Journey to the East- Brooklyn Ninja in China

NYU Junior in Shanghai for Fall 2013

[brooklynninjainchina]

Beijing A Go-Go!

I haven't updated in a while, but I have to tell you how amazing Beijing was. My roomies and I went to Beijing for a weekend, and I gotta say,

Being in Beijing made me realize how much I love living in Asia. Beijing is the political center of China, and is such a place where you'll find buildings and sites  a thousand years old, and still notice skyscrapers in the distance. It's the political center, but as far as I'm concerned it's also the cultural center. There's something in the air in Beijing (and I'm not just talking PM 2.5), that just had a cooler vibe than what I was used to in Shanghai. In fact, one day while we were there, not only did we not have to wear masks, but the air quality index was 35! That's like New York Quality Air!!!! (It's crazy when New York Quality air starts sounds amazing.)

As I walked through the Old Summer Palace, I thought:

"This is where the emperors walked. Pretty cool."

We also visited Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square (they're right next to each other), this really cool temple on a hill, the silk market, and... um... I can't help but think I'm forgetting something...

Oh Yeah,

THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA.

^Yeah that was awesome. We visited the extremely-crowded but historic section called Badaling, hiring one of the cab drivers at the bus stop to the Great Wall to drive us.

It was cold as heck, but it was a dream come true.

Beijing, I'll miss you dearly.

[brooklynninjainchina]

I feel like out of all the culturally differing situations China has thrown at me so far, train etiquette (or lack thereof) might be the most difficult for me to deal with. Anyone who gives New Yorkers a reputation for being ruthless, should come to China. Not calling the Chinese rude, per-se, but it's just a cultural difference: There are certain guidelines that simply do not exist here. My classmate hailed a cab yesterday, and just as she reached to open the car door, some old lady jumped in front of her, grabbed HER cab, and drove off. In New York you might actually be risking your life if you do that in certain parts. But no, that happens in China. 

 In New York, it's "let me move out the way so that you can get off the train and I can get on". In China it's "I need to get on this train, and despite there being no room for me except nestled in some Black girl's shoulder, I'm GONNA get on this train. Where there's a will, there's a way." During Rush Hour, people who need to get OFF the train often get pushed BACK in! 

^That makes no sense to me, because if those people were able to get out of the train, there'd be more space for those who need to get on. At least thats my logic.

Anyhow, thanks to these harrowing rush-hour experiences here in Shanghai, I've been studying and trying to discern the difference between what's universally logical (if there is such a thing), and what's culturally accepted.

[brooklynninjainchina]

Baby Steps

Learning a new language is a lot like learning as a baby again. You hear a new word, you repeat it, again and again and again, playing with it on the tip of your tongue, until you know how it's supposed to sound coming out. And sometimes you get it wrong; you've fallen, and now you have to learn to get back up and try again. More experienced people may have to talk slowly with you, until you feel grounded enough to talk fast on your own. Like learning to walk, all over again.

[jadayahsef-blog]

[brooklynninjainchina]

jadayahsef:

OK so let me start out by saying that Saturday’s Life Class Fencing Event was AMAZING! 

I am someone who has wanted to fence ever since I was a child (I think anyone who’s ever watched The Three Musketeers would agree with me), so I was super happy to be given the opportunity to do so by EF. The Life Class Fencing Event was located at the SECA Cultural Center, about a 15 minute drive away from ___. 

As we walked into the training center, the elementary-aged school children had just finished their class, and the middle-aged children were about to begin class, so I got to see the students practice. It’s incredible to see these young and innocent looking children transform into absolute swordsmen right before my very eyes!

Anyway, when class started, the learning curve was very gentle, and I was comforted to know that basically everyone else around me (there were 12 of us in total), was an absolute beginner too!

Our hilarious British teacher Matthew talked us through a philosophical metaphor illustrating the similarities between fencing and language.

