This will be quick because the clock is ticking.
Tonight I had dinner with Christelle and Fabien - we went out for pizza (and bourbon), then had chocolate fondue at their house and watched Leon the Professional (until the DVD decided to cark it.) Teary farewells were had, then once I got home we realised we could do it all over again tomorrow for lunch.
So tomorrow my day is jam packed. I have to meet Andri and Can, exchange photos and say goodbye, then off to uni to meet Mega, Fabien and Christelle (and possibly Olly) for lunch, then Mega is going to accompany me to my place to collect my (hopefully by then) packed luggage, then she's taking me to the airport! Unfortunately I've already packed the waterproof mascara.
The next time I blog, I'll be in Australia! See you all soon!
P.S. Mum - bring some tissues to the airport!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye
(Can we tell I've been watching a lot of The Sound of Music lately?)
For those of you who have been living under a rock (or not keeping up to date with my blog - tisk tisk), last night I had a fabulous night out at Guomao, the World Trade Centre in Beijing. The staff at the Louis Vuitton store there offered Andri a farewell party for being one of their regular customers. So first we headed to Guomao for a Chinese Fushion dinner, then to LV for our party!
It was just a little gathering, with eleven of us, along with Nolan, Andri's SA, and Jason, their customer relations manager. We drank expensive champagne, ate delicious nibblies, watched a DVD created by Andri showcasing our year in China with accompanying music selected by all of us (my choice? 'Tear You Apart' by She Wants Revenge! The only non-pop song, and clearly the best choice.)
Andri was allowed to choose an entire outfit from LV to wear for the party. His selection:
The displays were specially chosen by Andri to show off LVs iconic bags:
The shindig in action:
Hokky and I with the Eiffel Tower of LV cases:
(^^ As a side note, the larger cases at the bottom cost roughly AU$10,000 each, so imagine the cost of the entire display!)
Andri was caught trying to run off with a few Keepalls by Nolan:
Group photo:
Cheers:
There are more photos (LOTS MORE!) on Andri's website (aptly named vuittonguy.com) - you can reach the gallery for the party here.
Bad news though. That night confirmed that I do indeed need a Speedy 30, but I think I now want the Red Epi instead of the Damier Azur! Ahh choices, choices! Now, if only the SAs in the Melbourne store were as great as Beijing's stores - I'd be laughing all the way to the bank (or all the way into greater debt).
**********
In other news, I officially know my results for second semester. Care to know? .... Oh bugger, I've just realised they're packed at the bottom of my suitcase. I think I can remember them though. Bearing in mind, these are not my results for my end of semester exams - these are the combined mark of both mid and end of semester exams... We usually don't find out our end of semester exam marks.
Comprehensive Chinese - 83
Listening Comprehension - 84
Reading Comprehension - 77 (I know my end of semester exam mark - 88)
Character Knowledge - 98 !!!!!!!!! Highest mark in the class!
Anyway, I leave Beijing in a touch over 24 hours. My room is a bomb site, I can't fit everything into my suitcase, and I am sick as a dog, with the beginnings of what I think may be an ear infection. So it's going to be interested.
I will blog tomorrow and say a lil something, maybe get a little teary... we'll see!
For those of you who have been living under a rock (or not keeping up to date with my blog - tisk tisk), last night I had a fabulous night out at Guomao, the World Trade Centre in Beijing. The staff at the Louis Vuitton store there offered Andri a farewell party for being one of their regular customers. So first we headed to Guomao for a Chinese Fushion dinner, then to LV for our party!
It was just a little gathering, with eleven of us, along with Nolan, Andri's SA, and Jason, their customer relations manager. We drank expensive champagne, ate delicious nibblies, watched a DVD created by Andri showcasing our year in China with accompanying music selected by all of us (my choice? 'Tear You Apart' by She Wants Revenge! The only non-pop song, and clearly the best choice.)
Andri was allowed to choose an entire outfit from LV to wear for the party. His selection:
The displays were specially chosen by Andri to show off LVs iconic bags:
The shindig in action:
Hokky and I with the Eiffel Tower of LV cases:
(^^ As a side note, the larger cases at the bottom cost roughly AU$10,000 each, so imagine the cost of the entire display!)
Andri was caught trying to run off with a few Keepalls by Nolan:
Group photo:
Cheers:
There are more photos (LOTS MORE!) on Andri's website (aptly named vuittonguy.com) - you can reach the gallery for the party here.
Bad news though. That night confirmed that I do indeed need a Speedy 30, but I think I now want the Red Epi instead of the Damier Azur! Ahh choices, choices! Now, if only the SAs in the Melbourne store were as great as Beijing's stores - I'd be laughing all the way to the bank (or all the way into greater debt).
