Hello all!
I am sorry I haven't posted in forever, but as we know, time kind of escapes us when we are busy doing what we love.
I think this semester has been a really turning point for me in my life. In high school, I felt I did the things I had to do, not necessarily the things I wanted to because of obligations I had made years before. Looking back on it, I think I would have been much happier if I had just stood up for myself and said enough was enough. It took me a long time to realize I had the ability spend my time doing things that made me happy rather than the things that made others happy.
I think this realization began at the beginning of last semester when I began to train for my marathon. Some could argue that coming to this school was the first thing I did for myself, but I think that the attention my acceptance received contributed a lot to my final decision, so I am not going to count it. My marathon was the first decision I made for myself. I was going to train alone, I was going to run it, and it didn't matter if everyone cared or no one did, because I made the commitment to myself and not to a single other person could stand in my way.
Starting this semester I started making goals for myself. They were small and attainable, and if you ask my mom this was a common theme for me in my childhood. I would make goals for my softball team or goals about running or getting good grades. I'm not sure why but goal setting seems to work for me. My goals this semester were as follows: Get an internship, get an english teaching job, find a service project, get all As, explore one part of Shanghai every weekend, find ways to get rid of my anxiety. (The list varies, and sometimes short term goals are added)
We are now midway through the semester and I have found my internship, gotten an English teaching job, explored new places in Shanghai, managed my grades excellently and I will now be going on a service trip to Cambodia.
NYUSH offers a service trip for 12 students to go to Cambodia every year. As some of you know, my Junior year of High School I took Literature of Service where I read Half the Sky. Half the Sky, in short, is about sex trafficking around the world, and one of the countries the author went to was Cambodia. Even in my junior year in high school I felt called to go there and serve, so when the opportunity popped up, I had to take it. I applied and by some miracle I was granted an interview. In the interview I explained to them very plainly that I was being called to serve there. They were impressed with my passion I think, and the rest is history.
Here's the thing about all the amazing things I've been able to accomplish so far. I am busy, yes but I am only doing what I feel passionate about. I have started to live a lifestyle where I want something, I make it work. I think I can contribute a lot of this drive, happiness, and thought process to my major. IMA has been a huge motivator for me. I wake up most days with the desire to create and learn something new. As the semester continues I am constantly reminded that moving out of business was one of the single best decisions I have ever made. Moving forward I am incredibly excited to be a part of the IMA family. Next semester I am taking incredible classes where I will learn how to use drones, how to make interactive clothing like the sleep shirt, I will also be learning about Chinese cyber culture. There were so many options next semester I am taking a full 18 credit load. I could not be more excited about my academic courses!
I recently attended a meeting with one of the IMA department heads. He told me something that holds true for me and gave me a bit of a new perspective. He was defining the words in IMA and when he got to art he told me that it has almost nothing to do with fine arts or creation, although thats how most people see it. He told me that Art can be defined as the things we do in life that fill us with the sense of purpose and breathe life into us. Art, in his sense, is the stuff that makes us happy and free. I couldn't have agreed more with his philosophy, because right now my life is, in fact, art.
I hope everyone is having a great week!
Love always,
Maddie
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Saturday, October 3, 2015
Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macau
Hello all
I have just returned from a lovely fall break! Our first stop was Guangzhou, our accommodations were about 1.5 hours out from the actual city, which was a bit of a bummer, but we managed just fine. While in Guangzhou we got to see the Canton Tower lit up for Moon Cake Festival as well as see some very interesting museums and monuments attributed to Sun Yat Sen, the first president of the Peoples Republic of China. In addition to this we also saw the Church of Saint Paul, and toured a near by market that was selling all kinds of notebooks and candies and stickers. After two days of touring it was time for us to go to Hong Kong.
Hong Kong was my personal favorite. Although I couldn't use any of my Chinese and they drove on the opposite side of the road, I fell in love with that city. The buildings and architecture were absolutely amazing. We used the very clean metro without fail, and they had every international food brand you could imagine. Normally I would tell you that we only ever ate Chinese food, which is probably the cultural thing to do, but once you see all the international options, its hard to pass up. We ate at Patisseries, Turkish restaurants, Vietnamese, Thai food, you name it. The first night we went to a Dragon festival that was happening in town. It was 250m dragon that was made out of burning incense. At the parade, Hugh Jackman, of all people made an appearance. Other than Hugh the dragon ended up being a bit of a disappointment for the two hours we waited for it to appear. The next night we ended up going to Victoria's peak which has the most gorgeous view of Hong Kong I have ever seen. Pictures won't do it justice, but I will be sending some along.
I would like to preface this next story by telling you that our days in Hong Kong were some of the hottest I have ever had to spend outdoors with no air conditioning. For a lot of the time we had to just pretend not to be miserable because we were all sweating so much. The last day we decided to go to the big buddha which is one of Hong Kong's most famous landmarks. It took us probably three hours to get there. There were 2 ferry rides and a bus ride involved. By the time we made it to the Buddha it was close to 100 degrees. We climbed up all those stairs saw the beautiful view and I would have been so content to go back to the city after that, sit in a cafe and drink a gallon of iced water. However, in a group of 6 girls, group decisions must be made, and we decided to travel to a fisherman's warf, thinking we might as well see as much as we can. The warf ended up being a mistake, as there was not much there but house and fishing boats. At this point I had convinced half the group to travel back with me. It was so hot at this point, the ground was steaming to a point where we were desperate enough to find a fan and just stand there as it blew hot air on us. We couldn't have gotten on a bus back to the ferry fast enough. When we got back to the hostel we all showered and laughed about how miserable the fisherman's warf was. That night we had excellent Dim Sum and then went straight to bed to catch a ferry to Macau for our last day.
Macau was equally as sweltering. It is known for it's gambling but unfortunately you have to be 21. Getting to our hostel was probably the main event of the trip. We had to split up in taxis 3 and 3. The taxis dropped us off randomly and we had to find the hostel on our own. We don't speak any Cantonese or Portuguese so trying to find the place and our lost friends was a struggle. We eventually found our English angel in this beautiful hotel that happened to be across from where we were staying. She lead us right to where we needed to be, and our friends ended up not finding the place for another hour. The majority of our day was spent looking at church ruins and eating really good food. There were so many people out because of the national holiday, it was a really cool atmosphere. To end the trip we went out for a fantastic dinner at one of the Portuguese restaurants near our hostel. I am so glad that I got to go on this trip with the girls. We had so much fun and laughed all the way through. Traveling in Asia can be really hard, because so many things are out of your control, but in the end if you make it back to the dorms safe and sound, it's considered a successful trip.
I will definitely be visiting HK again-- but it's for sure a winter destination!
Love from Shanghai,
Maddie
I have just returned from a lovely fall break! Our first stop was Guangzhou, our accommodations were about 1.5 hours out from the actual city, which was a bit of a bummer, but we managed just fine. While in Guangzhou we got to see the Canton Tower lit up for Moon Cake Festival as well as see some very interesting museums and monuments attributed to Sun Yat Sen, the first president of the Peoples Republic of China. In addition to this we also saw the Church of Saint Paul, and toured a near by market that was selling all kinds of notebooks and candies and stickers. After two days of touring it was time for us to go to Hong Kong.
Hong Kong was my personal favorite. Although I couldn't use any of my Chinese and they drove on the opposite side of the road, I fell in love with that city. The buildings and architecture were absolutely amazing. We used the very clean metro without fail, and they had every international food brand you could imagine. Normally I would tell you that we only ever ate Chinese food, which is probably the cultural thing to do, but once you see all the international options, its hard to pass up. We ate at Patisseries, Turkish restaurants, Vietnamese, Thai food, you name it. The first night we went to a Dragon festival that was happening in town. It was 250m dragon that was made out of burning incense. At the parade, Hugh Jackman, of all people made an appearance. Other than Hugh the dragon ended up being a bit of a disappointment for the two hours we waited for it to appear. The next night we ended up going to Victoria's peak which has the most gorgeous view of Hong Kong I have ever seen. Pictures won't do it justice, but I will be sending some along.
I would like to preface this next story by telling you that our days in Hong Kong were some of the hottest I have ever had to spend outdoors with no air conditioning. For a lot of the time we had to just pretend not to be miserable because we were all sweating so much. The last day we decided to go to the big buddha which is one of Hong Kong's most famous landmarks. It took us probably three hours to get there. There were 2 ferry rides and a bus ride involved. By the time we made it to the Buddha it was close to 100 degrees. We climbed up all those stairs saw the beautiful view and I would have been so content to go back to the city after that, sit in a cafe and drink a gallon of iced water. However, in a group of 6 girls, group decisions must be made, and we decided to travel to a fisherman's warf, thinking we might as well see as much as we can. The warf ended up being a mistake, as there was not much there but house and fishing boats. At this point I had convinced half the group to travel back with me. It was so hot at this point, the ground was steaming to a point where we were desperate enough to find a fan and just stand there as it blew hot air on us. We couldn't have gotten on a bus back to the ferry fast enough. When we got back to the hostel we all showered and laughed about how miserable the fisherman's warf was. That night we had excellent Dim Sum and then went straight to bed to catch a ferry to Macau for our last day.
