At the beginning of October, China had its National Holiday. This meant that we would have our first semester vacation! A group of friends and I decided that it was time to go to Shanghai and explore this popular metropolitan area. We booked flights and an Airbnb and headed down for a long weekend adventure.
The dreadful “Freshman 15” is back in a new form. Studying abroad is an amazing opportunity for you to immerse yourself in different cultures and gain a whole new perspective. A lot of fun and socializing will be involved which, of course, revolves around food. This means you get to try a variety of exotic and tasty foods; as delicious as they may be, this can also put a toll on your health and old habits.
Craving for Korean food or Korean inspired fashion? You should visit Wudaokou while you are in Beijing! Wudaokou is known as a trendy and energetic atmosphere, since it is a popular student hangout. There is a multitude of multicultural restaurants, trendy cafes, and funky fashion boutiques.
You know that craving for a warm piece of pizza; but you look at your wallet and it says nope, cannot afford western food tonight. Well, I got the solution for you.
I will never remember the real name of this place, but I know I’m in the right place when I see this cute old lady smile at me. Once you go inside, the first thing you will notice is that even though the place is probably smaller than our dorm room it somehow always fits everybody.
The Forbidden City, one of the first place we think of when we think of Beijing. Well, you can find all the information about it online or in an innumerable amount of books. However, I will describe in here how my experience was when I visited it.
When I made the decision to spend my Fall semester in China, everyone told me studying abroad was the best decision they’ve ever made. A couple months later, I started receiving e-mails about things to prepare for my two-week excursion through Western China before classes started in early September. I knew I was going to feel excited because I was going to a new country, frustrated because of the language barrier, challenged due to the rigorous academic courses, and personally, homesick since I have never been away from my family for this long.
The first day I couldn’t understand anything, there was no order, lots of people passing by and food I could not identify. I took all the courage I had and approached the vendor pointed at something that looked edible and hoped it would not give me a stomachache. It was scary but my first day at the UIBE canteen was an adventure. Now I lost my fears and I even made some friends at one of the little restaurants.
The best experiences in life are those that others don’t believe actually happened. Experiences that seem so surreal that you aren’t even sure if it actually happened, or if it was a dream. Studying abroad in China can present you with opportunities that you never otherwise would fathom.
China is well known for its diversity of food dishes. This diversity leads to many local dishes based off of provinces in China, which may taste exotic to many foreigners. My all-time favorite Chinese dessert/snack is the famous 蛋挞 dàntà.