Hello! Welcome to my study abroad blog. The entries chronicle my experiences while abroad during the Spring 2011 semester. In it, you’ll find the good, the bad, the crazy, the mundane, the ordinary, the extraordinary, and of course, the awesome parts of my trip.

I participated in IES’s (iesabroad.org) 21st Century China program at Fudan University in Shanghai, China. This blog is also part of my follow-on project for the Gilman Scholarship.



Breakdown/timeline:
Feb 1-Feb 19 :: departure from USA; time spent in Beijing before the official start of the program
Feb 20 :: official program start date
April 10-16 :: program trip to Hong Kong
June 18 :: official program end date
June 18 &beyond :: excursions outside of the program (HK and Taiwan)
early July :: return home!


( click for notes, disclaimers, and other stuff )

That being said, please enjoy the blog!
and feel free to send any questions my way! you can do so by leaving a comment on any entry

dying from lulz
no, seriously though.

so idk which half is dominant, but wtv. :D



also, this one is gold


lol, I am wondering if entry #2 is a secret cousin/relative I don't know of or something. or maybe my cousin's friend. XDDDDD

to do/consider:
sherlock (BBC)
himym
find frames
mas taobao-ing


mi ingles has been on a steady decline since... senior year of high school/freshman year of college. ah, the joys of being a science major and not having to write papers, only to be clueless whenever application essays appear. so many pokemon analogies to be made XD "as rare as a shiny legendary!" or "she appeared out of nowhere like a wild pokemon coming out from a patch of tall grass"

pottermore - got sorted into slytherin [teehee~]
but why is the common room in the dungeon D:
hufflepuff and ravenclaw's common rooms look nice
and gryffindor's portal background is too red... kinda harsh on the eyes
as for slytherin... soooo much green
I like the default purple :) and ravenclaw's portal page isn't too bad either. prolly the best out of the four.
oh well, at least i'm not in ravenclaw... stereotypical cho chang/asian house =___=

& why uniqlo in sf will prolly not work out for me
(aka, giant chunk of text)
I was talking to a friend the other day, and as exciting as it is to actually have a physical uniqlo shop in SF, tbh, I'm not that excited about it. why? I'd mostly blame my experiences in Shanghai. First off, the accessibility. There are 20+ Uniqlo shops in Shanghai, so finding a shop is definitely not a problem. Most of the stuff I bought from the Uniqlos in Shanghai were all on sale. If the item I wanted wasn't in stock in the closest store (underground B1 in wujiaochang), then the obvious option would be to head across the street to the Uniqlo on 2F (the building with Muji). The one in SF is a bit out of the way for me, so yeah... (deteriorating ingles skills kicking in...) and since there's only one shop here, there's more ~competition~ for items (see the shops in malaysia for some examples). hehe, the other thing about WJC Uniqlo is its location. There were just so many chances to pass by it when going from Tohee to WJC metro station. I'm pretty sure I had at least 3 chances to pass by/go inside the store every week. (and its hard to not notice what the sales are from passing by so often) Also, the fact that there is no sales tax in Shanghai (yet...). The prices are roughly the same, but if you purchase a lot, sales taxes start making a difference.
(--nvm, 2nd thoughts on the last part about pricing... just checked the prices online for the US store. Assuming the $12.90 are the shirts on sale, the sale prices here are probably a tad higher than they were in China ($12.90 being ~81 RMB). IIRC, UT on sale was 59/69/79. [well, the latter is pretty close, but that's what I got my broskie his Transformers:3 shirt for the week after they debuted the collection since it was the promotion sale... and not to mention the BB shirt I copped for 59 since they were clearing out the stock.] and in general, the sales racks in Union Square are filled with reject items and stuff that's size 14 or 00)
a random thought... is the 3 item limit/dressing room policy standard in all the stores worldwide? or just the ones in China?
also, if all the BBxUT shirts were sold out in parts of Asia (obviously not in Shanghai since it was at the final sales markdown price), why is no one buying my listing? D: asdfasdf ebay


oh yeah, found a taobao agent/proxy... who apparently doesn't charge the shipping from china-to-them portion. but still $2 fee/item. still whoo \:D/

same ones: rural poems
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=12201013136
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=12274112491& (cheaper)