"Fencing is like an argument. You use tactics. You attack. You try to provoke. All for the sake of outwitting your opponent."

"In any language, you can gauge how well you speak by how many words you use. The fewer words you use to convey an idea, the better speaker you are in that language. LIkewise, in fencing, although you can do all the fancy moves in the world, sometimes the best move is the simplest, and the quickest, simplest move can lead to victory".

We started out learning how to go En Garde (get into fencing position). We sat in frog position, and jumped into En Garde position. We shuffled back and forth around the room, learning how to move forward and back while fencing, and how to shift our weight. Then he taught us some basic techniques in fencing, where the objective was to touch the opponents torso with the tip of a foil (the pointy-style fencing sword. The other kind of sword, a sabre, is a fencing sword that you can use the side of the sword to attack, with as well).

I had lots of fun practicing my Chinese with my fellow EF participants, and they got to practice their English too. Sometimes when they didn’t understand what our instructor was saying, I’d try to use my limited Chinese to translate. Sometimes, I actually succeeded!

We paired up to practice these techniques, first using only our pointer fingers as swords, learning how to parry, redirect, strike, and lunge at our opponent. Just imagine a group of adults using their pointer fingers and imagination to fence. Pure hilarity.

Eventually we split into two teams of six, to actually apply what we had learned, in a practice match! We had the fencing mask and chest guard and everything! 

It was a super fun experience cheering on my teammates in their matches! And when it was finally my turn to battle, my team was up by two points, score 9 to 7, with game being 17 points. I put on my battle gear (in my mind it was battle armor!), did the super cool salute, and then our instructor said “Allè!” which I figured was french for “Start the Battle!” or something like that!

Anywho, the girl who I went up against was super fast! She circled her foil sword around so fast, it was actually hard to see it! But then I remembered that it’s often the simplest movement that can win a match, so I just advanced forward and put my sword in contact with her torso, earning a point for my team. 

To make a long story short, I won my three points for my team, and our instructor said that our rounds were some of the greatest, and most intense fights he’d ever seen amongst beginners.

He asked me and my opponent (a sweet girl with the English name Claire) if we were martial artists. (We Are!), and said he could tell by the style of our movements.

Yeah that felt good. 

My team eventually went on to win! After 2.5 hours, our lessons were over, and we all traded WeChat information, took pictures together, and went our separate ways.

Now I cannot WAIT until I have the opportunity to fence again! 

I’ll just keep practicing my fencing steps in the meanwhile! :) 

Allè!

[brooklynninjainchina]

时间过得很快！

Time Flies! My roomie brought it to my attention yesterday that I only have six weeks left of living in China. I've been in Shanghai all this time, and haven't visited a single museum, still haven't been up the Oriental Pearl Tower, and there's just SO MUCH of this city I have yet to see!

Granted, as a Native New Yorker I've never been to most of the tourist attractions we have there either, and I know many Shanghai-natives who've never been to tourist attractions here, so I guess I've been doing well in "living" here in Shanghai, rather than just being on a four-month-long travel trip.

There's a problem when you're Studying Abroad, but aside from walking outside, you're only experiencing the Study part of it. That ain't right.

But it's time to Carpe That Diem, and make the most of the rest of my time in this country that I've already begun to call "Home". Well, we call our apartment "home" which is quite bizarre to me, but I guess it's just like that cliché: "Home is where the heart is." :)

[brooklynninjainchina]

Serendipity

One thing about me is that I love going for walks. Walking is awesome 'cause:

1- It's a great work out, 2- It helps you think, 3- It helps the environment when you walk rather than taking energy-expending transit, 4- you find new things wherever you go.

Reasons 2 and 4 are my main motivations, honestly. 

For example: I went for a daytime walk around my neighborhood (emphasis on daytime, because I going for walks by yourself as a girl at night in a foreign country is generally a  非常不好主意  (feichang buhao zhuyi) - A very bad idea. 

