Bright sun, broad streets, well laid transportation system, beautiful mountains bordering the city.. these are few of the things that i had gotten so used to for about 3 weeks in the beautiful city hangzhou. Eating at 7,11 and 5, the clickety click of the chopsticks, the extremely fulfilling shopping, the numerous yet each distinct from the other skyscrapers are among the hoards of things i miss most about China.
I stepped into China with lots of stereotypes about the food, the people and most importantly the language barrier. After about 2 days in hangzhou i realised i was being unreasonable and put all those predetermined thoughts behind me. The city is a delight, the people are uninterfering and the atmosphere is ont that'll make you fall in love with it.
The first week was the toughest, but then instead of brooding over the differences, i began basking in acceptance of them. That Made things so much easier.
time for lunch, suspend work and go eat:ok!
not hungry but still have to eat, cos dining halls will close:ok!
time for rest after that:ok!
there's a little meat with most vegetables:ok!
there are green beans in icecream:ok!
roads follow 'keep right' system:ok!
cars are lefthand driven:ok!
have porridge with chopsticks:ok!
work on chinese windows:ok!
I am not complaining about any of these, it was an absolute pleasure and i have no hangups about any of these.
Problem is, i miss all of that now! i miss it so much
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Monday, October 03, 2005
Returned to india on 26sep!
With a heavy heart I left the beautiful country that I had gotten so used to.
Eating with chopsticks, finishing supper at 6 30pm, getting accustomed to the chinese transportation system, communicating with keywords that i learnt for survival, living on a budget, shopping with chinese symbols for numbers with one hand.... i could go on and on.....
Beginning my day with ni hao with the generous use of 'xiexie' during the rest of the day.
I am going to miss all of this and much much more....
some memories do not fade,
some faces are hard to forget,
some newly learnt habits refuse to leave,
I am glad that is the way it is, because I wish to keep every ounce of my trip to china in my heart forever.
I set out to china with a few apprehensions, a few stereotypes and a few misconceptions. It turned out that I had no clue about what was in store for me. It has been a life changing trip for me in ways that I find hard to express.
I can say that I am better person having gone through the one month in China.
I express my sincere gratitude to Dr Bill Melton for the wonderful positive change he has brought in so many lives and i count myself among them.
I thank the Proj.Culture granting commitee for making this possible me.
Also extending my heartfelt gratitude to Henry and his wonderful family with whom I stayed during my internship in China.
Thanks to my dear friends in ZU, Jerry(who i couldnt meet), jane, kevin,Rose and Benjamin who were of great assistance during my internship period.
Finally, I thank my parents for all their support and encouragement.
With a heavy heart I left the beautiful country that I had gotten so used to.
Eating with chopsticks, finishing supper at 6 30pm, getting accustomed to the chinese transportation system, communicating with keywords that i learnt for survival, living on a budget, shopping with chinese symbols for numbers with one hand.... i could go on and on.....
Beginning my day with ni hao with the generous use of 'xiexie' during the rest of the day.
I am going to miss all of this and much much more....
some memories do not fade,
some faces are hard to forget,
some newly learnt habits refuse to leave,
I am glad that is the way it is, because I wish to keep every ounce of my trip to china in my heart forever.
I set out to china with a few apprehensions, a few stereotypes and a few misconceptions. It turned out that I had no clue about what was in store for me. It has been a life changing trip for me in ways that I find hard to express.
I can say that I am better person having gone through the one month in China.
I express my sincere gratitude to Dr Bill Melton for the wonderful positive change he has brought in so many lives and i count myself among them.
I thank the Proj.Culture granting commitee for making this possible me.
Also extending my heartfelt gratitude to Henry and his wonderful family with whom I stayed during my internship in China.
Thanks to my dear friends in ZU, Jerry(who i couldnt meet), jane, kevin,Rose and Benjamin who were of great assistance during my internship period.
Finally, I thank my parents for all their support and encouragement.
Saturday, September 10, 2005
climbing the mountains around the lake with henry's dad
i am not a huge nature freak. As in, the beautiful sky, peaceful waters,wind in my face and the sun on my brow make me fell good and hold a sense of beauty. But, not in a way thast i ll take up espeditions every weekend in the countryside or learn river rafting for the ultimate high in life.
Having established my nature related inclinations, i was not very thrilled with henry knocking on my door one morning asking me to get ready in 5 minutes to proceed to climb the mountains around the west lake. henry's dad , henry and i set out on a scaringly hot morning seemingly, to climb the mountains.
i had prepared myself for a trek kind of climb in the sweltering heat, and i was not wrong!
there were stairs leading to the top, and Henry's dad chose the more adventurous, non staired, non-laid path. WOW! lucky me!
first, all i could do is look at my watch at contemplate how long it would take for us to get over with this ordeal. This went on for a while, after which i was overcome with acute discomfort.. but why? oh wait it was because of my 8 kg backpack! having run out of tissues in the first 15 min, sun-screen all wiped out with the sweat, pain in every possible way i could and just when i was about to give up... i heard some weird chirping sounds. they were really unique and ones i had never heard before. Some were long, some furtive but continual, some piercingly prolonged.....
With minimal effort, i came across a seating area amid the trees. there were some stone carved chairs and about 20-30 elderly men and women sitting around on those seats. All of them with a colorful cage infront of them. The chirpings i heard were from their birds and this was a routine these elderly people carried out almost everyday. Climb the mountain with the pet bird and leave it there with other caged birds for singing practice!
isnt that the cutest thing! it was so cute watching the whole affair.. the oldies chit chatting, birds haveing a secrest musical conversation of their own, the sun rays making its way through the canopy of trees, ah, it was a delight!
Oh wait a minute, arent we forgetting something? a certain Mr pain and his wife Mrs discomfort? voila! they were both gone! just like that. i just needed a diversion(and someone to carry my bag!)
By now i had begun taking in the scenery, the beautiful view of the mountain, the glittery water of the west lake it was all coming together.
There was an army boot camp kind of gathering i chanced upon too. turned out to be a singing practice class for young singers. All screaming their lungs out...
by the time i got up, i was exhausted but the feeling of being up there just engulfs and destroys any fatigue..
It was amazing!
more to follow
i am not a huge nature freak. As in, the beautiful sky, peaceful waters,wind in my face and the sun on my brow make me fell good and hold a sense of beauty. But, not in a way thast i ll take up espeditions every weekend in the countryside or learn river rafting for the ultimate high in life.
Having established my nature related inclinations, i was not very thrilled with henry knocking on my door one morning asking me to get ready in 5 minutes to proceed to climb the mountains around the west lake. henry's dad , henry and i set out on a scaringly hot morning seemingly, to climb the mountains.
i had prepared myself for a trek kind of climb in the sweltering heat, and i was not wrong!
there were stairs leading to the top, and Henry's dad chose the more adventurous, non staired, non-laid path. WOW! lucky me!
first, all i could do is look at my watch at contemplate how long it would take for us to get over with this ordeal. This went on for a while, after which i was overcome with acute discomfort.. but why? oh wait it was because of my 8 kg backpack! having run out of tissues in the first 15 min, sun-screen all wiped out with the sweat, pain in every possible way i could and just when i was about to give up... i heard some weird chirping sounds. they were really unique and ones i had never heard before. Some were long, some furtive but continual, some piercingly prolonged.....
With minimal effort, i came across a seating area amid the trees. there were some stone carved chairs and about 20-30 elderly men and women sitting around on those seats. All of them with a colorful cage infront of them. The chirpings i heard were from their birds and this was a routine these elderly people carried out almost everyday. Climb the mountain with the pet bird and leave it there with other caged birds for singing practice!
isnt that the cutest thing! it was so cute watching the whole affair.. the oldies chit chatting, birds haveing a secrest musical conversation of their own, the sun rays making its way through the canopy of trees, ah, it was a delight!
Oh wait a minute, arent we forgetting something? a certain Mr pain and his wife Mrs discomfort? voila! they were both gone! just like that. i just needed a diversion(and someone to carry my bag!)
By now i had begun taking in the scenery, the beautiful view of the mountain, the glittery water of the west lake it was all coming together.
There was an army boot camp kind of gathering i chanced upon too. turned out to be a singing practice class for young singers. All screaming their lungs out...
by the time i got up, i was exhausted but the feeling of being up there just engulfs and destroys any fatigue..
It was amazing!
more to follow
Thursday, September 08, 2005
The city. [contd.]
having moved to Henry's place has given me a bigger picture of the city and its ways. His place is a farther from the university so I have to take 2 buses and this means more time to learn about the city.
I learnt that Hangzhou is the capital city of the Zhejiang province and Henry took me around the provincial government building here. (like the state govt HQ in indian terms eg. vidhan soudha)
It is a nice imposing building with lots of small yellow sweet smelling flowers gardened around it.
Also hangzhou is not as small as I thought it to be. The traffic is considerably high too. Previously when i was staying with div it was a more calmer corner of the city residential kind of place. Henry's place is more on the upmarket busier areas of hangzhou. There is a loooooot of traffic that I come across here.
In Hangzhou, bike means bicycle.Actually that is what it mean here in China. Half the city rides on bicycles. It is especially convenient for students but I have sees even working executives riding them. The centre of the street is meant for 4 wheelers like cars, taxis, buses too and there is partitioned region between the centre of the road and the sidewalk meant for bicycles. pretty cool ha
There is a lot of digging going on in the city. either they are widening the roads or rebuilding the sidewalks or something else that i would not know as all signboards and notices are in chinese.
But there is some turbulence in some area on my home that causes congestion of traffic.
buses: they announce stop names at every stop but in chinese. they also give instructions like 'obey traffic rules' , 'bus is taking a turn' etc but all again in chinese. it took me 2 weeks to figure this out ;) (i had to ask henry! )
They crowded in the rush office hours but they are frequent. so you can take the luxury of not taking a bus if it is too crowded.
shops: there are some really amusing stores i came across
gilian shoe cleaning shop!
and
zhejiang electric power book store!
and
beau grooming store
the first one cleans shoes???
and the second one??? what does one do in the secnd store? wondering!!!
the third one? i dont even want to think ;)
There are loads of beauty salons and dressing botiques. The girls are very style concious so if you are a girl and have a lot of qa-ching(money!) come to china to shop for clothes.
the city does not sleep till late. university and even high school classes go on till 9pm and bus service is on till midnight. There are loads of women bus drivers and i must say they do a darn good job.
having moved to Henry's place has given me a bigger picture of the city and its ways. His place is a farther from the university so I have to take 2 buses and this means more time to learn about the city.
