Tag Archives: arrival

Chasing the Sun to Beijing

On my flight I would look out the window every so often and every time I would be blasted by the sunlight bouncing beautifully around the clouds and sky.  But the kicker here is this: for the entire umpteen hour flight, it was always sunny outside.  Kinda cool, its like I was chasing the sun to beijing.  All that extra daylight caught up with me though, felt really tired after the flight.  Watched several movies, ate bad airplane food.  Standard fare.

Day one: If a picture is worth a thousand words, here’s several thousand words (plus a few more for caption purposes)

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Welcome to Beijing Foreing Studies University!
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Courtyard near the dorms where old people practice taichi in the mornings.
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My first authentic Chinese meal: BAOZI!!!  Cost: 4.5 Yuan, approx 0.68 USD for a dozen delicious steamed pork dumplings.  Mouth watering just thinking about it.
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Apparently, Trix are for Chinese Kids too!  Cost: 14 Yuan, approx 2.12 USD 
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First Chinese restaurant experience.  It was… interesting haha.  Well, even the local Chinese student said that there’s better food out there so I feel justified. They have Coke and Sprite here!
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My first Chinese Pizza experience, courtesy of PBD Pisa.  Apparently one of the better pizza places in the Beijing Haidian area. Taste just like home.  For some reason they tape their boxes shut for delivery, UPS style.  Had to rip the boxes open haha.  Sarah giving her thumb of approval.  
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My first Chinese supermarket purchase experience.  Universal extension cord (must have, due to different power outlet), toothpaste, men’s facial wash, loofa.  Cost: 47.5 Yuan, approx 7.20 USD
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Intersection near the University where I almost died… twice.  Drivers here do not respect personal space.  
More to come!  Keep posted!  

Location: Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing, China

Day…Three? That’s It?

Where do I even begin?  With packing I suppose.  Try though I might, I could not manage to make myself pack prior to the night before my flight.  Even with no one left in Corning, I still managed to successfully procrastinate until the last minute.  In spite of this, I am proud of myself for one reason: I did NOT over pack.  Which, for those who know me, is quite a feat.  This would be much more of a triumph if I had managed not to UNDER pack.  Unfortunately this is not the case, and I have had to run into Canterbury various times to pick up many odds and ends.

I suppose that brings me to the next stage of my journey – the flight!  My flight was scheduled for 9 PM on Friday the 17th.  The actual flight was delayed a bit, so I ended up landing in London around 10:30 AM, instead of 9.  Overall, the trip was smooth – I received my luggage and visa with no problems (other than the MONSTROUS line for visas).  The Kent representatives were ready and waiting for us, and I quickly met many of the other American students who were waiting for a coach to take them to the University.  The coaches back to the University were supposed to leave every half hour or so, but there had been an accident on the road we needed to travel, so we ended up waiting for a couple of hours in the airport before being picked up.  During this time, I decided that my first official purchase in the United Kingdom should be coffee, as I was terribly jet-lagged, and I love coffee.

DSCN2295.JPGOf course I documented this special occasion.

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And naturally, the next thing I did with this very exciting purchase was spill it on another fairly recent (and no longer very white) purchase.  Sorry Merrells.

After spending two hours on the coach, we arrived!  And spent most of the afternoon checking in and unpacking – fairly uneventful.  There were some immediate cultural differences that I noticed, mainly what was/is expected of students.  While all of the orientation and Welcome Events were helpful, it seems that students are expected to take control and get everything sorted out themselves.  Another difference is in what Universities here consider to be necessities.  Pillows more than two inches thick, real coffee, top sheets, and heat, apparently, are not of vital importance.  Beer, pamphlets, and recycling, however, are at the top of the list.  One thing I was not expecting is the lack of heat.  Yes, it is autumn, but no heat until October?!  Unacceptable.  Our apartment is pretty much freezing at all times.  Which is why there are now three (count them, 1, 2, 3…) duvets on my bed. 

I must say, the student accommodation here is MUCH nicer than in the U.S.  The other internationals were all shocked when we told them that for our first year (and second, third, and forth for many students), we are forced to share a room with another person.  It is fairly unheard of in Europe, as far as I can tell.  My room is really nice, and the house was recently refurbished. 

DSCN2296.JPGI have four housemates, two are ‘freshers’ from the UK (Tino and Jack) and two international students who are both here for one semester (Ally and Falicia).  Much to my surprise, Ally walked out of her room wearing a State hoodie.  Turns out she goes to Penn State!  Small world?  I think so. 