Anywho, I deliberately tried to end up in a place that I've never been before, because it's always good to have some familiarity of at least the 5-block radius of your apartment building, to know whats around, and have points of reference. 

So I followed the sunlight, and went down a street I'd only gone so far down before, and after walking for a while, reflecting on the buildings I saw, I stumbled across two very modern buildings. One, a community center I didn't even know we had, and the second, an arts school.

I walked into the art school just for the heck of it, to see a bunch of students painting these GORGEOUS paintings of fruit, and other students sketching realistic portraits of people, taken from actual pictures. Turns out these talented youngsters weren't even in university, but were painting to prepare for the GaoKao, the Chinese National College Admissions Test.

Anywho (I say that alot) I'm just really proud of myself, because after an hour of conversing with the Chinese staff there, I spontaneously signed up for art lessons, because, you know, YOLO.

I explained to them that my drawing ability is essentially that of a child's, and that my Chinese isn't great, and they said they'd have a teacher who speaks really good English teach me. 

They even gave me a special rate because I'm their first Waiguoren (foreigner).

On the way back from there, I stumbled upon a great Halal restaurant, and a Chocolate bar. (As in, an establishment where different kinds of Chocolate were the only thing on the menu!)

The moral here is just to be willing to explore your everyday surroundings, and to be open to the opportunities and experiences that may come your way.  <3

Carpe that Diem, y'all!

[domodest]

It’s funny how my last post was about how accomplished I felt after writing my first Chinese essay, but this post is about how little I have accomplished for Chinese class this weekend.

I have a unit test tomorrow, of which I have not begun to study for.

I’ve gone to the gym, cooked...

[brooklynninjainchina]

Homie, times are difficult out here if we only take the time to focus on the BIG PICTURES. It's like "how do you eat a Hippo?" "One bite at a time" *cue audience laughter*

No but really! Not gonna lie, I agree, the workload here in my Chinese class alone compared to my class back in New York (which I already considered to be type intense), is crazy. When I consider all the things I have to do for ONE class, I get a tad sad.

That being said, I try to remember that I'm in China, and if there's ever a time to learn Chinese, it's while in China. Also, I tell myself not to give up, because the harder something is to accomplish, the more worthwhile it is in the long run. At least that's what they say, and so far it's been true for me.

Stay strong homie! We can't give up just yet! 加油！

[jadayahsef-blog]

On Cultural Shock 

these are pictures of me with some people who either wanted pictures of me, or with me. Some people try to be like Paparazzi and take pictures without even asking, so I turn the tables on people by taking pictures of and with THEM as well. What started off as just “turning tables” became a really fun way to document the wonderful people that I meet here in China. Some people wish to document you without even interacting with you (I guess they’re shy?), but I try to engage every person that wants a picture of me, for humanity’s sake.

Coming to Shanghai, I tried to be as prepared as humanly possible for the differences that I might face here. I asked every single friend I knew that had been to China, specifically to Shanghai, about what I ought to expect:

"Being a vegetarian is really difficult in China" they said "everything has meat in it." They said.

"Things are cheaper here, unless they’re exports, in which case they’re way more expensive than you’d find in the United States." They said.

On the whole “being Black” thing, my friends told me that Shanghai is a more cosmopolitan city than most of China, so I’ll still be stared at, but I’ll get less stares than as if I were elsewhere. That happened.

They said I’d often feel like a celebrity or a freak, since many people would want to take pictures with me. That happened.

In a more extreme example, a friend told me some people would want to touch my hair, and still others might rub my skin, as if to see if the darkness would come off. This also happened.

I’m an anthropology student, so naturally being the “different” person in a “different country” (after all I’m Black, Muslim, and Vegetarian in a decidedly non-Black, non-Muslim, and meat-eating country) appealed to me, just a tad.