I learnt that Hangzhou is the capital city of the Zhejiang province and Henry took me around the provincial government building here. (like the state govt HQ in indian terms eg. vidhan soudha)
It is a nice imposing building with lots of small yellow sweet smelling flowers gardened around it.
Also hangzhou is not as small as I thought it to be. The traffic is considerably high too. Previously when i was staying with div it was a more calmer corner of the city residential kind of place. Henry's place is more on the upmarket busier areas of hangzhou. There is a loooooot of traffic that I come across here.
In Hangzhou, bike means bicycle.Actually that is what it mean here in China. Half the city rides on bicycles. It is especially convenient for students but I have sees even working executives riding them. The centre of the street is meant for 4 wheelers like cars, taxis, buses too and there is partitioned region between the centre of the road and the sidewalk meant for bicycles. pretty cool ha
There is a lot of digging going on in the city. either they are widening the roads or rebuilding the sidewalks or something else that i would not know as all signboards and notices are in chinese.
But there is some turbulence in some area on my home that causes congestion of traffic.
buses: they announce stop names at every stop but in chinese. they also give instructions like 'obey traffic rules' , 'bus is taking a turn' etc but all again in chinese. it took me 2 weeks to figure this out ;) (i had to ask henry! )
They crowded in the rush office hours but they are frequent. so you can take the luxury of not taking a bus if it is too crowded.
shops: there are some really amusing stores i came across
gilian shoe cleaning shop!
and
zhejiang electric power book store!
and
beau grooming store
the first one cleans shoes???
and the second one??? what does one do in the secnd store? wondering!!!
the third one? i dont even want to think ;)
There are loads of beauty salons and dressing botiques. The girls are very style concious so if you are a girl and have a lot of qa-ching(money!) come to china to shop for clothes.
the city does not sleep till late. university and even high school classes go on till 9pm and bus service is on till midnight. There are loads of women bus drivers and i must say they do a darn good job.
Breakfast at a chinese table:
Everyone at Henry's place leaves to work early in the morning and returns after supper time. So, breakfast is the only meal we have together and it is nice how thay all sit together for a meal.
I have noticed that the chinese take their meals very seriously. students at the university, people at counters in offices, servicemen, shop keepers, sales people, traffic cops... everyone.
at 7 am, 11 am and 5 pm you can hear the continuous clicking of chopsticks all restaurants are in their busy hour and it is time for food!
What is also interesting is the one bowl concept.
This way everything goes into one bowl! rice, curry, gravy, meat, veggies and anything else you choose to eat all in one bowl. Saves the mothers so much of cleaning, doesnt it!
Coming to the topic of my blog, henry's family understands that I do not eat meat, not even egg very well. It is so nice how everyday they manage to get me something different without meat.
since everyone leaves home early they get bfast from outside and henry's mom usually cooks only dinner on weekdays.
***'doug-tse'
It is white looks like idly(indian breakfast dish) and tastes like bread. It is D-shaped and is made of wheat flour. It is nice but not if you have to eat it without anything else. But I had to, cos that's the way it is eaten. Apparently it is long and cylindrical peice of bread but is cut with a knife into D shapes and knife is called 'doug' and hence the name. (i am sure i am mispelling it, sorry about that)
***'bao-tse' . This is made of rice floor, stuffed with vegetables and steamed. It is huge and very filling.
****moon cakes
These are special cakes made from a buddhist monastery so it is purely vegetarian.
It is like Indian puffs with sweet stuffing inside. Stuffings are of cut flavored fruits like in cup cakes.
****flat round bread
I am giving it this name because I forgot to ask henry what it was called.
It looked and tasted just like stuffed chapati. To put it in better words, it was like kulcha(indian bread). It had some greens, onlins, spring beans , spring onions and was garnished with white sesame seeds. this could have been eaten as is. But in reality this was supposed to eaten with a bowl of sweetened bean curd(milk made from soya).
****porridge
This is plain boiled rice in a starchy state. I was supposed to eat this with boiled cucumber looking vegetable cooked in vinegar. Vinegar is a vital ingridient in cooking here. They use it for almost everything even boiling veggies.
So the porridge with the vegetable was actually nice. Except for the fact that I had to eat it with chop sticks. Now how am i supposed to eat a semi liquid thing with chopsticks?
It took me so long to eat grain by grain that henry finally said, " pavi i think you might be getting late for your internship, can i get you a spoon?"
:)
Well henry's parents always provide me an easy substitute every morning at breakfast. The easy substitute of bread and jam. But I insist on having some tradional chinese items. I can have bread and jam back home too...
Sometimes it s fun to mix and match.
Like today we were supposed to have the vegetable with porridge and jam with bread but henry said he tried jam with porridge and it was good.
obviously I dint believe him... common jam with rice does not even sound good.
BUT, since I was anyway trying new things, I gave it a shot.
Jam with porridge and eating it with chopsticks!!!
believe me it is not good for me.
may be for others but not for me, no, thank you.
;)
Everyone at Henry's place leaves to work early in the morning and returns after supper time. So, breakfast is the only meal we have together and it is nice how thay all sit together for a meal.
I have noticed that the chinese take their meals very seriously. students at the university, people at counters in offices, servicemen, shop keepers, sales people, traffic cops... everyone.
at 7 am, 11 am and 5 pm you can hear the continuous clicking of chopsticks all restaurants are in their busy hour and it is time for food!
What is also interesting is the one bowl concept.
This way everything goes into one bowl! rice, curry, gravy, meat, veggies and anything else you choose to eat all in one bowl. Saves the mothers so much of cleaning, doesnt it!
Coming to the topic of my blog, henry's family understands that I do not eat meat, not even egg very well. It is so nice how everyday they manage to get me something different without meat.
since everyone leaves home early they get bfast from outside and henry's mom usually cooks only dinner on weekdays.
***'doug-tse'
It is white looks like idly(indian breakfast dish) and tastes like bread. It is D-shaped and is made of wheat flour. It is nice but not if you have to eat it without anything else. But I had to, cos that's the way it is eaten. Apparently it is long and cylindrical peice of bread but is cut with a knife into D shapes and knife is called 'doug' and hence the name. (i am sure i am mispelling it, sorry about that)
***'bao-tse' . This is made of rice floor, stuffed with vegetables and steamed. It is huge and very filling.
****moon cakes
These are special cakes made from a buddhist monastery so it is purely vegetarian.
It is like Indian puffs with sweet stuffing inside. Stuffings are of cut flavored fruits like in cup cakes.
****flat round bread
I am giving it this name because I forgot to ask henry what it was called.
It looked and tasted just like stuffed chapati. To put it in better words, it was like kulcha(indian bread). It had some greens, onlins, spring beans , spring onions and was garnished with white sesame seeds. this could have been eaten as is. But in reality this was supposed to eaten with a bowl of sweetened bean curd(milk made from soya).
****porridge
This is plain boiled rice in a starchy state. I was supposed to eat this with boiled cucumber looking vegetable cooked in vinegar. Vinegar is a vital ingridient in cooking here. They use it for almost everything even boiling veggies.
So the porridge with the vegetable was actually nice. Except for the fact that I had to eat it with chop sticks. Now how am i supposed to eat a semi liquid thing with chopsticks?
It took me so long to eat grain by grain that henry finally said, " pavi i think you might be getting late for your internship, can i get you a spoon?"
:)
Well henry's parents always provide me an easy substitute every morning at breakfast. The easy substitute of bread and jam. But I insist on having some tradional chinese items. I can have bread and jam back home too...
Sometimes it s fun to mix and match.
Like today we were supposed to have the vegetable with porridge and jam with bread but henry said he tried jam with porridge and it was good.
obviously I dint believe him... common jam with rice does not even sound good.
BUT, since I was anyway trying new things, I gave it a shot.
Jam with porridge and eating it with chopsticks!!!
believe me it is not good for me.
may be for others but not for me, no, thank you.
;)
day10: tuesday
day11:wednesday
day 12:thursday
These have been very hectic days with huge doses of monotone. I just got a little busier at my internship and am extending my spectrum of understanding beyond just my project and taking a look at other projects going on here.
Days have not been very exciting, may be because of the work.
I get here by 9 after a unique breakfast at henry's home. lunch by 11 am, supper by 5pm.
lunch and supper are easily manageable at the university dining room.
I usually get some fruits with it that costs me 1.5 yuan!
get back home by 6 30pm. do laundry, read a bit, watch tv and after a little socialising with henry and his family I go to bed by 10.
so there ws nothing much to record on my blog ...
just usual stuff, so I m going to make things interesting by writing about my different breakfast regimes.
watch out...
day11:wednesday
day 12:thursday
These have been very hectic days with huge doses of monotone. I just got a little busier at my internship and am extending my spectrum of understanding beyond just my project and taking a look at other projects going on here.
Days have not been very exciting, may be because of the work.
I get here by 9 after a unique breakfast at henry's home. lunch by 11 am, supper by 5pm.
lunch and supper are easily manageable at the university dining room.
I usually get some fruits with it that costs me 1.5 yuan!
get back home by 6 30pm. do laundry, read a bit, watch tv and after a little socialising with henry and his family I go to bed by 10.
so there ws nothing much to record on my blog ...
just usual stuff, so I m going to make things interesting by writing about my different breakfast regimes.
watch out...
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Meeting an indian in china
This is like manna in the times of draught. Considering this is not my first time outside the country i know what it is like to be with people from a different country. Being in the Melton Foundation has widened this understanding 4 fold, by exposing me to 4 kinds of differences at once. And regardless how similar we are are as humans, we have our cultural differences. The more we are exposed to foreign environments, the understanding of one's own culture only becomes stronger.
