Steve's sandbox

Author: Steve Evans

  • Phoebe Ellis – Travelling in Europe, May 2015

    Reisen in Europa

    Wohnen in Ausland ist eine tolle Gelegenheit für Reisen und neue Erfahrungen zu machen. Deutschland liegt in der Mitte Europas und deshalb ist es das perfekte Land für man andere Länder kennen zu lernen. Während meiner Zeit in Deutschland möchte ich die billige Busse und Züge ausnutzen. Letzte Woche haben ich und eine Freundin von mir nach Prag für ein Paar Tage gefahren. Wir fuhren mit dem Bus nach Dresden und dann mit dem Zug von Dresden nach Prag. Es dauert ungefähr vier Stunden und war so günstig. In England muss man mit dem Flugzeug fliegen, um ein anderes Land zu gehen. Das macht die Reise teuer und mehr kompliziert, zum Beispiel ankommen in den Flughafen vor zwei Stunden und die Sicherheitskontrollen. Es war komisch, weil wir nicht einmal unsere Reisepässe zu vorzeigen.

    The View of Prague

    Prag war so schön. Tatsächlich denke ich, dass es die schönste Stadt ist, dass ich jemals besucht habe. Wir waren ein Gluck, weil das Wetter toll die ganze Wochenende war. Prag hat zwei Teilen, die durch eine Brücke „Charles Bridge“ verbinden. Auf einer Seite der Brücke liegt die Altstadt und auf der anderen liegt das Prag Schloss und die Schlossgärten. Man muss einen steilen Hügel hochspazieren um das Schloss zu kommen. Das macht kein Spaß in der Hitze! Obwohl fühlten wir sehr gut am oben der Hügel. In den Schlossgärten gab es auch ein kleines Festival „Battle of the Nations“. Es hätte ein mittelalterisches Thema und die Menschen trugen mittelalterische Kleidungen. Es war auch eine kleine Arena und hier haben sich die Männer von verschiedenen Ländern in der Rüstung geschlagen. Es war gut zusehen. Wir haben auch das Nachtleben von Prag erfahren. Wir besuchten den bekannten fünf Etagen Nachtklub und es war eine tolle Nacht.

    Ich hoffe zurück nach Prag zu fahren, aber zuerst möchte ich nach Budapest und München besuchen. Ich habe auch eine Planung für eine Autofahrtsreise rund Süddeutschland im Sommer und einen kurzen Urlaub nach Kroatien in zwei Wochen! Wohnen in Deutschland ist gut!

     

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

    Travelling in Europe

    Living abroad is a great opportunity for travel and new experiences. Germany is located in the middle of Europe and therefore makes it the perfect country for allowing a person to travel and get to know new places. During my time in Germany I wanted to take advantage of the cheap train and coach travel.  Last week a friend  and I went to Prague for a couple of days.  We took the coach to Dresden and then the train from Dresden to Prague.  It took about four hours and it was very cheap.  In England if you want to visit another country you must catch a flight. That makes the trip more expensive and complicated. For example, having to arrive at the airport two hours before the flight and the security checks. It was weird because on our trip we didn’t even have to show our passports.

    Prague was so beautiful. Actually, I think it might be the prettiest city I have ever visited. We were fortunate, though, because the weather was great the whole weekend. Prague has two parts, which are connected through the Charles Bridge. On one side of the bridge there is the old town and on the other there is the Prague Palace and the palace gardens. However you have to walk up a steep hill to get to the palace. That is no fun in the heat! Although we did feel great when we got to the top. In the palace gardens there was a small festival, called Battle of the Nations. It had a medieval theme and the people all wore medieval clothing. There was also a small arena where the men from all different countries battled against each other in the medieval armour. It was good to watch. We also experienced the Prague night life and we went to the well-known nightclub which has 5 floors, it was a great night.