It has been a blast getting to know all of the other international students (most of the other Kent students won’t arrive until the end of Fresher’s Week).  I have met so many French, German, and Spanish students, they are all wonderful. 

We have gone into Canterbury a few times to look around and pick up groceries and housewares.  I’m excited to spend a day just walking around the city centre though, enjoying the scenery.  As far as I can tell, there are about a million (not an exaggeration) cute shops, pubs, cafes, and stores around Canterbury – and I plan to visit them all!  Tomorrow is the Cathedral visit, so I will learn a bit more about the history of the city and Cathedral.  It should be a lovely day, so I’m excited to be able to relax, sleep in, and enjoy the city. 

There have been so many shocks (good and bad) since I’ve arrived.  I can hardly believe it’s only been three days, I feel like I have been here for at least a month.  I am really looking forward to becoming a true member of English society.  I’ve gotten a good start by using some new vocabulary (i.e., bin, uni, rubbers [erasers], fresher, biscuit, and crisps) and getting a mobile.  There are some things I still have to get used to, like the ENORMOUS flying bugs.  These things look like giant mosquitoes…that lift weights and take steroids.  Apparently they are just Daddy-Long-Legs with wings though, and do not bite.  I still have to get used to them, I don’t think I will be a fan anytime soon though. 

As much as I would like to become a true member of English society, there is one thing I will not accept.  The lack of real coffee.  While much of Europe is known for excellent coffee, the UK is absolutely an exception.  I have located one coffee maker (price of which was astronomical), and a coffee filter.  Other than that, it is instant coffee as far as the eye can see.  I plan on finding a good alternative by the end of the week.  One other difference I’ve noticed is that very few people run outdoors.  I have gone on a couple of runs, and mainly get strange looks from students.  People are always running around campus at Penn State, so this was a strange experience.  This resulted in me leaving campus to run around the surrounding town, and subsequently getting lost for about 30 minutes. 

I hope to post again later this week with more about the Cathedral, Canterbury, and my experiences on campus.  Pictures and stories to come! 


Location: Canterbury, UK

Arriving at SFS

So much traveling! Once I got to Nairobi and waited all day for the rest of the group to arrive, we took a little plane over the border to Tanzania. Then we drove for an hour to a hotel. Since we boarded at dusk and drove in the dark, I was unable to see anything that surrounded me. The next morning, we got up early to leave and when I stepped out of the room I was so amazed by what I saw. There was a beautiful mountain and trees, mist was rising up from the ground and there was a cute bright colored caf�. My first real sight of Tanzania. It was perfect. Then we took the 4 hour drive to our camp site. On the way we saw giraffes and baboons and buffalos along the road. We stopped at a lookout over Lake Manyara and saw flamingos in the distance and so many flocks of birds. Everything was so amazing. And then when we got to the Center–SO AMAZING! It’s in this tiny town which is beautiful and when our land cruisers pulled in there were all these people waiting and waving to us. The camp is still under construction since it is the new site. But it’s incredible. They are making everything perfect for us. Our bandas are big, I only have to share with two other girls. We have our own bathroom with hot water. A volleyball court is being made. The chefs and cleaning people are all local and are so nice to us. I just can’t believe how wonderful it is here. Totally surpassed my expectations. Most all the students are great too. Still getting to know everyone. My roommates are Carrie and Arima and they are so much fun. We spent last night writing in our journals and chatting and laughing together. Today we had orientation for our classes: Environmental Policy, Wildlife Management, Wildlife Ecology, and Swahili Language/Culture. It all seems very interesting and our teachers are very nice. We will be going out into the field a lot with them too. Our first trip is to Lake Manyara National Park. We are doing that Saturday. Should be awesome. After orientation today, we went into the village to try our hand at greeting people. That was an interesting experience. We went off on our in small groups and practiced what little Swahili we knew from today and yesterday: hello (in a couple of ways), how are you?, I’m a student, what’s your name?, my name is… I was very nervous since I don’t like this sort of thing. But it was a lot of fun in the end. The townspeople are extremely nice for the most part. They like to smile and wave and help you with your Swahili if they can. They also like to laugh at you when you look stupid. But they are well natured. They are actually excited for us to be here. Foreign people pass through this town on the way to tourist spots like Serengeti, but they don’t really stay here. Our director and staff have worked really had to prepare the people for our coming, to ask their permission, to join their community board, and all that. So we are the first students ever to come here. It is so exciting. They keep telling us what an effect we are going to have on these people and how we are trailblazers for every other group of students that come here. So we have to make a really good impression on the town. We live so close to them, we are literally their neighbors. It won’t be like that in Kenya. That site is much more of a field station, we are told. Its surrounded by animals, not people. Which I am excited about. But it will be a downgrade in comforts. No hot water, apparently the internet is way worse there, and stuff like that. I’m excited to find out but I already know I will be sad to leave here in like 6 weeks. This place is beyond my wildest dreams. It is called the Moyo Hill Site, because we are located at the very top of the hill of town. Moyo means heart. Which is so fitting. Everyone has such a happy heart here 🙂 


