Coming to a Turning Point

As of now, I have less then a month left of my stay in China. I originally planned to stay a full two semesters abroad, but I feel overwhelmed. I just miss home. I miss getting to sit on a normal toilet. I miss getting to eat food that isn’t full of grease and MSG. I miss my family, my friends, and my girlfriend. This country is definitely an acquired taste, and not for the light of heart.

In previous entries I wrote with a lot of excitement of the adventures of I had. They were all true: I’ve had a blast here, but I don’t know if my heart lies in this place. For one, I am a lover of freedom. China is not. You can’t get youtube or facebook here because its associated with “terrorists”. Even when I’m just searching on google I have a nasty habit of looking up subversive content. My curiosity drifts where it will and, often, I find myself getting blocked in the middle of reading a paragraph.

Also, Chinese culture is one of industriousness and polite respect. People are mostly concerned with duty and material wealth. There is little culture as far as music or art goes, because, quite frankly, most people aren’t interested. There are a few history museums, but most of it is contrived for tourists and contain few actual artifacts.

Regardless, this isn’t a bad country, it has its charms, but it just took me a long time to realize that its not quite for me. I booked a flight for December 21st. Originally my plan was to surprise my family and pop in for three weeks unnoticed, but now I am flying over for good. I’ve still got some time, so I’m living it up while I can, but as far as I’m concerned I’m ready to go home.

Best Wishes,
Liam

Entry 11: Another Lesson Learned

As you probably know, I havent been updating my blog with the rapidity and thoroughness that typified my earlier posts, however there is a good reason for this that requires some explanation. Traveling around a foreign country on almost a weekly basis makes you forget about why you’ve come here in the first place. At the outset of the trip I made it clear I was here for school and anything that happened afterwords was an extra bonus. But when you’re in the moment and living the dorm experience; when people will invite you to events on a random basis and you’re faced with the daily business of food shopping, house chores and cooking, its easy to lose the original goal you came here for. This past week was a rude wake up call.

Dundee has an interesting way of assigning and handing in assignments. For the first month and a half, I had absolutely no papers, no tests, nothing but reading assignments and note taking, and with only 5 hours a class a week! My flatmates on the other hand were handing in assignments on almost a weekly basis and fuller schedules; making me the laziest person on earth. By mid October this had changed: suddenly I was faced with a 1,000 word assignment and a 3500 word essay. For anyone reading this who thinks “why is he complaining”, you have to realize that since I was only doing readings for the past month, the last essay I did for a class was back in May for finals. Being in another country, with different professors who have different standards makes “getting in the groove” of writing a full blown report overwhelming. Add to that the traveling (in fact as we were in London, I was in the process of writing a paper).

Despite my initial difficulties in starting my essays, both were completed on time and handed in a week from each other; and for another two weeks I eagerly awaited my grades. The first paper I got back recieved an A3 (A-) and how happy was I that I was sure the next paper would do just as well! This sadly was not to be. We filed into class that day with high hopes of getting a decent grade on this assignment. However, as our professor handed back our papers it was like a bomb of melancholy had dropped. We all did poorly and I especially was shocked with my grade; I had never been so confused, angry and frustrated in the history of my academic career. Why had my one paper done so well while this one so poorly? After looking inwardly for a day or so I realized that the type of paper that was asked was something I had never really done before. It was supposed to be a critique of what I had learned in class for the past five weeks written in my own words with supporting evidence from the text. I have always hated writing about myself and as a result had a hard time contextualizing my thoughts. Compounding this was the traveling and going out with my friends. The dorm life experience was new to me as for the past 3 years, I lived at home and would commute to campus. Now in my senior year I had to catch up and as a result, my grades suffered.

As of now, I’m working on my final two essays of the semester before finals and just booked a flight to Dublin. Although my previous paper was a disaster, I’ve recognized what went wrong and am determined not to make the same mistake again. I’ve set daily page quota goals for myself in order to stay on task without overwhelming myself and have kept in contact with both of my professors. I remember in my introduction letter to the program I said I wanted to come to the UK so as to prove to myself that I can accomodate a social life into my academic life successfully and thus I feel that even though last week was a rude awawkening, it was another lesson learned.