**********
In other news, I officially know my results for second semester. Care to know? .... Oh bugger, I've just realised they're packed at the bottom of my suitcase. I think I can remember them though. Bearing in mind, these are not my results for my end of semester exams - these are the combined mark of both mid and end of semester exams... We usually don't find out our end of semester exam marks.
Comprehensive Chinese - 83
Listening Comprehension - 84
Reading Comprehension - 77 (I know my end of semester exam mark - 88)
Character Knowledge - 98 !!!!!!!!! Highest mark in the class!
Anyway, I leave Beijing in a touch over 24 hours. My room is a bomb site, I can't fit everything into my suitcase, and I am sick as a dog, with the beginnings of what I think may be an ear infection. So it's going to be interested.
I will blog tomorrow and say a lil something, maybe get a little teary... we'll see!
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Ice Ice Baby
I am back from Ha'erbin. Well, I actually arrived home yesterday, but I spent the whole day in bed. There is only one word to describe Ha'erbin - COLD.
Day 1 -
We all caught a heiche (illegal taxi) to the train station for our 9.25pm train - I was expecting pandemonium at the station, but it was fabulous - we walked straight up to the check-in counter, down to the platform and onto our train - all within five minutes.
The trains were dodgier than on the trip to Tibet - the train to Tibet actually had 'walls' facing the corridor (just missing the door), while the train to Ha'erbin didn't even have that wall! Sorry I didn't explain that very well. Hopefully the picture explains it a bit better:
From left to right: Bernard, Hokky, Me, Andri, Devi, Heru, Candra, Nalisha (Vivi is missing)
I slept terribly that night, thanks to having damp bed linen, hundreds of noisy kids in the same carriage, and the fact that I had an afternoon siesta before boarding the train!
Day 2 -
After a few hours sleep, we were woken up by the lights being turned on, and we started applying layers of clothing in preparation. I managed to wear three pairs of thermals underneath my jeans, four long sleeve t-shirts, one thin jumper, one fluffy hoodie jumper, scarf, beanie, big down-filled coat, gloves, three pairs of socks and snow boots. When we stepped off the train, I was surprised at how not cold it was. That might have been due to the amount of clothing I was wearing, but really, I think I had imagined that -25 would be life-or-death, unbearable cold... when really it wasn't. It was surprisingly bearable. That being said, within 15 seconds of stepping off the train, the hair inside my nose froze. Charming, I know. Luckily I didn't have a cold at that point, because when your nose runs, it freezes to your face! Nasty...
We met our tour guide (an absolutely adorable, incredibly young looking 26 year old named Xiao Li - honestly, she looked about 12 or 13), and the rest of our tour group for the day - we were with a family of three, and a group of four sisters from Liaoning (north east of Beijing).
We jumped straight into the touristy stuff - first stop was the Russian St. Sophia's Cathedral for some quick pics, then onto 中央大街 - Zhongyang Dajie (Ha'erbin's version of Wangfujing (or Bourke Street/Pitt Street/equal Brisbane equivalent)).
Myself, Devi and Vivi outside St. Sophia's Cathedral
Andri, Devi, Vivi, Hokky and Heru on Zhongyang Dajie
We then went to watch crazy senior citizens (who clearly weren't the sharpest tools in the shed) swimming in the river. They had cut a swimming pool sized hole in the ice, and we saw at least 30 oldies jump in for a splash. Because it was so damn cold, there were people constantly skimming the pool for ice that was reforming. Some of them looked a bit worse for wear on their way back inside too.
We then went for possibly the greatest meal we've ever had whilst in China. It was a simple, fairly average lunch, but everything was just so delicious (made even more so by the fact none of us had eaten since the previous evening). After our fab lunch, we headed to the Ice Sculpture Festival, which was basically just that - sculptures made of ice.
Our tour group (less the family of three)
Inside the Ice Bar
All the ice is man-made, so they can add colours to it, should they so wish
The biggest chunk of ice ever
Next we headed to the Ice Lantern Festival (the sun set at 4.17pm which really messes up your internal clock). It was at about this time that my camera decided it was just too darn cold to work. My phone and iPod had already stopped working, so it was inevitable really. Actually, they say that anything with an LCD screen or a battery will stop working, as well as camera SD discs, which are only rated to -10.
We only had an hour at the Ice Lantern Festival because other members of our group were catching trains home that evening. It would have been great to spend more time there, but I don't know how we could have lasted any longer in the cold.
We then checked into our motel, at which point I skipped dinner and fell asleep. And woke up on...
