! Haha..jokes, jokes.

Next girl is Jen: Hilarious. But, off limits. Love her to death, that gamer girl. Haha.

Last girl (on the bed) is Nicole: Sweetest girl you'd EVER meet! But you know what they say, its always the quiet ones! Haha...

Another blog already?!

Yes, yes! I know! I'm so bad with this thing but I have managed to post a new blog in a relatively short time between the last one! :oD So I uploaded pictures up on facebook from my trip to Nanjing and other fun activities here in China...fun fun FUN!!

Still, here is a little taste for all of you guys who do not have access to my facebook account:




So what do you guys think??? Awesome, right? Just look at my albums on facebook for the rest of the pictures. China is just completely incredible, cheap, beautiful (hen piaoliang!), and quite an experience. I'm actually thinking about looking for internships here..maybe for the summer?? I have no clue. But, I have nothing else to do for the summer, so why not??

ALSO!! Did I tell you that our plan is to go to Tibet for spring break?? A bunch of us girls are looking into it. I mean, we could go ANYWHERE else, but how many people get to say that they went to Tibet?? Exactly. So, we're going! Hopefully everything falls into place because I've never actually done anything out of this world for spring break..this just might have to be it! Can't waiitttt!!!!

P.S. no one is getting back to me about what they want to read on the blog. Does that mean that you guys are enjoying it already? If so, YAY!! Haha...

Nanjing!!!

I was just in Nanjing this weekend...what a weekend! Ha...

The weekend actually started off kind of depressing because we went to this museum about the Nanjing Massacre during World War II...saw and read so many different things that could put chills up and down your spine. The thought of inhumane comes to mind. But, whatever, it was in the past and (I hope) this is a lesson learned because I would never want something like this to happen again in my lifetime...or anyone else's.

But, other than that, we went to the mausoleum of Sun Yat-sen and the Confucius Temple. The temple wasn't the most interesting thing (except for the garden) simply because the layout of the whole display was out of wack. Perhaps it may have also been because the translations and what not were confusing. The mausoleum, on the other hand, was amazing (pictures will be up soon). The scenery was completely amazing. Even though the weather is cloudy (not was..is! China is all around cloudy and the mere sight of the sun can earn enough praise to start a fiesta...zhongwen zenme shuo "fiesta"?? [how do you say "fiesta" in Chinese??]). We got to see how the mauselum looked like before it was bombed during World War II. Overall, the trip to Nanjing was an educational one.

As for the night life? I mean, we had fun...but...let me just say that it was not my cup of tea. In the whole area of things to do at night, there was only one lounge. ONE. I don't want to go CLUBBING...I want to hang out, listen to good mucic, have fun, and have stories for the next day. But, no. First, I get jipped out of a drink. We show up to this club and I decide to buy a drink. After I pay, my friends say they don't want to stay anymore. I mean, the club was PACKED so I could understand. So I decide to ask for my money back. Nope. Not going to happen! So I decide to just get the drink, have it, and then leave. I show up to the bar and they ask me what I ordered. WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHAT DID I ORDER??? So I ask for my money back again! They say they can't do that, so they bring me out two drinks (mind you, I only ordered one) and give me the change for the two drinks (as if I asked for the two of them...*sigh*) So I drink one, and give the other to a friend only to find that they gave me SODA. Ugh...I leave afterwards and never look back! Of course I'm upset afterwards, but we ended up going to the only lounge in that area, which had a pretty good live bar. Unfortunately, they only played a few songs...so basically that was the highlight of my night. That and being goofy with my friends. Yep. What a night. But nothing compares to Shanghai!!

Ok. That's about it. I'm procrasinating and I really have TONS of Chinese homework to do, so talk to you later with the picttures!!!

P.S. My roommate, Miriam, says I get a cool star sticker for being such a cool blogger! SWEET! I love sarcasm. Haha...

Soup in a Bag

Seriously. Soup in a bag. I had that last night for dinner. Don't get me wrong, the soup was really really good. But, still, SOUP IN A BAG!

China just has a lot of things that are different. Yes, I know I'm in China and things would be different but..things are different. The way things are done are just different and the way things look are different. Take some of the architecture for example:


And other things like that. I mean...it's just CRAZY how only a little more than 20 years ago China was a mostly rural and then BOOM BOOM BOOM! all of these skyscrapers line the sky!


But, anyway, I wanted to apologize to you guys for being a bit lazy with this blog thing! SOMEBODY decided to point me out on it and post MY PICTURES *cough cough* WHATEVER!!! I have school and discovery time! But I will TRY to do better. It's only the second week anyway! Sheesh! Haha...Anyway, so I'm going to Nanjing this weekend for a trip with the program so that should be interesting. We will visit the memorials about the historical events from WWII and we will explore the town. Should be interesting!

