Goodbye 2012, Goodbye Beijing

Ok, so I tried to update sooner, but my VPN wasn't working so unfortunately you're in for another epic post...

Merry Christmas/Happy New Year from China!!! Highlights from the last few weeks:

-Went to all you can eat & drink Teppanyaki a few Fridays ago with over 20 friends at Tairyo, and had a great time! Then after getting in a fight with my cab driver because he tried to double our pre-negotiated fare, I left my small going-out purse in his car, which resulted in the loss of an iPhone, my house keys, new Laura Mercier lipstick, and most tragically the purse itself (jk, obviously the iPhone was a devastating loss)-however last night I just got my new iPhone (actually my sister's old phone) so YAY! Old phone number back and running too! :)

-Wayne and I went to a cooking class at Black Sesame Kitchen, and learned to cook Kungpao Chicken, Mapo Dofu, and Wok-friend String Beans, delicious! The best part of the class was learning the basics about cooking with Chinese ingredients. Also we got to meet cool people!

-I went to a hot flow yoga class at Fine Yoga in Chaoyang, which was a bit expensive but lovely to be in a hot room (the highs have been below 32F most days, REALLY cold. I now wear long underwear on a daily basis). Then I checked out a place in WuDaoKou (where I live(d) in Beijing), which was actually the best class I've been to, but still not great. Towards the end of the class, the teacher said, "ok we're going to do the hardest pose ever now, but just give it a try- the headstand". I've been doing yoga for about 4 years now so I can do a headstand- so I went right into it and they all freaked out and then thought I was really good at yoga. It was very strange... Overall though, most Chinese yoga classes are just too slow for me. They prefer to just do a few poses and hold them a long time or repeat them so you never get to the fun poses that I really enjoy. Still fun to check out new places though.

-I went to a great restaurant specializing in Beijing Imperial Cuisine called 那家小官, which was delicious! I highly recommend it to Beijing visitors.

Christmas Eve:

After class that day, I went to the gym and ran a 5K, which is totally unheard of for me! But it was awesome. I think it was because I was also watching a great soccer game on the treadmill TV so I felt like I was in the game (and I was entertained by all the hot soccer players who kept taking off their shirts in fits of victory/defeat). Then a bunch of us went to Bridge Cafe for a special pre-set Christmas Eve dinner, which consisted of: wine; walnut & goat cheese salad; pumpkin soup; an entree of turkey, ham, mash potato cube (it was weird), and green beans with bacon; apple pie; coffee; and mulled wine. Overall pretty good for China standards, but obviously not great compared to my usual homecooked meal that my family does. After dinner, we went to my friend Katie's Christmas Eve party where we had more mulled wine and lots of delicious baked goods! To end the night, I had a wonderful skype session with my family, who had made up tons of Christmas games to play with me over Skype! And they gave me various "monetary" gifts, including an offer to cover extra costs of a nice apartment in Xi'an, yoga classes, and a trip with my friends to anywhere in China! BEST GIFTS EVER! After the skype call, my friends and I had a slumber party at Wayne's house (I know, we're like 13 year old girls, but who wants to wake up alone at their Beijing apartment on Christmas?!). We watched Elf, and made it through the first part of White Christmas before we all fell asleep in a pile of blankets in Wayne's living room. 

Christmas morning, we woke up with coffee, egg nog, opium dumplings, and delicious banana muffins baked by Rachel. Then we watched Love Actually, another great Christmas movie, which made us all cry (but in a good way). For the afternoon, I headed to my friend Mitch's amazing apartment in Andingmen for a Christmas potluck/hangout. I made Kraft Mac & Cheese, which was of course a HUGE hit. Haters gunna hate, but Kraft makes some good stuff, particularly MAC. I loved it, even though it wasn't quite as good as my mommy's homemade mac & cheese. After many hours of shmoozing, Sophie, Rebecca, and I left for some more substantial dumplings. And then I returned home and went to bed! 

Overall I felt pretty detached from the holiday season this year, which sounds sad, but actually prevented me from being really sad about missing home. I really do feel like I live here in Beijing and that I really belong here, as much as mean cabi drivers try to remind me that I'm a foreigner. Most of all, I am soooo grateful to have such amazing and loving friends who made my Beijing Christmas just as special, of course in a very different way, as my US Christmas. Merry Christmas USA! 

For New Years, we first went out to dinner at a great Yunnan restaurant, then headed to our friend Connie's birthday party at a bar she rented out in SanLiTun. After doing a countdown on someone's iPhone that was projected on a screen, we headed to Punk, a bar/club open for 1 night only! Very fun night overall. But something crazy that happened on the way to Connies- we were walking along the street in a pretty well populated area, and suddenly this Chinese girl in front of us just collapses. We didn't actually see her fall, but when we walked up she was having a seizure! None of us are doctors so we didn't really know what to do, but Adam and Jake put their gloves under her head so she wouldn't hit her head (even more than she probably already had) on the cement. After she stopped seizing, we finally found a doctor to help out. Passersby kept coming up and asking what was happening, and people in the crowd who didn't really know what was going on replied "Oh, just some drunk foreigner" because there was our whole crowd of foreigners there trying to help out. Meanwhile, most of the Chinese people in the crowd were staring and taking photos/video of the poor girl on the street! Apparently a few years ago, a young man stopped to help an old woman who had fallen on the street. When the woman recovered, she blamed the young man for pushing her over, and made him pay the medical bills. When they went to court, the judge deemed the young man had no reason to help the old woman other than his guilt for pushing her over (supposedly). This has come to be none as the Nanjing Precedent (check here for more detail). Back to our story- After about 15 minutes, an ambulance finally showed up and took the girl to the hospital. We got a call later saying she was going to be ok. Our New Years Eve experience demonstrates just how terrible this situation has become in China. Truly sad...

On Friday, I finished IUP (my language program) and am now DONE with classes (expect for 1 I have to audit in Xi'an) forever!!!! (or until I got to grad school...) Friday night we had a Fulbright dinner out to celebrate, hosted by the Embassy (thank you US tax payers). Yesterday I packed up my whole apartment, which was awful. Then today I flew out to Xi'an! I am here now staying at my lovely couch-surfing hosts' apartment. Turns out my hosts even know two of the Fulbrighters who have been here for awhile already! And they've got great connections for apartment hunting! And I met up with Allie, Emily, and Mei (3 Fulbrighters from this year) who are here too, which was really nice. So far, life in Xi'an is pretty great! 

So goodbye IUP, goodbye 2012, and goodbye Beijing! Hello 2013 and Xi'an!