Entry 10: London Part III

This is the final entry of our trip to London. Seeing as so much has happened in the interim, I can only afford to do a brief synopsis and let the pictures do the rest. We spent our day walking Carnaby and Oxford Streets; the main fashion districts of the city. Carnaby Street is known as the “Birthplace of MOD fashion”, a style popularized by The Beatles and especially The Who in the early to mid 1960’s. The street is charming and has plenty of places to shop but be prepared to pay a steep price! Oxford Street offers a wider variety of stores and styles but the prices are no different, and being there on a Saturday was a harrowing experience in and of itself! If you are a music geek like me, I recommend going to HMV on Oxford Street. Nothing I write can describe the amount and variety of music they carry. I even did a little experiment and went in search of several relatively obscure bands; the Field Mice, The Pastels and The Wedding Present and found all three with a variety of albums! What was strange was they carried music by “The Feelies”; an indie band from Hoboken, New Jersey who arent even carried in the United States!

We then ate lunch at Chinatown in London and it had to be some of the freshest Chinese food i’ve ever eaten; and this is speaking from someone whose been raised on it! After Lunch, we proceeded down Covent Garden where there were plenty of small shops and street performers to see. It reminded me very much like Greenwich Village in New York.

Our night in London concluded with a pint of Lager at a local pub with a couple of our English friends. A perfect way to end a perfect trip!

Carnaby Street Entrance

Carnaby Street Entrance

another view

MOD store

MOD store

Chinatown

Chinatown

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They Fixed The Heater!!! :)

Welcome to China! What’s new you ask?

Hmm…well…its COLD, really really, COLD!!

Sure, I’ve been in New Paltz for the last 3 years. I’ve had my share of cold winters, but its wet and cold in a place that’s supposed to be at the latitude of Macon, Georgia. This city was hot and polluted when I got here. It would never rain, and now when it just starts to get below freezing now it starts up at full force.

Its been like this for the past two weeks, and for the entirety of those two weeks I have had no heat. The heater, attached to the upper wall over my desk, just wasn’t plugged in right. I finally got a maintenance guy to come in and fix it for me, and OH how sweet it feels! Dreams of warm blankets and hot coco run through my imagination.

The down(er) side to this is that now, nobody really wants to go in. We all want to stay in our little warm hovels and hide from the outside world. I, however, managed to find the motivation today, to go all the way to the center of the city to buy my girlfriend a few gifts. I think she’ll be pleased with what I found. It was great, because the malls were less packed then usual. Mind you, it was about the concentration of a regular mall day back home, but with a population as big as China’s that’s a severe reduction.

Right now, I’m doing okay. I’ve got my heat running on high, an extra blanket I brought from home, and a couple extra layers I bought from Wal-Mart (they have’m in China). If I can brave another month of this I think I’ll come out in one piece when its all over.

Warm wishes (hehe),

Liam

So long Aotearoa…

Last day in New Zealand.

It’s currently 9PM here in Sydney and I haven’t slept in about 36 hours. But these have been some crazy awesome hours.

After a 2AM drive to the airport with Maggie and Emily, I hung out with them before they had to go through security, on their way to Brunei and Thailand. Then it was the waiting game. People were crowding through the arrival gates from San Francisco, Santiago, Apia and Perth. But all I cared about was NZ5 from LAX. Finally, I started to see luggage tags from L.A. and then, a bright blue Delaware sweatshirt appeared in the doorway. I cannot describe how amazing it was to see him. After days of tears and depression with people leaving, it was great to see someone I hadn’t seen in so long.

I got to show my Dad the smallest bit of New Zealand, but I think he loved every minute. From the view on top of Mt. Victoria to the beer at lunch, he was pretty happy with his 10 hours in the country.

Next we boarded our flight to Sydney and it was way harder for me to deal with than I had imagined. As the plane started off down the runway, I realised that I was going to take off from New Zealand and wouldn’t be there again for many years, if ever again. The memories will live vividly in my mind, and I’ll always be able to look at pictures, read this blog or chat with a friend about the amazing time we spent together in Aotearoa.

Two things are for sure: First, I’ll miss this country and the people I met so much. Second, my life will never be the same.

Expect more from Aus soon!