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=13184371631&


useless frames:
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=10314436111
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=14017683200&


wigs??? :D
http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=10166597144& (that one pelo modelo shroom)
http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=12385375061&
http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=10188051875& (blonde mushroom)
http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=9373746185&
http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=12917393000&



http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=9895698863&ad_id=&am_id=&cm_id=&pm_id=
http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=10142584887
http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=14652716457

pizza cut five, pizzicato five
http://iwannagothere.com/shopping-in-taipei/pizza-cut-five/6013
all the places i haven't been to/want to go to...

also need to find how to finish playing 一生有你
弹一半就忘了怎么弹 orz
haven't practiced in a while...



lol, this has been my life recently
finished plants vs zombies adventure mode
btw, I'm playing the DS version
tbh, I think iphone is harder since you have to use your finger to drag
and it also depends on how your screen is (sweaty?)

I think I'm almost done with professor layton and the diabolical box/pandora's box
for the next title, I should play the UK version :D

西游记review
块笑死了
http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/pxnQSnIPBrI/
there's also one uploaded on youtube, too lazy to find right now
when they got to the 喜羊羊 screenshot,
ttly saw that right away (except I think the costume looks more like 村长。。。is that 慢羊羊？)
nearly died laughing on that screen XDDDDD


hmm, new ken block gymkhana... time to watch epic meal time & those recc-ed food channels XD

hmmmmm, lj has been kinda on/off nonfunctional for a while >_____>
FAIL


if it wasn't for 鯰魚哥, i think i would still not know what 鯰魚 is XDDDDD
also watched circus's 裸奔少年
half the time i was like
"！！我去过那里！！！！！"
"asdfasdfasdf holiday! 表哥在that place上班！"
“是阿公阿嬷家旁边的桥!!!”


since we are talking abt 鯰魚哥,
now it is a good time to insert a 小豬 video
小豬英文進化史 (the evolution of xiao zhu's english)

dyinggggg of laughter XDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
(so many chins XD)
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

having a case of 小豬's laughter right now
the "rotfl, can't breathe" kind
best part is:
"jesus my DVD" = 残酷舞台
idk how 小鬼 managed to understand that on at all HAHAHAHA
and the rap
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
-dying-
"this is a book"
"this is a chair"
HAHAHAHAHAHA




have been meaning to write up something about design in taiwan
b/c it's really really really unique
there's a lot of Q版 （ahh, i think i'm gonna die of cuteness overload if i ever go to japan aslkdf;alsdhgasdljghadsglkh）
and the inside of the eslite building in taipei is really cool too!
so is taipei 101
just the overall design of things is really cool (ok, mostly the newer things, but still, very 很有台湾的感觉 :D)
and i got these really cool postcards that have a template for you to cut out on and make something cool, like a famous building or an animal (but i prolly will never send out or use the postcards according to the instructions... lolol, subjected to a life of 收藏-ing)
why does 黄金 card have such a high difficutly level DDDDDD:
bought these diy(?) craft postcards
there's felt ones where you cut it out and then sew the templates to make something
(haha, really cute, esp the parody ones like 花鹿水 as 花露水 and 猴子面 as 王子面 XDDD and the 米酒 one)
the other one is just regular paper cut out and make into a cool paper model
but i got the ridiculously difficult one :x
i don't think i'm ever going to attempt it since the cut lines are... too small

a pair of adidas bear sneakers...
panda ones are pretty ok though XD

omg,leo也喜欢中岛美嘉as nana :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
“我学设计的，所以漂亮就会喜欢”
[ok, not exactly but something along those lines]
A+ quote
also
“为什么要学会PS”
XDDDDDDDDD
too legitttttttt

oh yeah,
I did some google-ing/baidu-ing
found out that the duo from 快乐女声 is called "DL"
haha, they're cousins




taiwan playlist
aka. what was playing everywhere/always on tv

snsd - mr taxi
beast - fiction
vanness - is this all [pretty sure there is another vanness one]
王彩华 - 保佑 (the dance :D)
ft island - hello hello
jane zhang - ??
glay - idk, must be something new they came out with
a fu - all the mvs she came out with...
jing boran - ??
fresh m - ...something in 3 places what is this one ??? :/ (taipei,bangkok,phuket)
that one collab with SD5 (someone needs a haircut)


in theory there should be something akb48/subgroup related b/c they are always coming out with something (or are they always in the news for some other reason?)