For some people, such as the Chinese tourists from more rural parts of China who come to Shanghai to sightsee, I’m actually the first real-life Black person they’ve ever seen. To draw a parallel, I imagine it might be a similar feeling to me walking down a street of New York and happening upon a naturally Green person. I mean, I’d stare too! Heck, I might even ask for your picture, and ask you what’s life like being Green. 

I generally try to deal with it with a smile, since after all, I have a new opportunity to educate the people around me about Black people (lesson number one: we exist :) ) and bridge the gap between my people and the people who’s country I’m currently a guest in. Most times it’s pretty fun!

Honestly, because I came to China so expectant of the fact that I’d get treated differently as a result of my skin color, the greatest Culture Shock I experienced wasn’t even that, although it still is quite the experience being shocked to see another Black person (we’re like unicorns!) whilst in Brooklyn there are people of my complexion all around me.

The MOST shocking thing about coming here, was from sheer virtue of me being a born-and-raised New Yorker: Things close down around here at night! No seriously this was a really big deal for me. For example, the subway lines all close at around 10:30pm?! I don’t even stay out that late on most days, and I gotta say as a New Yorker, accustomed to a 24-hour train system, that is extremely early to me.

Also, the lack of certain foods that I’d get back at home is painful. I haven’t seen a regular Kit-Kat since I got here, and it took me more than a month to find Paprika (you have to go to one of the more Western markets that cater to foreigners to find it). To cope with it, I’ve taken to cooking at my apartment most days, whipping up some vegetarian food just like mom makes back at home. (She’d be so proud!) 

As far as preparedness goes, I feel that since I had a somewhat working knowledge of Chinese before I got here (though I am essentially still functionally illiterate), and the fact that I prepared as much as I can before arriving here, the one thing I wish I knew about before coming to Shanghai, was how to reach other places outside of Shanghai, from Shanghai. How to work the national train system, and how to pay a phone bill, (would you believe it costs more to call someone outside of your city?! Yeah that shocked me.), and lastly how to set up a bank account. These things would’ve come in handy to know beforehand, but just as in life, we learn as we go!

It’s a part of the adventure, and the best thing you can do is to remember that, and enjoy the journey! <3

Over and Out,

-Jadayah

[brooklynninjainchina]

Scary Moments and a Bloody Nose

So I'll be posting about more day-to-day things soon, but for now I think I'll share some useful information through a short story. (Disclaimer: SLIGHT ICK FACTOR WARNING)

Wait wait, before that, I'll just get straight to the point and say these important things:

1) If you're in a situation you deem to be an emergency, call global public safety first. Even if it's an emergency health situation, call the NYU Public Safety Office, instead of Health and Wellness like I did. In Shanghai, the current number is 51688325. Your RA will be informed and will magically appear to assist you, regardless of the time of day or night.

2)Always, ALWAYS carry your small insurance card that you get as an NYU Student from HTH. Your policy number is on your card. Thank Goodness I was prepared, on this end.

3)A quick walkthrough for emergency hospital visits, you call HTH, NYU's Required Insurance Provider, tell them you're going to the hospital (either for a later appointment, or immediately, and you ask them to send a guarantee letter to the specific hospital you're going to, which says that your treatment is guaranteed to be paid. Here in Shanghai it's either the Shanghai United Family Hospital, which is an international hospital not too far away from campus or the off campus dorms, or another one.

Really, I've no idea how this would work out if you were in actual dire straits and weren't suffering from a mere "really bad nosebleed" like I was. I'm just telling you the procedure (they'll give you more on this when you arrive to campus), and I'm telling you how it happened for me.

~OK GUYS STORY TIIIIIIME! ~

Firstly, I'll say Shanghai weather changes are almost as drastic as New York's. Three days before this it was around 85 degrees, and then the temperature plummeted to 60. And now I have a cold. >_< Or rather, I had a cold, but after drinking lots of Tea and Orange Juice, as well as heeding my fathers advice about keeping my neck covered, I'm OK now, and sans-cooties. I'm totally OK now. 