Macau was equally as sweltering. It is known for it's gambling but unfortunately you have to be 21. Getting to our hostel was probably the main event of the trip. We had to split up in taxis 3 and 3. The taxis dropped us off randomly and we had to find the hostel on our own. We don't speak any Cantonese or Portuguese so trying to find the place and our lost friends was a struggle. We eventually found our English angel in this beautiful hotel that happened to be across from where we were staying. She lead us right to where we needed to be, and our friends ended up not finding the place for another hour. The majority of our day was spent looking at church ruins and eating really good food. There were so many people out because of the national holiday, it was a really cool atmosphere. To end the trip we went out for a fantastic dinner at one of the Portuguese restaurants near our hostel. I am so glad that I got to go on this trip with the girls. We had so much fun and laughed all the way through. Traveling in Asia can be really hard, because so many things are out of your control, but in the end if you make it back to the dorms safe and sound, it's considered a successful trip.
I will definitely be visiting HK again-- but it's for sure a winter destination!
Love from Shanghai,
Maddie
Saturday, September 19, 2015
More exciting news
I got the English teaching job! I am now an English tutor for ten kids and we meet 2-3 times a week. I have my own textbook and teaching plans. The kids range from first to fifth grade and are all very excited to start working on their English! In addition to this the school wants me to teach once a week on Saturdays to the public (meaning any adult can audit the class too). The school is pretty close to my dorms, and all the staff are really kind. (I'm the only native English speaker who works there). I start after I get back from Hong Kong!
Friday, September 18, 2015
New Internship/national holiday/update on life
Hello All!
I hope everyone is having a great week! This week was the beginning of my internship with MyLOHAS beauty! I am their digital marketer and so far they have given me plenty of projects to keep me busy. I am so far their Facebook Page administrator and I have to draw up a marketing plan to keep the posts relevant and efficient. I'm pretty excited to be on the project and the ladies in the office are all very nice. I'm also picking up on a lot of Chinese since I'm the only American that works here.
Next Week is Chinese National Holiday.... I'm not really sure what it's for but I get a 10 day break. Annie, Isabella, Cha Mi and I are traveling to HongKong, Guangzhou, and Macau (Spending 3 days in each place) We have the whole trip planned in a spread sheet (we'd expect nothing less from Annie, who put the whole trip together). As it happened on of my peer advisees is from Guangzhou and when I met with her she gave me some great places to eat and something that she said I must see! It'll be great to get away from this incredibly busy schedule I've somehow managed this semester, and I'm excited to be with the girls. It's a good group!
This week in IMA I am creating a digital comic! I am looking forward to posting it to my blog so I can show you guys what I've been learning. I am really enjoying how much creativity IMA invokes in me and I'm really happy I switched into it. Also, all of the projects are group projects so it's definitely helping my delegation and communication skills.
I have an English tutoring job in the works (just two hours on the weekends) I will keep you updated.
Also this weekend I'm buying a bike AND HELMET. I guess this means I've really assimilated into the culture. I may be 8000 miles from home, but I can still hear my mom calling everyone not wearing a helmet a "fool". I have made a point to buy one, despite the lack of helmet wearers in the city. Traffic flow is dangerous enough with a helmet, so I stand by my choice.
I have a busy weekend of projects, essays, and readings but tonight is a friend's birthday, so don't worry I am still having fun with this crazy schedule.
Love from Shanghai,
Maddie
I hope everyone is having a great week! This week was the beginning of my internship with MyLOHAS beauty! I am their digital marketer and so far they have given me plenty of projects to keep me busy. I am so far their Facebook Page administrator and I have to draw up a marketing plan to keep the posts relevant and efficient. I'm pretty excited to be on the project and the ladies in the office are all very nice. I'm also picking up on a lot of Chinese since I'm the only American that works here.
Next Week is Chinese National Holiday.... I'm not really sure what it's for but I get a 10 day break. Annie, Isabella, Cha Mi and I are traveling to HongKong, Guangzhou, and Macau (Spending 3 days in each place) We have the whole trip planned in a spread sheet (we'd expect nothing less from Annie, who put the whole trip together). As it happened on of my peer advisees is from Guangzhou and when I met with her she gave me some great places to eat and something that she said I must see! It'll be great to get away from this incredibly busy schedule I've somehow managed this semester, and I'm excited to be with the girls. It's a good group!
This week in IMA I am creating a digital comic! I am looking forward to posting it to my blog so I can show you guys what I've been learning. I am really enjoying how much creativity IMA invokes in me and I'm really happy I switched into it. Also, all of the projects are group projects so it's definitely helping my delegation and communication skills.
I have an English tutoring job in the works (just two hours on the weekends) I will keep you updated.
Also this weekend I'm buying a bike AND HELMET. I guess this means I've really assimilated into the culture. I may be 8000 miles from home, but I can still hear my mom calling everyone not wearing a helmet a "fool". I have made a point to buy one, despite the lack of helmet wearers in the city. Traffic flow is dangerous enough with a helmet, so I stand by my choice.
I have a busy weekend of projects, essays, and readings but tonight is a friend's birthday, so don't worry I am still having fun with this crazy schedule.
Love from Shanghai,
Maddie
Friday, September 11, 2015
Good News
I got the internship! I went into the interview and they offered me the job on the spot. I will be interning with the digital marketer at MyLOHA. As of now I am working three days a week and its actually real work, not just getting coffee. Because I am currently on a student visa, they cannot pay me, but they can compensate me with free organic products and a travel stipend. However, they are letting me stay on during the summer with pay, if I think it's the right fit.
I am so excited to be given this opportunity. This internship is so relevant to what I think I might want to do after college, so I will keep you updated on how it goes!
Love from Shanghai
Maddie
I am so excited to be given this opportunity. This internship is so relevant to what I think I might want to do after college, so I will keep you updated on how it goes!
Love from Shanghai
Maddie
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
2nd Week Of Classes/ possible internship!
Hello all
It's been a very busy week here in Shanghai. I have been coding up a storm in my Communications class, and when I'm not coding I'm learning Chinese characters or reading for my other classes.
The gym has yet to open here and I am getting very anxious. I didn't realize that I had to run in order to function like a normal person, but apparently that is the case. I have taken to running up and down the stairwells of my dorms (for old times sake) every night. Rumor is it will be open by the weekend, so I can go back to a normal workout routine.
This Friday two very exciting things are happening! The first is I have an interview for a marketing internship with a health and lifestyle company based in Shanghai. It is the first of its kind in China and as the intern I'd be given all kinds of opportunities to market their products at international farmers markets etc. here in Shanghai.
Also on Friday is NYU Shanghai's annual reality show. This year 12 of my fellow sophomores spent their summer at NYU, NY rehearsing for what we call a 'reality show' which is a musical based performance given to the Freshmen to talk about health and wellness issues and general adjustment to college. For a lot of us, the reality show last year was a turning point for our grade. It was finally one thing we had all experienced and could all talk about. Before then we all felt so different from each other, the grade was so segregated between Chinese and Internationals. I think it definitely brought us together, and I'm hoping the same will happen to the Freshmen this year.
Hope you all enjoy the rest of your week!
Love from Shanghai
Maddie
It's been a very busy week here in Shanghai. I have been coding up a storm in my Communications class, and when I'm not coding I'm learning Chinese characters or reading for my other classes.
The gym has yet to open here and I am getting very anxious. I didn't realize that I had to run in order to function like a normal person, but apparently that is the case. I have taken to running up and down the stairwells of my dorms (for old times sake) every night. Rumor is it will be open by the weekend, so I can go back to a normal workout routine.
This Friday two very exciting things are happening! The first is I have an interview for a marketing internship with a health and lifestyle company based in Shanghai. It is the first of its kind in China and as the intern I'd be given all kinds of opportunities to market their products at international farmers markets etc. here in Shanghai.
Also on Friday is NYU Shanghai's annual reality show. This year 12 of my fellow sophomores spent their summer at NYU, NY rehearsing for what we call a 'reality show' which is a musical based performance given to the Freshmen to talk about health and wellness issues and general adjustment to college. For a lot of us, the reality show last year was a turning point for our grade. It was finally one thing we had all experienced and could all talk about. Before then we all felt so different from each other, the grade was so segregated between Chinese and Internationals. I think it definitely brought us together, and I'm hoping the same will happen to the Freshmen this year.
Hope you all enjoy the rest of your week!
Love from Shanghai
Maddie
Thursday, September 3, 2015
First Week of Classes
Hello all!
The first week of classes is coming to an end and I am so happy I switched my major. I am currently in two IMA courses (Interactive Media Arts) and they are as much fun as everyone says they are. My communications lab moves with incredible speed. I think we learned how to develop a website using HTML in under an hour today. It's fast, but I'd rather that than a painfully slow math class. My other IMA class, which I have been attending even though I am still on the waitlist is all about the affects social and other media has on the public and how the public participates in such media. The class is jam packed, and I've spent my week trying to convince people they should switch out so that I can be officially enrolled. I should know by next week whether my tactics worked haha. As for my Chinese class, it is mostly study away students. These poor souls aren't used to Chinese classes that are so rigorous. New York has nothing on us, apparently. I love my Chinese teacher,I can understand her with ease, and we are already done with the first chapter of the book.
