School, Su Zhou and the Expo
15 september 2010 - Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China, China
Da Jan Hao, (Hi everyone,)
I'll write this blog in English, so my family in Scotland can understand what I'm rambling on about :) Hope the Dutch people don't mind too much! If you need a translation, you can ask in the reactions. How's everything in Holland & Scotland? Still raining cats & dogs? I'm sure the rain here is nothing like yours, it's pretty warm over here, but when it rains it's like someone is throwing buckets of water down. Wondering how you're all doing!
I haven't written anything for a while now, because I'm so busy. Those last couple of days have been very hectic, but I'm still enjoying my time here very much. Shanghai is awesome, there's so much today here. This city really never sleeps. Guess that's why I'm so exhausted at the end of the day!
I started my language course at Jiao Tong University on Monday. I thought it would be a small school, but it turns out to be really big with people from all over the world. I'm now learning how to use Pin Yin, so making a lot of strange noises haha... Also learning how to introduce yourself and telling people where you're from. It's kind of basic, that's why I'm glad I got tutoring lessons arranged before coming over. My teacher, Fei Fei Laoshi (Laoshi=teacher) is really nice and helpful. She's really increased my vocabulary after three days already.
This weekend I went to Su Zhou with two friends of mine, Steven and Cedric, to visit the factory my dad imports his electrical bikes from. It was a very good experience for us to see where and how products are made in China. The factory looked well organised for Chinese standards and we got a very warm welcome from the companies representative, Grace. Su Zhou is very well known for their gardens, so we visited one of those, the Humble Administrator, which is the biggest one. We were there on a Saturday, so it was ofcourse packed with Chinese tourist, who tried to take as much pictures of us as we passed. I posted some pictures of the Su Zhou trip, see below. We took one of China's fastest trains there, which goes about 300 km/h. Getting the train tickets was hell in its self, but it only took us 20 minutes when we got on the train eventually. Tip: get the train tickets in advance and be there on time!
On Friday, me and some friends went to visit the World Expo, which is advertised EVERYWHERE in Shanghai and on Chinese tv. One of my friends was able to get VIP-passes which allowed us to skip the lines at a lot of pavillions. It's really big though, so we only got to visit most of Europe and South-America. I heard the Chinese and Saoudi-Arabian pavillions are really worth a visit as well, but these two have lines of about 9 hours.. Don't know if it's worth 9 hours of standing in a line with people wanting to take pictures of you all the time haha... I'll try to upload some of these pictures too later on.
I really love reading all your reactions, so keep them coming!
Zai Jian (Tot ziens/see you later) & miss you!
Love & xxx, Evelien (Fan Ai Lian, my Chinese name for the English speakers who weren't able to translate my blog last time :p)
Een kennis van ons die ook in shanghai zat, heeft volgens mij gedaan of ze zwanger was om in expo te komen. Iedereen liet dr voor. Haha, ook nog een ideetje ;)
wat bijzonder dat jij daar zo vlot rondhobbelt...ook leuk om de plekken te zien waar ik een jaar of wat geleden eens geweest ben... maar veel verder dan [nie hou] fonetisch geschreven ben ik niet gekomen.
You're right Shanghai never sleeps..
Bakker het Watertje draait gewoon door, ik zie weer nieuwe gezichten achter de toonbank!
hartelijke groet uit Zoeterwoude,
Guusje
Ga je nu toch een beetje missen op de boerderij...dus eerst mar naar je site gegaan.Donna wordt prima verzorgd hoor! Alles gelezen over je avonturen, bijzonder. Je schrijfstijl is grappig, zie het allemaal voor me wat je zoal meemaakt.
Nu braaf naar school, maar er zal genoeg tijd overblijven voor leuke tripjes. Ik blijf je volgen, en een "hinnek" knuffel van Donna.
Nice blog dear! Well done! Didn't realise you had so much rain too - you hadn't mentioned that before. We've had so much rain here, the garden is being taken over by snails. It's one big pile of snail sludge out there! Remember our crunchy walk - like Russion Roulette! Miss you, mama x
Ik heb het kunnen vertalen!! Ben je niet trots op me?? hahha.. Maar fijn dat jij het zo fijn hebt:D.. Ik denk ook wel dat amber gelijk heeft!! hahahha
Spreek je snel een x via skype:)
xxx(K)
geen haarlemmerdijkies hé met die jongens op die snelle trein?
het is hier heel druk met het V&D prijzen circus en de Awinder dagen. Site is bijna klaar.Morgen weer naar Karwei.
Bel je nog even morgen?
kus
Pappa
maak je nog een verslagje van je bezoek aan Suzhou?
vertrek 2 jan 02.30 CI65
Wat een belevenis..5 maanden China!
Je web-log staat in ons favorietenlijstje zodat we iedere week even kunnen lezen wat je allemaal hebt beleeft. Spannend hoor allemaal en heerlijk dat je al zoveel leuke mensen hebt ontmoet.
En als ik dat zo allemaal lees dan spreek jij straks vloeiend Chinees.
Veel plezier en geniet er maar van!
Groetjes van de achterbuurvrouw!
Leuk al die verhalen om te lezen. je maakt wel wat me zeg.
Kan je nu ook vertellen dat ik op Skype zit en met jou via de webcam kan gaan praten. Mijn skypename is roelof.van.der.veer.Groetjes van Opa
Love your blog. Sounds like you're having a great time and settling in well in Shanghai. We're all together in Station Road West about to eat fish and chips. I hope you're having something good to eat too! We look forward to following your news online. Lots of love from your Scottish family xxxxx