The Big Apple

Sometimes I love living in New York.

Sometimes I absolutely hate it.

Today is one of the rare days moments that I actually like living in this crazy city. So I thought I would document the reasons I'm feeling positive about New Yahk. For posterity. So that the next time I find myself hating this place I have some optimism to scoff at.

1. New York actually looks very pretty in the rain.

2. Union Square has a farmers market on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. I'm a sucker for even the smallest farmers markets.

3. You can find coffee costing anywhere from $1.75 (Bagel Bob's) to $6 (Italian cafe) depending on how serious your addiction is and how fancy you're feeling.

4. When it's only 10 pm and you're feeling exhausted and want nothing more than to climb into bed, there are restaurants and streets still full of people to energize you a little bit.

5. Even though the subway is dirty and old, you gotta admit it's pretty damn efficient. (I was spoiled by London's pristine Tube and Shanghai's 地铁 ditie, which was always on time to the second.)


6. You can walk anywhere.


7. You can still make amazingly delicious meals in kitchens the size of a coat closet.


8. The Empire State Building is lit up in a different color every night. 


9. Cheesecake. 


...I just wish New York City had more Trader Joes.

If I can make it there

Tomorrow I'm getting on a flight that will return me to New York City.

It has been about a year and a half since I have been there. I know it should feel like a homecoming, but it doesn't really feel that way. I've been away for such a long time that it almost feels like I don't go to NYU at all. It's silly, but I almost feel like a nervous little freshman all over again.

The end of last semester was stressful, to say the least, and even the ridiculously long winter break NYU gives us didn't allow me enough time to recuperate fully. Part of me wishes I could stay here in my big, comfy bed watching every episode of How I Met Your Mother over and over forever. But all of my friends and even my sister are back at college. I can't live in a perpetual Christmas break.

As motivation, here is a list of reasons why I'm excited to be returning to New York City:
-meeting new people, making new friends
-seeing old friends
-cooking
-shopping at the Union Square farmers' market and the Trader Joes that is right across the street from my dorm (it's the small things)
-classes in that big, beutiful Stern (Tisch) building
-everything bagels--toasted with cream chese
-bragging to all of my friends when the 49ers beat the NY Giants on Sunday (fingers crossed)
-a full course load of exciting and non-b.s. classes
-Crumbs cupcakes
-the first snow day of the year
-24hr subway

And there are a myriad of other reasons for me to be excited for this semester. I just gotta keep telling myself about all of them.

Thanksgiving

Technically it's the day after Thanksgiving, but I should be giving thanks every day of the year, right?

So here's what I'm thankful for this year.

1. My wonderful parents. Can't live with them, but wouldn't be alive without them! Just kidding. They've made so many sacrifices for me over the past 20 (almost 21) years and I truly do appreciate everything they have done for me--paying tuition, building play houses, making me do my homework, flying to London/China, not turning my room at home into a brewery...

2. My sister. She is so amazing and special, and it kills me that not everyone can see that. Contrary to what I may have said when I was 2, I wouldn't trade her in for any other little sis.

3. My giant, loving, healthy, completely dysfunctional family. I know they will always be there to drink with for me. I couldn't have predicted how devastated I was not being able to spend Turkey Day with the lot of them. I'll just have to make it up with Sunday dinners with the cousins in New York!

4. My friends: old. Sometimes you just know when someone will be a part of your life forever and ever. I know it's cliche, but I wouldn't be able to handle life if I didn't have you guys always at the ready for long talks at Starbucks, late night trips to In-n-Out, and spontaneous dance parties.

5. My friends: new. Thanks for teaching me how to cook, drink, and sound smarter! It's been awesome traveling the world with you all, and I can't wait for the adventures we have in New York.

6. School. If I wasn't in school then I would be in the real world, and that scares the shit out of me. But really, through school I have had so many amazing experiences, like living in New York, London, and Shanghai.

7. Skype. Without it it would be almost impossible to contact most of the people on this list.

8. Food. It's nice that it tastes good, but I didn't think I would ever experience cooking withdrawals! It just tastes so much better when you make it yourself.