It's good to see all the sophomores back in our natural habitat. We are back to making daily dinner plans and fighting about the best way to get to a place. The other night we went out to dinner with over 20 people and we were all talking and laughing and catching up. Ugh I missed them.
Meichen is also doing great! Our room is all decorated and we have our routine down pat. Her science classes are not as difficult as last year, but she has one humanities class that she would prefer not to take. The other night I spent about an hour trying to explain the themes of the last chapter of the bible. It's so fascinating when we talk about religion because in China it is virtually nonexistent. It's goes beyond trying to convince her of any beliefs because you have to explain all the characters too (Jesus, Mary, John...).
Golden Week is coming up in about 2 weeks and Annie has put together an amazing trip where we go to Hong Kong, Macau and Guangzhou. We will hopefully be booking it this week, baring any issues!
Anyway, I'm just loving life right now. Hope everyone has a great Labor day weekend!! <3
Love always,
Maddie
The first week of classes is coming to an end and I am so happy I switched my major. I am currently in two IMA courses (Interactive Media Arts) and they are as much fun as everyone says they are. My communications lab moves with incredible speed. I think we learned how to develop a website using HTML in under an hour today. It's fast, but I'd rather that than a painfully slow math class. My other IMA class, which I have been attending even though I am still on the waitlist is all about the affects social and other media has on the public and how the public participates in such media. The class is jam packed, and I've spent my week trying to convince people they should switch out so that I can be officially enrolled. I should know by next week whether my tactics worked haha. As for my Chinese class, it is mostly study away students. These poor souls aren't used to Chinese classes that are so rigorous. New York has nothing on us, apparently. I love my Chinese teacher,I can understand her with ease, and we are already done with the first chapter of the book.
It's good to see all the sophomores back in our natural habitat. We are back to making daily dinner plans and fighting about the best way to get to a place. The other night we went out to dinner with over 20 people and we were all talking and laughing and catching up. Ugh I missed them.
Meichen is also doing great! Our room is all decorated and we have our routine down pat. Her science classes are not as difficult as last year, but she has one humanities class that she would prefer not to take. The other night I spent about an hour trying to explain the themes of the last chapter of the bible. It's so fascinating when we talk about religion because in China it is virtually nonexistent. It's goes beyond trying to convince her of any beliefs because you have to explain all the characters too (Jesus, Mary, John...).
Golden Week is coming up in about 2 weeks and Annie has put together an amazing trip where we go to Hong Kong, Macau and Guangzhou. We will hopefully be booking it this week, baring any issues!
Anyway, I'm just loving life right now. Hope everyone has a great Labor day weekend!! <3
Love always,
Maddie
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
Back in China
Hello Everyone!
As of early this morning (American time) I safely made it to China. My flights were both pretty uneventful but the journey was definitely long. On my flight from Chicago to Shanghai I sat next to this little old Chinese couple who didn't know any English. For five straight hours of the flight they attempted to communicate with me as I struggled to remember all the Chinese that I thought I had lost over the summer.
They were both teachers, one a middle school teacher and the other was a law professor. They had been visiting their only daughter in Miami, as she lives there. They asked me all sorts of questions about my school and what I was studying and where I had traveled to in Asia. They insisted that I travel to Suzhou province, claiming that it was a great place to vacation in China.
The flight attendants, who could only speak English, were grateful I could translate the food options and tell them what the couple wanted to eat. The couple told me that they thought American food was horrible compared to Chinese food and asked if I felt the same. I tried to defend our food by telling them it was just the airplane food that was unbearable, but they were not having it.
The flight attendants were also impressed with my journey. They were so excited to have an insider to tell them where to shop at the fake markets. I was happy to give them my knowledge. Three of them crowed around my seat for an hour asking me all sorts of questions about my adventures in China. They were so glad that I could help them sort out all their shopping needs they gave me food off of their crew cart--yum.
When we (5 NYUSH kids on my flight) finally arrived in China, there was shuttle to take us to our new dorms. I think that these dorms are definitely an upgrade from what we lived in before. I have already hung up all my decorations and most of my clothing. Meichen. who turned 19 on the 25,was so happy to see me and catch up. She told me that when summer started she thought it was going to be really long and boring but she was pleased to find that it went by so fast.
I'm glad that classes don't start for another couple of days, because I can't imagine going to school with this amount of jet lag; however I am trying to get as many errands done in the next couple of days so that I can have a good first week back. Today I have to go to IKEA to pick up some dorm essentials and then maybe go to the fake market to see the new styles.
I will hopefully be able to write over the weekend.
Love from Shanghai,
Maddie
As of early this morning (American time) I safely made it to China. My flights were both pretty uneventful but the journey was definitely long. On my flight from Chicago to Shanghai I sat next to this little old Chinese couple who didn't know any English. For five straight hours of the flight they attempted to communicate with me as I struggled to remember all the Chinese that I thought I had lost over the summer.
They were both teachers, one a middle school teacher and the other was a law professor. They had been visiting their only daughter in Miami, as she lives there. They asked me all sorts of questions about my school and what I was studying and where I had traveled to in Asia. They insisted that I travel to Suzhou province, claiming that it was a great place to vacation in China.
The flight attendants, who could only speak English, were grateful I could translate the food options and tell them what the couple wanted to eat. The couple told me that they thought American food was horrible compared to Chinese food and asked if I felt the same. I tried to defend our food by telling them it was just the airplane food that was unbearable, but they were not having it.
The flight attendants were also impressed with my journey. They were so excited to have an insider to tell them where to shop at the fake markets. I was happy to give them my knowledge. Three of them crowed around my seat for an hour asking me all sorts of questions about my adventures in China. They were so glad that I could help them sort out all their shopping needs they gave me food off of their crew cart--yum.
When we (5 NYUSH kids on my flight) finally arrived in China, there was shuttle to take us to our new dorms. I think that these dorms are definitely an upgrade from what we lived in before. I have already hung up all my decorations and most of my clothing. Meichen. who turned 19 on the 25,was so happy to see me and catch up. She told me that when summer started she thought it was going to be really long and boring but she was pleased to find that it went by so fast.
I'm glad that classes don't start for another couple of days, because I can't imagine going to school with this amount of jet lag; however I am trying to get as many errands done in the next couple of days so that I can have a good first week back. Today I have to go to IKEA to pick up some dorm essentials and then maybe go to the fake market to see the new styles.
I will hopefully be able to write over the weekend.
Love from Shanghai,
Maddie
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Finished! (Definitely Not The Capon Mile)
Hello Everyone!
Let me preface this by saying that I have the most amazing friends and family in the entire world and I would not have been able to cross the finish line without your support.
This weekend I went to Beijing to run my marathon on the Great Wall of China. The plan was to leave Shanghai on Friday and come back on Saturday. We ended up needing to stay another night in Beijing but I am back in Shanghai now. I have just completed my Freshmen year of college and I will be home on Saturday.
I can honestly say running this race was the hardest thing I have ever done. If you haven't looked it up, in order to finish the race, I had to climb the wall twice, and it was over 5000 stairs. The race starts out on a flat path for about 2 minutes. Had I known what I was getting myself into, I would have cherished those two minutes for the rest of my life, because everything after that was unbelievable difficult.
We began to ascend our first mountain. We just kept climbing up this hill and I kept thinking to myself, we must go downhill at some point... (What goes up must come down) but it just never happened. For about two miles we just kept running up this hill and then the Wall came. Running up the wall the first time was not as bad as I thought. I kept moving and even though it was slow it didn't feel that terrible. The steps were uneven and steep so I had to be really careful not to slip. The wall was pretty congested with runners, but the view was amazing. I think the wall ended up only being like 2 miles of the race, but it felt like it went on forever, by the time I got off the wall it had been an hour and I had only completed an 8K (5 miles). After the first part the hills just kept on coming. It took me 3 hours to complete a half marathon. It was so hot, so hilly, and I at that point I was so worried I was not going to finish. By mile twelve we had yet to go down a single hill, and then I caught a break. We began to descend just a little. The roads that we were on were completely unpaved and rocky. I tried my best to resist going to fast down the hill so I wouldn't fall, but somewhere between mile 12 and 14 I tripped over a rock and completely face planted into the dirt. I think it knocked the wind out me a bit and I knew that my right leg was definitely bleeding. For a second I just wanted to lay there and have someone pick me up so I could go home, but I looked behind me and there was this women who did not look like she was going to help me, so I picked myself up, dusted myself off, and vowed I'd beat that girl to the finish.
While we were running around the village, there were hoards of Chinese people cheering us on and taking videos and pictures of us. I've really grown to be annoyed by that when I'm in Shanghai, but I put on my best smile as I ran by. They were all shouting "美女加油”which means "you can do it pretty girl". There were tons of little kids out watching us too. They would try to highfive us or run along side of us while trying to practice their english. By the 19th mile I stopped responding to them, I could speak if I wanted to.