Agreed, this is not my first trip outside the country, but this is my first trip on my own and believe me it makes a world of a difference.
The first indian met was of course div as soon as i arrived, so i was not really deprived or lost.
The second indian i met was this guy Jhon Peters. He saw me in the dining room one evening at supper and came running to speak with me. I could say he was really excited. (!)
He turned out to be a Post doctorate guy working in the university for experience. He was from madurai and to make things better for him i told him i speak good tamil despite being a maharashtrian. He was so excited, i thought his head will hit the roof...
Spoke to him through my supper (in tamil) and it was really nice meeting him. he has been here for the past 5 months and is not sure how much longer he has to say. From the looks of it he was waiting to leave to the US.
Today on the bus, Thingy and me met an inviting smiling sari clad indian woman. Rashmi from delhi had been living there for a year and a half now. she was wih her 4 yr old son. Her husband works with TCS and turns out he was posted in hangzhou. she loved the place and said things are very convenient for her except for the kid's education. They cannot afford international school and were planning on relocating to india or their son would have to learn chinese!
It is a nice feeling that you are not the only one there trying to live.
they say there are a lot of indians residing in hangzhou. Also there are many indian students in the university, esp boys.
will be nice to meet them sometime.
This is like manna in the times of draught. Considering this is not my first time outside the country i know what it is like to be with people from a different country. Being in the Melton Foundation has widened this understanding 4 fold, by exposing me to 4 kinds of differences at once. And regardless how similar we are are as humans, we have our cultural differences. The more we are exposed to foreign environments, the understanding of one's own culture only becomes stronger.
Agreed, this is not my first trip outside the country, but this is my first trip on my own and believe me it makes a world of a difference.
The first indian met was of course div as soon as i arrived, so i was not really deprived or lost.
The second indian i met was this guy Jhon Peters. He saw me in the dining room one evening at supper and came running to speak with me. I could say he was really excited. (!)
He turned out to be a Post doctorate guy working in the university for experience. He was from madurai and to make things better for him i told him i speak good tamil despite being a maharashtrian. He was so excited, i thought his head will hit the roof...
Spoke to him through my supper (in tamil) and it was really nice meeting him. he has been here for the past 5 months and is not sure how much longer he has to say. From the looks of it he was waiting to leave to the US.
Today on the bus, Thingy and me met an inviting smiling sari clad indian woman. Rashmi from delhi had been living there for a year and a half now. she was wih her 4 yr old son. Her husband works with TCS and turns out he was posted in hangzhou. she loved the place and said things are very convenient for her except for the kid's education. They cannot afford international school and were planning on relocating to india or their son would have to learn chinese!
It is a nice feeling that you are not the only one there trying to live.
they say there are a lot of indians residing in hangzhou. Also there are many indian students in the university, esp boys.
will be nice to meet them sometime.
Monday, September 05, 2005
day9: Meeting Thingy!
[thingy, is my friend Prathigna. We have been together for the past 9yrs through school, preuniversity, undergrad study and even the Melton foundation]
It was like two kumbh ke mele mein bichade bhai meeting up after ages....
It was so great to finally meet her. we sat adn chit chatted for about 3 hours till supper time. Both of us had unique adventure tales to tell about our experience here in china. It was so great to meet her that i stayed back her in her homestay place till 9 pm. Henry was supposed to finish class at 9 om and said we can get back home together.
we had long hours of catching up on home, bangalore, her older sister's wedding that i just missed, travel to china, my experiences here and all in kannada!
Ah, the sweet joy of speaking in your native language to an indian, after days of looking at only chinese... it was axciting!
Also , i got some amazing sweets from mom throught prathinga....
so thanks so much mom!
[thingy, is my friend Prathigna. We have been together for the past 9yrs through school, preuniversity, undergrad study and even the Melton foundation]
It was like two kumbh ke mele mein bichade bhai meeting up after ages....
It was so great to finally meet her. we sat adn chit chatted for about 3 hours till supper time. Both of us had unique adventure tales to tell about our experience here in china. It was so great to meet her that i stayed back her in her homestay place till 9 pm. Henry was supposed to finish class at 9 om and said we can get back home together.
we had long hours of catching up on home, bangalore, her older sister's wedding that i just missed, travel to china, my experiences here and all in kannada!
Ah, the sweet joy of speaking in your native language to an indian, after days of looking at only chinese... it was axciting!
Also , i got some amazing sweets from mom throught prathinga....
so thanks so much mom!
Sunday, September 04, 2005
day8: sunday
Henry took me out to meet his friend sunny and the three of us went book shopping in the biggest book store in hangzhou. It being a sunday, the city was bustling with activity.
We took a bus to the west Lake and spent some time walking along its banks, taking pictures , feeding pigeons, enjoying the weather amid the weekend leisure crowrds. Sunny was narrating the interesting story about the legend of how the west lake came into being.
Sunny then suggested we should visit a buddhist temple atop the mountains in Hangzhou.
I dint have any climbing or treking to do. A direct bus took us there and we returned on the same bus. It is a beautiful place and although i am not a big nature freak i liked the place and enjoyed the ride to it. It is very calm and the weather was really kind . Cool breeze and clear sky made things beautiful. The Sun probably decided to shower some kindness on me that evening.
The temple i went too was a buddhist monastery cum temple. i do not know if they are always like that. it is called the
'shan tien zhu si'
shan = high or tall
tien zhu = is the place from where those buddhists were
si = temple.
There are actually 4 temples along the same road to the mountain, this was the highest temple. sunny said she preffered to take me there as it was the least crowded.
It was very peaceful. we reached at the time the evening prayer was on and caught a glimpse of the ceremony. There was reciting by a head priest, the gong kept ringing and everyone else stood in attention.
Also, we were given sticks to lite and make a wish. The temple was huge although Henry called the smallest he had seen. It was on four levels, the innermost temple shrine being at the highest level.
It was supper time in chinese terms at 5pm so we had dinner in the temple itself. It was my kind of food place-The 'no meat place' as the buddhists believe in non violence and the no-killing doctrine. They have a policy of no wasting food there so what sunny and me could not finish, being the man, Henry had to finish up!:)
At one of the intermittent levels of the temple was a little pond over which the stairs had been constructed. At the centre of the pond was a statue of Buddha. The pond was almost dry at that time and I was told that thepond was actually the freeing spot of lives caught inadvertantly. So if someone caught a fish or snail or frog by mistake, they would set it free in that pond.
interesting!
By the time we got back home, it was 7pm... i crashed after making an exciting call home!
Henry took me out to meet his friend sunny and the three of us went book shopping in the biggest book store in hangzhou. It being a sunday, the city was bustling with activity.
We took a bus to the west Lake and spent some time walking along its banks, taking pictures , feeding pigeons, enjoying the weather amid the weekend leisure crowrds. Sunny was narrating the interesting story about the legend of how the west lake came into being.
Sunny then suggested we should visit a buddhist temple atop the mountains in Hangzhou.
I dint have any climbing or treking to do. A direct bus took us there and we returned on the same bus. It is a beautiful place and although i am not a big nature freak i liked the place and enjoyed the ride to it. It is very calm and the weather was really kind . Cool breeze and clear sky made things beautiful. The Sun probably decided to shower some kindness on me that evening.
The temple i went too was a buddhist monastery cum temple. i do not know if they are always like that. it is called the
'shan tien zhu si'
shan = high or tall
tien zhu = is the place from where those buddhists were
si = temple.
There are actually 4 temples along the same road to the mountain, this was the highest temple. sunny said she preffered to take me there as it was the least crowded.
It was very peaceful. we reached at the time the evening prayer was on and caught a glimpse of the ceremony. There was reciting by a head priest, the gong kept ringing and everyone else stood in attention.
Also, we were given sticks to lite and make a wish. The temple was huge although Henry called the smallest he had seen. It was on four levels, the innermost temple shrine being at the highest level.
It was supper time in chinese terms at 5pm so we had dinner in the temple itself. It was my kind of food place-The 'no meat place' as the buddhists believe in non violence and the no-killing doctrine. They have a policy of no wasting food there so what sunny and me could not finish, being the man, Henry had to finish up!:)
At one of the intermittent levels of the temple was a little pond over which the stairs had been constructed. At the centre of the pond was a statue of Buddha. The pond was almost dry at that time and I was told that thepond was actually the freeing spot of lives caught inadvertantly. So if someone caught a fish or snail or frog by mistake, they would set it free in that pond.
interesting!
By the time we got back home, it was 7pm... i crashed after making an exciting call home!
day7: saturday.
This was the day of marathon shopping.
divya, jane(chinese fellow) and me set out at 9am bright and early after a quick breakfast of an apple each.
Our first pit-stop was this place that reminded me of palika bazaar in Delhi. the place had 50 stores for the same commodity, each with a different price and it was not easy to find the cheapest of that. how to shop in such a place, here is how we went about it.
you look at something and pretend yo dont like it(when u actually are) and ask for its price. Then you ask for one fourth of that, point out to flaws in it and walk away. keep your ears peeled for the shopkeeper will call you back and give it to you at a comprimise.
By the time we did a bit of shopping it was time for lunch, so we picked up a quick 'baotze' and a doughnut to go. baotze: (i am spelling it wrong) was made of rice flour with green leafy vegetables(soppu in kannada) steamed. it was filling and made a really quick lunch.
Our next pitt stop was silk market. It is this long non-motorable road with hoards of silk stores. We can buy silk by the meter. There are some ready made cheepovs, the traditional local wears here available too. Pure silk is very expensive but there are other varieties of mixed silk like silk plus nylon etc that are much cheaper. Then there are silk tops, nightwear thingies, etc for girls
The only thing I found for guys were ties!
Then there are the clothes for kids: really adorable mini-cheepovs! very cute esp for girls.
There is this traditional chinese silk clothing available for one year old kids too but i am not sure we can wear them in india. too bad there are no little kids in my family right now!
We had another pitt stop, the digital market, but the exhaustion was getting to us and we called it a day.
went home, took a nice relaxing nap!