9. Sunshine. Everyone knows Quinn is solar-powered!

10. CHRISTMAS MUSIC! 'Tis the season. Finally :)

Winning a photo contest is always a nice surprise after a pretty mediocre Thanksgiving...

Here is the winning photo!

Hangzhou, China. October 2011

Spring 2012

I just successfully registered for classes for next semester. As study abroad students we get priority over other NYU students and get to register early. I'm really excited for my schedule next semester!

Here it is:

Entertainment Finance
(Mon. 9:30-10:45 AM)

International Marketing Management
(Mon, Wed. 11:00-12:15)

Global Perspective on Enterprise Systems
(Mon, Wed. 3:30-4:45 PM)

Business of Broadway
(Mon. 5:00-6:15 PM)

Entertainment and Media Industries
(Mon. 6:30-7:45 PM)

International Relations
(Thur. 6:20-8:50 PM)

Stern International Volunteers
(Tues, Thur. 3:30-4:45 PM)
-This is the class I might be the most excited about, at the end of the semester my classmates and I go on a service trip to Peru!

18 credits in all, which is a very full load. Mondays will pretty much suck (especially when midterms and finals role around), but on Tuesdays and Thursdays I have almost no class so I can get a job or internship if I want to!

Only 5 weeks until I leave China, and 3 semesters until I graduate! Oh snap!

Gansu: The Final Installment

This always happens! I start writing a series, but never finish it because I get distracted by...life. Better late than never I guess, although that's not a proper excuse.

But to continue with the trip to Gansu province China:

I knew I would like the desert much more than I liked Tibet as soon as we stepped off the train in Dunhuang. We arrived early in the morning from our overnight sleeper train and the sunrise was amazing! It was so beautiful.

The first thing we did in the desert was visit the sand dunes, of course! We went to a state park which is pretty much just miles and miles of sand. Huge mountains of sand that look just as impressive and striking as you would imagine them to be. But being China, the state park couldn't be content with just the sand. They also advertised a beautiful oasis in the middle of these dunes. This was by far the most man-made oasis I've ever seen. Maybe at one point there was a natural spring and oasis in the area, but today it is definitely a concrete pool and "historic" pagoda built in the ancient 1990s. That's the thing about China, though: for a country with such a long and amazing history almost none of it still exists. Most of the incredible ancient structures have been torn down either during the Cultural Revolution or because of the huge property boom going on throughout China right now.

Aside from the unimpressive oasis, the dunes park was pretty cool. Mainly because of the extreme sand sports. We took ATVs up the dunes! At the top of the dunes were sleds on which you could glide over the sand back down the dune. On the way there they let you pseudo-drive (there was a guy there with you to make sure you didn't crash), but on the way back from the dune the professional driver took us up and down and all over the dunes. Its exactly as cool as it looks on TV. And it was so much fun!
After the dunes park we went to the Magao caves. This is a really interesting national site. One of the first sights of Buddhism in China, the Magao caves are also called the Cave of One Thousand Buddhas. hundreds of caves are carved into the side of a cliff with elaborate paintings and sculptures decorating the inside depicting the Buddha. These Buddhas are hundreds of years old and are still pretty well preserved. There are two GIANT Buddhas carved inside some caves out of the rock. These Buddhas are about five stories tall and are very ornate. It's almost scary standing there in the dark cave at the feet of this massive seated Buddha staring down at you.

Behind this facade is the Giant Buddha.  Who knew China had some many of those things?

With no time for resting, after we saw one thousand Buddhas we hopped on camels to trek across the desert to our camping spot. The camels were so much fun and so cute! We rode them caravan-style, tied together led by a little old Chinese man. We rode the camels for two hours into the desert. The certain spot in the desert where we camped was all set up and waiting for us to arrive in our camel caravans. At night we built a bonfire, roasted meat and veggie skewers, and ran around in the desert. It was pretty chill, just how you would expect an evening in the desert to be.

For only 6000RMB you can take home your own pet camel!

The next day was pretty uneventful. Except for the evening. On our last night of the trip we hung out in Dunhuang. Dunhuang is a modern town with all of five streets: North St, South St, East St, West St, and Fifth Avenue. No joke. Even though its so small, Dunhuang was a much more impressive town than Xiahe. In Dunhuang they had commercial businesses, modern hotels, and even community beautification projects. Along the river that runs through the city are lines of intricate and unique pagodas among trees and landscaping. It was really nice. At night we went to the night market that was full of local artisans and handicrafts.