As we made our way back to the wall for our second time, I really didn't think it was going to be that bad. I just kept telling myself that it would be over soon and I would be crossing the finish line. By the time I made it to my 21st mile 5 hours had already passed. Annie and I were going to miss our train back to Shanghai and it was up in the air where we were going to be able sleep that night. When I started to climb back up the wall, I really thought someone was going to have to air lift me off of it. It was a struggle to make it up each step. I was on my hands and knees crawling my way up. I knew I was out of energy, I tried to drink some Gatorade and water but my sugar was so low. Finally someone offered me one of their gels. (They gave gels out twice during the race, but they were two miles too late, if you ask me). I stopped a lot on the wall, trying to gain some strength to finish. At one point there was an older man in front of me and his leg seized up he almost fell back on me, and let me tell you we would not have survived that fall. Some guy climbing next to him grabbed the mans arm and helped him keep his balance. He looked back at me and said "that fall would have set you back" If I had any energy left at all I would have laughed but I thanked him and kept climbing.
The wall felt like it was never going to end. I remember climbing up it thinking " this is where I am going to die" I passed so many photographers up the wall and tried to smile but at one point I passed one and he could tell I was struggling he said "you're almost there". Well we both knew that wasn't true. I turned to him and saw that he had probably been sitting comfortably on the wall for a good 5 hours watching runner after runner struggle to make it past him. I looked at him and just muttered "Lies!" and climbed passed him.
After I finally finished the wall I still had over 2 miles to run. That was the first time I knew for sure that I was going to finish the race. I told myself that if I couldn't run two miles straight that all that training was for nothing and took myself to the finish line. I passed as many people as I could and kept my eye on the prize: a gold medal and a sense of accomplishment.
Annie was waiting there at the finish line for me. She got some great shots (see link below)
After the race I was really emotional but I didn't have any water left in my body for tears. I remember just how shocked I was. I looked pretty awful when I finished. My entire body was swelled like a balloon my leg and hands were both bleeding, my knee hurt so badly and all I wanted to do was curl up in a ball.
I couldn't though because Annie and I had to figure out how we were going to get home. Unfortunately all the other trains were completely booked. We ended up staying in a hotel near the train station. We got on the first bullet train out and we were back in Shanghai by 1:00pm on Sunday. Monday and Tuesday I completed all 4 of my finals and now I am packing up all my things to fly back to America.
After I finished the race, it felt like I could accomplish anything. All of my friends wrote me the sweetest notes about how proud they were of me. Whenever I'm out with them, it's the first thing they tell people. It's so nice to know I have people like that in my life, who will wake up extra early with you because they know its going to take you twice as long to walk to school. Or to even have someone willing enough to go to the race with you for the soul purpose of taking care of you. I could not be more blessed and its so bittersweet to have leave. I know that I will be leaving Shanghai the same way I came in August. Crying, wondering how I could ever leave home.
Let me preface this by saying that I have the most amazing friends and family in the entire world and I would not have been able to cross the finish line without your support.
This weekend I went to Beijing to run my marathon on the Great Wall of China. The plan was to leave Shanghai on Friday and come back on Saturday. We ended up needing to stay another night in Beijing but I am back in Shanghai now. I have just completed my Freshmen year of college and I will be home on Saturday.
I can honestly say running this race was the hardest thing I have ever done. If you haven't looked it up, in order to finish the race, I had to climb the wall twice, and it was over 5000 stairs. The race starts out on a flat path for about 2 minutes. Had I known what I was getting myself into, I would have cherished those two minutes for the rest of my life, because everything after that was unbelievable difficult.
We began to ascend our first mountain. We just kept climbing up this hill and I kept thinking to myself, we must go downhill at some point... (What goes up must come down) but it just never happened. For about two miles we just kept running up this hill and then the Wall came. Running up the wall the first time was not as bad as I thought. I kept moving and even though it was slow it didn't feel that terrible. The steps were uneven and steep so I had to be really careful not to slip. The wall was pretty congested with runners, but the view was amazing. I think the wall ended up only being like 2 miles of the race, but it felt like it went on forever, by the time I got off the wall it had been an hour and I had only completed an 8K (5 miles). After the first part the hills just kept on coming. It took me 3 hours to complete a half marathon. It was so hot, so hilly, and I at that point I was so worried I was not going to finish. By mile twelve we had yet to go down a single hill, and then I caught a break. We began to descend just a little. The roads that we were on were completely unpaved and rocky. I tried my best to resist going to fast down the hill so I wouldn't fall, but somewhere between mile 12 and 14 I tripped over a rock and completely face planted into the dirt. I think it knocked the wind out me a bit and I knew that my right leg was definitely bleeding. For a second I just wanted to lay there and have someone pick me up so I could go home, but I looked behind me and there was this women who did not look like she was going to help me, so I picked myself up, dusted myself off, and vowed I'd beat that girl to the finish.
While we were running around the village, there were hoards of Chinese people cheering us on and taking videos and pictures of us. I've really grown to be annoyed by that when I'm in Shanghai, but I put on my best smile as I ran by. They were all shouting "美女加油”which means "you can do it pretty girl". There were tons of little kids out watching us too. They would try to highfive us or run along side of us while trying to practice their english. By the 19th mile I stopped responding to them, I could speak if I wanted to.
As we made our way back to the wall for our second time, I really didn't think it was going to be that bad. I just kept telling myself that it would be over soon and I would be crossing the finish line. By the time I made it to my 21st mile 5 hours had already passed. Annie and I were going to miss our train back to Shanghai and it was up in the air where we were going to be able sleep that night. When I started to climb back up the wall, I really thought someone was going to have to air lift me off of it. It was a struggle to make it up each step. I was on my hands and knees crawling my way up. I knew I was out of energy, I tried to drink some Gatorade and water but my sugar was so low. Finally someone offered me one of their gels. (They gave gels out twice during the race, but they were two miles too late, if you ask me). I stopped a lot on the wall, trying to gain some strength to finish. At one point there was an older man in front of me and his leg seized up he almost fell back on me, and let me tell you we would not have survived that fall. Some guy climbing next to him grabbed the mans arm and helped him keep his balance. He looked back at me and said "that fall would have set you back" If I had any energy left at all I would have laughed but I thanked him and kept climbing.
The wall felt like it was never going to end. I remember climbing up it thinking " this is where I am going to die" I passed so many photographers up the wall and tried to smile but at one point I passed one and he could tell I was struggling he said "you're almost there". Well we both knew that wasn't true. I turned to him and saw that he had probably been sitting comfortably on the wall for a good 5 hours watching runner after runner struggle to make it past him. I looked at him and just muttered "Lies!" and climbed passed him.
After I finally finished the wall I still had over 2 miles to run. That was the first time I knew for sure that I was going to finish the race. I told myself that if I couldn't run two miles straight that all that training was for nothing and took myself to the finish line. I passed as many people as I could and kept my eye on the prize: a gold medal and a sense of accomplishment.
Annie was waiting there at the finish line for me. She got some great shots (see link below)
After the race I was really emotional but I didn't have any water left in my body for tears. I remember just how shocked I was. I looked pretty awful when I finished. My entire body was swelled like a balloon my leg and hands were both bleeding, my knee hurt so badly and all I wanted to do was curl up in a ball.
I couldn't though because Annie and I had to figure out how we were going to get home. Unfortunately all the other trains were completely booked. We ended up staying in a hotel near the train station. We got on the first bullet train out and we were back in Shanghai by 1:00pm on Sunday. Monday and Tuesday I completed all 4 of my finals and now I am packing up all my things to fly back to America.
After I finished the race, it felt like I could accomplish anything. All of my friends wrote me the sweetest notes about how proud they were of me. Whenever I'm out with them, it's the first thing they tell people. It's so nice to know I have people like that in my life, who will wake up extra early with you because they know its going to take you twice as long to walk to school. Or to even have someone willing enough to go to the race with you for the soul purpose of taking care of you. I could not be more blessed and its so bittersweet to have leave. I know that I will be leaving Shanghai the same way I came in August. Crying, wondering how I could ever leave home.
I am not deleting any of the bad photos of me, because I think I need to keep them as a reminder that I should never do this marathon again. So when I look tired in some of the photos, it's because I am. There is a video in the folder titled "Marathon video" Its my post race feelings... There are also random pictures of a couple who got engaged after they crossed the finish line. So cute, all I got was a medal, that girl got a ring... ahahaha
See you in a few days,
Much love from Shanghai
Maddie
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
10 more days until Beijing 18 more days until I'm home!
Today I officially booked my train ticket to Beijing, and there is no backing out now! Large parts of me are beginning to realize the magnitude of what I am about to do, but somehow I am still doing it. I cannot describe the excitement and terror of this race. If any one of you have looked it up, it is one of the hardest marathons to ever exist. Not only will I be running up the Great Wall, I will be doing that TWICE. If you were to see my welcome packet and look at the elevations, it's actually insane. A few weeks ago, I honestly was unsure as to whether or not I could even finish such a race, I mean 26.2 miles is tough enough without over 5000 uneven stairs to run up, but I have this very calm and sure feeling about it, that I can only describe as divine intervention. I just somehow know that I will cross that finish line and everything will be brilliant. My best friend is coming with me, and she is there to provide post race videos and moral support. She is being such a good sport about the whole thing and I couldn't do it without her. So... I guess this blog post is to say: Yes I know I'm crazy, sorry no one is going to stop me. -- lets be honest that has been my motto ever since I got into this school.