This was the day of marathon shopping.
divya, jane(chinese fellow) and me set out at 9am bright and early after a quick breakfast of an apple each.
Our first pit-stop was this place that reminded me of palika bazaar in Delhi. the place had 50 stores for the same commodity, each with a different price and it was not easy to find the cheapest of that. how to shop in such a place, here is how we went about it.
you look at something and pretend yo dont like it(when u actually are) and ask for its price. Then you ask for one fourth of that, point out to flaws in it and walk away. keep your ears peeled for the shopkeeper will call you back and give it to you at a comprimise.
By the time we did a bit of shopping it was time for lunch, so we picked up a quick 'baotze' and a doughnut to go. baotze: (i am spelling it wrong) was made of rice flour with green leafy vegetables(soppu in kannada) steamed. it was filling and made a really quick lunch.
Our next pitt stop was silk market. It is this long non-motorable road with hoards of silk stores. We can buy silk by the meter. There are some ready made cheepovs, the traditional local wears here available too. Pure silk is very expensive but there are other varieties of mixed silk like silk plus nylon etc that are much cheaper. Then there are silk tops, nightwear thingies, etc for girls
The only thing I found for guys were ties!
Then there are the clothes for kids: really adorable mini-cheepovs! very cute esp for girls.
There is this traditional chinese silk clothing available for one year old kids too but i am not sure we can wear them in india. too bad there are no little kids in my family right now!
We had another pitt stop, the digital market, but the exhaustion was getting to us and we called it a day.
went home, took a nice relaxing nap!
day6: friday.
nothing major. i just finished internship and left home early. I was tired of the busy schedule and my system was getting accustumed to the chinese eating timings. So divya and me retired home early. We did our laundry(!) and caught up on some rest for the marathon shopping div had planned for saturday.
we watch CCTV9 a lot. It is the international news channel and the ONLY one in english here. CCTV is a famous broadcasting network in China and they have 12 channels, only 1 of which is comprehensible to us. This september marks the 60th anniversary of chinese victory over japanese aggresion in the world war 2. so there are loads of programs commemorating that. There are lots of documentaries and war-veterans related programs. We end up watching that most of the time.
It is an interesting chinese history lesson for us.
nothing major. i just finished internship and left home early. I was tired of the busy schedule and my system was getting accustumed to the chinese eating timings. So divya and me retired home early. We did our laundry(!) and caught up on some rest for the marathon shopping div had planned for saturday.
we watch CCTV9 a lot. It is the international news channel and the ONLY one in english here. CCTV is a famous broadcasting network in China and they have 12 channels, only 1 of which is comprehensible to us. This september marks the 60th anniversary of chinese victory over japanese aggresion in the world war 2. so there are loads of programs commemorating that. There are lots of documentaries and war-veterans related programs. We end up watching that most of the time.
It is an interesting chinese history lesson for us.
update:
Divya has just left to shanghai to join her travel group. I have moved back to henry's apartment. His parent have returned and 4 of us eat together at their chinese dinner table!
Why no blog for the past 2 days. Well, I have had no iternet access during the weekend and this weekend was spent shopping and moving so I was a little busy .
Divya has just left to shanghai to join her travel group. I have moved back to henry's apartment. His parent have returned and 4 of us eat together at their chinese dinner table!
Why no blog for the past 2 days. Well, I have had no iternet access during the weekend and this weekend was spent shopping and moving so I was a little busy .
Friday, September 02, 2005
The city: as i see it.
Similarity in dissimailarity.
Hangzhou, is a relatively small city in the province of Zhejiang in eastern China. The streets, buildings lining the streets, the vehicles all remind me of india.
The streets are much much wider here. The traffic is a lot lesser here as well as Hangzhou is not a big city. The existing traffic is very organised and well followed.
The bus service is very good. Most people commute by bus. Buses have the same cost to any destination. ordinary buses-1RMB & AC buses-2 RMB
There is a clear mention of stops with bus numbers at each bus stop. Only problem is that it is all in chinese. So if you have a map, you need to keep comparing the chinese characters to find your destination. There are no seats at the bus stop. This is probably because buses are very frequent.
The city is very green. Trees on either side of the roads, carved bushes, sprawling lawns, flowers at regular intervals mark the greenery of hangzhou. The city boasts of the famous west lake of the province. The place looks beautiful by day and even better by night. It is very close to my internship place. As are the beautiful mountains at the back of the campus. The hills form a perfect backdrop for this beautiful campus.
So looks like I am in this very beautiful place of wide roads, lakes, gardens and mountains? Well, yes! But there are also busy shopping streets lined with malls, multiplexes and supermarkets.
The place is relatively clean too although there is some spitting on the roads here and there.
Most sign posts, notices, shop names, bus stop points are all in chinese. Although few shops have englins names too. Also important route markers in the streets are in english.
time for my supper now, i ll finish this blog tomo.
bye
Similarity in dissimailarity.
Hangzhou, is a relatively small city in the province of Zhejiang in eastern China. The streets, buildings lining the streets, the vehicles all remind me of india.
The streets are much much wider here. The traffic is a lot lesser here as well as Hangzhou is not a big city. The existing traffic is very organised and well followed.
The bus service is very good. Most people commute by bus. Buses have the same cost to any destination. ordinary buses-1RMB & AC buses-2 RMB
There is a clear mention of stops with bus numbers at each bus stop. Only problem is that it is all in chinese. So if you have a map, you need to keep comparing the chinese characters to find your destination. There are no seats at the bus stop. This is probably because buses are very frequent.
The city is very green. Trees on either side of the roads, carved bushes, sprawling lawns, flowers at regular intervals mark the greenery of hangzhou. The city boasts of the famous west lake of the province. The place looks beautiful by day and even better by night. It is very close to my internship place. As are the beautiful mountains at the back of the campus. The hills form a perfect backdrop for this beautiful campus.
So looks like I am in this very beautiful place of wide roads, lakes, gardens and mountains? Well, yes! But there are also busy shopping streets lined with malls, multiplexes and supermarkets.
The place is relatively clean too although there is some spitting on the roads here and there.
Most sign posts, notices, shop names, bus stop points are all in chinese. Although few shops have englins names too. Also important route markers in the streets are in english.
time for my supper now, i ll finish this blog tomo.
bye
little update from me.
I just finished my presentation a few minutes ago. I had to speak about my country, my university and the Melton Foundation that had gotten me there. It went rather well. There were a lot of questions and some interesting insights. Thankfully, i was not confronted with any stereotypical notions.
A lot of pictures, Some music, a video and a colorful ppt... It was an interesting session.
about my stay. I stayed with henry, my homestay host initially when i arrived. After meeting div i learnt that she is staying in an apartment by herself as the hosts are in the US. So I moved in with div to keep her company. Also, Henry's parents have gone on a 2 week vacation and henry stays at the dormitory in campus so it makes sense for me to stay with divya.
Also, div's place is closer to my internship than Henry's so this works out just right.
Thats how we are 2 indian girls living in a chinese home!
My other batchmate prathigna arrives late tonight. Let's see if we can invite her to move in with us too.
I just finished my presentation a few minutes ago. I had to speak about my country, my university and the Melton Foundation that had gotten me there. It went rather well. There were a lot of questions and some interesting insights. Thankfully, i was not confronted with any stereotypical notions.
A lot of pictures, Some music, a video and a colorful ppt... It was an interesting session.
about my stay. I stayed with henry, my homestay host initially when i arrived. After meeting div i learnt that she is staying in an apartment by herself as the hosts are in the US. So I moved in with div to keep her company. Also, Henry's parents have gone on a 2 week vacation and henry stays at the dormitory in campus so it makes sense for me to stay with divya.
Also, div's place is closer to my internship than Henry's so this works out just right.
Thats how we are 2 indian girls living in a chinese home!
My other batchmate prathigna arrives late tonight. Let's see if we can invite her to move in with us too.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Day5: Indian food day!
Ever cooked indian food by yourself? Yes.
Ever cooked indian food with bare minimal utensils? Yes.
Ever cooked indian food for foreign guests? Yes.
Ever cooked indian food in china? Yes.
Ever done all of the above together?
Well, after last night, i can proudly say--Yes!
(ah, my mom is going to be so proud of me for this!)
Believe it or not, last night divya and me cooked up tradional indian food in china, with all ingredients bought in a chinese supermarket! We did this for 3 of our chinese fellows who we invited for dinner-Kevin,Jina and Jasmine.
The menu: chapati,Dal and puliogre. Fruit salad and icecream for dessert.
The game plan: visit the supermarket and pick up wheat flour for chapati. We had some sunflower oil at home.
problem: How to flatten it?
solution:tap it fith our fingers like we make an indian dish poli(marathi)
Unfortunately we did not find wheat flour and ended up making corn flour chapatis!
Also we found a cylindrical flattening device in polythene contact paper which we used to make chapatis.
Next,
for the dal we thought we could buy the grams and veggetables, boil it, add rasam powder(indian spice mixture) that we had carried!
problem: we dint get the dal we usually make sambhar(lentil soup) with.
Solution: we bought green gram and black gram, also bought chopped veggetables, boiled them all added the spices, some tomoato ketchup to get the tamarind taste and voila... indian dal!
Without the typical indian ingridients of garam masala, without seasoning(tadka-onion, cummin corrander nothing)! and it still tasted good!
Next,
tamarind Rice!(puliogre)
Rice here is very sticky. To add to our woes, we did not have a pressure cooker! so it is more sticky as it is not perfectly cooked. so the puliogre was like a mass of clay!
But a delicious one at that! we loved it and we ate it.
Next,
fruits. Banana,grapes,watermelon and apples!
This was not very difficult...
It was fun carving out the fruits with a swizz army knife.
That was the first proper indian meal I had in 5 days, ah, the joy of eating with my hands!
everything turned out ok....
cornflour chapati, greengram dal with veggies and puliogre!
our chinese friends loved it and what was more fun was teaching them to eat with their hands!
fruits and icecream to rap it up!
Pure joy of having cooked, served to a guest and eaten! the virtues of being an Indian were performed that day.
