Living in a Hotel

I've been living an hotel for the last 2 weeks and I must say that this is no where near as fabulous as it seems. You would think that sleeping in the world's most comfortable beds, having linens replaced daily, and having a clean room every time you return to it is a dream. The thing is even in all the convince living in a hotel provides, there is still this part of you that knows for certain that this "house is not a home". From the moment you walk in, the room just feels temporary. There's an unconscious vulnerability in all this comfort that causes an underlying fear that at any point in time, everything can be taken away. All of a sudden a hotel becomes your single source to fulfill all your desires such as functioning  utensils, extra pillows, microwaves, and refrigerators.As if I foolishly built my house on a carpet and I'm just waiting for someone to run up and snatch it out from underneath me. Don't misunderstand me, I enjoy all the accommodations. I just know I could never permanently live in a hotel because of the constant feelings of instability and dependence. 


Maybe if this was outside my hotel, I'd have different feelings.  LOL just kidding, probably not.

A Sky Full of Stars

The really awesome thing about Vermont is the lack of people. It's almost like a separate world. It's not covered in Wal-Marts and McDonalds. It's covered in cute mom and pop stores.

One night on my way back to my Vermont residence, I looked up to the sky and it was FULL of stars. It almost didn't look real. Where I come from, it's unusual to see more than 3 real stars. The sky is usually pitch black and covered in dark clouds with a very bright moon coming through. This night sky was full stars. Absolutely beautiful;bright enough to astound, but mild enough not to distract from the pure white moon.

I don't know, I think sometimes it's important to recognize the natural beauty in life.

 

I Get Summer Camp

As a child, I really hated summer camps because I haated the kids and I felt like I was wasting my time. Lack of brain stimulation really irritates me. However, this year I finally understood why so many people actually want to go to camp. Summer camps can be a lot of fun when you are open to experiecing new things. When you find the perfect summer camp for you, there will be other people that you can connect with, forming lifelong friendships. This year at camp I learned to knit (I made 2 scarves), I improved my Chinese language skills, I learned new techniques in drawing, and I made a lot of really cool friends. Finally, I get summer camp.

Creative Punishment

During my residence in Vermont, I participated with this Chinese Language Academy. So this year, unlike in previous years, many participants chose to speak English. This was very irritating to the staff because it really ruined the pure Chinese environment. So on the 4th of July, we have a outdoor picnic. As lovely as this is, our place of residence is extremely close to Lake Champlain. Seagulls really enjoy to fly around and search for food. As one can infer, our outdoor picnic attracted A LOT of birds. So one teacher heard two kids blatantly speaking English and she told them to stand in the middle of the quad. The students walked into the trap unaware of the psychological damage that would await them. The teacher started slowly walking around collecting people's plates that had food left on them. She walks near the quad and starts calling the birds. "过来！ 鸟过来! " ( "Come! Come birds, come!“） The birds start to calmly flock towards the quad. The two students in the middle of the quad watch her with mild concern. All of a sudden, the teacher throws al the food she collected towards the two students. Those mild mannered birds transformed into savaged beasts and all of the attacked the food surround the students in one large flock. Over the students screams of terror, the teachers yells "不说英文!"( Don't speak English").  As terrifying as this punishment is, it is still extremely effective. Those students didn't speak English for the rest of the program.

It looked shockingly similar to this scene from Divergent.

Adult(ing) for a Day

So I had to adult for a day. I am using adult as a verb because there are so much that goes with being an adult. You have to provide everything for yourself. You must find your own transportation, if you're sick, you have to take yourself to the doctor. It's really quite tiring.

STORY TIME: So my mom had errands to run and she needed me to drive. I'm not a big fan of driving, but I do it for her because I love her. I drive her to the doctor, various pharmacies, the grocery store, and a Chinese takeout restaurant (that was more for me). I bought her medicine and I realize that people are REALLY expensive. Driving us everywhere and  purchasing things was just so tiring and stressful that it really made me realize that I don't want to be an adult yet. I like the independence that comes with it, but I don't want all the responsibility and stress that comes with it. I really appreciate the "small things" like having someone drive me around and purchase my groceries for me. I don't want to think amount the other responsibilities that I haven't had to experience yet such as paying rent, taxes, purchasing gas, and taking care of yourself when you're sick. I know eventually I will welcome this independence with open arms, but as of right now I really don't want to adult.

14 Girls 1 Bathroom -_-#

Yes , that is just as horrific as it sounds.  During my stay at the college in Vermont, they told us that we would have "community restrooms". I didn't know exactly what that meant, but I found out very quickly that "community restrooms" was just code for 14 girls, 1 bathroom. There are only 3 stalls and 3 showers.  As a person who values personal hygiene, this was not exactly ideal. However, everything worked out pretty well. I actually never had to wait to use the restrooms. The only thing I didn't like was when girls didn't clean up behind themselves and left hair everywhere.  

The use of 1 bathroom by 14 roommates only works well when the people using the single facility have a common definition of respect and cleanliness.

Surviving Without a Phone

 Believe it or not, there was a time when people didn't have personalized hand held computers called cellphones. During my excursion in Vermont, the administration of the program immediately took our electronics. The idea is to isolate the Chinese immersion participants from anything that could distract us from constantly practicing speaking, reading, listening, or writing outside of our language. You'd be surprised at all the things that can be accomplished without a smartphone. Here are some tips and examples.

 

Tip #1: Be Friendly & Socialize (with everyone)
People tend to gravitate towards others that appear to be fun and friendly. I also suggest expansive socialization because you never know what cool people you're not talking to because you're shy or because they are introverted.

 

Tip #2: Participation
The most socializing and binding seems to occur over common activities such as sports and eating. Even if you know that you aren't an expert at a specific activity, you should still attempt to participate. A lot of times it's not the quality of a person's ability, but it's the presence of the person that really fosters bonding friendships.

 

Tip #3 : MAKE SOME NOISE
When you have no access to the outside world, you are also cut off from basic necessities like music.
Simple solution: make some noise. It's a little rowdy, a lot of fun, and time consuming. Everyone gets into a rhythm and starts making unknown sounds, noises, mating calls, etc. It's also a great way for all the musicians to get that much closer.