But the best part of the night market was dinner. China is known for its...unique cuisine, so we of course had to try the craziest dish we could find on the menu. So we ate a sheep's head. Yep. The entire head. Face, eyes, brains and all. They serve it to you with the skull and everything! I will admit that I only tasted the sheep's head--the brain to be specific. And to be honest, it wasn't that bad. It tasted kinda like crab meat. Definitely the strangest food I've eaten in China so far.

BRAAAAAINS!

The next day we had a 5 hour bus ride to the airport, where our flight was delayed two hours.
The end!

Ponies and Expresses (Gansu Trip part 2)

 Welcome back!
...turned out JR was just a RedShirt and no one knew him anyway. You didn't know this was LOST did you?

Our hotel. Probably the tallest building in the city.

The next day in Xiahe was less religious and informative and more fun. It was more about meeting real Tibetans and seeing how they lived, but that didn't really happen. We went into the valley to some grasslands to a small community. We saw yaks and it was cold. AND WE GOT TO RIDE HORSES! When I heard that, I was so excited. I love horses, but haven't gotten the chance to ride one in a very long time. Unfortunately they don't train horses in Tibet the way they train them in America, so I couldn't drive my own pony, he had to be led up the hill. But it was kinda nice anyway.

After that we sat in a traditional Tibetan tent for some snacks. The kind of large tent we were sitting in used to be where entire families would sit, eat, sleep, and generally live. Nowadays, they live in more modern tents with TVs and everything. A lot of the girls were a little shocked when we went into the tent because they told us that the girls had to sit on one side and the men on the other, with a fire pit between. This normally wouldn't have bothered anyone (let's face it, boys are smelly) except that the men's side was obviously superior to the women's side. The men's side had a carpet and table and seats. The girls' side didn't even have a carpet. We were told that we weren't allowed to go to the men's side, but after a while we said, "F THAT," and sat with the boys.

Girls on the left, Boys on the right.

The snack that the Tibetan family gave us was a little strange, but tasted pretty good. It consisted of milk tea, flour, yak butter, and sugar all mixed up in a bowl. If you put enough sugar into the mixture it tasted a little like cookie dough...a little. They also served us yak yogurt with our yak-butter-tea, and that stuff was so delicious!

Meals on the trip were pretty mediocre and gave you dejavu every time you sat down to eat. My friend told me we kept being served the Tour Group Menu. But despite the lack of creativity in the restaurants, we found some pretty good street food. That region of  China has tons of sheep--quite a few herds got in the way of our bus on our travels--so we decided to eat some of them. Lamb kebabs are quite good. We had some other quite interesting sheep snacks, but I will save that story for another time.

When our time in Xiahe was through, we hopped back on the bus for the 5 hour drive back to Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu province. There's not much to see in Lanzhou. The city is big, but not particularly pretty. We saw an old water wheel, a statue of the Monkey King, and a statue where a baby represented the minorities of China. One worthwhile thing we did in Lanzhou was float down the Yellow River on sheep-skin rafts (so many sheep they make them into boats). I felt kinda bad because this little old man was paddling us down the river, but it was pretty fun. Other than that, though, Lanzhou is so boring that looking at an ugly steel bridge that isn't even very old is one of the main sights to see.

After we saw the numerous and thrilling sights of Lanzhou we hopped on the train headed for the desert. America doesn't use trains very much anymore, but most of the rest of the world does. China is known for it's super fast bullet trains that they build in, like, a day. Their all aerodynamic with conical noses and luxury interiors! ...We were not on one of those trains. Our train ride was 13 hours. But it was ok because we had beds! Heh. But I've gotten used to giving up my creature comforts and privacy since coming to China, so it wasn't so bad. We sat around and ate junk food and played cards until they turned out the lights and yelled at us to go to bed (hey, I didn't know my dad was on this train?!). In the morning they played Chinese national tunes over the intercom to wake everybody up. Who do they think they are?!

Like the Hogwarts Express except not magical. At all.

And then we were in the desert.