Guys if you ever get a cold, I recommend this simple home remedy mixing warm water with a bit of ginger, lemon, and honey. According to the internet, if you add cinnamon and vinegar, it works even better. Like, drink it, and BOOYAH, you feel better.

So basically what happened was I had this nosebleed that went for like, ten minutes straight, which was pretty disconcerting. I was on my computer at like 3 am (because facebook) and I had a cold, so I blew my nose... and then I noticed blood. And then there was more blood. If you're like me, then the sight of blood doesn't scare you at all, but if it continues to come out after 10 minutes straight, you might get a tad concerned.

So my thoughts were just like: "Oh dear, there's Blood. Annnnd it's not stopping. Thank goodness I have tissue. Yep. I should probably call someone." 

So I just called the Health and Wellness center, explained my situation, and that I needed to go to a hospital immediately (Note: this reaction, while totally understandable, generally isn't necessary for 90% of nosebleeds. I called them because I don't remember ever seeing that much come out of my nose at once) The lady at the other end of the phone said she'd contact the people around me here in Shanghai who could help, so I got dressed and waited.

A few minutes later, my nose stops bleeding, and a few minutes after that, now that I'm all cleaned up and looking fine, my RA comes to help.

After I assure her that despite the fact that I appeared to be fine, I needed doctor, immediately, she has me call HTH following the above described procedure, and we cab it to the hospital, where the doctor examined me, and basically told me this: 

"Yeah you're ok. Sometime's people's noses just spurt out blood like fountains. It be that way sometimes, homie. Here's some medicine for your cold, and here's some medicine to dry your nose.  You'll be aight. Keep it thuggin on the flip side. Peace out."

He then taught me how to hold my nose (facing downward, closing both nostrils, holding my nose just below the bridge-bone, for ten minutes straight), told me to pick up my prescription (free because of NYU Insurance) from down the hall, and went along his merry way.

He peeped I was concerned so had me set up a follow up appointment for a few days later. (UPDATE I went to the follow up appointment a few days later, and the hospital was state of the art! The ear-nose-throat doctor examined me, did a quick check-up on my bio stats (via more blood), told me I was fine (including my nose), and sent me on my way.)

The hospital had wifi and English speaking staff who were polite and helpful, which made me happy.

I called my parents via wifi and told them what happened. 

And then after all was said and done, my RA took me back to our apartments.

I mean, I could rant about the inefficiency of the health care system at large, but I'm just proud of myself for not panicking, and grateful to my RA for being so levelheaded as well.

Thanking God that I'm Alive, and with an unbloodied nose.

[brooklynninjainchina]

Just so you know, there's a Black Hair Salon in Shanghai! It's called Studio Ebony, and they're wonderful people. If you've short hair, they even have a barber on duty as well. You can find out all about them here: https://www.facebook.com/studioebonyshanghai

My hair is kinky, and curly, and grows up and out like a tree (we just call it an afro), rather than down, like that of most people here in China.

Honestly, a part of me has always wanted to go into a local hair salon that caters to local hair, and ask them to do my hair. Just to see what would happen- what sort of reactions that would warrant. Hey, I'm an anthropologist, but one with a sense of humor!

Anyway, the wonderful girl who did my hair (wonderfully, I might add), her name was Mimi, and she was from Togo, West Africa. In Togo, they speak French, and she came to China to attend university. Thing is, while French is one of her primary languages, and she speaks amazing Chinese, she was still working on her English. Meanwhile there's me, who speaks English as a primary language, and having only taken six weeks of French in my life, but my Chinese is OK. 

So here we are in a hair salon in Shanghai, two Black girls, with homes on opposite sides of the world, but ancestors in close places, using Chinese to communicate. Chinese was the linguistic bridge between the two of us ~Africans~.

So amazing , and so surreal!