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/google-doodles-gregor-mendels-189th-birthday/168770-11.html

aww, what we learned in freshman bio.
and then freshman bio later again. :D
and now on google doodle~

although mendel's name reminds me of mendeleev XDDD
*nerd* :'D
google doodle x periodic table? ...do want XDDDDDD
*super nerd*

internet is randomly fast/slow
but not that fast

i think i'm getting sick la
and idk if the posting over thing is working >___>

我没有台湾口音
gotta figure out what exactly 新加坡口音 sounds like

haha,
银行阿姨说：
"花莲 - 好山，好水，好无聊"
挺accurate的 XDDDDDD



在桃园飞机场从早上11点多坐到晚上7点多登机
边检也够快的 :D A+
在terminal站着坐着看看别人
玩了一会儿游戏机 :D
（其实好像玩了很久 XD）
还好提前有充电 :D
旁边的阿姨去大阪
叫我到楼下坐
我终于也到楼下坐
发呆
玩游戏机
恐怕我游戏机没电了 orz
4点多就ok!
觉得到点了
上楼了
楼上也开始开票登机牌了！
所以拍两个大箱子托运走了~
然后跑到另外一个terminal去逛逛 YA!
在7-eleven （大家都叫seven啦，机场里的超棒，选择很多！:D）
买了铜锣烧！ YA！ :DDDDDDDDD
应该多买个三角饭团...
在书店里看了半天
但是觉得杂志不值得
没买
都30HKD/120NTD左右
我看想买还是到香港买个15HKD的milk吧 XD
反正慢慢地逛
有逛回original terminal
original terminal在装修
所以有点乱
没什么东西
有好多旅行团
好像有一个非洲旅行团
到候机厅的时候只有3个人including我
然后上飞机前
大家都跑到我这里来充电-_____-
然后这laptop上的CD cover thing掉下来了
掉下来的时候
大家都在排队登机
然后好大声地掉
超尴尬。。。




忘记说在香港到台湾时
飞机是飞往日本的
然后又一位皮肤黑一点
看像印度东南亚来的
但是他说一口流利的日语！
我怎么知道呢~
因为他在跟对面的日本乘客聊天
感觉上他的accent也很不错！



台北帅哥美女也不少，哈哈哈！
帅哥穿的就跟内地的不一样
在文具店里看到一位
穿戴根的boots =____=
但是为了fashion,(almost)什么都可以
想在台北36C+的温度穿黑外套
哎呀
就是为了好看啦
老妈就不用管那么多 -___-





原来和kevin想碰个面
但是有手机什么烂sim卡
搞不清楚怎么从台湾拨出去
然后又上不了网
所以没联系好 orz


表哥说摸阿公的头会发财 XD
阿公又拿拐棍打人
我老妈还是话太多

去了九份
但是不太清楚那里有什么
就到那里
下了车
跟着人群走
好像就是个老街
和几座庙
台湾山神肯定不少！
觉得很有日本味
但是我没去过日本
也不好说 XD
好想去日本玩玩~
很像我在大陆去过的老街
但是九份的特别窄
全都是小店
我好像在某一个角看到G哥在vcr中的"大象size!"店
但是他应该没去九份拍的吧

不好意思
but
@ 九份
看到超可爱的
les couple ;D
HAHAHAHAHA
(不再故意的笑，我刚看完很好笑的东西)
但是她们真的超可爱
(ok, I think they were les la)
从背面看，
右边的长得挺像男生
短发和装扮和style
都很有帅气
(ya, 我真以为是男的。。。其实我也不确定她是女的 :'DDDDDD)
左边的女生
就用一般女生打扮来说。。。
她也很漂亮
whatever la
她们俩都长得很好看，OK？
就是右边的格子稍微埃（跟我差不多？）
然后走过去就发现到他说话声音有点像。。。
（吴青峰？小不点？那个那个谁谁谁？8D）
the point is,
wow,超完美的情侣！


