Campbell Abroad @campbellabroad-blog - Tumblr Blog

Paul the Panda does Hot Pot #china

Summer Palace in the Snow

Thankful

Going for Gold

11/20/15 On Fridays the school lets out a bit earlier and we finish our teaching/observations earlier as well. This week we decided that we were going to utilize our half a day and do some sight seeing. Today we braved the cold and rainy weather to go see the Olympic Park, which consists of the Water Cube and the Bird’s Nest. We took the subway there and exited to masses of people, there were tour groups of about 40 walking around. We started our self-guided tour at the Water Cube; this is where the water events were held. The building is huge and inside there were significantly less people. We wandered around looking at a water park, diving pool, and a pool for laps. There were people just swimming around in the lap pool with tourists just watching them, it was a very odd moment indeed. There was as gift shop and a toy store but I resisted the urge. Before leaving the Cube Cathryn spotted a machine that makes fresh orange juice. Looking at this I was not convinced that this was going to go well. Like how long have those oranges been there? She got one and I tried it… then I got one. It was really good. After leaving the Cube we ventured to the Bird’s Nest. The stadium is huge and the architecture is very interesting. Again there were not many people in the stadium at all. In fact if felt like we were the only people in there. I was freezing at this point and getting dark. We walked down to the field and there was a large construction project going on. From the screens around it seems that it is going to be a snow ramp for tricks and such. After walking around a bit we decided to keep exploring the park. So we walked around to some different buildings and the torch holder. As we wondered around we passed by a couple different school groups. So many of the students yelled hi or hey to us. One girl even asked to take Cathryn’s photo and then like 6 other kids took pictures too. It was really cute. I love when the kids speak English to me. Its so cute when like a really young kid comes up and says hi! Much like in America I can’t resist waving or smiling at young children, here they just stare a bit more than at home. We slowly made our way to the subway. As we were walking we passed the Water Cube all lit up and changing colors. It was really pretty and fun to watch. The stadium also lit up. Then the streetlights came on, you would have thought that fireworks had just gone off with peoples reactions. People like squealed with excitement and then cheered. It was so funny. Once we made it to the subway we decided to go and see the Hunger Games last movie. It was wonderful. The ordering of the tickets went much smother than last time. I took a picture of the film and title in mandarin with us to show. The movie was in English with mandarin subtitles. I loved the movie and it help end a great day!

Saw the Hunger Games today, oh and the Bird's Nest #realornotreal

#realornotreal

Campbell and the Conference

11/17/15 When coming home a couple of nights ago from a trip to our favorite spot (a Starbucks with great Wi-Fi) we got a message about a conference that the school was holding for American Principles. They wanted to know if we wanted to attend, being that it didn’t interfere with our class schedules we agreed quickly. Of course since I am about to graduate I kind of jump at any opportunity to meet administration (but that’s beside the point). After agreeing to attend they asked us if we felt comfortable speaking about the program that NC State has with the school and what we think we have gotten from being in China. Though I have a ton to talk about, the idea of speaking in front of like 50 principles terrifies me. I’m used to talking to 12 year olds not grown-ups, its scary. The conference was held in a large fancy room with rows of large important chairs lined around facing a podium and monitor that spaded the length of the wall. We got a seat near the back and watched as all of the people filled into the room. There were a number of cameras snapping pictures as well as video crews setting up around the room. The room was buzzing with chatter and talk about the trip that these principles have been on. They have visited a number of schools throughout China and this was their last stop. Last to come into the room were the lead administration here at BRS. Before the meeting began we were given our queue for when we were supposed to stand up and talk. My nerves were shot and Cathryn said she got it, so with that the meeting started. The central focus was AP courses here and how it is helping really prep the students for going to university abroad. When our time came to speak I introduced us and explained what we are doing here and then Cathryn went on to talk about the benefits for both our and their school. The fact that we are getting such a hands on experience with ELL students and ourselves having to go through what many of our students go through moving into a new country or city was the center of our talk. I was quite impressed with her talk (and my small contribution) and so were the principles. We were invited to attend lunch with the group in which we got bombarded with questions centered on our experience. This was such a great opportunity; I even got a couple cards (be proud parents).

11/12/15

#ncsustudyabroad china

The Lama Temple and Some Stairs

11/12/15 This week was mid-term week for all of the students. The way that they test is much different than in the states. The students have school wide midterms that last all morning or all afternoon. That being said we didn’t have much teaching to do. To still be helpful here we did do some paper work (every teachers favorite thing). We categorized old tests into their different subgroups to make it easier to cover later on. The categories were a little different than the ones at home, so we had to work many of the problems out. We worked on this all morning and finished before lunch. Since there was so much time left in the day we checked with our mentor teacher to see if we could go explore. She told us to have fun and we were off. We ventured to the Lama Temple, the Bell Tower, and the Drum Tower. The Lama Temple is a beautiful Tibetan Buddhist Temple with amazing architecture and people watching opportunities. It is the largest and most well preserved in the country. As we walked in there were signs pointing us to incense everywhere so we got a complementary box of incense. As we walked we realized why we got these boxes, loads of people were lighting their incense and worshiping. It truly was a sight to see, though my eyes didn’t love all of the smoke. There were many people worshiping and a few spectators like us. Each hall we entered had different figures and statues that all represented different things. People would bow with their incense, and place food or other goods on the table in front of the figure. There was one for good health, prosperity, and things like that. I think the coolest thing was the huge Maitreya Statue that was over three stories high. It had been caved out of a single white sandalwood tree. I was so beautiful and hands down the best part. Once we left the Temple we continued our self guided tour and went to the Bell and Drum Tower. After a bit of confusion in what stop to get off at we made it to the towers. These buildings were how they used to keep time for the city. We started at the Bell Tower because the there was a drum show in a bit and the guard told us to start at the bell to make it on time. I was almost creepy how non-crowed it was. I guess it was because it was a weekday and it was a big foggy out. I didn’t mind it made my life easier. As we entered the Tower we had to go through security and then we turned a corner and saw the stairs. Y’all the stairs were so tall and steep; I thought I was going to have leg cramp or something. Once we made it up the crazy tall stairs we saw this huge bell. It is about 7 meters tall and weighs over 63 tons. We wondered around the tower just long enough to catch our breath. Then we were off to the Drum Tower to see the drums and the performance. As we entered the Drum Tower it was the same thing with security and then… an even taller staircase. I kid you not these stairs were mental. Once we made it to the top the guards were giggling with us at how horrible it was. The sight was pretty cool through. This tower was a bit bigger and it was lined with many drums, big and small, old and less old. We sat trying to catch our breath when the show started. It was a group of five people that were trained to beat these huge drums. It was such and experience (and made the stairs sort of worth it). The drum show went on for about five minutes and shook my chest with every beat. After the show we ventured down the steep staircase to clear our minds with some shopping. China continues to surprise me everyday, from temples to people selling fruit on the street Beijing is a pretty cool place.