Indulge in elaborate cooking, call people and feed them and eat till you are stuffed!
It was great.
It was an adventerous evening in the kitchen.
Ever cooked indian food by yourself? Yes.
Ever cooked indian food with bare minimal utensils? Yes.
Ever cooked indian food for foreign guests? Yes.
Ever cooked indian food in china? Yes.
Ever done all of the above together?
Well, after last night, i can proudly say--Yes!
(ah, my mom is going to be so proud of me for this!)
Believe it or not, last night divya and me cooked up tradional indian food in china, with all ingredients bought in a chinese supermarket! We did this for 3 of our chinese fellows who we invited for dinner-Kevin,Jina and Jasmine.
The menu: chapati,Dal and puliogre. Fruit salad and icecream for dessert.
The game plan: visit the supermarket and pick up wheat flour for chapati. We had some sunflower oil at home.
problem: How to flatten it?
solution:tap it fith our fingers like we make an indian dish poli(marathi)
Unfortunately we did not find wheat flour and ended up making corn flour chapatis!
Also we found a cylindrical flattening device in polythene contact paper which we used to make chapatis.
Next,
for the dal we thought we could buy the grams and veggetables, boil it, add rasam powder(indian spice mixture) that we had carried!
problem: we dint get the dal we usually make sambhar(lentil soup) with.
Solution: we bought green gram and black gram, also bought chopped veggetables, boiled them all added the spices, some tomoato ketchup to get the tamarind taste and voila... indian dal!
Without the typical indian ingridients of garam masala, without seasoning(tadka-onion, cummin corrander nothing)! and it still tasted good!
Next,
tamarind Rice!(puliogre)
Rice here is very sticky. To add to our woes, we did not have a pressure cooker! so it is more sticky as it is not perfectly cooked. so the puliogre was like a mass of clay!
But a delicious one at that! we loved it and we ate it.
Next,
fruits. Banana,grapes,watermelon and apples!
This was not very difficult...
It was fun carving out the fruits with a swizz army knife.
That was the first proper indian meal I had in 5 days, ah, the joy of eating with my hands!
everything turned out ok....
cornflour chapati, greengram dal with veggies and puliogre!
our chinese friends loved it and what was more fun was teaching them to eat with their hands!
fruits and icecream to rap it up!
Pure joy of having cooked, served to a guest and eaten! the virtues of being an Indian were performed that day.
Indulge in elaborate cooking, call people and feed them and eat till you are stuffed!
It was great.
It was an adventerous evening in the kitchen.
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
supermarket: Wumei
The supermarket at the west city centre is an experience in itself.
The fact the we spent 3 hours there must say something.
On entering, there were the usual clothes on sale which we had seen at many places before. But they are clothes, and I could not get tired of them. So I continued skimming through the aisles of clothes on display. Clothes are anywhere between 29 and 99 yuan when on sale. There are some really nice clothes for girls. Skirts, dresses and lots of very feminine clothing. one thing about the clothes stores in china form my experience is that it is hard to look away from them. Even if one does not venture into a purchase, at least 70 percent of the shelf stock is appealing.
Clothes are really really nice in china. And i am not talking about designer wear which is available in every country. The daily, comfy, regular, simple wear are really nice in price and appearance.
Moving on, the store goes on to house
footwear, accessories like umbrellas, hats, belts and so on..
It had Electronic goods, bags, music, stationery, games, furniture, plastic items,...
It was like an entire shopping street of bangalore-brigade road put into one store.
A special mention of the food section: begins with huge boxes of China's imperial tea. Moves on to other items like vegetables and fruits each in at least 3 varieties in shape and color. Then there are the other commodities like oils,ketchups,sauces,biscuits,cakes,etc
You move in and there are the aisles and aisles of noodles and dumplings. There are hoards of spices and lots of other cooking commodities that I could not even comprehend. They are in all shapes, colours and smells. Continuing a little furthur on the food side was the meat section.
This needs a special mention;)
First there was shelves and shelves of meat.
First beef. some packed, some unpacked, some open in huge tin containers.
Second chicken. Chopped and packeged some cut open de-skinned and refrigerated as is.
Third pork. minced, chopped, meat balls.
Fourth Fish. Not chopped, just lying in huge tins. About 15 varieties of fish in varied states. Some dead, some dying, some alive and jumping too!
By now I had stopped counting and noticed huge aquariums. Yes, sea animals on sale BUT they were all for food items! You point to the most attractive looking member in the aquarium and he/she/it will be in a plastic cover in your hand in 2 seconds! squids, prawns,shrimps, crabs, oh and what all. green black, greenish black, round, flat, horny, shelled, but all moving!
If I had studied a little more biology I would probably be able to name them.
Hail wumei! It completely satisfied all my shopping needs! It left me with the feeling of wanting to return there at the begginning of each month for the month's grocery, other needs...
The supermarket at the west city centre is an experience in itself.
The fact the we spent 3 hours there must say something.
On entering, there were the usual clothes on sale which we had seen at many places before. But they are clothes, and I could not get tired of them. So I continued skimming through the aisles of clothes on display. Clothes are anywhere between 29 and 99 yuan when on sale. There are some really nice clothes for girls. Skirts, dresses and lots of very feminine clothing. one thing about the clothes stores in china form my experience is that it is hard to look away from them. Even if one does not venture into a purchase, at least 70 percent of the shelf stock is appealing.
Clothes are really really nice in china. And i am not talking about designer wear which is available in every country. The daily, comfy, regular, simple wear are really nice in price and appearance.
Moving on, the store goes on to house
footwear, accessories like umbrellas, hats, belts and so on..
It had Electronic goods, bags, music, stationery, games, furniture, plastic items,...
It was like an entire shopping street of bangalore-brigade road put into one store.
A special mention of the food section: begins with huge boxes of China's imperial tea. Moves on to other items like vegetables and fruits each in at least 3 varieties in shape and color. Then there are the other commodities like oils,ketchups,sauces,biscuits,cakes,etc
You move in and there are the aisles and aisles of noodles and dumplings. There are hoards of spices and lots of other cooking commodities that I could not even comprehend. They are in all shapes, colours and smells. Continuing a little furthur on the food side was the meat section.
This needs a special mention;)
First there was shelves and shelves of meat.
First beef. some packed, some unpacked, some open in huge tin containers.
Second chicken. Chopped and packeged some cut open de-skinned and refrigerated as is.
Third pork. minced, chopped, meat balls.
Fourth Fish. Not chopped, just lying in huge tins. About 15 varieties of fish in varied states. Some dead, some dying, some alive and jumping too!
By now I had stopped counting and noticed huge aquariums. Yes, sea animals on sale BUT they were all for food items! You point to the most attractive looking member in the aquarium and he/she/it will be in a plastic cover in your hand in 2 seconds! squids, prawns,shrimps, crabs, oh and what all. green black, greenish black, round, flat, horny, shelled, but all moving!
If I had studied a little more biology I would probably be able to name them.
Hail wumei! It completely satisfied all my shopping needs! It left me with the feeling of wanting to return there at the begginning of each month for the month's grocery, other needs...
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Day4: getting used to the routine.
Our professor treated us to icecream yesterday afternoon.
another interesting learning: the beans we cook like vegeable here (called usli in marathi and sundal in tamil) is actually a dessert ingredient here in china. So the icecream was a bar of white icream with raisons and baked beans in it!
In fact,
The other day when we went shopping, we had a bowl of crushed ice with fruits. ( very much like fruits salad with icecream) The guy who made it just added a huge dollop of those baked beans in them! It also had very tasty dates,raisons, melons and a tomato tasting fruit(it was prob tomato!). So it is ice cream, fruits and baked beans all in one dessert bowl!
Another famous dessert item is what the chinese fellows made for us the night we all cooked together at divya's place. It is like dumpling but round and smooth and is stuffed with sweetened black sesame seeds. I liked it a lot. It tasted like the til prasad my mom makes in shravan at home. Oh, to put it better, it is like black sesame seeds(til) and sugar ground and wrapped in rice flour to appear like a ball similar to a modak(maharashtrian dish made for Lord Ganesha) and steamed!
nice! oh but i forgot its chinese name...
At the dining rooms in the campus at my internship place.. I have a bowl of rice with a bowl of vegetables. Sometimes it is cabbage and greens boiled. Yesterday it was aloo sliced and stir fried and it was just like the aloo fry mom makes!
The temperature came down a bit last night as it rained. But there is no fear if you have an umbrella whether it is sun or the rain. I met up with divya at the west city centre and we went to a supermarket there. We shopped for about 3 hours and there were some great deals there.
Once you are spending on your own, it is important to keep a record of expenses.
By the time we got home, did that and crashed, it was 1130!
Our professor treated us to icecream yesterday afternoon.
another interesting learning: the beans we cook like vegeable here (called usli in marathi and sundal in tamil) is actually a dessert ingredient here in china. So the icecream was a bar of white icream with raisons and baked beans in it!
In fact,
The other day when we went shopping, we had a bowl of crushed ice with fruits. ( very much like fruits salad with icecream) The guy who made it just added a huge dollop of those baked beans in them! It also had very tasty dates,raisons, melons and a tomato tasting fruit(it was prob tomato!). So it is ice cream, fruits and baked beans all in one dessert bowl!
Another famous dessert item is what the chinese fellows made for us the night we all cooked together at divya's place. It is like dumpling but round and smooth and is stuffed with sweetened black sesame seeds. I liked it a lot. It tasted like the til prasad my mom makes in shravan at home. Oh, to put it better, it is like black sesame seeds(til) and sugar ground and wrapped in rice flour to appear like a ball similar to a modak(maharashtrian dish made for Lord Ganesha) and steamed!
nice! oh but i forgot its chinese name...
At the dining rooms in the campus at my internship place.. I have a bowl of rice with a bowl of vegetables. Sometimes it is cabbage and greens boiled. Yesterday it was aloo sliced and stir fried and it was just like the aloo fry mom makes!
The temperature came down a bit last night as it rained. But there is no fear if you have an umbrella whether it is sun or the rain. I met up with divya at the west city centre and we went to a supermarket there. We shopped for about 3 hours and there were some great deals there.
