elsie explores the east

Photo

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 23:06:36 -0500

Photo

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 09:53:19 -0400

Being told me I have a small face..

Thu, 13 Sep 2012 00:15:00 -0400

IN CHINA:

First time I was like..

but now I’m all…

http://chinatime.posterous.com/

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 00:20:56 -0400

my posts have stopped posting.. guess you’ll have to go to my real blog to get caught up…

I do!

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 08:38:03 -0400

I miss South Korea. 我很想念韩国。 저는 한국이 그리워요.

The Summer Palace..

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 06:05:12 -0400

had plans to go here with Yoyo like 3 times already.. finally it worked out.. and I took Barry along too..

See the full gallery on Posterous

the view from the top of the palace was amazing!

See the full gallery on Posterous

we took a paddle boat out.. it was nice.. but a sweaty endeavor.. and we gently crashed into 3 other boats

See the full gallery on Posterous

it’s crazy to be in the middle of the lake.. well not even in the middle.. cause the lake is huge.. but to look around and think.. all of it.. all that I can see was just for the emperors to kick it durin the summer days

The History of the Summer Palace

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 04:48:18 -0400

“The Summer Palace occupies a total area of over 290 hectares, located on the northwest outskirts of Beijing. It is formed mainly of Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake. This beautiful garden served as an imperial garden in the old days. It has been turned from an imperial garden into a public park since 1928. Today the Summer Palace is very famous in the world, attracting millions of tourists every year.

The Summer Palace was first built in 1153 during the Jin Dynasty. At that time the hill was called Golden Hill and the lake was called Golden Water Pond. During the Yuan Dynasty(1206-1368), the hill’s name was changed into Jar Hill, because it was said that an old man had dug up a jar from the hill. And then the lake was changed to Jar Hill Pond.In the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) it was named West Lake. In 1494 Yuanjing Temple was built on the Jar Hill. and later Ming Emperor Zhengde named this area the Wonderful Imperial Garden.During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) the famous ” Three Hills and Five Gardens” were built in the northwestern suburbs of Beijing. The Summer Palace was called the Garden of Clear Ripples at that time, which was one of the Five Gardens.

In 1750, Emperor Qianlong rebuilt the Garden of Clear Ripples for the purpose of his mother’s 60th birthday celebration. He changed the Hill’s name from Jar Hill into Longevity Hill in order to celebrate his mother’s 60th birthday. He also renamed the lake as Kunming Lake because he wanted to follow the example of Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD) who had trained his navy centuries before in Kunming Pool in Chang’an, the captial city at that time (somewhere near Xi’an today).

In1860, when the Anglo-French Allied Forces invaded Beijing, the “Three Hills and Five Gardens” were burnt down to ashes. In 1888, Empress Dowager Cixi spent the navy fund to rebuild the Garden of Clear Ripples. After that she renamed it the Summer Palace. In 1900, when the Allied Forces of Eight Powers invaded Beijing, the Summer Palace was destroyed for the second time.

In 1902, Empress Dowager Cixi spent fabulous sum of money to rebuild the Summer Palace again. In 1903, the reconstruction was completed. After that, Empress Dowager Cixi came to live in the Summer Palace from April to October every year for the rest of her life, So the Summer Palace today is more or less the same as the Summer Palace rebuilt in 1903. After the 1911 Revolution, the Summer Palace still belonged to the Qing imperial family. On July 1st, 1928, the Summer Palace was officially opened to the public.

Today, the Summer Palace has taken on a completely new look.”

foods

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 04:05:47 -0400

went to Wanfujing Snack Street..

[[posterous-content:pid___6]]

with the roommates & Barry..

[[posterous-content:pid___10]]

these scorpions were still alive!!!!!![[posterous-content:pid___4]]

these are chicken fetuses[[posterous-content:pid___2]]

some other chicken business..[[posterous-content:pid___3]]

otro.. delicious treats:
[[posterous-content:pid___0]][[posterous-content:pid___5]]

damn.