    I hope to return to Prague, but first I would like to visit Budapest and Munich. I also have a plan for a road-trip around the south of Germany in the summer and a short holiday to Croatia booked for two weeks time. Living in Germany is good!

  • Nadia – Beijing, China – May 2015

    这个⽉我在北京的⽣活平安⽆事。像往常⼀样，我每天上课，参加拳击课。最近天⽓很美，空⽓污 染也没有以前的严重。 这个⽉我想写⼀些关于我去天津的路上看到⼀个很特别的建筑。⼏个星期前我去天津⼀天游。天津 市在海边，但是从北京坐动⻋只要三⼗分钟。其实，天津很⽆聊，但是在旅途中我看到了⼀个很特 别的建筑。⽕⻋驶过旷野，⼀些⼩⼩的农舍。有某⼀时刻，不知道是到了哪⾥，我们驶过⼀个很⼩ 的村⼦。这个村⼦有⼀些⼀层房屋，周围都是⽥野。村⼦中间有⼀所很⼤的⼤教堂。我在天津⼀有 Wi-Fi的时候，就开始研究这个教堂的历史。根据⼀个⺴站，这个教堂是亚洲第⼆⾼的！ 不幸动⻋开得很快，所以我没有机会拍照。在上⾯有些在⺴站找到了的⼀些照⽚。教堂的造价是 1500万⼈民币，⼩村⼈都是基督教⼈所以他们都捐款，别的钱是从北京和海外捐款的。 这个教堂原来是在1800年代后期建筑的，但是在1900年代早期战争中毁了，在⽂化⼤⾰命时再毁 了。在过去的⼗年中这个教堂终于重建。我想去看这个⼩村和教堂，但是⼩村只能坐汽⻋到达。

     

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION:-

    My last month in Beijing has been fairly uneventful – classes have continued as usual, and I’m still boxing.  The weather is beautiful and the pollution hasn’t been a problem at all for a long time now.

    This month I want to write about something I saw on the way to Tianjin. A few weeks ago I took a day trip to Tianjin. Tianjin is by the coast but is only a 30-minute train ride from Beijing by bullet train. Tianjin itself was rather boring, but, on the train on the way to Tianjin I saw something amazing. The train passed a lot of empty land, farmland, and small villages. At one point, in the middle of no where, we passed by a small village with small one-storey houses surrounded by farmland. In the middle of this village was what appeared to be a huge cathedral. As soon as I got wifi in Tianjin I started researching the building. Traces of Christianity in the village go back 400 years. According to one source, it is the second tallest church in Asia! Unfortunately the train whizzed by so quickly that I wasn’t able to take a picture. Apparently it cost £1.5m to build, and donations came from the village members (who are all Christian), from Beijing and from overseas. The church was originally built in the late 1800s but was destroyed during the early 1900s and again during the Cultural Revolution. It was finally rebuilt during the last 10 years. I really want to visit the village but unfortunately it’s only accessible by car.

  • Amy Clark, Palma, Spain – April 2015

    Amy Clark – Palma de Mallorca – Abril 2015

    Estoy disfrutando mucho mi tiempo aquí; Palma es un lugar tan bonito, hay muchísimas cosas para hacer y ver y finalmente el tiempo esta increíble. Para Semana Santa mi novio vino aquí por 4 días, el vuelo fue un poco caro porque Semana Santa es una feria en Palma y hay muchas fiestas que duran casi dos semanas que significa que los precios siempre están altos. De todos modos, valió la pena porque no nos vimos para mucho tiempo y estaba muy bien para pasar algunos días juntos.  Cuando llegó el viernes fuimos a una restaurante que está situada en el puerto, se llama Mar de Nudos, al principio decidíamos solo tomar algo para beber pero cuando nos vimos la comida de los otros clientes nos cambiamos de idea! La comida estaba buenísima, una de las comidas mejores que hemos comido, además el tiempo estaba tan agregable y pasábamos un día estupendo.