Once you are spending on your own, it is important to keep a record of expenses.
By the time we got home, did that and crashed, it was 1130!
Day3.
You never realize the value of something until it is taken away from you. This is a very famous dictum that holds good universally. There are things that I value even without them been taken away from me.
This new experience that I have embarked upon, apart from teaching me new things,
it is putting a lot of old things into perspective for me.
Here is something that I am very sure my mom'll enjoy.
Disclaimer: This is nothing to boast about, I am just recording my experiences and I understand that I am still only 2 days old in this experience.
Here is my routine.
Wake up in the morning(late!), get ready and simultaneously get some breakfast ready!
breakfast is mostly some indian easy to make stuff sent by our moms.
Clean up the breakfast utensils(no maid servant!)
Also we cannot waste food(each ounce is very precious) neither can we dump it in the refrigerator.
Take my bus and leave to the campus. Oh by the way, my umbrella has come to become an extension of my hand. Internship work till about noon which is when I have to go for lunch.
I usually pick up a bowl of rice and vegetables and some juice. Things are convenient with a lunch card. But all dining rooms close at about 1330hrs.
Back to internship till about 5pm after which i catch up with divya and we find some hangzhou explorations to keep us busy.
We get back to our apartment by about 8:30pm and then, WE HAVE TO COOK DINNER!
so we do that, have dinner,watch CNN deligently cos thats the only channel we can understand, then we have to CLEAN UP the dinner table/utensils!
mom, I hope you are listening to all this! oh I think I forgot the laundry... I have to do my laundry too(obviously!)
and somehow by the time we hit the sack it is 1130pm!
Div n me are dead tired...
hehe
It is very interesting how things we do at home are so insignificant but outside they gain so much significance.
You never realize the value of something until it is taken away from you. This is a very famous dictum that holds good universally. There are things that I value even without them been taken away from me.
This new experience that I have embarked upon, apart from teaching me new things,
it is putting a lot of old things into perspective for me.
Here is something that I am very sure my mom'll enjoy.
Disclaimer: This is nothing to boast about, I am just recording my experiences and I understand that I am still only 2 days old in this experience.
Here is my routine.
Wake up in the morning(late!), get ready and simultaneously get some breakfast ready!
breakfast is mostly some indian easy to make stuff sent by our moms.
Clean up the breakfast utensils(no maid servant!)
Also we cannot waste food(each ounce is very precious) neither can we dump it in the refrigerator.
Take my bus and leave to the campus. Oh by the way, my umbrella has come to become an extension of my hand. Internship work till about noon which is when I have to go for lunch.
I usually pick up a bowl of rice and vegetables and some juice. Things are convenient with a lunch card. But all dining rooms close at about 1330hrs.
Back to internship till about 5pm after which i catch up with divya and we find some hangzhou explorations to keep us busy.
We get back to our apartment by about 8:30pm and then, WE HAVE TO COOK DINNER!
so we do that, have dinner,watch CNN deligently cos thats the only channel we can understand, then we have to CLEAN UP the dinner table/utensils!
mom, I hope you are listening to all this! oh I think I forgot the laundry... I have to do my laundry too(obviously!)
and somehow by the time we hit the sack it is 1130pm!
Div n me are dead tired...
hehe
It is very interesting how things we do at home are so insignificant but outside they gain so much significance.
Monday, August 29, 2005
day2: Internship day!
My first day of internship!
I woke up to some yummy noodles prepared by divya. Irony is we were having indian atta noodles in China! After getting me a map of hangzhou, we got to the yuquan campus for my internship. I spent the entire morning looking for the building with the VLSI department along with Rose, a chinese fellow. This gave me a lot of time to learn a little about the university habits at ZU. I find it really interesting how soo many habits are so similar to that in India.
After a tiring walk around the campus for a while, and a couple of calls later we were headed straight for the building that housed the VLSI department.
On arrival at the lab i realised that i had become a familiar name with them. The students at the lab were already expecting me and were glad to meet me. ,I met Prof Wu and one of his research assistants Leon who is a Phd candidate. I am now working with him trying to learn as much possible about a research project the 2 of them are involved with.
The student teacher relationship here at the lab is amazing. I am not sure how it is in undergraduate school, but these post-grads here are favorites with their professors. Everyone is busy clicking away on their mouse on some intricate design aspect, with their headphones and full teapot on the table.
My first day of internship!
I woke up to some yummy noodles prepared by divya. Irony is we were having indian atta noodles in China! After getting me a map of hangzhou, we got to the yuquan campus for my internship. I spent the entire morning looking for the building with the VLSI department along with Rose, a chinese fellow. This gave me a lot of time to learn a little about the university habits at ZU. I find it really interesting how soo many habits are so similar to that in India.
After a tiring walk around the campus for a while, and a couple of calls later we were headed straight for the building that housed the VLSI department.
On arrival at the lab i realised that i had become a familiar name with them. The students at the lab were already expecting me and were glad to meet me. ,I met Prof Wu and one of his research assistants Leon who is a Phd candidate. I am now working with him trying to learn as much possible about a research project the 2 of them are involved with.
The student teacher relationship here at the lab is amazing. I am not sure how it is in undergraduate school, but these post-grads here are favorites with their professors. Everyone is busy clicking away on their mouse on some intricate design aspect, with their headphones and full teapot on the table.
Sunday, August 28, 2005
day1 : sunday!
the day of walking!
My first day in China began late but began fresh n energised. After meeting up with divya(!!!) and a bunch of Melton fellows, we (along with henry, my host) took a bus to the famous west lake in Hangzhou. It is a very beautiful lake with picture postcard scenery everywhere you can set your eyes on. We(div,yvonne(german fellow), joyce(yvone's friend), and a few chinese melton fellows-Jina,Ren,Kevin, Henry and me) chose a long walk and walked for about 30 min along the lake. I was just catching up with everyone as i had just arrived.
The lake i am speaking of is the beautiful "WEST LAKE" . It is a scenic, beatifully located lake which holds an important place in the history of Hangzhou. There is a legend associated with it and its' origin. It is the story of the white snake, a nice love story with lots of mythology added in. It makes for interesting reading and it is even better when narrated to you.(!)
I was told, there are over 30 places of tourist interest around the lake.
I was looking forward to few of them, however, before we had covered about half the distance around the lake it began to drizzle and it was dinner or as it is more commonly known here-supper time! (1800HRS) . Someone then came up with a brilliant idea that instead of getting something to eat outside, we could go divya's apartment and cook indian and chinese food! voila- that was brilliant!
So everyone else left to divya's apartment while henry and me went to his apartment because the new plan was that i would move in with divya that night itself!
Later that night, we were at the height of intercultural activity, in the true sense of the phrase!
We cooked bisi-bele bath, navratan kurma and had it with Dumplings, some tofu and mushrooms! yes, all in ONE bowl! It was great fun turning off the lights, lighting some aromatic lamp, indians, chinese and a german all at one table having indian and chinese food, talking about each other's culture!
coming to the topic of the post, i walked a looooot! around the lake, on my way back to henry's place and then in finding div's place! i've probably walked for bout 2 and half hours all together!
it was a nice first day, and i am looking forward to the rest!
the day of walking!
My first day in China began late but began fresh n energised. After meeting up with divya(!!!) and a bunch of Melton fellows, we (along with henry, my host) took a bus to the famous west lake in Hangzhou. It is a very beautiful lake with picture postcard scenery everywhere you can set your eyes on. We(div,yvonne(german fellow), joyce(yvone's friend), and a few chinese melton fellows-Jina,Ren,Kevin, Henry and me) chose a long walk and walked for about 30 min along the lake. I was just catching up with everyone as i had just arrived.
The lake i am speaking of is the beautiful "WEST LAKE" . It is a scenic, beatifully located lake which holds an important place in the history of Hangzhou. There is a legend associated with it and its' origin. It is the story of the white snake, a nice love story with lots of mythology added in. It makes for interesting reading and it is even better when narrated to you.(!)
I was told, there are over 30 places of tourist interest around the lake.
I was looking forward to few of them, however, before we had covered about half the distance around the lake it began to drizzle and it was dinner or as it is more commonly known here-supper time! (1800HRS) . Someone then came up with a brilliant idea that instead of getting something to eat outside, we could go divya's apartment and cook indian and chinese food! voila- that was brilliant!
So everyone else left to divya's apartment while henry and me went to his apartment because the new plan was that i would move in with divya that night itself!
Later that night, we were at the height of intercultural activity, in the true sense of the phrase!
We cooked bisi-bele bath, navratan kurma and had it with Dumplings, some tofu and mushrooms! yes, all in ONE bowl! It was great fun turning off the lights, lighting some aromatic lamp, indians, chinese and a german all at one table having indian and chinese food, talking about each other's culture!
coming to the topic of the post, i walked a looooot! around the lake, on my way back to henry's place and then in finding div's place! i've probably walked for bout 2 and half hours all together!
it was a nice first day, and i am looking forward to the rest!
Saturday, August 27, 2005
Sunday morning.
I have just woken up a few minutes ago after giving myself a good 15-hr rest. This was due after the enervatingly long wait over the past 24 hours. The flight was rather pleasant, it is the wait that got me impatient. Only one song giving me company... LONELY! I Ms Lonely, I have nobody, I am on my own!!
about today,
It is a sunday and Henry's parents have still gone for work(!) They are very sweet and obliging.
I made myself some bisebelebath!(hail MTR!). Henry is taking me on a bus ride now to show me the bus route that I have to take to the University.
Also, I caught up with my Indian friend divya, who is already here in China. It was so great to speak with her and i cannot wait to meet her and catch up on updates from her on her stay in china. She is at the ZU melroom. I am going to catch up with her and she has a bike ride around the lake lined up for me!!
hehe, hope I have the energy.
Henry 's home is filled with amenities. There is a microwave for my food, washing machine and i have my own room with Air conditioning(called 'kol' here in china)
Dora, the melton fellow who received me at the airport.. was very kind in giving me her old Hangzhou sim for my use during my stay. I only need to charge currency into it.
