My Writings. My Thoughts.
Korea is Fancy
// August 9th, 2009 // No Comments » // China, Dancing, Harbin, Korea, Travel
Wow did the last few weeks fly by or what! I’m now writing from Korea and I didn’t even have time to mention that I left China! So here’s what happened:
July 25: Went to the Tiger Park in Harbin – got some great photos of tigers that I’ll post soon.
August 4: Final exam in Chinese classes, closing ceremonies that afternoon/evening (I somehow got all A’s!).
August 5: Took a train all day to Beijing, arrive at 7:30 pm and meet up with Josh (swing dancer in Beijing). Hung out with Josh and other dancers, spent the night at Josh’s.
August 6: Flight to Seoul at 1:45 pm, arrive at 4:45 pm. Took a bus to Hapjeong station and was met by my friend Miyeoung. Stay at her place that night.
August 7: Train to Pusan, dance in Pusan that night.
August 7 – 9: Pusan swing festival! Dancing all night, all day.
August 9: [...] Continue Reading…
Tour of Dongbei (North East China)
// July 13th, 2009 // No Comments » // China, Dalian, Harbin, Travel
I just got back from a week of touring through some of the most famous parts of North Eastern China (the region known as “dongbei” or “东北”) so I thought I’d write down all I did in the past 7 days. Here it goes:
Friday, July 3, 2009
Friday night we all got on a night train to Dalian. Being the third time the whole group has traveled by train, I think we’re starting to get the hang of it. Things went smoothly and we had another night of singing songs and playing cards into the night at 140 km/hr.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Saturday morning we arrived in Dalian. After breakfast at a Chinese fast food joint, we got on a bus to Jinshetan, which is about an hour northeast of Dalian. So I was pretty bummed when I found out that we weren’t actually staying in Dalian, my [...] Continue Reading…
Trip to Inner Mongolia (内蒙古)
// June 27th, 2009 // No Comments » // China, Harbin, Travel
Well, I’ve been so busy that before I had a chance to write about Harbin, we went on a trip to Inner Mongolia. I’ll have to write about Harbin another time. The trip was from June 19 to 21, 2009. We traveled by train and bus and visited many sites during our two days in the region. I guess I’ll just take you through the events one by one.
Friday night we all met in the lobby downstairs then took a bus to the train station. We boarded the train around 9:00 pm, and then Max and I promptly began writing songs in Chinese with the help of Jay’s guitar. Within 5 minutes we had a tune down and performed it, which resulted in a rather continuous flow of singing every song anyone knew until the wee hours of the morning. The train [...] Continue Reading…
Back in Beijing
// June 6th, 2009 // No Comments » // China, Travel
I can’t believe it but I’m back in Beijing. Just a few hours ago we got off the plane and boarded a bus to the Sleepy Inn Hostel in Beijing. We’ll be staying here for the next two nights before we head over to Harbin by train. It’s so surreal! I feel like I just left China yesterday and here I am back walking around Bohai lake, which I just did last July. So far the summer is off to a great start!
Camp Jitterbug & China Preparations
// June 3rd, 2009 // No Comments » // China, Dancing, Travel
I just got back to Virginia from Seattle on Monday night and I am already sitting in a hotel in D.C. preparing for another summer of Chinese study in China. I have been home literally less than 48 hours and have already had to fly again here, only to leave for China Friday morning – I am in the air every 48 hours!
Anyway, back to Camp Jitterbug. I left for Seattle last Wednesday and flew half the day to arrive at 11:30 pm. As soon as I got off the plane, I called my host, Jared, and grabbed a cab to the dance. We met at the Century Ballroom. When I walked through the doors, I found a room full of dancers surrounded by luggage from all over the world. It seemed that every dancer had done exactly what I had – go [...] Continue Reading…