Day 3 -
... with a cold! I felt so poorly that I spent all day in bed with a splitting headache and sore throat. It didn't really matter though, because everyone else was just wandering around the city for the day anyway. At 6pm we headed to the train station, made friends with a guy in KFC, then lined up for our train. I fell asleep almost as soon as we got on the train - we were all split up over many carriages, so I had nobody to distract me. I slept terribly, waking up every half an hour because I was either sweating or too cold.
Day 4 -
Arrived back in Beijing. We caught the same heiche back home, at which point I went to bed and slept. And slept.
Day 1 -
We all caught a heiche (illegal taxi) to the train station for our 9.25pm train - I was expecting pandemonium at the station, but it was fabulous - we walked straight up to the check-in counter, down to the platform and onto our train - all within five minutes.
The trains were dodgier than on the trip to Tibet - the train to Tibet actually had 'walls' facing the corridor (just missing the door), while the train to Ha'erbin didn't even have that wall! Sorry I didn't explain that very well. Hopefully the picture explains it a bit better:
From left to right: Bernard, Hokky, Me, Andri, Devi, Heru, Candra, Nalisha (Vivi is missing)
I slept terribly that night, thanks to having damp bed linen, hundreds of noisy kids in the same carriage, and the fact that I had an afternoon siesta before boarding the train!
Day 2 -
After a few hours sleep, we were woken up by the lights being turned on, and we started applying layers of clothing in preparation. I managed to wear three pairs of thermals underneath my jeans, four long sleeve t-shirts, one thin jumper, one fluffy hoodie jumper, scarf, beanie, big down-filled coat, gloves, three pairs of socks and snow boots. When we stepped off the train, I was surprised at how not cold it was. That might have been due to the amount of clothing I was wearing, but really, I think I had imagined that -25 would be life-or-death, unbearable cold... when really it wasn't. It was surprisingly bearable. That being said, within 15 seconds of stepping off the train, the hair inside my nose froze. Charming, I know. Luckily I didn't have a cold at that point, because when your nose runs, it freezes to your face! Nasty...
We met our tour guide (an absolutely adorable, incredibly young looking 26 year old named Xiao Li - honestly, she looked about 12 or 13), and the rest of our tour group for the day - we were with a family of three, and a group of four sisters from Liaoning (north east of Beijing).
We jumped straight into the touristy stuff - first stop was the Russian St. Sophia's Cathedral for some quick pics, then onto 中央大街 - Zhongyang Dajie (Ha'erbin's version of Wangfujing (or Bourke Street/Pitt Street/equal Brisbane equivalent)).
Myself, Devi and Vivi outside St. Sophia's Cathedral
Andri, Devi, Vivi, Hokky and Heru on Zhongyang Dajie
We then went to watch crazy senior citizens (who clearly weren't the sharpest tools in the shed) swimming in the river. They had cut a swimming pool sized hole in the ice, and we saw at least 30 oldies jump in for a splash. Because it was so damn cold, there were people constantly skimming the pool for ice that was reforming. Some of them looked a bit worse for wear on their way back inside too.
We then went for possibly the greatest meal we've ever had whilst in China. It was a simple, fairly average lunch, but everything was just so delicious (made even more so by the fact none of us had eaten since the previous evening). After our fab lunch, we headed to the Ice Sculpture Festival, which was basically just that - sculptures made of ice.
Our tour group (less the family of three)
Inside the Ice Bar
All the ice is man-made, so they can add colours to it, should they so wish
The biggest chunk of ice ever
Next we headed to the Ice Lantern Festival (the sun set at 4.17pm which really messes up your internal clock). It was at about this time that my camera decided it was just too darn cold to work. My phone and iPod had already stopped working, so it was inevitable really. Actually, they say that anything with an LCD screen or a battery will stop working, as well as camera SD discs, which are only rated to -10.
We only had an hour at the Ice Lantern Festival because other members of our group were catching trains home that evening. It would have been great to spend more time there, but I don't know how we could have lasted any longer in the cold.
We then checked into our motel, at which point I skipped dinner and fell asleep. And woke up on...
Day 3 -
... with a cold! I felt so poorly that I spent all day in bed with a splitting headache and sore throat. It didn't really matter though, because everyone else was just wandering around the city for the day anyway. At 6pm we headed to the train station, made friends with a guy in KFC, then lined up for our train. I fell asleep almost as soon as we got on the train - we were all split up over many carriages, so I had nobody to distract me. I slept terribly, waking up every half an hour because I was either sweating or too cold.