I watched some TV. Everything is in chinese except one news channel that could not stop talking about a bone marrow centre that has opened here in China.
From what i saw last night, on arrival, Hangzhou isn't that small as i thought it would be.
Well, i will find out for myself today!
I have just woken up a few minutes ago after giving myself a good 15-hr rest. This was due after the enervatingly long wait over the past 24 hours. The flight was rather pleasant, it is the wait that got me impatient. Only one song giving me company... LONELY! I Ms Lonely, I have nobody, I am on my own!!
about today,
It is a sunday and Henry's parents have still gone for work(!) They are very sweet and obliging.
I made myself some bisebelebath!(hail MTR!). Henry is taking me on a bus ride now to show me the bus route that I have to take to the University.
Also, I caught up with my Indian friend divya, who is already here in China. It was so great to speak with her and i cannot wait to meet her and catch up on updates from her on her stay in china. She is at the ZU melroom. I am going to catch up with her and she has a bike ride around the lake lined up for me!!
hehe, hope I have the energy.
Henry 's home is filled with amenities. There is a microwave for my food, washing machine and i have my own room with Air conditioning(called 'kol' here in china)
Dora, the melton fellow who received me at the airport.. was very kind in giving me her old Hangzhou sim for my use during my stay. I only need to charge currency into it.
I watched some TV. Everything is in chinese except one news channel that could not stop talking about a bone marrow centre that has opened here in China.
From what i saw last night, on arrival, Hangzhou isn't that small as i thought it would be.
Well, i will find out for myself today!
Shanghai airport, reaching my new chinese home!
Shanghai airport is the first step I took on chinese land! It is very impressive in its enormity.
There is the long wait at the emmigration counter and thats when the chinese characters first hit me. As I waited in the long but fast moving queue for emmigration check, I was trying to figure out what those chinese characters might mean. Just then, there is a very interesting observation I made.
There are around 25 counters for emmigration checks. Few are for chinese passport holders and the rest are for foreign passport holders. Having nothing else to do, I am looking more keenly now at the counter numbers and I see there s a..... counter 11, counter 12, counter 14, counter 15....
Notice anything?
There was no counter13!
Interesting, isnt it?
This was followed by baggage claim, security check which entailed explaining what chutney pudi is! I had hardly gotten out of the airport and this ordeal was unpleasant already. My head was reeling with apprehension of my 4 week stay in china. Making a mental note of what i need to do next, i moved on.
Tired and hungry I walked out only to find an unexpected yet familiar face call out to me. Ah, my relief! It was Dora, a Melton Fellow in Shanghai who had come to the airport to receive me. She helped me get the exchange and we went across the street outside the airpor to the bus stop. Interestingly again, i met a few urdu speaking people there. they were visiting and had some good pointers to give me in the furtive conversation we had in hindi.
It was about 1800hrs and my bus to hangzhou was scheduled to depart at 1930. Dora had to leave and that only meant more of "LONELY..." for me. Once again it was me and my parleG in the waiting room of the bus-stop.
Through my wait I was just getting accustomed to the people around me. It struck me how soon the chinese socialize with one another. They jus say 2 words and they go from being random strangers to having a hearty laugh together ! It is really nice how quick they accept each other and acknowledge familiarity.
Interesting, again!
I got off at the dragon sports centre in Hangzhou. Borrwed a phone from another person who had just gotten off and called henry who picked me up in a minute and we took a taxi home.
(borrowing a phone to make a call is very common here, i had heard. isnt that kind!)
Henry's parents were asleep, as it was late and they retire early for the day. I was really tired and it had began to drizzle. so i hit the sack with prayers for a safe stay ahead.
Shanghai airport is the first step I took on chinese land! It is very impressive in its enormity.
There is the long wait at the emmigration counter and thats when the chinese characters first hit me. As I waited in the long but fast moving queue for emmigration check, I was trying to figure out what those chinese characters might mean. Just then, there is a very interesting observation I made.
There are around 25 counters for emmigration checks. Few are for chinese passport holders and the rest are for foreign passport holders. Having nothing else to do, I am looking more keenly now at the counter numbers and I see there s a..... counter 11, counter 12, counter 14, counter 15....
Notice anything?
There was no counter13!
Interesting, isnt it?
This was followed by baggage claim, security check which entailed explaining what chutney pudi is! I had hardly gotten out of the airport and this ordeal was unpleasant already. My head was reeling with apprehension of my 4 week stay in china. Making a mental note of what i need to do next, i moved on.
Tired and hungry I walked out only to find an unexpected yet familiar face call out to me. Ah, my relief! It was Dora, a Melton Fellow in Shanghai who had come to the airport to receive me. She helped me get the exchange and we went across the street outside the airpor to the bus stop. Interestingly again, i met a few urdu speaking people there. they were visiting and had some good pointers to give me in the furtive conversation we had in hindi.
It was about 1800hrs and my bus to hangzhou was scheduled to depart at 1930. Dora had to leave and that only meant more of "LONELY..." for me. Once again it was me and my parleG in the waiting room of the bus-stop.
Through my wait I was just getting accustomed to the people around me. It struck me how soon the chinese socialize with one another. They jus say 2 words and they go from being random strangers to having a hearty laugh together ! It is really nice how quick they accept each other and acknowledge familiarity.
Interesting, again!
I got off at the dragon sports centre in Hangzhou. Borrwed a phone from another person who had just gotten off and called henry who picked me up in a minute and we took a taxi home.
(borrowing a phone to make a call is very common here, i had heard. isnt that kind!)
Henry's parents were asleep, as it was late and they retire early for the day. I was really tired and it had began to drizzle. so i hit the sack with prayers for a safe stay ahead.
Blore to Bangkok airport
Bangkok looks really nice as the flight is landing. The view is worth waking up to!
In India, they say, you make a new beggining by breaking open a pumpkin! and i began my maiden 'travelling- on- my- own' venture with a pumpkin welcome, Thai style! As soon as i got on the flight i was served snacks. What snacks? It was flower flavoured pumpkin seeds!
it was more of an acquired taste thing to me, cos i hated the instant i put it in my mouth. But the following morning, it was my early morning snack and i liked it then.
Dinner on the blore-BKK Thai flight is good.Rice,veggies and chapati too.
Sleep, a little bad! very disturbed sleep when you are constantly woken for a drink.
The wait at BKK airport is PAINFUL if you are alone. I arrived at 3:50 am in the airport and made my way to the Royal Orchid Lounge as per div's instructions. This is one floor above the floor you arrive in. The lounge opens at 5:15 so till then? You sleep on the chairs outside the lounge. After finding it impossible to sleep on one shair in the sitting position, i tried the foetal position on two chairs. That was uncomfy too cos my bag was too big. So taking lead from another guy across the hall, i tried sprawling on 3 chairs with my bag as the pillow.
Voila: comfort!
Woken up at 5:15 , only to realize the lounge is only for orchid gold card members.
So it is 5 in the morning and i decide to go around the place. The airport is really huge with dutyfree counters all over the place. the airport has so much to see and buy and you have all the time! But it is hard to do all of that alone. At least for me, so too bad!
NEW OBSERVATIONS:
* the corridors are lined with 'smoke rooms' at regular intervals. they are small glass rooms into which you can go and smoke!
*it was 4 in the morning when i arrived and the airport was with bustling with activity. i dont mean just the airport staff, even the stores, the cafes, people are shopping at that hour of he day, women at the counters are reapplying their make up to continue work!
*the script of the language in bangkok was really interesting. There are virtually no spaces in the script. like for instance "passengers without cabin baggage and cabin crew members only" would be one string of characters from left to right without any space inbetween.
Interesting!
So then after walking the entire strech of the airport, i perched myself on a comfy seat with a nice view of the tarmac. I watched a beautiful sunrize that morning! I continued to sit there with my packet of parle-G(indian biscuits) with the song 'Lonely!' ringing in my head watching flights on the runway like they were performing a special drill routine just for me!
i got some beautiful shots of the sunrise at the BKK airport!
Bangkok looks really nice as the flight is landing. The view is worth waking up to!
In India, they say, you make a new beggining by breaking open a pumpkin! and i began my maiden 'travelling- on- my- own' venture with a pumpkin welcome, Thai style! As soon as i got on the flight i was served snacks. What snacks? It was flower flavoured pumpkin seeds!
it was more of an acquired taste thing to me, cos i hated the instant i put it in my mouth. But the following morning, it was my early morning snack and i liked it then.
Dinner on the blore-BKK Thai flight is good.Rice,veggies and chapati too.
Sleep, a little bad! very disturbed sleep when you are constantly woken for a drink.
The wait at BKK airport is PAINFUL if you are alone. I arrived at 3:50 am in the airport and made my way to the Royal Orchid Lounge as per div's instructions. This is one floor above the floor you arrive in. The lounge opens at 5:15 so till then? You sleep on the chairs outside the lounge. After finding it impossible to sleep on one shair in the sitting position, i tried the foetal position on two chairs. That was uncomfy too cos my bag was too big. So taking lead from another guy across the hall, i tried sprawling on 3 chairs with my bag as the pillow.
Voila: comfort!
Woken up at 5:15 , only to realize the lounge is only for orchid gold card members.
So it is 5 in the morning and i decide to go around the place. The airport is really huge with dutyfree counters all over the place. the airport has so much to see and buy and you have all the time! But it is hard to do all of that alone. At least for me, so too bad!
NEW OBSERVATIONS:
* the corridors are lined with 'smoke rooms' at regular intervals. they are small glass rooms into which you can go and smoke!
*it was 4 in the morning when i arrived and the airport was with bustling with activity. i dont mean just the airport staff, even the stores, the cafes, people are shopping at that hour of he day, women at the counters are reapplying their make up to continue work!
*the script of the language in bangkok was really interesting. There are virtually no spaces in the script. like for instance "passengers without cabin baggage and cabin crew members only" would be one string of characters from left to right without any space inbetween.
Interesting!