Kia Ora,

Liam

Best Beach Ever, Catlins Coast, South Island, New Zealand

The City of Sails

1 day left in New Zealand.

Today was an eerie repeat déjà vu of my first day in the country. After an amazing New Zealand style breakfast of eggs, sausage and bacon, and four hours of conversation with Franesca’s mom, where we explained the importance of tipping American service staff, we drove to central city Auckland and walked around the harbour. The weather was overcast, chilly and rainy, identical to the weather I experienced on 4 July. I saw my hotel again and took nearly the same harbour walk I did 4 months ago. This time however, I was able to head to a pretty sweet bar I had seen on my last time here. After a drink, we headed back to Francesca’s for an incredible classic New Zealand meal. Roast lamb, potatoes, kumara, pumpkin and vegetables. Yum. Now its some Rhys Darby (Murray from Flight of the Concords) stand up comedy.

Pretty soon I’ll be taking Maggie and Emily to the airport. These will be my last goodbyes in New Zealand; a sign it’s actually coming to a close. But then, only a couple hours later, I’ll be meeting my dad outside of customs! As much as New Zealand will be tough to leave, spending the next three weeks exploring Australia and Fiji with my dad is going to be fantastic. I’m so pumped and I can’t wait to share my time with you while I’m there.

– Liam

Auckland Skyline from the Harbour Bridge, North Island, New Zealand

Goodbyes. For real.

3 days left in New Zealand.
Last day in Wellington.

I cannot even begin to describe how I feel right now. Its 4AM and I just said “Good Night” to Natalie for the last time. These past 4 1/2 months have absolutely flown by and I wish I could scrape a few extra moments in Wellington before it’s time to leave. But alas, time is not so kind.

I spent the last 20 hours packing, cleaning, shipping packages & gifts and enjoying the company of my best friends here in Welly. Tonight began the true sense that this incredible experience is coming to an end. While a few people have already departed, including Kevin (who is off on a trip that will take him from Singapore to Hong Kong, Venice to Dublin before flying home in December), it almost seemed as if they would be back. It was tonight, when I said a final goodbye to a kiwi friend, that it all hit me. Harder than a ton of bricks.

I realised in that moment that it would most likely be years before I see him again, if we were even so lucky. Someone I’ve seen at least four times a week for four months will no longer be present everyday. It’s a cruel irony that friendships can build so fast. In one sense, it’s fantastic. We can easily assimilate into a new environment and feel comfortable. But it makes it so much easier to be hurt when the time comes to head elsewhere.

Tomorrow, I leave Wellington.
Tomorrow, I say many more goodbyes.
Tomorrow’s going to be an emotional day.

And with that, I bid you good night.

– Liam
Wellington Harbour, Wellington, North Island, New Zealand

A Trip to The Spa

I really need to apologize in advance, it seems that I always forget to right about my best adventures. Usually, I am in such a lull of excitement afterward, that words seem to spoil the experience. So, I retell this adventure of mine, about a week after it has transpired.

I need to say firstly that I have one of the greatest Chinese teachers. I may have said it before, but it is worth repeating: she is my speaking teacher, Hou Xiao Fan, but her English name is just Kiko. This is the same teacher that took us to the crazy shopping center at the edge of the city. She is ridiculously funny and always has an answer of strong experience whenever we have a question about anything Chinese. Of all things, our wonderful teacher decided to take us to a spa resort for the weekend.

This place was unbelievable! It had about…let’s see – seven different kinds of baths. There was one filled with wine, one filled with tea, one that was boiling hot, one filled with flowers, one for “medicinal” purposes, one just for swimming, and my favorite (probably the most interesting) baths filled with little pucker fish that nibble at your skin.

