Xie Ma Li is in the BUILDING!!! (Page 2)

lol. where are you, lady m? we need you to explain all of this immediately.

sb, i saw the post you wrote on the scorp board about coming to america. i have no idea how my parents will react to me wanting to leave...although i told them years ago i wanted to study abroad at some point. i hope they have the same reaction that your parents did. i liked hearing about your experience, i'm sure i'll suffer similar anxiety at first...just trying to form a plan at this point because i don't have a lot of money saved at this point. i can probably save quite a bit by jan...so i think i'm gonna look for options with the school i'm transferring to.

idk, ever since i was young i've felt this "pull" to travel. i've always wanted to, and it seems like it would be a good idea to do it soon because frankly i'm tired of living here.

kudos for sticking it out. sounds like it was a really tough transition.

it's because of things like that that i want to try and do it while i'm still in school. it's kinda complicated though...cause i have someone who really wants me to live with them, but i'm going to a school and they're not, so idk if we'd be able to live together. i mean, they're a lot of fun and i'm sure it would be awesome living with them, just not sure if i can do that. haha....i know i need to plan for me above all else, and not concentrate on integrating plans w/someone else so much.

just got majorly burned by not focusing on myself enough...so i'm not gonna make that mistake again.

thanks for the advice, i'll try to keep that in mind...

my associate's is in social science, and i plan to get a bachelor's in psychology, and then a master's in social work.

kristof...would you mind telling me why you asked about my major? please...

and antibling, you should be ashamed, trying to ride a poor college student for all they're worth. tsk.

you said you got MOLLESTED? whoaa! how?

I'm not sure about Lady M but kinda have a general idea what she means - I'm there now and a different color, height, etc...have people pulling at my hair, touching my face, nearly poking my teeth asking me if it's real, I swear sometimes they look at me like they don't know if I'm male or female or even human. I'm making a collage of everyone gawking at me - it's really disturbing - sometimes I don't leave my house for food due to this. People fall of their bikes, park their cars, call their family members from the house, everything basically stops ! can't wait to leave 😢

Plus in the clubs, the DJs speaking chinese - messes with your head !

Hey Wheelhomies, still trying to decide I see - do it man do it ! lol - sorry...but it's never easy...

it's because of things like that that i want to try and do it while i'm still in school.

I think this is the best time to do it too as there's so much support available for students. I did a year at a Canadian uni - I always had the travel bug and as soon as my UK uni said they had the option, I signed up. It was one of the best decisions of my life.
I also had a friend worry about me so much, she put me in touch with someone she knew over there- helped somewhat on the social life. The transition was easier as they spoke English and they had the Queen on the currency ! that shocked me a little - hehe...it's harder if it's a completely different language/culture like now in China - I didn't realise anything could be this difficult but I don't regret it at all...

Yea, I'll tag along with you and bling if you come to England - do it man do it !!! 😉

Good luck !

hehe, hi zena 🙂 you know, you give off such a cool energy that i really wouldn't mind getting a drink w/you.

and as for deciding, i've pretty much made up my mind...now i'm just thinking of ways to actually get it done. i'm going to look into the study abroad program at my school...see what the deal is.

Hehe - nice one - what country?

now i'm just thinking of ways to actually get it done.

If you find out your school's doing it - it'll be great as they do all the organising and even help with accomodation; all you have to do is fill out forms, save money, keep your grades to a certain level, etc. Similar for loads of countries...

However,they may not give you the cheapest available accomodation option - that's the major heads-up.

DXPeople have done it so maybe just add a topic for advice - you can never be over-informed as you're worrying about it.

I, on the other hand, don't think - I just sign the dotted line and say 'bye mom, see you in a year or whatever', she says 'huh? what?'

"Hehe - nice one - what country?"

the UK. not sure exactly where, but probably london.

thanks for all your advice, zenalchemy, you've been awesome. haha, and yeah - the whole "see you in a year"...i may have to do just that.