Can't wait to post photos and videos!
Much love,
Maddie
Can't wait to post photos and videos!
Much love,
Maddie
Friday, May 1, 2015
The Foreigner Community
For anyone who has lived in Shanghai, or any other part of China with a large expat community, they know what I mean when I say that there is a distinct community here that just does not exist anywhere else.
In America you rarely find strangers walking up to other strangers to give advice, share a new place to hangout, or randomly approach you just to say hi. These specific actions happen here all the time. As soon as you walk across the street and see a foreigner you immediately approach them and say hello. You strike up a conversation about why you're here, why they are here. It's an unbelievable thing to share experiences with someone you don't even know, but feel like you're connected to them in someway.
People in America would never just approach someone to ask why they're there. But, the amount of daily interactions I have here with people on the subway and walking down the street is unreal. They're not just there to talk to either, they're also there to help. The expat community here is always ready to assist you. If you approached a foreigner on the street and asked them where they thought the best Chinese restaurant was in Shanghai, you would have an address, a taxi called, and a recommendation for what dishes to order in ten seconds flat. It's as if we all know how far we are from home, and that we've collectively decided as the Shanghai Expat Community that we are going to be there for one another.
Part of the NYU philosophy is that the city is our campus. Even in New York there is no 'real' campus. My campus is Shanghai and that is absolutely amazing to me. My school may only be 600 kids, but we have 24 million other amazing people in our community. It makes you feel like you're a part of something big, and that is one of the coolest feelings in the world.
I only have three more weeks left of this semester, and no one here wants to leave for the summer. I already know that when I come home I won't know what to do when its not socially acceptable to walk up to a stranger and ask them their story. Finals aren't even done, and we are all planning out things we have to do next semester. It will be weird without the Sophomores next year. They have become like older brothers and sisters to me. It is always nice to know that people have your back and it is crazy to think that I will be in their shoes next year, keeping those Freshmen in line. I think as a class we have come really far and grown up a lot and we are ready to be leaders. Next year we are what John Sexton calls "Sophomore-Seniors" because we will be the oldest portal students here. I feel honored to carry that kind of responsibility and I think my class is ready for the challenges that lie ahead.
I have 2 more weeks until my marathon, and I am done with the difficult part of my training. I am excited to share with you my trip, I will hopefully be able to post one more time before the big race.
Hope everyone has a great weekend.
Love always,
Maddie
In America you rarely find strangers walking up to other strangers to give advice, share a new place to hangout, or randomly approach you just to say hi. These specific actions happen here all the time. As soon as you walk across the street and see a foreigner you immediately approach them and say hello. You strike up a conversation about why you're here, why they are here. It's an unbelievable thing to share experiences with someone you don't even know, but feel like you're connected to them in someway.
People in America would never just approach someone to ask why they're there. But, the amount of daily interactions I have here with people on the subway and walking down the street is unreal. They're not just there to talk to either, they're also there to help. The expat community here is always ready to assist you. If you approached a foreigner on the street and asked them where they thought the best Chinese restaurant was in Shanghai, you would have an address, a taxi called, and a recommendation for what dishes to order in ten seconds flat. It's as if we all know how far we are from home, and that we've collectively decided as the Shanghai Expat Community that we are going to be there for one another.
Part of the NYU philosophy is that the city is our campus. Even in New York there is no 'real' campus. My campus is Shanghai and that is absolutely amazing to me. My school may only be 600 kids, but we have 24 million other amazing people in our community. It makes you feel like you're a part of something big, and that is one of the coolest feelings in the world.
I only have three more weeks left of this semester, and no one here wants to leave for the summer. I already know that when I come home I won't know what to do when its not socially acceptable to walk up to a stranger and ask them their story. Finals aren't even done, and we are all planning out things we have to do next semester. It will be weird without the Sophomores next year. They have become like older brothers and sisters to me. It is always nice to know that people have your back and it is crazy to think that I will be in their shoes next year, keeping those Freshmen in line. I think as a class we have come really far and grown up a lot and we are ready to be leaders. Next year we are what John Sexton calls "Sophomore-Seniors" because we will be the oldest portal students here. I feel honored to carry that kind of responsibility and I think my class is ready for the challenges that lie ahead.
I have 2 more weeks until my marathon, and I am done with the difficult part of my training. I am excited to share with you my trip, I will hopefully be able to post one more time before the big race.
Hope everyone has a great weekend.
Love always,
Maddie
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
1 More Month... Spring Fling...End of Marathon Training
Hello everyone!
It has been such a long time since I posted. I appolgize, but I am busier than ever. I officailly only have one more month in Shanghai. This semester has gone by so fast, the entire student body doesn't quite understand how the months just flew by and it's basically all we talk about.
This week was spirit week. We had the usual pajama day, twin day, violet day, etc. Tomorrow is our spring fling. I promise to try and take photos and post them.
This weekend will be super busy, but hopefully really fun. In addition to the dance on Friday, I also have to find time to run 20 miles. This is the largest amount of miles I will run before the big race! I have been forcing myself to run at least 1-2 miles of stairs almost every day for the last month. It's a bit strange, but when I run a bunch of miles and then go run the stairs, I pretend that the stairs are like a break. My friends think I'm crazy, but they are all super supportive. After this week the miles I have to run decreases until the big day! I got my bib number and apparel in the mail already, and I feel as ready as I ever will. You can expect a post game interview after the race, and I will send you the link to pictures of the race. There has been talk of me taking a go pro on the wall. We'll see.
For now, I must focus on finishing the semester strong.
Have a wonderful weekend! Love from Shanghai,
Maddie
It has been such a long time since I posted. I appolgize, but I am busier than ever. I officailly only have one more month in Shanghai. This semester has gone by so fast, the entire student body doesn't quite understand how the months just flew by and it's basically all we talk about.
This week was spirit week. We had the usual pajama day, twin day, violet day, etc. Tomorrow is our spring fling. I promise to try and take photos and post them.
This weekend will be super busy, but hopefully really fun. In addition to the dance on Friday, I also have to find time to run 20 miles. This is the largest amount of miles I will run before the big race! I have been forcing myself to run at least 1-2 miles of stairs almost every day for the last month. It's a bit strange, but when I run a bunch of miles and then go run the stairs, I pretend that the stairs are like a break. My friends think I'm crazy, but they are all super supportive. After this week the miles I have to run decreases until the big day! I got my bib number and apparel in the mail already, and I feel as ready as I ever will. You can expect a post game interview after the race, and I will send you the link to pictures of the race. There has been talk of me taking a go pro on the wall. We'll see.
For now, I must focus on finishing the semester strong.
Have a wonderful weekend! Love from Shanghai,
Maddie
Saturday, April 11, 2015
Hainan pics
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B35rnf3CHqKAfjdpVEx4MHVEMDhDbUhmMlY0bWV5NC0zUFVPWGtGaG1zV0lLQUREY2EwaEE&usp=sharing
Click the link for photos from Hainan!
I've been busy choosing my new classes for next semester and eating dumplings!
I also had the pleasure of meeting some of the new international students this week. All of them have incredible backgrounds and they will make great additions to this university!
Hope everyone is having a good week. 5 more weeks and I will be on a plane back to the US!
Love always,
Maddie
Click the link for photos from Hainan!
I've been busy choosing my new classes for next semester and eating dumplings!
I also had the pleasure of meeting some of the new international students this week. All of them have incredible backgrounds and they will make great additions to this university!
Hope everyone is having a good week. 5 more weeks and I will be on a plane back to the US!
Love always,
Maddie
Sunday, April 5, 2015
Hainan and this weekend
Hello All!
I just got back from an amazing time in Hainan. The beach was picturesque! We stayed on the beach that is said to be the prettiest in China. It never got below 80 or above 90 degrees. The weather was perfect, and it never rained. We hung out by the pool, went to the beach, talked to every local we could find and ate amazing food. The street food culture there was so diverse. I had everything from octopus to a quail egg with a shrimp in it to pineapple on a stick. The fruit was especially amazing. Every day we drank from coconuts and lounged by the beach. I also had my mom send some Bisquick and we made pancakes, banana bread, and biscuits.
We all had such an amazing time! I highly recommend it as a tourist destination if any of you come to China. However, be warned they don't speak english there. We had one Chinese person in our group of friends, and we managed pretty well between the 7 of us. We had a wide range of levels, from barely any Chinese known to native. It was really interesting to hear the things some of us picked up while the others didn't.
One of the days we traveled to the city of Sanya. We mostly stayed near the coast, but we were looking for an adventure. We took a bus there that was less than a dollar and we walked the streets and found one of the best street food streets in Sanya. We even got fruit smoothies made for us!