Day 4 -
Arrived back in Beijing. We caught the same heiche back home, at which point I went to bed and slept. And slept.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Eskimo Rach
Just a few quick notes:
Last night we went out for dinner to a restaurant called Nine Bird Heads (that's the translation anyway) for roast duck and other tasty treats. It was just a little celebration for Chris' birthday which is coming up next month (but everyone will be away overseas at that time) and a farewell dinner for me.
Today I picked up my HSK marks (the Chinese proficiency exam I sat back in December) - I got Level 3, the level our teacher expected us to pass. I think about 50% of our class scored a Level 2, and 50% a Level 3. Quite happy. For proof, here is my certificate:
And I'm off to Ha'erbin tonight! I am all ready - I have bought a new scarf and beanie, so teamed with my down-filled coat and fleece lined snow boots, I am hoping I will be warm enough. Here is what I'm going to look like!
Yes, I will look like an eskimo. But so will everyone. At the moment in Beijing it is -10, and not that painful, so fingers crossed -25 isn't too bad. Ha... wishful thinking! Also mind the mess in my room - I'm half packed.
Last night we went out for dinner to a restaurant called Nine Bird Heads (that's the translation anyway) for roast duck and other tasty treats. It was just a little celebration for Chris' birthday which is coming up next month (but everyone will be away overseas at that time) and a farewell dinner for me.
Today I picked up my HSK marks (the Chinese proficiency exam I sat back in December) - I got Level 3, the level our teacher expected us to pass. I think about 50% of our class scored a Level 2, and 50% a Level 3. Quite happy. For proof, here is my certificate:
And I'm off to Ha'erbin tonight! I am all ready - I have bought a new scarf and beanie, so teamed with my down-filled coat and fleece lined snow boots, I am hoping I will be warm enough. Here is what I'm going to look like!
Yes, I will look like an eskimo. But so will everyone. At the moment in Beijing it is -10, and not that painful, so fingers crossed -25 isn't too bad. Ha... wishful thinking! Also mind the mess in my room - I'm half packed.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
I... AM... FINISHED!!!
I have officially finished my year of study - which also means I have finished my degree! All I have to do is send ANU my results from this year, and I can graduate.
My last exam was on Friday - Listening Comprehension. It was quite easy, so I am quite confident I passed everything. I now know two of my results - the 90-something for Character Knowledge, and 88 for my Reading Comprehension (Sorry Mum, I told you the wrong mark). So my final end of year mark for Reading Comprehension is 77, because my mid-semester mark wasn't that great.
Anyway, after our final exam, Andri, Candra, Olly and I went to Yong'anli to go shopping for winter warmth. We spent nearly two hours there, and we came out with pairs of wool-lined snow boots (apart from Olly because he has clown sized feet), and big warm coats. It took us over an hour to get the price of the boots down from 320 to 120 - $20 seems very decent. I got a knee-length down-filled coat that is almost too warm for Beijing - I can wear just a t-shirt underneath and be warm enough. At one of the stores, they had the most fabulous motorcycle helmet, so Olly and I posed:
We then went to Guomao, as Andri wanted to discuss a possible party - to cut a long story short, the manager at LV (Louis Vuitton) offered Andri the use of their conference/party room as a goodbye present for him! So we went and had a chat to Andri's SA (Sales Assistant), before catching a taxi home.
Then... the celebration began! Olly and I met up at Lush, Wudaokou's premier night spot for some dinner (wedges with sweet chilli sauce and sour cream - I've been dreaming of them ever since I left Australia, and I only find them now!), some bourbon, and some live music. Rich, the guy playing guitar demanded people request songs - so in one of his breaks I went up and asked for anything Aussie - and turns out he is Aussie! And from Melbourne no less! We had a bit of a chat about home, and then he dedicated 'Land Down Under' to me! Many bourbons ensued, we made some new friends (actually a lot of new friends!), then we headed to Nan Jie - a nightclub just near Sanlitun for more drinks and more dancing - THEN we headed to Bar Blu for more drinks/dancing. We finally made it home at about 5am, ending what was then a 12 hour celebration. Needless to say, I spend the entirety of Saturday in bed.
Rich the Melbournian
My last exam was on Friday - Listening Comprehension. It was quite easy, so I am quite confident I passed everything. I now know two of my results - the 90-something for Character Knowledge, and 88 for my Reading Comprehension (Sorry Mum, I told you the wrong mark). So my final end of year mark for Reading Comprehension is 77, because my mid-semester mark wasn't that great.