LOL, I havent been sexually harassed in that sense. Although I have had alot of gawking to my lady bits done. But yes I was poked and prodded. I totally understand Zen, at first its fun b/c oh cool Im the new person whatever, but it gets annoying where you cant even do the little things b/c people are totally being annoying and taking pics of you etc. I now know how celebs feel about paparazzi.

I always had the pull to travel as well Wheels. I hope to work abroad someday.

Bling: I'll go partying with you anytime bling, maybe in the next 4 yrs I'll be in London again for another olympics.

Where are you Zen? I was studying in Tianjin at a foreign studies university but I guess they still arent used to people like me. There are foreign clubs, for example we went to Sitong every wednesday night for latin night...yeah, latin night in China lol. The DJ spoke english and played mainly American music. The "latin" music was more like Shakira.
On Tuesdays the Triads would by us "Mei Guo's" drinks at Coco's. aaaah, I miss China for those reasons.🙂🙂

I now know how celebs feel about paparazzi. ditto

I always had the pull to travel as well Wheels. I hope to work abroad someday.

yea after the year abroad, never really went back home - home just seemed so - MEH...

Where are you Zen? I was studying in Tianjin at a foreign studies university but I guess they still arent used to people like me. There are foreign clubs, for example we went to Sitong every wednesday night for latin night...yeah, latin night in China lol.

No wai ! I was initially supposed to go to Tianjin but the govt up and told the company I work for to vacate as they needed the space to prep the scenery for the Olympics - lol.

So went to the other company office in Hangzhou - spent some time in Shanghai - so so cool (did you visit the south, LM?) - it's not really chinese at all - all very westernised. I know what you mean though about latin nights, reggae nights, in CHINA - lol. And it is not that cheap 😢

Working here for about 6 months - 2 weeks left - I want to stay but want to leave at the same time - hunted down dxp as I missed English sometimes 😉

Aiii capricorn moon'z vot zee chart sayz - wai wai wai how did you know ?!

Oh oh - damn found out my aka ! have to leave dxp now...

what your sign X2?

No, I didnt get a chance to go to the South although I hear Gongzhou is beautiful. Also I tried to get my ticket for Shanghai too late so it wouldnt work out. I only stayed between Beijing and Tianjin. I also went Xian. The south is where all the good knock offs and cheap prices are. They have better food too (Cantonese food is better than Mandarin IMO). Cantonese is what we have mostly hear in the states.

Your right its not that cheap or atleast you dont realize what you spend b/c of the fact you think everything is so cheap. I spent a grand in 6 weeks, which is not what I wanted to spend.

Oh its a large caramel lollipop things made out of one of the animals from the chinese zodiac. I chose the Pheonix I think.








As for this man, he was trying to feed me large flies. I found him in the middle of the mountain while I was climbing Mount Pan. I told him no thank you!

"Bling: I'll go partying with you anytime bling"

but not me? that hurts, lady m. that hurts right here *claps fist to heart* 😛

cool pics LM !

Hey, DCVi, live a little 😉

No, I didnt get a chance to go to the South although I hear Gongzhou is beautiful. Also I tried to get my ticket for Shanghai too late so it wouldnt work out. I only stayed between Beijing and Tianjin. I also went Xian. The south is where all the good knock offs and cheap prices are. They have better food too (Cantonese food is better than Mandarin IMO). Cantonese is what we have mostly hear in the states.

Hmm, Xian sounds amazing. Everyone that went there talks about the rich history.
I do wish I went to Beijing briefly though. I hear it has more history. Shopping in the south is just WOW. They have a leather goods market, jeans market, shoes market, clothes market - Guangzhou and Shenzhen's something else - from shenzhen, you can walk across into Hong Kong, no visa required. Shoes are tiny and great quality clothing like we're used to is rare, so just stick to leather goods and electronics - never had so much fun shopping for accessories - and I bet you, you can't tell the difference with the real stuff. Hong Kong's by far more expensive though but loved it - it's gives a new meaning to the term CITY.
I used to think I prefered Cantonese too - that's what we're used to in the West - but if you get the right selection of Mandarin dishes, boi it's good - so many different culture variations too.

