J+129 FREEZING day, -6°C in Nanjing !

Today was a Freezing day. Temperature went down to -6C!
To answer a question that has been asked, the classrooms in my school ARE equipped with a heating system, HOWEVER, it's almost there for decoration. I've seen it "ON" twice, for 10 minutes each time; no more.
One of the students in the class is responsible of the remote control, and the final decision "whether we can turn it ON or not" requires the class monitor, head teacher, subject teachers agreement~ so it never happens ! (My monitor is never cold, he therefore doesn't feel the need for this... )
Today is Sunday, but we had school, just a basic school day. This is pretty common, they just want to make students catch up, practice more before the exams.
I, only stayed from 7am to 2pm, I had arranged with Lisa to get me out. I met up with an American girl also from AFS, we had seen each other a few times, but hadn't really talked that much.
I spent a wonderful afternoon! Her name is India (yeah, like the country)
I showed her a beautiful shopping centre, we wondered around, both needed some basic items which we victoriously found! Socks, gloves...
We had milk tea (of course...) and had some dumplings !
We couldn't understand most of the milk tea menu, so we just randomly pointed at drinks, and had great surprises! Delicious!
I will definitely see her again. Not too often, I do privilege going out with my Chinese friends, that's what I'm here for!

 

J+127 CLASS 9 "mini concert"

 

 My classmates were overexcited yesterday about a "mini concert" they organised, since the music teacher exceptionally couldn't teach us.
It was really cute to see how much they had prepared for this! A planning, an order for the er.... "Performances", they asked me to write "mini concert" on the board; they are all mad crazy about my handwriting !
Anyway~ one boy played saxophone, it was amazing! The rest made me quite sleepy to tell the truth. Asian music is very soft, and sweet, has no beat most of the time. I miss that a lot !

J+126 SNOW in Nanjing!

On the 26th, we had snow in Nanjing! I was woken up by my Christmas alarm... Looked out the window... WHITE! Oh! Goodness! I never got dressed so fast! And, I decided this was worth arriving late. Yes, in school the first lesson starts at 7:15, very early and ends at 8:45...
My teacher told me "if you feel uncomfortable one day, just arrive at the first break" ~ I couldn't fight the temptation this time!~

 

 I took some pictures ... For my two best friends, ... Who I miss terribly ...

J+126 My special Christmas

To sum up, my Christmas was nothing like what I had expected. I have been warmly surprised, and realised how many good friends I have here.
I received a lot of cards, gifts, in school.
I got a HUGE teddy bear.. Check out the pic, a LOT of chocolates, poems, flowers...
I made a lot of little cards, with personal messages on them, added a chocolate and gave them to about 70 people!
I also gave some chocolates to the guardians of my building, and wished them Merry Christmas.

 The two next photos were taken in Xin jie Kou, by a photographer. For than "Nanjing beauties" ... What an honour!

 

And this is what shopping centres looked like:

 

 Christmas party...Also, in front of the church, just next to my school, MASSIVE QUEUE!

J+122 Christmas with my Chinese family

As you know, to most Chinese people, Christmas doesn't mean anything. Still, a lot of shops in big cities put up decoration and staff members dress as asian Santa people... (It looks pretty special~) I appreciate their efforts! lol
But in fact, their isn't much more to it.
However, last night, I had a long evening conversation with my parents and sister, we all sat down, ate sun flour seeds... (Actually this is my fathers new addiction... Since he has stopped smoking, he eats this all the time; we joined him!)
They asked me a lot of questions about our Christmas, how we celebrate it..
My father was particularly intrigued by what he calls the "turkey buisness"
-price?
-weight?
-cooking means?
-taste?
As soon as it comes to food, he is all ears!
They concluded very happily ~hahaha! Chinese food is really better !"~

They then told me about the Chinese New Year (农历新年), coming soon.
It sounds so exciting!
I will make a lot of posts about this, and beautiful photos.

This morning my parents told my sister and I we could go and buy something we liked, and gave each of us some money, as a Christmas present~
In china it is a tradition to buy some new clothes for the new year, BUT ONE SHOULDN'T wear them before that day. Is is symbol of "new start".
I went out for a long walk with my sister in the morning, she tried on a lot of clothes, but needs to think it over.

---

We noticed we had the same "leg posture issue"

---

My attention was held by this fellow: begging in the underground.. Holding ... AN IPHONE ..

---

My parents also allowed me to hand all the pictures I received, to decorate my bedroom!

    

---

 

J+122 end of the singing competition

The Singing contest in our school is taken very seriously.

 

Some of the performances were amazing. The prize is the title of the official "best 三中 singer" .

J+119 Making "crêpes" in China...

I taught my Chinese sister how to make "crêpes" ... This here is considered as an outstanding skill! Young people simply can't cook!
I can assure you... Making this paste liquid ... Using chopstick... Was one hell of a challenge!!!

 

J+118 Singing competition continues...

The singing competition continues ; I go there every noon

During the day, we often get hungry. Particularly two of my classmates.. Very greedy ! This picture was taken at 9am... They go back every hour for MORE!!

