day eight
Culturally, China is so different from America. In the U.S, saying "good morning" and smiling at strangers on the street is polite and confident, whereas in China it is suspicious and creepy. People drive and walk with complete disregard to the traffic signs. Nobody asks, "how are you?" as customer service, no waitresses feign cheerfulness.
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| tomato-y fruit found only in china O v O |
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| $1 USD per pound mochi |
My grandma tripped on the street and a lot of people rushed to help her/make sure she was okay, which restored some faith in humanity c:
All I've been doing in Shenyang is eat. (and drink because hydration is important!)
There's a big permanent farmer's market-y square with stalls selling all types of produce and it makes me happy to see so much fruit.
My grandparents are so nice. I genuinely love them, since they are simply great, selfless people, and I am happy to spend time with them. Sorry if you are lactose intolerant, that was really cheesy.
I am always grateful, but I am never satisfied. I forget the fun experiences easily and complain often... not sure how to remedy this, but I'm working on it.
day nine
My grandma had been talking about an amazing place that has stalls selling all kinds of things, and it was so disappointing, like a massive dollar store with tacky plastic toys and other cheap and low quality items, so all i bought was a few sheets of stickers.
However, it's difficult to avoid supporting McDonald's when their ice cream cone is so cheap and readily available in Asian flavors such as matcha, red bean and taro.
/tries to hate McDonald's/
day ten
Garlic is love. garlic is life. My grandparents add minced garlic to dishes and they instantly become much tastier. Garlic is to me what Sriracha is to others.I'm trying not to spend too much time on electronics since we are here for such a short time, but i am carried away by the lure of internet... A surprising amount of minutes can be spent despite the blockage of lots of websites.
I feel a little bit... lost? Separated from the rest of the world, dislocated from everyone. Is this real life? China is really lovely, but I haven't been talking to any of my friends. I'm a really shy social butterfly.
I also happen to be 100% finished with my dad because he lost 900 RMB, but let's not talk about that.
Simply going to the supermarket is an adventure. There are so many products I've never ever come across before.
I haven't seen a blue sky since we got here.
day eleven
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| homemade potstickers for breakfast |
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| my sister and dad imitating how i pose in photos |
- I ate healthy today compared to the huge amounts I've been eating recently
- I found cute socks with sunny side eggs on them online♡
- I removed toxicity and negative influences out of my life
- I won two games of mahjong
- I have a lot of nice photos from the trip to Beiling
- I tried to become a better person, and every accomplishment starts with the will to try
- I didn't get hurt~!
- I ate some excellent watermelon
- The sky was blue today :)))
- I tried to stop regretting and overly thinking about things
- I took the stairs
- I faked confidence yayyy
- I tried, and that's important. I had the willpower to try, and even though every time I type that, Emily's sarcastic tone comes to mind, trying is a big step towards succeeding☆
day twelve
Taiyuan street has an amazing underground mall. There are so many beautiful people, eccentric clothes, and yummy snacks ♡ I wanted to buy a lot, but all I purchased was a $5 USD tee because all the little stores have a policy of "buy it first, then you can try it on." The food stalls let consumers try more products than the clothing shops do. /takes three cheesecake samples/day thirteen
day fourteen
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| five flights in two weeks = one obligatory sky photo. |
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| soup served in a baozi!! |
i only have a day here, and we are staying at a really rich great uncle's house.
He and his wife lived in Japan for a while, so their house has many Japanese products including tatami mats, which are really comfortable. I have only seen them in animes, but I am sitting on one right now.
They have an adorable home with a lot of fancy decor and gadgets (heated toilets, anyone?) as well as the most well-kept and well-behaved dog i have ever seen. i love Shiba Inus because they're so adorable♡ He vaguely resembles the doge meme, though.
i stuffed myself with 小龙汤包, which are heavenly little steamed buns filled with soup and yummy fillings. Authentic ones are much more satisfying than the ones at the neighborhood restaurant.
We also shopped around the area, but it is really touristy so I did not buy much.
One of the most scenic places is a river, and I don't understand why it is so famous, since it is literally a very dirty body of water. That is all, but i took some photos beside it anyway.
I don't need to go to any destinations; I would be happy simply petting Tailang for a couple hours while eating snacks.
I am boarding the plane back to the city tomorrow morning, so goodbye China! It was nice, but my heart definitely does not belong here.