11-30-2019

Inner Mongolia Museum! I was here just a week ago, but at that time there was no snow! 

The reason I came back is because there is a theater next to the museum (you can see the entrance on the right side of the photo), and my friend wanted to go see a movie.

There are movies at this theater, but it turns out that what we had tickets for was not a movie, but actually a play/show activity for kids.  

My understanding is that the plot was something like this: a prince named 泡泡王 (Prince of Bubbles) had a Princess friend that got taken away by a villain or something? (I know, original.) But he didn't have bubbles or bubble powers, so him and his friend-zoned female sidekick visited a scientist who helped them make bubbles and give him bubble powers. Then you know the rest - bad guy is defeated, princess is saved, everyone lives happily ever after, yadda yadda yadda.

 

It was really cute though because they asked some kids to participate in the show! Here is the female sidekick leading two kids to the scientist's lab/table thing.

There were also some really cute plot elements involving the villain for the kids to participate in. The first is that when the villain was being 'defeated', he ran off stage and then through the middle of the auditorium. The 'good guys' called out something along the lines of, "小朋友，快点儿抓住他！" (Kids, quick, catch him!) and then the kids ran to the villain as he was making his way back to the stage 😁

Later, the villain admitted his misdeeds and apologized. Then the 'good guys' asked the kids if it was okay to forgive him and have him join in the next bubble activities. Of course they said yes 😊

Another thing that they did with some kids that went on stage was ask them what their favorite animal was. Then the prince gave them bubble features of that animal. So for example, a few kids said they like cats, so the prince gave them bubble ears and a bubble tail. Obviously these didn't last very long, but it was still sweet.

 

And there were a LOT of bubbles. A. Lot.

 

A lot. of.

 

Bubbles!

And it was funny to see the kids in the front section go crazy trying to pop the bubbles 😂

I think Frederick would have enjoyed all the bubbles ^__^ Maybe even have been a little overwhelmed xD 

Also, apologies that the theater pictures are not great. I really should have used my American phone, my Chinese phone takes really crappy pictures..

11-29-2019

 

Snow day! The top picture was taken from the fifth floor of the south campus classroom building, where I first saw the snow before venturing into the winter wonderland.

 

There's an outdoor stairwell leading to the cafeteria, and this picture was taken from the top (third) floor looking out.

 

South campus, a parking lot

 

South campus

This is a zoomed in version of a photo I took from the 6th floor

 

North campus

Near the south campus gate. As you can probably guess from the cars, there is some parking here.

 

North campus

Turned the camera to the left after taking the above picture. Here you can actually see the south gate. And more parking.

 

And saw a couple snowmen!

I'm having trouble reading the right side of the note, but basically it is a request for the public to only look and not touch this lovely friend.

 

Two friends in one!

11-28-2019

 

The ever-elusive maintenance man.

I took this back in October when came by to fix our bathroom door. Also, make a note of that - October. My roommate reported that our bathroom door didn't close all the way as soon as we moved in. Not that it was a super high priority fix and not that these are luxury apartments but like..

Anyway, our door is fixed now so that we can close it all the way, but it's still a little jankety (yes, I realize jankety is not a word).

11-27-2019

 

When in restaurants, it's pretty common to see CCTV of the inside of the kitchen in the dining area. I'm not really sure why, like can I complain if I see them making my dish but doing something wrong or unsanitary like coughing near it? 

I took this last Saturday after I ordered my breakfast and was waiting for my food.

11-26-2019

 

Hey, it's me! And my coat, as requested by the lovely Cynthia. Or I guess down jacket is more accurate. I don't think we say down coat in English??

I actually wasn't planning to buy a long coat, but at the store I went to the shorter and longer coats were the same price. So, I figured the long one would be better. 

(Also, is it me or do I look like a grandma in this picture??)

Finally, photo credit shout out to my roommate 😁

11-25-2019

 

Tajikistan currency from my roommate! She's not from Tajikistan, and as far as I know has never been there. There are a decent amount of students in Hohhot from Tajikistan, and she is friends with some of them.

11-24-2019

 

My Ancient Chinese Literature class had group performances today, and I got a couple pictures of one group. The girl in the blue and black shirt was acting as a guy. I wish I got a picture when they completed their dip (completed a short amount of research and I think that's what it is called? when the girl leans back and the guy the guy holds her? but open to feedback from anyone who actually knows how to dance..) - it was pretty 厉害

11-23-2019

 

Went to the Inner Mongolia Museum today! This is the outside.

 

 Obligatory picture of a Mongolian ger (yurt)

 

Had a little too much fun taking pictures of the exhibits

 

Inside of the museum

 

Got a picture of this sign because I cracked up at the second translation

11-22-2019

 

More campus pictures. I think the building on the left might be the library but I'm not sure. The building on the right is a hotel. Most campuses have hotels to accommodate visiting guests.

 

This is a package pick-up area. After 双一 (November 11, basically the Chinese equivalent of Black Friday) there were a looot of packages here.

11-21-2019

 

 I forgot to tell you guys, I now have money from Russia! I also received coins that are not pictured. Going to try to see if I can get currency from other countries, too.

11-20-2019

Going on my future Instagram!

 When you eat in the cafeteria and finish your food, there is a place like this to take your used dishes. From there, workers will prepare the dishes for washing (leftover food goes in the trash [actually I don't want to think about how much food waste is produced by these facilities.. :c], chopsticks and silverware are gathered together, and so on). But if you eat late enough, the workers will be resting and people just leave their dishes in the designated area like this.  