Anyway, after our final exam, Andri, Candra, Olly and I went to Yong'anli to go shopping for winter warmth. We spent nearly two hours there, and we came out with pairs of wool-lined snow boots (apart from Olly because he has clown sized feet), and big warm coats. It took us over an hour to get the price of the boots down from 320 to 120 - $20 seems very decent. I got a knee-length down-filled coat that is almost too warm for Beijing - I can wear just a t-shirt underneath and be warm enough. At one of the stores, they had the most fabulous motorcycle helmet, so Olly and I posed:
We then went to Guomao, as Andri wanted to discuss a possible party - to cut a long story short, the manager at LV (Louis Vuitton) offered Andri the use of their conference/party room as a goodbye present for him! So we went and had a chat to Andri's SA (Sales Assistant), before catching a taxi home.
Then... the celebration began! Olly and I met up at Lush, Wudaokou's premier night spot for some dinner (wedges with sweet chilli sauce and sour cream - I've been dreaming of them ever since I left Australia, and I only find them now!), some bourbon, and some live music. Rich, the guy playing guitar demanded people request songs - so in one of his breaks I went up and asked for anything Aussie - and turns out he is Aussie! And from Melbourne no less! We had a bit of a chat about home, and then he dedicated 'Land Down Under' to me! Many bourbons ensued, we made some new friends (actually a lot of new friends!), then we headed to Nan Jie - a nightclub just near Sanlitun for more drinks and more dancing - THEN we headed to Bar Blu for more drinks/dancing. We finally made it home at about 5am, ending what was then a 12 hour celebration. Needless to say, I spend the entirety of Saturday in bed.
Rich the Melbournian
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
There's a dead chicken in my dinner!
It turns out when you order roast chicken for dinner in China, you really get everything. I was not really paying attention, just watching some South Park and eating my dinner, when I picked up the head and bit into it. It was so nasty I took a photo of it for you all to enjoy. So enjoy:
Well, I am only two days or two and a half hours away from post-exam bliss! Today I had my oral exam, which I am quietly confident about. My teacher says I did quite well in the Character Knowledge exam - at least over 90! That will be my best mark for the semester I think. Now I only have Reading Comprehension tomorrow, and Listening the day after, then I'm FREEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Also, it turns out we are only going to Ha'erbin for four days now instead of five, as the five day tour included a day of skiing, which none of us want to do.
10 days til I leave Beijing!!
Well, I am only two days or two and a half hours away from post-exam bliss! Today I had my oral exam, which I am quietly confident about. My teacher says I did quite well in the Character Knowledge exam - at least over 90! That will be my best mark for the semester I think. Now I only have Reading Comprehension tomorrow, and Listening the day after, then I'm FREEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Also, it turns out we are only going to Ha'erbin for four days now instead of five, as the five day tour included a day of skiing, which none of us want to do.
10 days til I leave Beijing!!
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
I wish I was asleep...
It's 2am and I only have 6 hours until my exam starts - I should be either studying, or safely tucked into bed, but I am doing neither. Why, you may ask? Because I am the queen of procrastination. Thus this useless 2am blog.
I had my first exam today (well, technically yesterday now). The only exam I had really put any effort into up until 6 hours ago. The class was 汉字知识 (Character Knowledge) - and I think the exam went smashingly. As usual, it appears I overstudied for the exam, and I probably could have passed even without opening the text book. So I'm confident I will score at least an 80/85 for that exam, something in the 90s would be fab.
Post exam - I slept. I only slept three hours on Sunday night, and I must have looked terrible at the exam, because everybody commented on how well rested I didn't look. So Monday arvo I slept for 7 hours. This worked out well because a) I love an afternoon siesta, and b) I should be able to stay awake right through until after my Tuesday exam.
So I guess I had better get back to my study... I have three more lessons to summarise, and then I need to memorise lots and lots of example sentences, all the while refraining from such temptations as eBay and Facebook. I think it's time for another 红牛 (Red Bull).
11 days til I leave Beijing!!!!
I had my first exam today (well, technically yesterday now). The only exam I had really put any effort into up until 6 hours ago. The class was 汉字知识 (Character Knowledge) - and I think the exam went smashingly. As usual, it appears I overstudied for the exam, and I probably could have passed even without opening the text book. So I'm confident I will score at least an 80/85 for that exam, something in the 90s would be fab.
Post exam - I slept. I only slept three hours on Sunday night, and I must have looked terrible at the exam, because everybody commented on how well rested I didn't look. So Monday arvo I slept for 7 hours. This worked out well because a) I love an afternoon siesta, and b) I should be able to stay awake right through until after my Tuesday exam.
So I guess I had better get back to my study... I have three more lessons to summarise, and then I need to memorise lots and lots of example sentences, all the while refraining from such temptations as eBay and Facebook. I think it's time for another 红牛 (Red Bull).
11 days til I leave Beijing!!!!
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