I'm Late! D:

Hello everyone,

Sorry! I meant to post yesterday, but between my three classes, lunch, dinner, studying and other various things, I didn't get a post up. :(  This week hasn't really been too eventful either, which didn't help with my motivation to get a post up.  Compared to a trip to Beijing, sitting in a dorm room really doesn't have much to offer. However, there were a few things that deserve mentioning from this week, so that's what I'll do now.

The first event that warrants mentioning is the fact that I've been asked to sing a song at a "rock" concert being held here on campus. I put rock in quotations because the song they've asked me to sing isn't what I would consider rock. But hey, I get to sing, and its a song I like, so I'll take it. The song is Under the Bridge by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, if anyone is interested. And not only that, but playing guitar for me is a guy from our dorm that's from Hungary. And his name happens to be Adam as well.  Which I find, for some reason, incredibly cool. :P This event has been postponed until sometime in late October, but I'll be sure to let you know how it goes when it happens.

The second thing worth mentioning in a short paragraph is that this was our last week before a seven day break from classes! From the 1st to the 7th, China celebrates National Day, which is like our Fourth of July. Except they get a whole week where there is no school in the entire country.  Currently, I don't have any plans for the long break other than getting some college stuff set up for next semester. But I'll keep you all posted if anything does happen.

The last things I wanted to mention in this post is that I received a very nice care package from home.  Not only did it come with things like food, playing cards, and an American chess board, but it also came with a collection of cards from some of the ladies I worked with over the past two summers.  I've only opened a few of them, but they have all been very nice so far, and I am really grateful to have these connections to home. And so, I want to say thank you to all the ladies at Bank Iowa that send me cards in that package. I hope you are all having a good time back in the states. :)

That's really all the highlights for this week. Otherwise, its been a lot of classes, a lot of studying, and a little bit of walking around campus to find food and such. :P I will do my absolute best to post again next Monday and get back on track with my schedule.  I'll let you all know how the long break was, even if I don't end up doing anything but staying at the dorm. There's bound to be something that happens for me to talk about. I hope... :P Thanks again for reading this.

Adam

A Necessary Update

Hello everyone,

Sorry it has taken me this long to update things.  I've had quite the week so far, and it hasn't even been a full week yet. :P So, lets get everything all caught up, shall we?

To begin, was the plane ride.  I knew 11.5 hours was a long time to be in the air, and to be quite honest, I still didn't think I was quite ready for it.  However, once we took off and I realized they provided free movies for passengers... I had a much better time.  Four movies and an hour long nap later, I was landing in Beijing, China, halfway around the world from everything I was used to.  We stayed that night in a hotel, which had really spotty internet, meaning no blogging there.  End day one.

Day two started out with a five hour long bus ride to our "town," Shi Jiazhuang, and the Hebei Normal University.  Now, this wasn't a bad bus ride.  We were the only people on the bus.  The university had hired the bus just for us, which made the ride more relaxing than anything else.  After we arrived, we got a quick tour of the important buildings around campus, but none were more important than the Cultural Exchange Building, which is where our dorms and classrooms are as foreign exchange students.

As a quick aside, when I talk about "dorm rooms" I really mean something more akin to a hotel room.

These three pictures show the fact that I have a little entrance hallway, two beds, two dressers, two desks, and a bathroom, all to myself.  No roommates.  Which is insanely impressive, and far more room than I figured I would have.  Also, the Cultural Exchange Building stands at twelve stories tall, almost twice as tall as the tallest dorm/building at Kearney.  My room is located on the sixth floor of the building.

The weekend after we got all moved in, I struggled a little. We didn't know any of the language, and we didn't have any way to get that information.  Our rooms, as nice as they are, don't have internet unless you pay for it, and even once you do, the internet doesn't start until September first. Fourth floor has internet, but only at certain times during the day, so getting on to check translations and things like that was very difficult.  I remember thinking that if the rest of the trip was like that weekend, it may end up being a very long four months.

But, as they usually do, things got better. Monday and Tuesday brought the start of Mandarin Chinese class. I can't even begin to express how good it is to know even just a few words in the local language.  For example, I cannow say hello, goodbye, how much is this?, I would like to buy this, and a few other extremely useful phrases in Chinese.  Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday will bring more of that class, and next week we start our other classes as well, which include Chinese History and Chinese Literature.  I am just as excited for both of these classes as I am to continue learning more Mandarin.

Hopefully it won't be as long to my next post as it was getting to this one.  I will do my best to get things updated as things happen.  Thanks again for reading this blog, to anyone who does.  I hope I can entertain at least a little with the experiences I'm having half a world away.

Adam

An Introduction

Hello!

My name is Adam Stauffer, and I am just getting ready to embark on my first solo international trip.  I am very excited to have the chance to travel to China and experience a culture from halfway around the world.  I have yet to experience a trip out of the United States, and through the University of Nebraska at Kearney Study Abroad program, I will get that chance while still paying Kearney tuition and fees. This means that all of my scholarships and grants still apply to the costs of studying in a foreign country.

I can't wait to begin my journey, and keep all of you readers updated on everything I am doing.  But before I forget, I want to introduce myself as well.  As I said, my name is Adam. I am going into my Junior year of college with this trip, with a major in Organizational Communications, emphasizing in both Marketing and Literature.  I hope to work either in the marketing division of the ATP, or in the sales department of a publishing house.  I believe this trip will help me with both.  Not only will I be taking classes and learning a new culture, but it will also teach me important lessons about taking chances and working to make my goals and dreams into reality.

I truly hope this experience is a good one, and I will do my best to keep you updated as often as I can. I will post at least once a week for sure, but I would have to guess that it will be even more frequently than that.  Thanks for reading to anyone who does, and I hope you enjoy hearing about the trip as much as I will enjoy going on it. :)

Adam