Ok, so I admit it. I'm a terrible blogger. I always knew I would be. I couldn't even keep a diary when I was younger and that was with the inspiration of the Dear America series that was so popular in the early 2000s. Now that we've established that, I can give a short recap of my adventures since mid-January.
My stay in Guangzhou with one of my native mainland Chinese friends was amazing. At first, I was supposed to go with one of my IBCE classmates, but due to some visa troubles, she had to drop out of the trip. I was hesitant about pressing on, but I am so glad I did. I will never forget that week. I think my favorite part of the entire vacation was the fact that I got to live with a family, not in a hotel. I've realized that as comfortable as I like to be, hotels can seem so sterile when I'm trying to really discover the flavor and culture of an area. The Hyatt in Guangzhou, China is no different from the one in Columbia, SC when I really think about it. Staying with a family allowed me to see, however briefly, what its like to live as a local in the area. In the morning I would eat breakfast with the parents before leaving with my friend to go visit her favorite haunts and the most famous attractions of Guangzhou, tourist or otherwise. We would sometimes eat at local, not contrived tourist, restaurants, or , even better, her father would cook a traditional meal at home. He's a great cook; I've never enjoyed Canton style food so much. For the first time since I've started my study abroad experience, I can honestly say that I've experienced local Chinese life and culture.
My second trip this semester happened a little more recently. Late last month, my friend Sheimaliz decided that she wanted to go to Taiwan for her birthday. Granted, she had been saying this for a month, but we finally decided to go.......a week before the trip was supposed to take place. This is probably the most spontaneous thing I've ever done. I was so nervous while booking the ticket, wondering "What if people drop out? What if I could have gotten a better deal? What if I don't like the trip? What if......" Then I realized that maybe college is the time that I'm supposed to be a little spontaneous and loosen up because honestly, how bad can it be? Let me tell you, it wasn't bad at all. It was so much fun. We stayed at a hostel (another accommodation first) called Chocolate Box which was totally cute and a lot better than I thought it would be. My 5 travel companions and myself shared a room and when sightseeing through Taipei together. I ate the best street food in Asia (bao zi, a steamed bun with veggies or meat inside, was amazing as was the bubble tea), went to a public hotsprings, took the world's fastest elevator to the top of the second highest building in the world (Taipei 101), and visited museums and memorials. Taipei was a lot like Hong Kong, but less westernized and Mandarin speaking (here, unlike in Hong Kong, they expect you to learn some Chinese before you visit. Not one person started off a conversation with me even though I knew many of them could probably speak English. I was pleasantly surprised with this expectation.)
Now it's March and midterms are over. I'm finally settling into the grove of Hong Kong again. Maybe now I'll write more blog posts.
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