Profile: Kelsi Bohen
GLP Beijing Blog
Blog 4
Today was our last and final day in Beijing. I am already getting depressed thinking about leaving this diverse and unique place. So let’s get my mind off of it and think about all of the fun things we did today! Today we visited the Temple of Heaven; don’t let the name fool you. The Temple of Heaven is not the serene and peaceful place the name implies. Rather it’s loud and full of games, karaoke, and more bargaining. Who knew the Temple of Heaven was a giant party? As we passed the many gatherings of Chinese folks, I joined in on some more hacky sack, a bit of singing, and some harmonica playing. The Temple of Heaven was quite the hangout. Further inside the Temple of Heaven, I lived up to my nickname so kindly ascribed to me by Stacy, and spotted another pot with Hopper written all over it. This pot was much smaller than the first! The Temple of Heaven was just as gorgeous as the Forbidden City with golden artifacts and, to my pleasant surprise, many pots!
The entertainment and excitement continued at Afunti, a.k.a A FUN TIME, where the group congregated for its last meal. Afunti had a Kung Fu performance, extravagant belly dancers, and tables large enough for the entire audience to dance on. Professor Stacy, Haley, and Kyle were lucky enough to have a snake “hella” feet long wrapped around their necks. When I asked Haley how many feet she thought the snake at Afunti was, she replied with “HELLAAAA FEET!” But to be a little more precise, I would say the snake was around 6 feet long. The snake was returned to its cage when the belly dancers left the stage and entered the audience. One of the belly dancers lifted me from my seat and suggested I dance with her, and that is exactly what I did. We were having such a great time dancing in the audience that she grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the stage with her. Boy oh boy, who would have thought the Great Wall and belly dancing were two of the best workouts known to mankind. Though the belly dancer’s moves were admirable, I must admit I took the most notes when observing Professors Carl and Ellen’s dance moves. Those two can really boogie!
Unfortunately, it is now time to enter the time machine. Yes, the airplane is literally a time machine because although we are departing from China at 11:00 AM on Sunday, we are arriving in the United States at 2:00 PM on Sunday. I couldn’t be more excited about gaining a whole extra day to reminisce about my many adventures in China. It is an experience I will cherish forever!
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Blog 3
I saw the Great Wall of China today!!! It is breathtaking! We all got about a two-hour nap on the bus ride before arriving at the Great Wall, but we were still unprepared to hike up thousands of thousands of stairs. Some of them are so small you find yourself - well I find myself - stumbling all over the place. On the other hand, there are some so large, my short legs were almost incapable of climbing. It was also terrific that it was probably eighty degrees outside, when the forecast had told us in the U.S. to pack sweaters and long sleeves. Let’s just say I was sweating off all the duck feet and scorpions! Professor Carl, Stacy, our awesome counselor Jaime, and the wonderful Ellen, were all pros at climbing these torturous stairs. I think they trained for it before the trip. Those cheaters! Way to invite us to the training. It should be a part of our preparation during class on Fridays - haha! I’m not even sure we had walked a mile when we encountered the greatest invention in existence - the Toboggan! This is a sled type seat that sits over metal that you ride down the Great Wall. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was like we were at Knott’s Berry Farm, except with no safety regulations or hospitals nearby. That didn’t slow me down! In the past, Professor Carl has actually flipped is Toboggan off of the metal casing. I was so proud to hear this; he never ceases to amaze me! As a few of us waited for the other students to ride the Toboggan down, we played a hacky sack type of game with some local Chinese sellers. Those men have skills!
After the Great Wall, it came time to practice our extreme bargaining skills. In China, the shopping markets don’t have set prices on their items. Instead, you ask the seller how much, they offer you a price WAYYYY more than the price they would offer to Chinese folks, and then you spend probably twenty minutes trying to lower the price. It never quite lowers enough to match the Chinese price. These sellers have skills too! We went to the silk market where there are fake designer jeans, glasses, watches…you name it. I was in heaven! You could get a pair of fake designer jeans for about seven American dollars. That’s unheard of in America. Unfortunately, after spending all my energy at the Great Wall and then bargaining with the Asian ladies (believe me, this process is very tiring due to the extreme stubbornness of the sellers…and myself of course), we left the Silk Market with just a few items. We decided we needed a little more training from Professor Stacy and Carl before attempting to buy anything else. Next time I’m bringing along one of my Chinese friends!