发现到在台湾呆久了
拼音会慢慢的变乱
全都要告wade giles


wow!
看到飞机进来了

arrived early in HK
spent 2 hours randomly browsing stores
wtf, HK airport is like HK shopping all condensed in one place
kinda
just missing the small stores
and a bonjour and watsons and sasa XD
and the 小吃 and 小摊

also, landed at HK right before 9 PM
a few clouds coming down
but I was on the left side window, front row (exit, yay!)
but as soon as we got through the clouds
BEST VIEW OF HK SKYLINE. EVER. homg.
pretty much like those helicopter pano pictures
and night skyline tooo,
so it's got all the building lights on around Victoria Harbour.
soooooooo pretty <3
best landing view everrrrrrrrr :3


闸口超远
然后到的时候不让进
只能在前一个闸口等
所以我继续去逛
好多人啊
我又开始饿了。。。


飞机上坐我旁边的奶奶（应该算阿婆啦 XDDDD）
一直在看电影
看了10+小时
太厉害了 XDDDD
但是有个小悲剧
我的泡面没来 T____T
sandwich也有点funny looking


OH YEAH
这次过美国customs超快
都要破纪录了 （哈哈鲶鱼哥）
因为我作为比较靠前面
但是最前面有点不方便。。。行李不能放脚下
被塞到第二排, OK~
下飞机就unsuspiciously冲到customs line
前面只有两个人， yay!
就是行李出来有点慢
因为飞机超曼
都是来自菲律宾，越南的
然后大家都得取行李（法律规定的...）
行李出来比人出来还快
所以行李太多了，
都堆了好几层
行李conveyor还挺了！ :O =A=
我应该算前十个人吧
反正还算满快滴 :D
A++


最好笑的是
我弟弟来接我
他还前几个小时
去.....
......
。。。。。。纹身
@__@
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
真的没什么说
但是也有很多东西可以说

（哈哈，弟弟，你真的越来越像小5了）





哈哈，我妈又被翻箱子
每次带那么多，就是啊





八字不和
水土不服

有点过分，有点夸张，有点over,等等



我妈也知道蓝正龙是谁
还觉得他演得不好
哇塞
老妈
我还没看过他演的东西
我妈说这句...
难道她看过很多他演的吧


ohmang
stay real x milk x 大嘴巴
was this weeeeeeeek
asdfasdfasdf
在香港转机的时候时间不对
连milk都没有
到台湾时候还有transformers special
原来想给弟弟买 XD


oh yeah,
阿本 is from choc 7
not like i care, but still,
想知道就想知道啦

( translation )

回家了
好凉快
哈哈，超凉
saw the sunrise the last two days...
its so dry here, i almost forgot how dry it was/is
了解why ppl use desert as a description
(but didn't we learn smth about being coastal wetlands or smth similar in primary school)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEj3UsAl0K8
tintin - the secret of the unicorn
asdfasdfasdf
nostalgiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

上星期lady gaga taiwan show
完全娱乐live cosplay contest
http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/h2CVZf2CQQM/

finally found it ;D
only watched the end in taiwan
but yeah
西瓜was really good!
and when jungle kinda smiled at the end XDDDD


and 小猪's posts on 微博 the past few days have been hilarious
esp everyone's comments XDDDDDD
and the amah from england~


http://www.tudou.com/playlist/p/l2402539i14040347.html
http://youtu.be/jX3JZscssxc

circus
在花莲
我忘了是谁说的

no internet in 基隆
unfortunately/fortunately did not manage to get hammer pants of any shade, color, or pattern/design

the neighbors have lock&open 门帘
兔年，超cute :3

haha, 大嘴巴ad
is it for hair color treatment or for some snack
lolololololol

终于在muji买到东西啦~
但是是在muji to go,台北车站

找到jerry给我弟弟买的bremen - ready to fire! sticker
因为我弟弟好像很会放屁 XD
我也买了几个 :D
但是觉得应该买多一点
cd差不多450ntd
但是case都很大
好奇怪

在台北看到
dbz和maple story的巴士广告，和倪安东 x mcd薯条广告
哈哈，我也看到安东街啦 XDDDDDDDD


台湾也有播《喜羊羊与灰太狼》XDDDDDDDD
there is a really really weird guy in wwe
incredibad hair DDDDDDDDD:
like not undertaker nasty bad
but mullet x fail dye job bad
and jersey shore with subs =_____=
超orz



没有去西门町asdfasdfasdfasdfasdfasf DDDDDDD:



( translation )