This is in the cafeteria close to my dorm.

11-19-2019

 

A bowl of pork noodles (猪肉面) that I had over the weekend :3

11-18-2019

 

Some English pictures from my weekend.

Saw some date plams in the store. They tried hard and got very close. 

 

When I was shopping for a coat (which I now have, thank goodness!) I saw this shirt which I actually think is cute! But it was a little expensive in my opinion, about ¥120. So I passed on it.

*fun edit for anyone who happens to read this in the future - I totally went back and bought this shirt before the semester ended. Luckily they still had it. I love it. 

11-17-2019

 

Movie day!

Did not realize what movie I was watching until I saw the big CHARLIE'S ANGELS title screen, but nevertheless I was very pleased. I am usually not a fan of action movies, but there's something satisfying about watching girls kicking some bad guy butt. As you can see above there were Chinese subtitles.

The Chinese name for the movie is 霹雳娇娃

 

The movie theater was strangely laid out and kind of weird. The weird part may have been because it was a Sunday morning (it felt kind of deserted!) but I'm not sure. There was a little museum dedicated to filmwork inside the lobby before you walked down the hall to the theaters. There were pictures of actors and actresses on the walls in the stairwell.

Also, apparently buying tickets online is cheaper than in person? Like, a LOT cheaper. Like ¥30 - ¥35 for buying a ticket online vs ¥60 - 70 for buying a ticket in person. Is it really that much trouble to buy a ticket in person that the theater tries to discourage it? I don't really understand why the prices are dictated like that.

11-16-2019

 

A snack I had today! Basically a big and delicious stroopwafel.

11-15-2019

 

羊肉烩面

Noodles with braised mutton

 There isn't much meat in the picture, but in all honesty I wasn't super impressed with it. It was good, but a little lacking in flavor. But I guess that's because it was in a soup instead of being a dish by itself. The broth was good though, and I liked the noodles! They were flat and wide noodles. 

11-14-2019

 

More campus pictures! These are actually from yesterday. The sky was especially pretty ^__^

If I walk out of my dorm and to the right, this is what I see. The building closest to the camera is the canteen where I took the picture of the Mongolia restaurant. The side of the building closest to me has an ATM that you can't see in the picture.

If I turned the camera to the right, you would see a 幼儿园. I guess it's the American equivalent of nursery school, since it comes before elementary school, I think. 

 

If I keep walking straight from where I was in the first picture, I end up here - the bus stop.

11-13-2019

 

Taken at school on the south campus. Look at the mountains in the background! The peaks have snow :D 

When I took the picture above I was with my classmate from Mongolia. She went back to Mongolia for the weekend and just got back last night. She said that the mountains in Mongolia are covered with snow, and that apparently it started snowing in Mongolia in October.

Then she gave me Mongolian money!! Which I'm super pumped about because I love foreign money.

I haven't given her US money yet, but I just put it in my backpack now!

11-12-2019

 

There was some kind of firefighter drill or something going on when I walked by. 

Why do their firetrucks look so small and cute? Like toys??

This was on the south campus, taken after my PE class.

11-11-2019

 

I took these pictures today on the south campus. There is still some snow on the ground from Saturday night!

11-10-2019

 

the weather forecast for yesterday as seen at 10:41am yesterday morning, it was 4C (39F) at that time

the predicted high for the day: 7C (44.5F), and low: -2C (28.5F)

"Showers followed by sleet"

And apparently the air quality was crappy at that time (AQI 215)

 

And here was the snow!

It snowed for a good ten minutes and then stopped. 

I know it's kind of hard to see in the photo, but there was snow on the trees and on top of the white railing

11-09-2019

 

Today is a weekend, but here is a picture of the bus I take to and from school!

Well, one of the buses. And on days that the school anticipates a small crowd there is a van instead of a bus. I'm pretty sure everyone hates the van. I'll try to get a picture of it the next time I ride it. 

And below is a picture of what the ticket for the bus looks like. I actually don't know if anyone can get these tickets other than international students. If you don't have a ticket then it costs 2.5 yuan to ride the bus one way. You can pay with your student card, WeChat, or with cash.

11-08-2019

I was on the south campus this afternoon walking to a supermarket when I passed by several students with bags of these snacks. I ended up walking by the snack seller, where there were a good number students huddled around looking at the goods. I figured whatever the seller had must be good. I got a sample of the brown thing, and I saw a lot of students buy the long yellow things, so I decided to buy some of those, too. I think they are good! They both remind me of cereal things. Both don't have anything on the inside, but the yellow thing is puffy whereas the brown one is crunchy.

 

Just a picture I took in a supermarket of drinks. There are so many that I want to try ;~; but sugary drinks will make me fat.

11-07-2019

 

I guess I never posted these pictures of when my roommate and I went out to eat about a month ago during the Golden Week holiday??

A lot of Chinese people recommend this place. It was tasty :D 

 

Fries, enoki mushrooms, some kind of vegetable, maybe 韭菜? and meat skewers, I think chicken and lamb. We also got a soup later and fried bread.

And of course Dayao (大窑), it's a popular carbonated beverage here that is sweet and in my opinion kind of tastes like it has bubble gum flavoring. I like it though!