Your right its not that cheap or atleast you dont realize what you spend b/c of the fact you think everything is so cheap. I spent a grand in 6 weeks, which is not what I wanted to spend.

Try spending 6 months ! Everytime I look at me bills, I think, 'but I'm in China??!!' And my currency recently dropped too 😢 Oh well...

Hehe

whats the difference between cantonese vs mandarin food?

Depends on your location...so you may be used to Cantonese.

Cantonese and Mandarin are the major languages - Mandarin's the official Chinese but Cantonese's official Hong Kong so the chinese cities closer to HK speak Mandarin - sure there's some history there that I'm sure I don't know 😉

(IMO)
Cantonese food's what we eat in the West as Chinese cuisine - it's combines lighter, slightly sweeter sauces.

Mandarin Cuisine leans towards slightly stronger, more sour sauces - from mostly Beijing and other northern parts of China -- slightly too strong for Western tastes.

All regions have variations, like all countries.

EDIT * closer to HK speak Cantonese

no no no - each area varies but on the national level, bigger chinese restaurants, that's what you get.

Different provinces have other stuff - like there's this area, Sichaun Province - very hot peppers - used in Tibet, parts of India, etc...

Even cities have their cuisines - like Shanghai's different from neighbouring cities in the same province...

I'm sure Chinese dxpeople can shed more light 😉

Ah --- you're in India?

You left India on Sunday for...?

Yep I'm nosy *pats tip of nose*

Surprisingly the food is not that healthy. Everything was fried or dipped in a vat of oil, even the veggies.

Yea I know what you mean - everything's dipped in oil so I don't eat out much. Even went to the grocery store to see if it was a special kind of oil blend - NOPE just normal...not a lot of bad grease though, just sunflower oils, olive oils, soys and stuff...

They also use chemicals - like soy and msg section in the supermarket's frightening ! But a lot only drink green tea even in the hot summer - does that counteract—

And how do they manage to stay so tiny is what I ask? hmm? hmm? arrrgghhhh

They eat small portion, ftmp. They do alot of walking and bike riding. (Dont get me started on the ATROCIOUS driving) At the end of the trip we found this all you can Hibachi spot where you would only pay 100 kuai...we ate those poor people out of food and beer. The price was clearly not made for Americans. The chef was cute, I think he's the cutest Chinese guy I had seen all summer.




Wal-Mart!! W00T

There are 4 major regions in China and that would apply to Chinese cuisine too in general: East (Shanghainese), North (ie Beijing and regions), South (Cantonese), and West (Sichuan) plus then there are regional variations, and then there are the ethnic minority foods. Mandarin does not have its own cuisine. Hope this helps.

Wooh!!! SOUTH!!!!! Thug Lyfe!

lol @ DK

M, cute chef. I've seen hotter though.

Yep chef's def cute - looks tall too 😉

Walmart rocks - got this 10kg piece of jack fruit - hehe. Like Tesco and Carrefour too...

They do alot of walking and bike riding. agree on the small portions but the ones I meet don't do any biking or walking - they even complain I walk too much.

Xun2, Mandarin's the official chinese language so most people can speak it nationwide - but all areas have different local dialects I think...

Inner lioness - that helped - thanx.

I didnt expect to spend that much even though I had it too spend. I just thought with the exchange rate and everything being so cheap...it wouldnt be possible to spend so much, but I guess you get carried away for those same reasons. You have to understand food and shelter we already paid for. So most of the money went to partying, food, souvenirs, and cabs.

As for the chef he wasnt as skinny as most of the asian boys and he was my same height, maybe a few millimeters shorter.

did you get his math?

Que?

Awesome pics M.

Those caramel lolly things look sweet, if a little difficult to make hehe.

He's got an awesome hat hahahahaha!

the chef- did you get his digits?

Oh no, I didnt even have my cell working in China. Besides we went there 1 day before my flight was leaving.