Its a total head trip. They have one with tiny little fish, and one for fish that are a little bigger. Mind you, these were all outdoor baths, and when we arrived it was already night time. When you first get in its hard to see what’s in there. If you sit still and get in just the right spot they’ll come right up to you and pucker at your skin. It doesn’t hurt one bit, I swear, but OH does it feel strange. Me and a friend challenged ourselves to stand straight up and let them swarm at our legs, while we twitched and uttered strange noises. I’m not sure what I actually got out of that experience….but hey its China! 🙂 When in Rome…

Best Wishes,

Liam

Flower Arranging and Tea Ceremony… the best class ever

I’m taking a class called Experiences in Japanese Culture, where the students go on excursions and participate in Japanese cultural events. It is such a fun class! Today we did Ikebana, which is the Japanese art of flower arranging. We went into the mountain and collected materials (branches, berries, flowers, etc.) and brought them back to arrange them into beautiful pieces. Here is my creation:

My Ikebana

My Ikebana

I’m not sure if I captured the essence of true beauty in Ikebana, but I had a great time trying!

In the previous class we experienced tea ceremony. It is a very intricate event in which people quietly sit in a traditional Japanese style tea room on their shins and politely offer each other tea and sweets. There is a rule for every single movement during the process, from the way in which you hold the sweets on a special type of napkin, to the way you drink the tea. The tea has a bitter taste that slightly shocks the senses but cleanses the soul and the sweets, or wagashi, have a delicious taste.

One phrase that I used often during tea ceremony was “Osaki ni,” which means “I’m going before you,” and it’s used when you are about to drink the tea. There are also other phrases used to show respect to the tea maker, the people sitting with you, and the tea itself. If you ever plan on visiting Japan you absolutely need to experience tea ceremony. It is one of the many beautiful aspects of Japanese culture. Here are various pictures from that day:

The beautiful tearoom

The beautiful tearoom

Napkins for the sweets

Napkins for the sweets

Pot where tea is made

Pot where tea is made

Small courtyard in tea house

Small courtyard in tea house

Another Courtyard

Another Courtyard

Wagashi (Japanese tea sweet)

Wagashi (Japanese tea sweet)

Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures of the tea itself but if you’ve ever seen wasabi that’s served with sushi, it resembles that green color. Truly an interesting experience.

Living the Japanese dream…

Five weeks of class and more than one month later, here I am. Living in Kanazawa, Japan as an international student at Kanazawa University. Speaking Japanese every single day. I never thought I would actually be here. I am living my dream and loving every second of it!

Sitting in front of Kanazawa University's famous rock sculpture

Sitting in front of Kanazawa University's famous rock sculpture

I had studied Japanese for two years at university level before coming to Japan. Although this may seem like a long period of study I feel that I only scratched the surface of the language. Coming here to Japan was the best choice I made academic and career-wise. In order to reach near-fluency in language I believe that one must live in the country for a period of time. Speaking and listening to Japanese every single day has immensely helped my proficiency. Before coming to Japan I did not have many opportunities to speak Japanese. This impeded  my progression in the spoken aspect of Japanese proficiency. Now that I’m here I am more confident in speaking Japanese and improving more and more everyday. Although I am faced by life’s little challenges on a daily basis I am learning from them.

For example, the very thought of entering a Japanese bank and opening an account would have seemed impossible to me before coming to Japan. About three weeks ago I did open an account and I don’t think I did as badly as I thought I would. The bank employees even asked me how long I studied and where I was from because they thought my Japanese was good! I quickly responded in Japanese with “Not yet, but thank you,” which is the golden response for a foreigner who is complimented on their Japanese proficiency. A small victory to some, but situations like this happen often to me here, where I don’t think I can speak to Japanese people properly and when I succeed both the listener is surprised and I am as well! I can only hope for more of these pleasant situations during my stay in Kanazawa.

Eating lunch with my Japanese friend, Mina

Eating lunch with my Japanese friend, Mina

Now that it’s been a little over a month I can say that I have grown accustomed to living here. University life in Japan is similar to my university life in New York. I wake up early for classes and spend evenings studying and doing homework, but I believe that the true abroad experience takes place outside the classroom. Once I have finished my studying and homework I try to do a little exploration. Heading into the center of Kanazawa City is a great way for me to experience Japan. Being around Japanese people or getting together with Japanese friends is also another way in which I experience Japan. The restaurants here in Kanazawa are numerous and absolutely delicious. There are also many places to shop and have an enjoyable time. Before I came here I thought that Kanazawa would be more rural but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Kanzawa is a bustling city. I couldn’t be happier with my choice. Life in Japan so far has been a challenge but I am thoroughly enjoying myself!