Anywho for whoever may need it, I highly recommend Studio Ebony, their services are top notch, the atmosphere is wonderful, and even their music was great. For a few hours, it felt as if I were back in Brooklyn, and I felt at home :)

[brooklynninjainchina]

So at the little goose pagoda there was  this guy who had a kiosk with costumes and stuff, and we could take pictures in period dress... you see here, the picture of me in the Yellow, but what you dont see is the HUGE crowd of people behind the camera. It was crazy. 

I'll post more pictures of all of us, and of the people, shortly.

[brooklynninjainchina]

This man was doing calligraphy next to his calligraphy vending items, and on a whim, I asked him to teach me some calligraphy. He spent the next ten minutes showing me stroke order, when a crowd had gathered around us to see what we were doing and talking about. It was so much fun to speak with him, and I now have my own calligraphy set (just a brush and a practicing scroll). Perhaps when I'm good enough, I'll get a legit set with ink, etc.)

Theres so much work and beauty that goes into a single stroke! :)

It was inspiring.

[brooklynninjainchina]

Life Lessons Part 3

This is the skating arena I learned to skate in. In case you haven't notices, I'm the type of person who learns big life lessons from the smallest things. For example, I just learned how to actually roller-skate (without holding the railing). I was scared and nervous almost to the point of tears, but I learned that if I don't cope with the discomfort of being afraid to fall, I'd never learn. I finally got a hang of it and as my friends flew by me, I tried to catch up with them and almost fell. Lesson Learned: go at your own pace, because if you go on the same track comparing yourself to others, you're bound to fail. Eventually, I took my very last trek around, and fell very softly and recovered quickly. Most important lesson: Falling is OK. The whole point in falling is to get back up! Even though I couldn't skate for my life, I tried to encourage the other people who were falling too, saying "Jia You!" (Add oil) Which is like a "Keep on going! Go get em!" Kinda thing. Anywho by end of the night, whenever I slowed down or almost fell, my friends or a stranger would stop me and remind me of that. Jia You. Even cooler, by the end of the night, I was actually skating! By myself, at a moderately fast pace! OMG I can skate!  ... And now I'm happily sore from skating so much. All Praises Due to Allah. 

[brooklynninjainchina]

Fall Break Life Lessons~

After we left the Kaifeng and the Shaolin Temple in Zhengzhou, we went to Xi'an, a part of China famous for it's ancient history, it's city walls (it's actually the Historical Mulan's hood!), as well as having a large population of Chinese Muslims. 

While I was in Xi'an, I walked into a store and while I was looking around these store worker girls came to me and asked where I was from. When I explained I was African-American, they laughed, one literally slapped the other and said "see?! I TOLD YOU she was African!" And I noticed a black faced figurine bowl (not too unlike a "mammy") in her hand. I don't like being made a joke of (who does?) so I walked briskly out the store in a huff. Then in my anger, the thought occurred to me " I can either be angry, or I can educate. Or I can at least learn, and figure out why those figurines were there in the first place." I chose to educate and be educated.

I walked back, and noticed that there were also Maasai figurines next to the Mammy. I asked them why those African cultural figurines were there and where they came from, and they told me the figurines were made in a China, in Yuenan. So then I asked them why would Chinese people make African cultural things, and her answer surprised even me: The Heritage of the people in Yuenan is not too far off from Africa, actually, so they make the figurines and basically express their closeness in doing so. Then I said in Chinese "啊，明白了。我们都一样！“ "Oh I get it! We're all the same!"  Then she said "Yeah."

...And to think I would've never known the story behind those figurines if I went away in a huff and stayed that way.

It’s quite the experience being here so far. Because to some people, I’m the first real life Black person some people have ever seen, it basically means I get to bear the responsibility of representing an entire race of people on my shoulders (at least the way I see it.). And if I react with anger because of something someone did, to others it’s not ” Oh, that girl is crazy.” It’s ” Oh, Black People are crazy.” On one hand its an honor to be a bridge and rep my people. But sometimes it’s unfair when I can’t just go off on people like I might if people tried to pull the kind of stuff they pull here, back in NYC. 