When I arrived back at my dorm, Meichen's mom was there for a visit. I was having a good Chinese day, where I just spit out a bunch of Chinese and people can understand me. She was so impressed by how much I improved over the last two months! We talked about Hainan and all the activities I did. She has been there four times and I said that we should go back as a family. She liked that idea. haha
Meichen's mom is here for NYU Shanghai's annual dumpling fest or in Chinese 饺子节。 It is probably going to be my all time favorite day of the year. The school has ordered 10,000 dumplings for the whole student body. Plus we have invited parents from all over china to come and teach the international students how to make dumplings. I am so excited that I am running my 18 mile run one day early, just so my day of jiaozi eating can go on uninterrupted.
This weekend is also admitted students weekend. All the admitted international students are coming to Shanghai! We are all so excited to meet them.
I'll post pictures sometime later this week/next.
Love from Shanghai,
Maddie
I just got back from an amazing time in Hainan. The beach was picturesque! We stayed on the beach that is said to be the prettiest in China. It never got below 80 or above 90 degrees. The weather was perfect, and it never rained. We hung out by the pool, went to the beach, talked to every local we could find and ate amazing food. The street food culture there was so diverse. I had everything from octopus to a quail egg with a shrimp in it to pineapple on a stick. The fruit was especially amazing. Every day we drank from coconuts and lounged by the beach. I also had my mom send some Bisquick and we made pancakes, banana bread, and biscuits.
We all had such an amazing time! I highly recommend it as a tourist destination if any of you come to China. However, be warned they don't speak english there. We had one Chinese person in our group of friends, and we managed pretty well between the 7 of us. We had a wide range of levels, from barely any Chinese known to native. It was really interesting to hear the things some of us picked up while the others didn't.
One of the days we traveled to the city of Sanya. We mostly stayed near the coast, but we were looking for an adventure. We took a bus there that was less than a dollar and we walked the streets and found one of the best street food streets in Sanya. We even got fruit smoothies made for us!
When I arrived back at my dorm, Meichen's mom was there for a visit. I was having a good Chinese day, where I just spit out a bunch of Chinese and people can understand me. She was so impressed by how much I improved over the last two months! We talked about Hainan and all the activities I did. She has been there four times and I said that we should go back as a family. She liked that idea. haha
Meichen's mom is here for NYU Shanghai's annual dumpling fest or in Chinese 饺子节。 It is probably going to be my all time favorite day of the year. The school has ordered 10,000 dumplings for the whole student body. Plus we have invited parents from all over china to come and teach the international students how to make dumplings. I am so excited that I am running my 18 mile run one day early, just so my day of jiaozi eating can go on uninterrupted.
This weekend is also admitted students weekend. All the admitted international students are coming to Shanghai! We are all so excited to meet them.
I'll post pictures sometime later this week/next.
Love from Shanghai,
Maddie
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Spring Break/life update/etc etc
Only two more days until Spring break! I will be soaking up the sun in Hainan, which is a gorgeous island in China. I am going with some of my best friends and we rented this beautiful villa right off of the beach. We are so excited! This weekend I ran sixteen miles on a treadmill because the air pollution was too nasty to run in. It was absolutely exhausting, but I got through it, and I am looking forward to an easy 12 miles next weekend. As this semester winds down my friends and I are already choosing classes and eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new freshmen! After spring break, all of the accepted students are being flown to Shanghai to meets us and learn about the school! We are so excited to meet new people and welcome them to our school.
After this semester I have decided that I am not continuing with business and finance. Instead I am beginning a new chapter in design engineering. We offer a major here called Interactive Media Arts, which is all about creating new technologies and developing programs that can help all kinds of people. It's really interesting and hands on, and its the one program you only hear good things about. We learn how to program and work with different types of software, and I think that its a great background to have. The good news is that I never have to take another math class again.
Tonight I am going to dinner with the Starrs'! They arrived in Shanghai yesterday and I am so excited to visit with them!
I can't believe this semester is almost over! In just over a month I will be running my marathon and taking my finals!
Love from Shanghai,
Maddie
After this semester I have decided that I am not continuing with business and finance. Instead I am beginning a new chapter in design engineering. We offer a major here called Interactive Media Arts, which is all about creating new technologies and developing programs that can help all kinds of people. It's really interesting and hands on, and its the one program you only hear good things about. We learn how to program and work with different types of software, and I think that its a great background to have. The good news is that I never have to take another math class again.
Tonight I am going to dinner with the Starrs'! They arrived in Shanghai yesterday and I am so excited to visit with them!
I can't believe this semester is almost over! In just over a month I will be running my marathon and taking my finals!
Love from Shanghai,
Maddie
Thursday, March 19, 2015
One year anniversary
Today marks the one year anniversary of when I got the email I had been accepted into NYU Shanghai. It was one of the proudest moments of my life and I am so thankful to be here one year later.
These next couple weeks are very exciting! Tonight I am meeting Ms. Munson's husband for dinner at one of my favorite Chinese restaurants in Shanghai, Grandma's. It's great authentic food, and its where my friends and I have already decided to take our parents when they come for graduation. My mom also got together a suitcase for me that Cook is bringing tonight!
Next week the Starrs' are coming to visit me too! (I am one lucky college student to have all these visitors this far away from home) They have suggested some international food, so I am taking them to one of the prettiest views of the Bund. It's great food and hopefully the weather will be nice and we can sit outside for dinner!
Also spring break is coming up and My friends and I are going to Hainan! It's probably one of the prettiest parts in China and we are so excited for 80 degree weather and beaches. We are staying in this beautiful house right off the beach. We can hardly wait. (Pictures and Posts to come from that trip)
This weekend is another candidate weekend for the Chinese and I was asked to be on the student panel. I look forward to answering their questions and meeting some new faces!
I am also up to the 15 mile mark in my marathon training. It's becoming so fun! This week I ran a mile of stairs in preparation for the wall on top of my other training, it wasn't as bad as I thought!
Next week is midterms, I can't believe I only have two more months of my freshmen year of college. Time flies.
Love from Shanghai,
Maddie
These next couple weeks are very exciting! Tonight I am meeting Ms. Munson's husband for dinner at one of my favorite Chinese restaurants in Shanghai, Grandma's. It's great authentic food, and its where my friends and I have already decided to take our parents when they come for graduation. My mom also got together a suitcase for me that Cook is bringing tonight!
Next week the Starrs' are coming to visit me too! (I am one lucky college student to have all these visitors this far away from home) They have suggested some international food, so I am taking them to one of the prettiest views of the Bund. It's great food and hopefully the weather will be nice and we can sit outside for dinner!
Also spring break is coming up and My friends and I are going to Hainan! It's probably one of the prettiest parts in China and we are so excited for 80 degree weather and beaches. We are staying in this beautiful house right off the beach. We can hardly wait. (Pictures and Posts to come from that trip)
This weekend is another candidate weekend for the Chinese and I was asked to be on the student panel. I look forward to answering their questions and meeting some new faces!
I am also up to the 15 mile mark in my marathon training. It's becoming so fun! This week I ran a mile of stairs in preparation for the wall on top of my other training, it wasn't as bad as I thought!
Next week is midterms, I can't believe I only have two more months of my freshmen year of college. Time flies.
Love from Shanghai,
Maddie
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Inner Mongolia Pictures!
Love always!
Maddie
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Meichen and Maddie Take Inner Mongolia
Hello Everyone!
I just got back from a very hectic, but very exciting Spring Festival Holiday. Last Sunday (Feb. 15th) Meichen and I got on a plane to Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, where Meichen grew up, to meet her family for Chinese New Year. We left the dorms around 6:30am for 9:00am flight and we landed around1:00pm. Her dad was there waiting to pick us up. From the airport we went straight to her Aunt's (her moms sister, the second oldest of EIGHT children) house for a quick lunch. After a very authentic and delicious Chinese meal (one of many on this trip) Meichen and I braved the cold to checkout her old high school and the surrounding city. Hohhot, although it is obviously not as big as Shanghai, is a very well developed city. They even have their own version of those City Bikes. Not even Shanghai has that! After a quick tour around Hohhot where Meichen told me about her life as a Chinese high school student, we got back in the car for a two hour trip to Ordus, which is the town Meichen's father (who I just call baba) works.
Baba works for an energy power plant in Ordus. The family has two apartments, one close to the power plant and the other back in Hohhot. To my understanding the apartment near the power plant is more like a dormitory for the workers and their families to stay at for convenience. When we arrived, we had Hot Pot for dinner. It was absolutely delicious! That night we played several rounds of pingpong and badminton before going off to bed.
Day 2:
On the second day we woke up around 7:00am so that Meichen could take me around Ordus. I'm not sure how many people reading this have ever ridden on a Chinese public bus before, but it is quite the adventure. Many of the Chinese choose this mode of transportation because it is only 1 kuai to get on. So Meichen and I hopped on and we went to go visit a Church as well as a really pretty park that was built on top of a mountain. After walking outside for about 2 hours we went back inside the warmth and took a short nap before we ate some more Chinese food. (I should mention that I took the week off for my marathon training for this trip. I figured I wouldn't have the time or means to run my weeks worth of miles). After we ate, baba wanted us to take a tour of the power plant, so we could see where he worked. To my knowledge baba is the deputy manager of this plant. When he walked in the room all the workers stood up, which tells me he is likely a very important man.