#ncsustudyabroad

Showtime – Acrobat Show

11/11/15 Today after finishing our work at the school we decided to go see an acrobat show. We hopped onto the bus and then the subway… all by ourselves. The pubic transportation is simple, for the most part. The only real issue I have is when I have to try and squeeze into an over packed bus. So public transport it great but here is the issue, if people are getting literally having to be pushed onto a bus I think some changes need to be made. Anyway we made it to the venue of the show that Cathryn found online. When we first entered we were so excited about the concession stand, we were hungry due to the fact that we had missed dinner. Everything was so cheap, you know when you go to like a Broadway show and a cup of coke is like 7 bucks, here it’s like everything is 7 bucks. Once that excitement dulled down the show started. At first we didn’t know what to expect because it was just ladies holding flowery things while people did cartwheels (still more than I can do though). As the show continue it got more and more intense. There was one set in which they literally flew out above the crowd just holding a rope. Then another these two guys went around in hamster-wheels basically, but they like when on the outside of it. It ended with 7 motorcycles in a metal ball, the kind of thing you would see one many two guys do at a fair in the states. The show was amazing, though I thought I might have a heart attack due to the risky behavior taking place. I am so glad that we took this trip to see these talented performers.

Lama Temple (at 雍和宫 Lama Temple)

Had a great time at Acrobatics World tonight! #whatashow #beijing

#whatashow #beijing

The Great Wall of China

#wow china greatwall ncsustudyabroad

The Great Wall

Saturday 11/7/15 This morning the school organized a trip to the Great Wall for us. I was so beyond excited for this, I mean people dream about doing this their whole life and I was given the opportunity to go. We had a driver and the ride was about 2 hours. I slept for the first part of the ride but then when I opened my eyes there were these amazing mountains, much larger than the ones at home. The view from the car was breath taking, little did I know what was to come. When we arrived, the parking lot looked a lot like a ski resort, mainly because all of the snow that had fallen the day before. It was not very crowded and we found a parking spot with ease. As we walked up to the cable cars we passed many venders selling warm clothes and snacks as well as a camel, why a camel I have no idea. We decided to take the cable cars because the ground was very slippery due to the snow and ice. The trip walking takes normally about 2 hours and with the snow it would have doubled (at least) so we opted for the 5-minute cable car ride. As we ascended to the top of the mountain in the cable car my breath was again taken away. It was so pretty, we could see many mountains as well as a part of the Great Wall. The snow covering the mountains was just beautiful and the wall was so very large. The crowd wasn’t that big so we ventured to a few different spots to take pictures. I got a bit misty looking at the view, not gonna lie. We tried to climb up to one of the towers but it was so slippery I though I was going to fall and nock down everyone in my path. As we wondered the grounds our crowd got quite a few looks and pictures taken of us. It was fun to watch everyone play in the snow and ice. One group was really into it giggling and throwing it at each other. They noticed me watching and showed me the snow in their hands, I just smiled and laughed along with them. Then the lady who was showing me the snow threw it up in the air around us sprinkling it down into my hair. It was so funny I couldn’t help but cackle. Words and pictures really don’t do justice for the sight. We left shortly after that creating a plan for the rest of the day. We opted to go see a movie at the mall. This sounded easy enough but when all of the movie titles are in Mandarin with no pictures it is hard to figure out what movie is yours. We enlisted the help of a couple different people and we got our tickets for Maze Runner 2. I have already seen the movie but we figured it would be a good way to spend the rest of our very eventful day. During the movie I realized a couple cultural differences. So like in the states you have to turn off your phone in the theater people would flip if your cell went off, not here people were taking pictures of the screen, texting, and answering phone calls throughout the movie. Also you know kids and how they love to talk, well in the states a parent would have shhhh-ed their child or taken them outside. Not here, the kid behind me was getting the whole story told to him in mandarin, with the kid talking the entire time. It was a very eye-opening experience to say the least. All and all it was a wonderful day. It’s crazy how I can go from doing something so crazy like touring a part of the Great Wall to watching a movie in the mall. I am very excited to see were this adventure continues to take me.

#ncsustudyabroad china greatwall

Forbidden City

#ncsustudyabroad china

Tiananmen Square

#ncsustudyabroad china

‘Center of the Universe’

#ncsustudyabroad

Temple of Heaven

#ncsustudyabroad

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

Campbell Abroad