Quick question!! What do you guys want to know? I mean, usually I don't post a blig because I don't know what to write about. SO..if you could please be so kind as to write a comment about different things you want to read about?? I will write things on my own if I find something interesting, but YOU guys are the ones who want to read this and all..you know?? So let me know!

BYYYEEE!!!!

Almost Died Today

No..not really. But I seriously thought that traffic in Senegal was bad. Nope. China traffic is on some other echelon! Drivers here like to play chicken with each other and no one stops until someone is about to get hit. Really. And, what make it even more difficult for pedestrians is that the streets are so wide...I'm trying to decide whether they're wider than those you would find in New York.

Hmm...yes. They are. So how am I supposed to avoid getting hit, while trying to cross the street before the crosswalk timer goes out? I guess I'll be that girl who gets hit and is in the hospital for a month.

If that happens, they better just send me home.

Greetings from Shanghai!!

So I finally made it here to Shanghai and its AMAZING!

Granted, I haven't really done much but meet fellow classmates, but I'm just so excited to be here! All this planning has finally paid off!

But, check this:
I'm walking through Incheon (spelling??) International Airport in Seoul Korea and I see a woman walk past me...with a surgical mask on. SO, of course, the first thing that came to mind was SARS. Now, before you chastise me, YOU think about it. From western media, if you were to see someone like that what would you think?

Exactly.

But its ok! I didn't panic or try to make a scene. I kept walking...and hoping that she didn't take the mask off.

But, that aside, I'm enjoying myself here. Granted, the dorm room is as cold as Antarctica, but I'm enjoying it here! Tomorrow is basically our first day of going around and learning the ropes so I'm excited for that.

Let's just hope that I wake up.

Catch up with me again! Im trying to get a video up of my trip from the airport. Hopefully, I'll be able to do that tomorrow.

Zaijian (goodbye) !!

Check

So...I'm sitting here at home on my last day in Senegal. I've been here since December 15 (??) and I'm leaving now. Long vacation, huh? Yea. I know.

Still, it's sad to leave. This July, my parents are going to pack up (once again!) and move to Virginia for 2 years. It's great, they'll be nearby to me (3 hour drive, give or take. It's better than an 8 hour plane ride!) but, at the same time, I won't be able to visit another country and discover its beauty.

Virginia. Woo Hoo..I'm from Virginia (which is the simplest thing I say to people where I'm from. I think that that is the most complicated question you can ask me..haha) but I don't see anything special about the state. It's dry..to me, at least. I don't know. I would rather have my parents move somewhere exciting and different; Asia would have been my preference! (hence the fact that I'll be there in a few days!) But whatever. 'Tis what it is. Life moves on.

Let's just hope that i can follow in my parents footsteps (I'm not exactly sure if I want to do exactly what they have done...but you understand what I'm saying) so that I can travel the world!

That is all.

Places That I Have Lived/Visited:

• Bamako, Mali (lived there for 2 years)
• Tunis, Tunisia (lived there for 3 years)
• Dakar, Senegal (my parents lived here...so I guess I did, too?? 3 years)
• Paris, France (visited...2 times??)
• Athens, Greece (visited for a high school volleyball tournament, 1 time)
• Rabat/Volubulis (??)/Fez/Casablanca, Morocco (visited 3 times??)
• Shanghai, China (WILL study there in a few days!!)
  

For You

So, I decided that I would add a slide show of my time in Senegal. My parents have been living here since 2006. Therefore, I have visited during vacations and what not. The pictures that I ave posted in the slide show are a compilation of my time here throughout the past 3 years. Enjoy!

3 days until I leave for Shanghai!!

Also!

I am working on getting a slideshow up on here so that I can put some of my favorite pictures up from my adventures. That way, as you read my blog, you can feel like you were there. Cool, right?

Keep up!

Joining the Bandwagon

So...

I definitely only joined blogspot in order to keep up with the blogs of a friend of mine. But, look at me! Joining the herd and creating my own blogspot. I mean, why not? I'm going to Shanghai in a couple of days and I figured that I might as well create a blog of my own. People keep saying that I need to keep them informed while I'm in China so this seems the best way to do it! (Now, I just hope that the internet isn't too slow to keep you guys updated! Haha...)

So, here I am in Senegal..counting down the days until I leave for Shanghai. FOUR MORE DAYS!! Isn't that awesome?? Anyway, this was just a post for a bit of an introduction for all of you. I hope that you guys love the introduction!

Keep up! Wish me luck!