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Location: Karatu, Tanzania

First taste of in-flight vodka, creepy taxi drivers and party hostels

You know what’s really time-consuming? Keeping a blog. Ha.

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So yeah, I’m finally here, and I have to say, being alone in another country feels great.

You’ll have to pardon me not taking many more pictures, as I want to take pictures of anything and everything, but I don’t exactly want to go flashing around to the whole known world that I have an expensive DSLR camera with me, and that I’m a clueless foreigner at that. Once I get my bearings a bit better and look like I know what I’m doing, I’ll take more environmental shots, etc, etc.

For now, though, I’m taking pictures in the privacy of my own dorm and whenever I deem it safe enough to do so. As in this above photo I shot of myself in the bathroom of the Milhouse Avenue Hostel:

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So this hostel is pretty awesome. If by chance you ever come to Buenos Aires, I highly recommend it. As soon as I walked in, a 20-something-year-old hippie dude called out to me from behind the counter. The most prominent sign when you walk in reads, “PARTY – Tonight at 11:30.” Staff is really hospitable. They play awesome music (Led Zeppelin when I walked through the door, right now some kind of jazz-rock fusion stuff). Oh, and the security is through the roof. You’re most likely only going to find other foreigners here, I’d say. I ran into several people speaking Portuguese. It felt good, not being able to understand what they were talking about. Like I was in a real cosmopolitan community.

So my Tio Rico thought I was going to arrive on the flight tomorrow, not today. I waited for him for about an hour, being heckled by a helpful, perhaps overbearing or even creepy old guy who kept offering me a ride in his taxi. He was missing some teeth and was a wiry man. He seemed pretty trustworthy, though. Regardless, Lesson #1: Don’t accept rides from overenthusiastic strangers that hang near airport exit terminals.

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LAN Chile Airlines comes highly recommended from me. It was hard to understand the English, so I can honestly say you might miss some really important directions if you didn’t have a handle on Spanish as well. But there were televisions on every seat, great foodstuffs and cute, crying babies to boot. I waved to Matheus, the little guy next to me, and he then kept waving back at me the whole ride, staring at me with wide black eyes.

I tried to teach him the peace sign, but sigh, to no avail. He’ll have to wait a few years for his inner hippie to arise.

Anyway, I got served in-flight vodka. Drinking age is 18 in Chile and Argentina. We weren’t quite out of the US when they offered me wine, beer or hard liquor, but maybe the drinking age up in the air on LAN Chile is 18, no matter where you are.

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In any case, it was good. And you see that cheesecake in the corner of the picture there? Delicious. How about the TV screen? Movies, TV shows, music, and much more in both English and Spanish, sometimes Portuguese. EDIT: You can’t see the TV in this pic, I apologize, but you can probably imagine what it looks like.

As soon as the plane landed, I realized it was raining. Oh no! So I didn’t get to see Buenos Aires from above.

I did get to experience winter in Santiago, though. Man, they’re not kidding when they say it’s winter down there – it was snowing! More like flurrying, but you get the idea.

Well, I’m off to traverse the unknown and find a cell phone, as well as see if I can contact two IES students who happened to arrive early as well. In any case, there’s a party tonight, so I’m sure there’ll be plenty of dancing, as well as opportunity to meet people from around the world. Woot.

Last note: If you ever travel internationally, make sure you take off all of your metal chains and apparatuses, shoving them into your bag beforehand. Of course, I’ve taken care to be conservative with necklaces, etc., before on flights, but lo and behold I spent several minutes stripping at security this time around… Yeah. Don’t be that guy.


Location: Avenida de Mayo 1245, Buenos Aires, Argentina