Meeting the Host Family

Today was a great day.  I first had breakfast at the hotel which was not very noteworthy compared to my other meals here in Zhuhai and Hong Kong.  Next we had our orientation at the University and it was wonderful.  During the orientation we learned how to communicate with our host families and we also received our valuable cell phones.  We went to Canteen 1 at the University for lunch.  It was very delicious.  I had a lot of niurou 牛肉 (beef) and mifan 米饭 (rice).  Again, I am already master of chopsticks.  Next we met our host families! I met Mr. and Mrs. Zhao, my host parents, and most importantly, my host brother Jeremy.  Jeremy is a great guy and his English is almost better than mine.  It’s funny that he corrects my English and Mandarin.  There is no use explaining ebonics to him lol.  But he is a very smart guy and very very tech savvy.  He is in love with Miles Davis which is amazing!  I am actually sitting in his room enjoying some Bitches Brew (his favorite) as I type this.  My host family is very hospitable.  When I arrived, they instructed me to take off my shoes and put on house slippers.  The largest pair they had was a size 9 and I wear a size 15 so that did not work out.  We decided to go shopping for a pair after our dinner.  We went out to a close by place to eat and it was very delicious.  Jeremy called it China’s best attempt at Western food.  We had steak, and a spaghetti type pasta with black pepper.  Afterwards I had more 牛肉 and 白米饭 （white rice) and bingqiling 冰淇凌 (ice cream). It was so good. I have also had a lot of vegetables with every meal so do not worry, Mom.  I had many servings of  xigua 西瓜  (watermelon) today as well.  Xigua literally means western melon.  We then went to shop for slippers…after 3 hours we agreed to order slippers online because they are a necessity in a Chinese home.  So I have class tomorrow and I need to get out of Jeremy’s room even though he claims he does not sleep until 1 AM.  So Miles out.  Zaijian 再见（bye).

To Zhuhai

Today my morning started with a wonder egg and noodle bowl that was extremely delicious and simple, yet seemingly innovative. It consisted of a over easy egg like the ones made by my dad, in a bowl of well seasoned noodles. Hao chī. Delicious. We were then allowed to walk around the city for a while in groups. We walked about 2 miles and then stumbled apon a 7/11 and drank slurpies. Then we took a bus to the ferryport about 30 minutes away. On the 1.5 hour ferry ride to Zhuhai from Hong Kong, I was able to catch up on some Zzz's and eat some great Chinese Chex Mix. When we arrived, we met our exuberant teachers and assistant teachers. They instantly spotted me of course saying “Hello. You are Miles! Your picture is very handsome. You are also very tall like mountain." I made great friends with them instantly. As we took the tour of the city of Zhuhai, I realized that I hated Hong Kong. I had thought that Hong Kong had the best to offer so I acted like I was satisfied with its poverish condition. Zhuhai is almost tropical compared to other places in China. Beijing Normal Univerzity at Zhuhai (BNUZ) is absolutely lovely with over 23,000 students. We are staying in a hotel that is much bigger than the one in Hong Kong and it actually is similar to that of hotels in the United States. Dinner was a Lazy Suzanne type meal style. I have become very proficient with chop sticks only on my 2nd day in China. We had to spin the glass top atop the table to pick the delicacies of shrimp, fried fish, mushrooms, broccoli, squid, rice, beef, cabbage, and watermelon (they must have known I was coming) with our chop sticks very swiftly. Afterwards, we had an oral interview for a placement test. I feel fairly confident about the oral examination but hopefully they put me in level 1 if not lower. I get to meet my host family tomorrow and I am really excited to see them. It will be great!

Day of Travel

Today was definitely an adventure. I managed to survive a 16 hour flight to Hong Kong and get my wallet back from carelessy leaving it on the plane. The plane was so cool. It had three columns of seats grouped in three. The flight was really smooth and I watched movies like RoboCop, Her, Step Brothers, and my all time favorite Mean Girls. After the flight it took some time to regain my wallet but everything is great now. We took an hour long bus ride to a Hong Kong suburb where we are staying. The rooms are very very small and not meant for a person of my size. My roommate is cool. He is from the PG area and is really chill. Around 10:30 pm we went out to eat at a small local restaraunt. We tried everything. My roommate and I sat at a booth with a Hong Kong citizen, Kai Ling and she forced us to eat it all until we repeated “Shì baôla" (I am full) several times. She frequently gave us a thumbs up as her way of asking if the food was good. We would simply say “hao shì" (very good). I am already having a wonderful adventure as I attempt to fit in a bed made for Jerry the Mouse and with Hong Kong news in the background from an adjacent room. Tomorrow we will tour the real Hong Kong and travel on a ferry to Zhuhai!

NSLI-Y Orientarion

Yesterday and today we were acclimated to the amazing NSLI-Y program in NY as we get ready for our send off to China tomorrow.