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Blog 2
The days just keep getting better and better! I still can’t believe I’m in China. And no one has responded negatively to my choice of Chinese dialect yet, so I’m pretty sure I haven’t accidentally asked someone “how their itch was doing.” Like I said before, our professors taught us well and our Chinese-speaking peers help also. Even greater news, today was so eventful! We listened to a friend of Professor Carl’s, Charles Lei, talk about his experience as the manager of the Walt Disney office in China, being an entrepreneur, and every aspect of Chinese culture you can possibly think of. Did you know that if you are born in Beijing, you have no rights in the city if Shanghai? You have to basically receive citizenship in the city of Shanghai if you wish to live there, attend school there or work there. But it’s in the same country!! Yup, this is a strange concept to a born and raised American. After learning numerous interesting facts such as this, we set off with “BENNNYYYY,” our tour guide, to Possibility Space. Possibility Space is an Internet gaming company that recently opened in China. It is run by an old student of Professor Carl’s who also attended USC. Isn’t that awesome? His name is Ethan; he plans on hanging out with us for the rest of the trip and showing us all the hot spots of China. The game Ethan and his coworkers are currently developing looks so cool. One of their main goals is to draw in people who don’t generally participate in online gaming. Well, I’m in! This game looks fun!
The lunch today was absolutely delicious, most likely because it was Western food. Oh my gosh, have I been craving Western food or what? Don’t get me wrong, Chinese food is good, it’s just a little strange to me. The other day we were served Duck feet and I ate one! If I’m going to be in China, I am sure as heck going to eat Chinese food! I just wasn’t quite sure what to eat. It’s just bone and skin; I guess you’re supposed to suck on the bone or something. I bet you can just picture the delicious meal now. YUMMY! After lunch we visited Wal-Mart, which is extremely different than the Wal-Marts in America. They have what’s called a wet market. They sell alive fish, turtles, eels, and all sorts of other “wet” animals. When you buy one they ask you if you would like it alive or dead. I prefer neither. Professor Carl kept telling me he was going to buy me a turtle. I responded enthusiastically; I have always wanted a turtle as a pet! To my mistake, I didn’t comprehend that the turtles at the wet market were for eating. AHHH!
Let’s just say today was a day for exploring the many foods of China. After Wal-Mart, about ten of us, including Professor Carl, went to the food street where they sell things much more interesting than at the wet market. Here they have intestines, sea horses, crickets - and drum roll please - testicles and penises! From what the Tsinghua students told me, most Chinese people don’t actually eat stuff like that, only the “weird ones”. The food street is primarily for tourists, and boy did our touristy selves sure enjoy eating. Adam, Rick, and I all ate a scorpion! I wasn’t kidding when I said I was going to eat all the Chinese food I get the opportunity to eat. Then Professor Carl, Haley, and I went to sit down to wait for the other students. I sat on a cylinder shaped object that stuck out from the ground to prevent cars from entering a pedestrian only zone. Professor Carl decided to do the same. He wasn’t so lucky. The cylinder shaped object fell through the ground and he ended up saying hello to the ground with his tailbone. It sounds terrible, but it was actually hilarious. We spent the rest of the day laughing about it, and I even went so far as to make an announcement about it on the bus ride to the acrobat show; which was soooo cool by the way!
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Blog 1
Knee Hoa! As of right now that is about all I know how to say in the Chinese language and we will be arriving in China in approximately 12 hours. Don’t get me wrong, our professors prepared us immensely in the Chinese language; I was just never quite able to pick it up. I have heard one too many stories about Americans attempting to say hello, but in actuality saying something like “how is itch doing?”
Woooo hoooo! I am so thrilled to finally be on my way to China! Unfortunately I am currently sitting in between two strangers. One who is inconveniently sprawled out into the seat, mouth open, sleeping mask on, and the other who is squashed so tightly against the airplane window I’m afraid I have BO or something. Well anywho, no need to dwell on something so insignificant when I am about to go see the Forbidden City in Beijing!! I wonder what’s for dinner...
The Forbidden City was “da bomb”! It was about two miles long! Yes, we walked the entire two miles through the various palaces of the emperor of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The palaces began to all look the same after awhile. Each had the same exterior with various thrones inside. I have no idea why an emperor could possibly want so many thrones; sitting down in each throne could not have been that much fun. But do you know what is fun? The Forbidden City is the setting of the epic fight in Mulan where she kicks the Samurai man’s butt. Go girl! My friend Haley and I tried to replicate a scene or two from the movie; she was the Samurai man of course. Ha! The palaces and several decorations such as pots, lions, and mirrors are lined in gold. Well, today much of the gold is missing because Chinese citizens and tourists have scratched the gold off of the decorations with their nails. Eek!
Also while walking through this gorgeous city, I was the first to receive a nickname from Professor Stacy Geck. I was pretty excited! It all occurred when I spotted a huge pot in the Forbidden City and decided to hop in it for a picture. The pot was so large I had to climb it to get in, and of course I checked for Chinese guards before doing so. The Chinese guards are everywhere in the city. They are sort of Beijing’s form of police, but without cars and much scarier than American police. One student tried to take a picture with one and he scolded her, actually he more or less yelled at her. So, if you decide to go to Beijing (which you will after I describe all the amazing experiences to you) take my advice and don’t treat the guards like a spectacle. Their outfits are awesome, but their personalities not so much. Back to my nickname! Stacy spotted me “hopping” out of the pot and yelled “Kelsi! I’m going to call you hopper from now on!” She said the name resembled my energetic personality and amazing pot-hopping abilities. Gotta love Professor Stacy!