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 03:23:45 -0400

dropped my camera! the glass of the screen is cracked up.. but it’s still working (except the flash)

whatevs.. gonna ride it on out til the next drop…

friendz

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 03:18:33 -0400

Had a housewarming party.. sorta.. just my friends came.. (cause the roomies didn’t invite anyone or did, but not really.. ?) and we just sad around.. laughin and the usual stuff.. guess I’m not sure what else is supposed to happen at a housewarming deal.. but it was the usual stuff.. but in MY PLACE!

See the full gallery on Posterous

it was fun.. basically just got everyone real Jealy over my new spot…

yay.. I got a place.. and it’s nice..

friend montage:

boo-urns

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 03:12:43 -0400

my lil bestie Steve moved home for 3 weeks or some amount of time.. to take care of his fam.. sadness…

he lives in a village that don’t even got internet!!! dang.. REAL CHINA.. also he’s like one of four people from his village that went to college.. PROUD.

He’ll be back soon enough.. but it’s been 3 days and I already hate it.

Weird

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 02:47:10 -0400

so.. Yeah.. I’m living in this apartment.. 3 American, Indiana girls.. all the same age.. all went to IU..

nice one..

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 02:25:08 -0400

livin in a high-rise.. 28th floor.. DANG!

the view!

from my bedroom..

See the full gallery on Posterous

our garden..

sometimes I get vertigo just lookin out the window

I got friends..

Mon, 27 Aug 2012 22:12:48 -0400

Before I moved.. my English friend, Jake, whom I met in Dongguan.. came to Beijing with his brother during a one month holiday around China… They stayed on my couch a couple of nights.. they said they felt like Beijing didn’t feel like China.. and that it was a real city.. I don’t know about all that.. there are more standing buildings here that aren’t under constant construction.. but I’ve lived around.. and let me tell you, Beijing is still very much China.. especially when you’re not spending all your time doing touristy things..

anyways.. it was a good visit..

See the full gallery on Posterous

roommies..

Mon, 27 Aug 2012 22:10:25 -0400

so both my Indiana roommates are now here.. we have our new place.. and we’ve been chillin..

Africans in China

Mon, 27 Aug 2012 20:55:03 -0400

Racism is for real here.. and foreigners will never really be accepted in China, but some groups feel China’s cold shoulder more than others .. african-china-immigrants

no time..

Mon, 27 Aug 2012 20:37:55 -0400

haven’t been able to update… because I’ve been busy.. I got stuff to do guys.. but also I didn’t have internet at the new place.. BUT now I do!.. yay..

stories soon….

Steve you're the best..

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 00:48:38 -0400

well.. Liesl and I spent a bit of time on Saturday.. and the greater part of Sunday (7 hours!) with my friend Steve.. apartment looking/hunting.. scavenging.. and we finally found a really nice one.. but it was too expensive.. but ya know what.. we bargained!.. we bargained our apartment down 2,000 kuai!! well we didn’t.. but the Realtor did..

it was such a long day.. so frustrating.. and excruciating..

Steve was the best.. we seriously couldn’t have done it all without his help.. thanks lil babes..

oh yea.. this is Liesl trying her first (and probs last) chicken foot.. mmmmm….

See the full gallery on Posterous

Peace out S.K.

Sun, 12 Aug 2012 23:59:34 -0400

there are so many stories I have about South Korea.. and so many things I was going to write about.. But I feel the time has passed.. I have been home for over four days now.. and have done so much in that time.. gotta move on to the next…

So I must lay to bed my sweet Seoul.. and let my heart return to Beijing

last night in Seoul..

Sun, 12 Aug 2012 23:30:22 -0400

this was my last night in S.K. and a night for Bloomington… I had not only hung been hanging out with Jane whom I met in Bloomington, but this night I also met up with my old friend Joey (both are Korean-Americans and Hoosiers)..

so first we ate something I hadn’t tried yet.. this dish was so good.. first they dumped all these veggies and things onto the hot plate and cooked those.. and then when they were finished they came back and added cheese… then we ate.. when we had just a bit of food left.. they came back and added rice to the mix.. and cooked it.. then we ate again.. it was really, really good.. I love that some of the “traditional” Korean food has cheese in it..

after eating we went to Joey’s favorite bar..

I loved it.. except for the fact that they only played Bob Marley on repeat.. The owner was behind the bar and really friendly.. he let us add something to his collection.. it was a memorable last night..

See the full gallery on Posterous