Meichen's cousin also joined us on this trip to practice her English. She was a junior in high school and she really wants to attend NYUSH as well. She was very nervous to try to talk to me at first, but once she saw how easily Meichen and I spoke Chinglish (Chinese and English) she realized she had nothing to worry about.
There was one mix up, though. While on the way to Meichen's grandparents house, we took two cars. Meichen wanted her cousin to practice more English so baba me and her cousin were in one car while Meichen and mama were in the other. While we were in the car, Li Tong, the cousin, asked me what our horses in America were made out of. I was bit confused by the question. She asked, "are they made of stone or wood? In China our horses are made out of stone and wood sometimes." I was so confused, so I said no our horses in America are real, and she just stared at me so confused. I tried to type 'real' into a translator but that just confused her more. And then I started to question why China didn't have real horses. I thought it was like a Troy story or a Terra-cotta warrior thing. Then she asked me if my dad made our horse, and I was like, "no. we don't own a horse" and at this point I was getting really frustrated with her horse questions. Then it dawned on me that she meant HOUSES. I have never laughed so hard in my life. The funny thing is that if she had just said it in Chinese I would have known what she was trying to say. haha lesson learned.
Also on the way to Grandma's house we passed through a desert. It was still really cold but there were sand dunes and pretty views, so we stopped to take some pictures. ( Never fear, I will be posting those later)
Meichen's grandparents (both sets) live in the same town. However she quickly told me that she is far closer with her dad's parents than her moms, since her dad is only one of three children and her mother has such a large family. For lunch, however, we ate with her moms parents. Thus began the endless meetings of distant relatives. Everywhere I turned it felt like Meichen had a new family member to introduce me to. They were all very kind and patient with my Chinese. None of them spoke any English. While I mostly listened to the conversation, I was also able to answer a lot of their direct questions, which I was pretty proud of.
After lunch we went to her dad's parents house and that was our living quarters for the next 5 days. We had such a great time there. We played Mahjong (which I learned completely in Chinese! Baba taught me), went to a Chinese movie, and watched the Chinese New Year special on TV. The eating was basically endless. By the fifth day, I knew I was not Chinese, because I could only eat a bowl of rice before I was telling them I was already full. They laughed at how much more they were eating than me, but Meichen's grandma came to the conclusion that Chinese food just makes white people full faster.
New Years Eve and Day were especially crazy. The fireworks were endless! Let me tell you now, there are no regulations for these fireworks. They set them off where ever! There are literally open bonfires on the sidewalks! When we went out to set ours off I was so scared I was going to get hit by one I couldn't stay outside for long. Of course Meichen's family thought it was hilarious that I was so scared. They just shook their heads and said "foreigner". I had to laugh at that. It was painfully obvious I had never experienced fireworks like they do.
On New Years Day we went around to everyones house and said "过年好“ which is a version of "Happy New Year". For dinner we had a meat and sauerkraut dish. That made me laugh, because we have almost the exact same dish for our New Year's in the states. What a small world!
Throughout our stay I had so many fun conversations with grandma and mama. Grandma was basically the head of the household, and you could tell she was a strong women. I caught her staring at me a lot and every time I looked back at her we would burst out laughing. When it was time to leave, she said to me in Chinese, "did you like your stay here." I answered "of course" to which she replied "Then you never have to leave". I was so touched, by her kindness. I would have stayed there forever just playing Mahjong with her, but it was time to return to Hohhot.
Mama knew some English and tried practicing on me, while she taught me Chinese. Meichen thought our communication system was hysterical. There was a lot of hand gestures and pointing involved. The theme of almost all our conversations was whether or not I was cold (which she always insisted I was, because I don't wear layers on my legs) and whether or I was hungry. I rarely was, but she kept telling me to eat. It became an inside joke with the family. She would say in Chinese "吃吃吃吃吃“ （eat eat eat...) and I would say "不吃不吃不吃(no no no...) really fast.
After a long stay at Grandmas, we returned to Hohhot where Meichen and I caught up on sleep and hung out with some of her high school classmates. We even got the chance to visit a temple! On the last night Meichen looked at me and said. "Ok Maddie, I think you've had enough Chinese food for one little foreigner" and she took me to Pizza Hut. I have to say, I have never loved my roommate more than that moment. I'll be honest, I wanted nothing more than a personal pan pizza after eating three meals a day of Chinese dish after Chinese dish. I think I may have cried a little when she told me our dinner plans. haha.
The next day we were back on a plane to the dorms. I'm pretty sure her parents are already planning next year's events. They really want my family to come and join the fun, but I had to explain to them that Americans don't get off for this holiday.
This week I hit the halfway mark in my training for the marathon. Also I have a Stat midterm tomorrow and I am a part of Candidate weekend for the incoming Chinese freshmen this weekend and next! I am very excited to help the evaluation process and to give back a little to the University!
Love from Shanghai,
Maddie
I just got back from a very hectic, but very exciting Spring Festival Holiday. Last Sunday (Feb. 15th) Meichen and I got on a plane to Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, where Meichen grew up, to meet her family for Chinese New Year. We left the dorms around 6:30am for 9:00am flight and we landed around1:00pm. Her dad was there waiting to pick us up. From the airport we went straight to her Aunt's (her moms sister, the second oldest of EIGHT children) house for a quick lunch. After a very authentic and delicious Chinese meal (one of many on this trip) Meichen and I braved the cold to checkout her old high school and the surrounding city. Hohhot, although it is obviously not as big as Shanghai, is a very well developed city. They even have their own version of those City Bikes. Not even Shanghai has that! After a quick tour around Hohhot where Meichen told me about her life as a Chinese high school student, we got back in the car for a two hour trip to Ordus, which is the town Meichen's father (who I just call baba) works.
Baba works for an energy power plant in Ordus. The family has two apartments, one close to the power plant and the other back in Hohhot. To my understanding the apartment near the power plant is more like a dormitory for the workers and their families to stay at for convenience. When we arrived, we had Hot Pot for dinner. It was absolutely delicious! That night we played several rounds of pingpong and badminton before going off to bed.
Day 2:
On the second day we woke up around 7:00am so that Meichen could take me around Ordus. I'm not sure how many people reading this have ever ridden on a Chinese public bus before, but it is quite the adventure. Many of the Chinese choose this mode of transportation because it is only 1 kuai to get on. So Meichen and I hopped on and we went to go visit a Church as well as a really pretty park that was built on top of a mountain. After walking outside for about 2 hours we went back inside the warmth and took a short nap before we ate some more Chinese food. (I should mention that I took the week off for my marathon training for this trip. I figured I wouldn't have the time or means to run my weeks worth of miles). After we ate, baba wanted us to take a tour of the power plant, so we could see where he worked. To my knowledge baba is the deputy manager of this plant. When he walked in the room all the workers stood up, which tells me he is likely a very important man.
Meichen's cousin also joined us on this trip to practice her English. She was a junior in high school and she really wants to attend NYUSH as well. She was very nervous to try to talk to me at first, but once she saw how easily Meichen and I spoke Chinglish (Chinese and English) she realized she had nothing to worry about.
There was one mix up, though. While on the way to Meichen's grandparents house, we took two cars. Meichen wanted her cousin to practice more English so baba me and her cousin were in one car while Meichen and mama were in the other. While we were in the car, Li Tong, the cousin, asked me what our horses in America were made out of. I was bit confused by the question. She asked, "are they made of stone or wood? In China our horses are made out of stone and wood sometimes." I was so confused, so I said no our horses in America are real, and she just stared at me so confused. I tried to type 'real' into a translator but that just confused her more. And then I started to question why China didn't have real horses. I thought it was like a Troy story or a Terra-cotta warrior thing. Then she asked me if my dad made our horse, and I was like, "no. we don't own a horse" and at this point I was getting really frustrated with her horse questions. Then it dawned on me that she meant HOUSES. I have never laughed so hard in my life. The funny thing is that if she had just said it in Chinese I would have known what she was trying to say. haha lesson learned.
Also on the way to Grandma's house we passed through a desert. It was still really cold but there were sand dunes and pretty views, so we stopped to take some pictures. ( Never fear, I will be posting those later)
Meichen's grandparents (both sets) live in the same town. However she quickly told me that she is far closer with her dad's parents than her moms, since her dad is only one of three children and her mother has such a large family. For lunch, however, we ate with her moms parents. Thus began the endless meetings of distant relatives. Everywhere I turned it felt like Meichen had a new family member to introduce me to. They were all very kind and patient with my Chinese. None of them spoke any English. While I mostly listened to the conversation, I was also able to answer a lot of their direct questions, which I was pretty proud of.
After lunch we went to her dad's parents house and that was our living quarters for the next 5 days. We had such a great time there. We played Mahjong (which I learned completely in Chinese! Baba taught me), went to a Chinese movie, and watched the Chinese New Year special on TV. The eating was basically endless. By the fifth day, I knew I was not Chinese, because I could only eat a bowl of rice before I was telling them I was already full. They laughed at how much more they were eating than me, but Meichen's grandma came to the conclusion that Chinese food just makes white people full faster.