So then after walking the entire strech of the airport, i perched myself on a comfy seat with a nice view of the tarmac. I watched a beautiful sunrize that morning! I continued to sit there with my packet of parle-G(indian biscuits) with the song 'Lonely!' ringing in my head watching flights on the runway like they were performing a special drill routine just for me!
i got some beautiful shots of the sunrise at the BKK airport!
Friday, August 26, 2005
I'm leaving on a jet plane!
Just finished packing, but let's face it, we can never finish packing. Till the last minute there is something or the other cropping up that has to be tucked in. Have managed to savor some of mom's 'specially made for you' food items ( today is janmashtmi) amid answering phone calls and text messages.
Am really grateful to everyone who is wishing me luck. I really need all the wishes i can get.
I am now off to Hangzhou,China in a couple of hours.
i am keeping a web blog of my activities from today at this webspace. The purpose of this blog is entirely personal to keep my family and friends updated of my experiences.
Here's looking forward to a great learning experience.
Just finished packing, but let's face it, we can never finish packing. Till the last minute there is something or the other cropping up that has to be tucked in. Have managed to savor some of mom's 'specially made for you' food items ( today is janmashtmi) amid answering phone calls and text messages.
Am really grateful to everyone who is wishing me luck. I really need all the wishes i can get.
I am now off to Hangzhou,China in a couple of hours.
i am keeping a web blog of my activities from today at this webspace. The purpose of this blog is entirely personal to keep my family and friends updated of my experiences.
Here's looking forward to a great learning experience.
Friday, August 19, 2005
Lessons learnt
August17 was indeed a day of immense learning. It was also a day of reaffirmation. There are lots of ideas pruning in our heads that are manured by incidents we encounter daily. It is amazing how something you read somewhere out of context or something someone told you without any reference actually makes so much sense at a certain point later. We all value things when they make sense to us . Things make sense to us only when they fit into our scheme of affairs. Thats when you realise that you have learnt something.
This is exactly what aug17 was like, for me, this year.
Here's are a few learnings...
Dont ever take anything for granted, especially the things that you have acquired. All that you have can be taken away from you in a matter of seconds, even before you realise it. So, cherish everythign you have, acknowledge everything around and give due credit to the deserving.
you dont want to wake up one morning thinking you lost something you dint even know you had, do you?
Dont fret over anything. They say, 'you win some, you lose some'. Always remember,
If you get something , that is fine n good for me.
If i don't get something well, in a weird way, that is fine and good for me too.
inexplicable... but thats the way it is.
if you know what i went through on aug17 you will know how significant the above lessons havebenn to me.
Finally, most importantly,
Life is full of little surprises. You can be as rational as you want, you can try as hard as possible to build walls of reason around you but living by it is not in your hands. There are certain things that are not under your control but will bring you immense joy. Well, you cannot do anything about it, just live with it. ;-)
As much as i am trying to give it a 'normal' status, it continues to remain 'special' to me.
Who am i kidding, it will always be special.
Just as it was, just as it is and just as it will be!
and as someone really dear to me(!aha!) would say, "keep the learnings"
life goes on....
This is exactly what aug17 was like, for me, this year.
Here's are a few learnings...
Dont ever take anything for granted, especially the things that you have acquired. All that you have can be taken away from you in a matter of seconds, even before you realise it. So, cherish everythign you have, acknowledge everything around and give due credit to the deserving.
you dont want to wake up one morning thinking you lost something you dint even know you had, do you?
Dont fret over anything. They say, 'you win some, you lose some'. Always remember,
If you get something , that is fine n good for me.
If i don't get something well, in a weird way, that is fine and good for me too.
inexplicable... but thats the way it is.
if you know what i went through on aug17 you will know how significant the above lessons havebenn to me.
Finally, most importantly,
Life is full of little surprises. You can be as rational as you want, you can try as hard as possible to build walls of reason around you but living by it is not in your hands. There are certain things that are not under your control but will bring you immense joy. Well, you cannot do anything about it, just live with it. ;-)
As much as i am trying to give it a 'normal' status, it continues to remain 'special' to me.
Who am i kidding, it will always be special.
Just as it was, just as it is and just as it will be!
and as someone really dear to me(!aha!) would say, "keep the learnings"
life goes on....
turning 21.
the reason this blog is being written 2 days after i actually turned 21 is because the past 2 days have kept me away from my computer for 2 completely different reasons.
Aug 17, the great day i was brought into this big wide beautiful world, my birthday!
yes, i was busy answeing calls, messages, emails, greetings cards and e-cards and attending to people who cared enough and dropped to give me a happy-birthday hug! BUT, this bday was unbelievably diferent. yes i had all of the above but this one was special as i was turning 21. so, with symbolic significance to that, i spent my entire day dodging and dealing with the unexpected blows that were landing on me on my very special day.
what were these? well, i ll will not get into its detail but let us just say, i have not done so much thinking as much as i did this 17aug, in one single day all my life. period.
BUT, it does not matter now cos it has all been sorted out and i have come to terms with the consequences of the descision i made on that day.
Aug18. this is the not so looked forward to post bday stress day. when the party is over, gifts are all opened, there are no surprises on this day and the realisation that i am one year older just hits me so hard!
so this year i just lay in my pyjamas all day watching movie after movie at home.
Yes, believe it or not,i watched 2 movies simultaneously in the morning. one was ROCKY with silverster and another was EVERYBODY SAYS I LOVE YOU with MsRoberts. Later that day i caught up with another JLO movie called ENOUGH which i personally liked very much.
having soaked up the enntire day in TVdrama, it was ime to get up and do some drama myself. so i freshened up and cooked dinner at home, giving mum a break from the kitchen.
well, but there are a lots of lessons i learnt on my eventful bday. With due respect to all the learnings i think it is appropriate to post them seperately. so watch out ....
the reason this blog is being written 2 days after i actually turned 21 is because the past 2 days have kept me away from my computer for 2 completely different reasons.
Aug 17, the great day i was brought into this big wide beautiful world, my birthday!
yes, i was busy answeing calls, messages, emails, greetings cards and e-cards and attending to people who cared enough and dropped to give me a happy-birthday hug! BUT, this bday was unbelievably diferent. yes i had all of the above but this one was special as i was turning 21. so, with symbolic significance to that, i spent my entire day dodging and dealing with the unexpected blows that were landing on me on my very special day.
what were these? well, i ll will not get into its detail but let us just say, i have not done so much thinking as much as i did this 17aug, in one single day all my life. period.
BUT, it does not matter now cos it has all been sorted out and i have come to terms with the consequences of the descision i made on that day.
Aug18. this is the not so looked forward to post bday stress day. when the party is over, gifts are all opened, there are no surprises on this day and the realisation that i am one year older just hits me so hard!
so this year i just lay in my pyjamas all day watching movie after movie at home.
Yes, believe it or not,i watched 2 movies simultaneously in the morning. one was ROCKY with silverster and another was EVERYBODY SAYS I LOVE YOU with MsRoberts. Later that day i caught up with another JLO movie called ENOUGH which i personally liked very much.
having soaked up the enntire day in TVdrama, it was ime to get up and do some drama myself. so i freshened up and cooked dinner at home, giving mum a break from the kitchen.
well, but there are a lots of lessons i learnt on my eventful bday. With due respect to all the learnings i think it is appropriate to post them seperately. so watch out ....
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Having lived my the warm coccooned life for 20 years, going away on an internship for over a month is a HUGE step.
Adding to the enchantment is the fact that i am off to a small city in china!
how are things right now? well let me answer that in small steps.
Parents.. well they are oh so encouraging of everything i do and are really supportive of me in taking up this opprtunity. But, i know deep down they are saying their prayers for me. And i must give them credit for being open about this. This coming from the ones who gave me a 7pm curfew!
how am i?
well i am trying not to think of it in its enormity. am taking one small hurdle at a time.
I've just applied for my visa, blocked my tickets and am waiting for my travel agent to call me about my passport being successfully stamped with the chinese visa.
now I 'm immersing myself in the ardent task of 'shopping' . yes, yes the crucial job that begins with picking up the essentials, moves on to carting in a few 'not-so essential, but looks cute' items and finally ends up in overshooting my budget.
Well, jut to et you know i am still in phase1 of the shopping so i will try to keep an eye on what i eye when i go shopping.
i have loadsa other things to do...
get my studen ID card renewed, youth hostel card renewed, purchase the travel book (i have been wishing to do this over the past 4 days), order my exchanage, buy gifts, ,,,,,,,
letting you in on a little secret...
and as the date to leave draws close, i am getting a little nervous. nervous like concerned. concerned like worried. worried like ugh, butterflies in my stomach...
well a little nervous energy has always done me good. i just hope the excitement takes over this gut churning feel asap, cos i cant wait to embark that plane...
wish me luck and pray for me!
Adding to the enchantment is the fact that i am off to a small city in china!
how are things right now? well let me answer that in small steps.
Parents.. well they are oh so encouraging of everything i do and are really supportive of me in taking up this opprtunity. But, i know deep down they are saying their prayers for me. And i must give them credit for being open about this. This coming from the ones who gave me a 7pm curfew!
how am i?
well i am trying not to think of it in its enormity. am taking one small hurdle at a time.
I've just applied for my visa, blocked my tickets and am waiting for my travel agent to call me about my passport being successfully stamped with the chinese visa.
now I 'm immersing myself in the ardent task of 'shopping' . yes, yes the crucial job that begins with picking up the essentials, moves on to carting in a few 'not-so essential, but looks cute' items and finally ends up in overshooting my budget.
Well, jut to et you know i am still in phase1 of the shopping so i will try to keep an eye on what i eye when i go shopping.
i have loadsa other things to do...
get my studen ID card renewed, youth hostel card renewed, purchase the travel book (i have been wishing to do this over the past 4 days), order my exchanage, buy gifts, ,,,,,,,
letting you in on a little secret...
and as the date to leave draws close, i am getting a little nervous. nervous like concerned. concerned like worried. worried like ugh, butterflies in my stomach...
well a little nervous energy has always done me good. i just hope the excitement takes over this gut churning feel asap, cos i cant wait to embark that plane...
wish me luck and pray for me!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)