What's it like living in China?
Name: Miranda Smith and Madison MacElrevey
Year: Juniors
Hometown: Westerville, OH (Miranda) and Lewes, DE (Madison)
Internship: Behavioral Research at Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding
Location: Chengdu, China
I talked before about how Madison and I got to China, and as crazy as getting to China was, living in China is WAY
crazier! Our first week in China was a roller coaster of events, that was
hinted at in the first blog post. We pulled into Southwest Jiaotong University
at 5 in the morning. As exhausted as we were, the excitement of our new home
for the summer (and probably jet lag) kept us up until 6am. At promptly 9am, a
group of girls came to show is around and help us get things set up.
5 am!
Madisons room
My room
Kitchen
Bathroom
Some girls showing us around! They were English majors
By noon it became apparent to us that we were on the wrong campus. The rest of the day was spent trying to figure out how that had occurred (multiple emails from them confirmed we had housing on the right campus), and how we could get switched (apparently not possible). Staying on the Xipu Campus would mean a 2 hour commute to the panda base and back every day. That was just not possible. SOOOOOOO, Madison and I said “see ya” to South West Jiaotong University, and “hello” to Mix Hostel! Our new home for the summer!
By noon it became apparent to us that we were on the wrong campus. The rest of the day was spent trying to figure out how that had occurred (multiple emails from them confirmed we had housing on the right campus), and how we could get switched (apparently not possible). Staying on the Xipu Campus would mean a 2 hour commute to the panda base and back every day. That was just not possible. SOOOOOOO, Madison and I said “see ya” to South West Jiaotong University, and “hello” to Mix Hostel! Our new home for the summer!
Personally I love staying here. It’s more money than we
planned on with the University, but the Hostel has TONS of awesome things that evens it out in the
end.
Like this cat! Xiao Me is awesome!
It’s close to a mall, Walmart, the metro, and tons
of other fun things!
We have a room with an awesome view, and the hostel has fun
activities!
Dumpling Party @mix hostel!
Sachet Making Party/ Rice Dumpling Party!
The rumors you hear about things here in China are pretty much true.....
Their kids drop their pants right in the street or had a hole to begin with
They ALL want pictures with you!
And they stare at you all the time! I like to take sneaky pictures of the people who try to take sneaky pictures of us!
I caught him so I took one right back of him! LOL
Then because he was embarrassed we caught him, he gave us a flower
That girl kept taking pics of us, and staring at us the whole meal.
Their English attempts are also really funny sometimes!
These are our last few days here in Chengdu and at the Panda Base, and neither of us can believe how fast it's gone by! We've done some awesome things at the Panda Base, and its amazing how close you become to what you observe for 40 hours a week! All the pandas are dear to us and leaving them in going to be hard!
ML being difficult like always!
XF being anti-social
I wont miss the crowds however!
Feels like our first day was just yesterday!
We got to watch James (our advisor) train pandas (personally my favorite), we have even gotten to touch a few!
One of the most spectacular parts about living in a different culture for 3 months is getting to immerse yourself in it. While we spend a good portion of the day at the Panda Base, Madison and I take every opportunity to go on an adventure!
Little Great Wall
Hot Pot
Hiking
Mt. Emi
Fish that eat the dead skin off your foot!!!
Monasteries be EVERYWHERE!
Mall are everywhere too!
Wide and Narrow Alley
The opera
Tea at the opera
Leshan Buddha
This internship and living here in China has been spectacular! It's sad to think the summer is coming to an end but neither of us will ever forget the amazing time we've had!
The rumors you hear about things here in China are pretty much true.....
Their kids drop their pants right in the street or had a hole to begin with
Their English attempts are also really funny sometimes!
These are our last few days here in Chengdu and at the Panda Base, and neither of us can believe how fast it's gone by! We've done some awesome things at the Panda Base, and its amazing how close you become to what you observe for 40 hours a week! All the pandas are dear to us and leaving them in going to be hard!
We got to watch James (our advisor) train pandas (personally my favorite), we have even gotten to touch a few!
One of the most spectacular parts about living in a different culture for 3 months is getting to immerse yourself in it. While we spend a good portion of the day at the Panda Base, Madison and I take every opportunity to go on an adventure!
This internship and living here in China has been spectacular! It's sad to think the summer is coming to an end but neither of us will ever forget the amazing time we've had!
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