New Years Eve and Day were especially crazy. The fireworks were endless! Let me tell you now, there are no regulations for these fireworks. They set them off where ever! There are literally open bonfires on the sidewalks! When we went out to set ours off I was so scared I was going to get hit by one I couldn't stay outside for long. Of course Meichen's family thought it was hilarious that I was so scared. They just shook their heads and said "foreigner". I had to laugh at that. It was painfully obvious I had never experienced fireworks like they do.
On New Years Day we went around to everyones house and said "过年好“ which is a version of "Happy New Year". For dinner we had a meat and sauerkraut dish. That made me laugh, because we have almost the exact same dish for our New Year's in the states. What a small world!
Throughout our stay I had so many fun conversations with grandma and mama. Grandma was basically the head of the household, and you could tell she was a strong women. I caught her staring at me a lot and every time I looked back at her we would burst out laughing. When it was time to leave, she said to me in Chinese, "did you like your stay here." I answered "of course" to which she replied "Then you never have to leave". I was so touched, by her kindness. I would have stayed there forever just playing Mahjong with her, but it was time to return to Hohhot.
Mama knew some English and tried practicing on me, while she taught me Chinese. Meichen thought our communication system was hysterical. There was a lot of hand gestures and pointing involved. The theme of almost all our conversations was whether or not I was cold (which she always insisted I was, because I don't wear layers on my legs) and whether or I was hungry. I rarely was, but she kept telling me to eat. It became an inside joke with the family. She would say in Chinese "吃吃吃吃吃“ （eat eat eat...) and I would say "不吃不吃不吃(no no no...) really fast.
After a long stay at Grandmas, we returned to Hohhot where Meichen and I caught up on sleep and hung out with some of her high school classmates. We even got the chance to visit a temple! On the last night Meichen looked at me and said. "Ok Maddie, I think you've had enough Chinese food for one little foreigner" and she took me to Pizza Hut. I have to say, I have never loved my roommate more than that moment. I'll be honest, I wanted nothing more than a personal pan pizza after eating three meals a day of Chinese dish after Chinese dish. I think I may have cried a little when she told me our dinner plans. haha.
The next day we were back on a plane to the dorms. I'm pretty sure her parents are already planning next year's events. They really want my family to come and join the fun, but I had to explain to them that Americans don't get off for this holiday.
This week I hit the halfway mark in my training for the marathon. Also I have a Stat midterm tomorrow and I am a part of Candidate weekend for the incoming Chinese freshmen this weekend and next! I am very excited to help the evaluation process and to give back a little to the University!
Love from Shanghai,
Maddie
Saturday, February 7, 2015
Update on life/ Sorry I haven't posted in a while...
Hello everyone!
This semester of college is proving to be way busier than the last. I've barely had any free time since school started up, which explains the lack of posting. My schedule this semester is difficult but I'm enjoying it. I am currently in my first calculus class ever, and I actually really like it. My professor goes really fast, but he explains it all really well. Which is all you can really ask for in a math professor. Unfortunately I will only get to have him for half the semester because the professor we were originally supposed to have is on sick leave for seven weeks but is coming back mid semester. The logistics of it are kind of a mess because the math professor I have right now literally got on a plane the night before classes started and just showed up to the first lecture. haha
As for the rest of my classes, Chinese just keeps getting harder and harder. But my laoshi is really pushing our speaking levels this semester, so the progress I'm making is really exciting. GPS had our first guest lecturer, Catharine Mackinnon, come last week. It was a true honor to hear her speak, as she is one of the worlds most famous feminists. (I'll be honest, I may have freaked out just a little).
This weekend my friends and I went to an expat market called jiashan market and there was all kinds of foods represented by almost every country you could think of. There a lot of little international children running around and the food was absolutely delicious! It was also really fun to ask all the vendors why they are living in Shanghai. A lot of them just came to Shanghai on vacation and fell in love. Unfortunately the market is closing up until April, but now that we know about it, we will definitely be returning!
Today I reached the 9 mile mark in my marathon training. I am beginning to loathe the treadmill, but I have friends taking shifts on who gets to talk to me as I run. The people who work at the gym know me too well now, and they've basically marked off a treadmill for me because I'm down there so often.
Spring festival is approaching, and Meichen and I are getting so excited to go to Inner Mongolia. The other day her mom was Skyping us, and she said that I could call her 妈妈 which means mother in Chinese. I was so honored.
I will try to update this thing more often. I leave in about a week for Inner Mongolia and I unfortunately won't have google access there. I plan on journalling and then spamming the blog with day to day updates when I get back.
Love from Shanghai,
Maddie
This semester of college is proving to be way busier than the last. I've barely had any free time since school started up, which explains the lack of posting. My schedule this semester is difficult but I'm enjoying it. I am currently in my first calculus class ever, and I actually really like it. My professor goes really fast, but he explains it all really well. Which is all you can really ask for in a math professor. Unfortunately I will only get to have him for half the semester because the professor we were originally supposed to have is on sick leave for seven weeks but is coming back mid semester. The logistics of it are kind of a mess because the math professor I have right now literally got on a plane the night before classes started and just showed up to the first lecture. haha
As for the rest of my classes, Chinese just keeps getting harder and harder. But my laoshi is really pushing our speaking levels this semester, so the progress I'm making is really exciting. GPS had our first guest lecturer, Catharine Mackinnon, come last week. It was a true honor to hear her speak, as she is one of the worlds most famous feminists. (I'll be honest, I may have freaked out just a little).
This weekend my friends and I went to an expat market called jiashan market and there was all kinds of foods represented by almost every country you could think of. There a lot of little international children running around and the food was absolutely delicious! It was also really fun to ask all the vendors why they are living in Shanghai. A lot of them just came to Shanghai on vacation and fell in love. Unfortunately the market is closing up until April, but now that we know about it, we will definitely be returning!
Today I reached the 9 mile mark in my marathon training. I am beginning to loathe the treadmill, but I have friends taking shifts on who gets to talk to me as I run. The people who work at the gym know me too well now, and they've basically marked off a treadmill for me because I'm down there so often.
Spring festival is approaching, and Meichen and I are getting so excited to go to Inner Mongolia. The other day her mom was Skyping us, and she said that I could call her 妈妈 which means mother in Chinese. I was so honored.
I will try to update this thing more often. I leave in about a week for Inner Mongolia and I unfortunately won't have google access there. I plan on journalling and then spamming the blog with day to day updates when I get back.
Love from Shanghai,
Maddie
Saturday, January 24, 2015
2nd Sem
Hello all!
I can't believe I'm already back for a second semester! I returned on the 21st but but I have been catching up with friends and trying to get over jet lag, so I haven't been able to post anything. This semester will be a little bit harder, I am taking both Calculus and Statistics for my business requirements as well as 8:15 Chinese, and of course GPS. This semester in GPS should be especially interesting, because the university has made plans to have four guest speakers to come and lecture us. It will be really nice to mix it up in that class, and hear other perspectives.
In other news, Meichen just got back from a trip to Beijing and Nanjing where she was visiting her old classmates. In just three more weeks I will be going to Inner Mongolia with her. We are so excited! She told me that when she went back home to tell her extended family that I was coming, her cousin, who has been learning english for some time, now wants us to come and stay with her for a day so that she can practice her English on me. Apparently she has never met a "Foreigner" before, (that's a lot of pressure).
Today we are just going to enjoy our last day of freedom before school officially begins, so we are touring through Shanghai. We figure if we stay in our rooms too long we will fall asleep and ruin our progress getting over jet lag. The smog here has been pretty bad the last couple of days, and I can no longer see the Pearl Tower from my building. They say it probably won't clear up until after winter, so I have been wearing my mask pretty diligently since I arrived.
I cannot wait to see what this semester has in store for me!
love from Shanghai,
Maddie
I can't believe I'm already back for a second semester! I returned on the 21st but but I have been catching up with friends and trying to get over jet lag, so I haven't been able to post anything. This semester will be a little bit harder, I am taking both Calculus and Statistics for my business requirements as well as 8:15 Chinese, and of course GPS. This semester in GPS should be especially interesting, because the university has made plans to have four guest speakers to come and lecture us. It will be really nice to mix it up in that class, and hear other perspectives.
In other news, Meichen just got back from a trip to Beijing and Nanjing where she was visiting her old classmates. In just three more weeks I will be going to Inner Mongolia with her. We are so excited! She told me that when she went back home to tell her extended family that I was coming, her cousin, who has been learning english for some time, now wants us to come and stay with her for a day so that she can practice her English on me. Apparently she has never met a "Foreigner" before, (that's a lot of pressure).
Today we are just going to enjoy our last day of freedom before school officially begins, so we are touring through Shanghai. We figure if we stay in our rooms too long we will fall asleep and ruin our progress getting over jet lag. The smog here has been pretty bad the last couple of days, and I can no longer see the Pearl Tower from my building. They say it probably won't clear up until after winter, so I have been wearing my mask pretty diligently since I arrived.
I cannot wait to see what this semester has in store for me!
love from Shanghai,
Maddie
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