[brooklynninjainchina]

So It's been a while, but I'm finally posting about my trip over Fall Break :) 

So for fall break, four of my friends and I went to Kaifeng, Luoyang, and Xian, in the more mid-north part of China.

During the course of our trip, we visited the Shaolin Temple. Yes, that's right, THE Shaolin Temple! (cue epic battle music) To get there from Kaifeng, we had to take a bus to a van that takes you up the mountain road to the Temple.

At the Temple, aside from the incredible ancient historical buildings, the sight of monks walking about, the awe-inspiring martial arts presentations by the young training monks, there's  Song Mountain (Songshan Mountain Range) that's counted among one of the 5 Great Mountains in China.

Yeah so I climbed part of it, and it changed my life! I learned so many life lessons, I thought I'd share with you! 

STORY TIME, YA`LL!

At first I thought the cable car was all there was to this mountain, but then as it turned out, there was an entire range to climb! Not only that, but when I looked into the hazy distance, there was a temple on the other side of the range.

We started out climbing. At times I was so focused on the steps and not falling, that when I finally lifted my eyes from my feet and looked around me, I saw one of the most beautiful landscapes I've ever seen in my LIFE. I'd never seen mountains like this before, and it just reminded me something that a wise man once told me:

Lesson 1: "you have to understand that its not just about your destination, but the journey it took you to get there as well. Head to your destination, but appreciate the path too."

As we continued along the path, (although we really should've been heading in the opposite direction, back down the cable car, to the Shaolin Martial Arts Show, we were scheduled to see) sometimes I found myself intimidated by how many steps there were, and how steep the steps were at times. Like "My legs are already shaky from walking so much this whole day! Idk how I'm gonna make it up all these stairs"

LESSON 2: Anywho, as cliche as it sounds, then it occurred to me that if I just too it "one step at a time", literally, then climbing wasn't nearly as daunting or impossible to do.

We were wondering how long it'd take us to reach the temple, and we saw some people who were getting tired on the way there, so to encourage my fellow climbers, I just said "Jia You!" (add oil-> It's like Chinese for "go get em! keep moving forward!" all that cheering stuff)

Funnily enough, once when I was slowing down, getting tired, some dude I had passed before saw me panting, looked at me expectantly and said "Jia You." as if to say "Have you forgotten what you told me, already?"

.. Yeah so I just HAD to pass him again.

My friend told me that we HAD to start walking back, even though we hadn't yet reached the temple, and though I wanted to keep going, and eventually get there, I felt like I had learned enough, and experienced enough on that mountain, which taught me yet ANOTHER lesson: 

Lesson 1.2: Sometimes, even not reaching your destination is ok, if you can say that you appreciated your journey, and your effort in the first place. So long as you can honestly say "I did my best", then all is well. :)

Then one last thought occurred to me as I walked back toward the cable cars, that although the journey was difficult for those of us on the mountain (which included babies being carried by parents, to really old people)

someone had to carve those stairs in the first place. 

WHAT MUST THAT HAVE BEEN LIKE FOR THEM?!

yeah so after that I couldn't even THINK of complaining. 

[domodest]

This weekend, I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Lenny of Lenny’s NYC - a chain of 15 sandwich shops located throughout New York City. It was today that Mr. Lenny gave me some words of wisdom that I’m going to keep with me for the rest of my life. If nothing else, I’d have to say that my internship...

[brooklynninjainchina]

this is beautiful, so I thought I'd share it.

[brooklynninjainchina]

Communication Advice

I strongly recommend installing the Tango app on your mobile device to communicate abroad. granted, you can only Communicate with other people who have the app, but it’s great and simple to use. You can make Wi-Fi calls, video calls, send text messages, Send videos, and send voice recordings. All you need is Wi-Fi. It’s incredible. Also, the best time to video chat or meet with people on the other side of the world is between 8-12. Because whether morning or night, people are likely to be up.