J+114 Cultural differences ...

Someone sent this to me on QQ.. Simple illustration of a daily reality; I couldn't agree more!
Blue= western way
Red= Chinese way


When you have something to say...

Every group has a leader ...

Pay attention to the mouths on this photo... To understand.

 

When having a meal at the restaurant, or simply taking the bus...

Whenever people gather together..

Different conception of standing in a "queue" for toilet for instance..

Different ways of looking at somebody !

Exact time or... "About ....O'clock"
Slight difference!

 

J+113 a special present

I received a special present from a boy in our school's art class. He came to my classroom, and gave me a portrait of me. He told me he used a photo my sister had put on QQ as a model. Take a look:

 

J+112 75th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre

Today was the 75th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre by the Japanese. As you may know, The impact on Nanjing people was absolutely tragic. 300 000 victims.
In school, we had some "warning alarms" all throughout the day, but classes continued, teachers just pronounced a few words~ I could feel the anger and patriotism in their speech~


Today was also my favourite classmates birthday, Zhangzhi ! (The cute girl with the pink scarf)

J+111 Today is a very special day, today is my best friend's birthday

WEDNESDAY 12/12/12 !!!

 

Alors pour cette raison, je fais une parenthèse pour partager avec vous la beauté et la force de notre amitié ainsi que le bonheur que j'en tire.
Nous formons une paire, inséparables depuis la petite section maternelle. Tous ceux qui nous ont vu grandir le savent, nous sommes très proches.
Je ne suis pas du genre à me confier à mes amis, la vérité c'est qu'il n'y a qu'à elle que j'aime confier mes secrets. Je suis certaine que nous nous connaissons mieux qu'un vieux couple!
Nous nous sommes côtoyées quasi-quotidiennement pendant 14 ans, et a ce jour nous sommes séparées. Mais étrangement, je la sens avec moi. Elle a fait de moi une meilleure personne, et c'est par ce qu'elle a modifié, qu'elle est ici, auprès de moi, à tout instant.

On dit que "l'absence diminue les médiocres passions et augmente les grandes, comme le vent éteint les bougies et allume le feu" ~ il en est de même pour l'amitié.
Coralie Vaudescal fait partie des raisons pour lesquelles je suis heureuse tous les jours; je suis tellement chanceuse.
Voyez vous, vos amis connaissent toutes vos meilleures histoires et souvenirs, votre meilleure amie, elle, les a vécu à vos côtés.
Quand je me sens seule ici, j'ai juste à fermer les yeux, écouter de la musique, (2/3 de mon i tunes.. 3000 chansons coïncident avec un bon moment qu'on a vécu ensemble, sur mes lèvres se dessine un sourire, qui vire au rire.. Et personne ne comprend. On me demande qu'est ce qui me rend si heureuse? Comment leur dire? Ils ne peuvent comprendre!
Si tu lis ce post coralie, sache cela: je ne suis pas à tes côtes mais ... Tout Nanjing est au courant! 三中 en tout cas! (Mon lycée)
Vois tu, c'était une opération risquée de prendre ces photos...
Rien ne peut atténuer notre amitié. Ni la distance, ni le temps.
Tu me manques énormément. Je trinque ce soir à ta santé (coca+ice tea), un mélange qui me rapproche de toi.
Profite de tes 17ans, c'est un âge merveilleux. Reste comme tu es, crois en toi.

7 mois.. J'arrive! À bientôt.
Je t'aime coralie, je te serre fort dans mes bras.
Joyeux anniversaire ,

 Ta ju'

J+ 110 Singing competition continues...

J+109 School singing competition

There is a singing competition in our school, auditions have started and I have obtained authorization to be part of the audience. This takes place in the big hall, at 12:30 after lunch, for a week.
I will take pictures!
The money goes to charity.

I have also started Yoga, but seriously.
I practice one hour every evening, makes me feel really really great!! This feeling is amazing! My body feels totally relaxed, and it also relaxes the mind, completely !
I have bought a simple book, with step by step images, and have a special CD, a mat in my bedroom, a bottle of water and that's me! Perfect!!
I will post photos if my sister has time to take some.. She finds it quite amusing!

J+104: special morning and afternoon exercise...

Now, school considers it is officially COLD. Therefore, after the usual 10minutes morning exercise (which is really a piece of cake..) we now have to ..run. Yes, just after breakfast, what a joy.
Teachers believe it will "wake up" the body, when the days are so cold. They are probably right, but I can assure you, this isn't easy...
Not only do we have it at 9am, but also at 3pm now.
All of this is done outside, on the sports field, with very loud music and the crazy Chinese man on the stage, yelling in his microphone (about how straight/not straight the lines are ..).
This man is so passionate that if no one stops him, he could go on all day long...
Today, very rare occasion, I stayed in the classroom because I was on duty (cleaning the board, picking up papers..), this is why I could take pictures from the classroom window. (The view isn't that good, but you can get an idea..)

 

 I also had my Chinese class with Lisa, like every Tuesday morning.
She offered me a present; a luck bracelet made of 108 beads. =