    El sábado fuimos a una playa que se llama Ses Illetes, que está ubicada 30 minutes en bus del centro de Palma, está muy bonita, el mar es tan claro y las vistas son impresionantes. Cuando llegamos, tomamos algo en el bar y allí nos vimos el jugador de futbol famoso y estrella tv de ´A league of their own´, Jamie Redknapp en la playa con su familia, no podíamos creerlo, pero después nos descubrimos que él tiene una villa aquí.

    También, el sábado pasado mis amigos y yo alquilamos un minivan por todo el día, no estuve muy cara porque haya 9 personas para compartir el precio, que estuve bien. Nos visitamos dos playa tan bonitas, una de las dos es una playa totalmente natural, no hay bares, facilidades o algo así, ¡simplemente el mar, la arena y el sol! Mallorca verdaderamente es una isla bonita.

    Otra cosa interesante para mí fue el martes de esta semana, porque tenía la oportunidad de ir a un de los mejores hoteles de Melia que es 5 estrellas, que está situado al lado del mar con vistas panorámicas magnificentes. Fui con mi jefe porque ella ha organizado todo para este grande evento que fue para todos los jefes importantes y empleadores de Melia de todos los diferentes regiones. Mi jefe mi dije que sería muy interesante para asistir el evento para ver cómo se funcionan las cosas  y para aprender nuevas cosas de la empresa y del tema de Marketing Digital. Para el almuerzo haya un buffet de comida caliente y frio, postres y bebidas y todo estuve gratis. Fue muy interesante y beneficial para mí para escuchar a todas las presentaciones en español y también para participar en los workshops.

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

    I’m enjoying my time here; Palma is a beautiful place, there´s lots of things to do and see and finally, the weather is amazing! For Easter my boyfriend came here for 4 days, the flight was a little bit expensive because here in Palma Easter is a Bank Holiday and there´s lots of celebrations that last about 2 weeks which means that the prices are always quite high. Anyway, it was worth it as we hadn´t seen each other for a while and it was really nice to spend time together. When he arrived on Friday we went to a restaurant on the port, called Mar de Nudos, in the beginning we were just going to have a drink but when we saw the other customers food we changed our minds! The food was so nice, one of the best meals we have had, plus, the weather was great and we had a really nice day.

    Saturday we went to a beach called Ses Illetes, which is situated about 30 minutes from the centre of Palma, it´s so pretty, the sea is so clear and the views are amazing. When we arrived we had a drink in the bar and there we saw the famous football player and TV star of A league of their own´ Jamie Redknapp on the beach with his family, we couldn´t believe it, but later we found out that he has his own villa here in Palma.

    Also, last Saturday me and my friends hired a minivan for the day, it wasn´t very expensive because there were 9 people to share the price which was good. We visited 2 beautiful beaches, one of the two was completely natural, there weren´t any bars, facilities or anything like that, just the sea, the sand and the sun! Mallorca truly is a beautiful island.

    Another interesting thing for me was on Tuesday this week, because I had the opportunity to go to one of Meliá´s 5 star hotels, that´s situated right next to the sea with magnificent panoramic views. I went with my boss as she has organized everything for this huge event that was for all the important bosses and employees from all the different regions. My boss said to me that it would be really interesting to attend the event to see how things work and to learn new things about the business and the subject of Digital Marketing. For lunch there was a buffet with hot and cold food, desserts and drinks, and everything was free. It was really interesting and beneficial for me to listen to all the presentations in Spanish and to take part in the workshops.

     

  • Ashton Lily-Woolley, Spain – April 2015

    Ashton Lily-Woolley

    Este mes, he sido muy relacionado al trabajo, tengo muchos venicimientos a cumplir y como solo me quedan once semanas de la prácticas estoy decidida a terminar todos mis trabajos antes de irme. Sin embargo, no es todo trabajo como nos dieron un fin de semana de cuatro días agradables para Semana Semanta, decidí viajar un poquito.

    Tengo unos amigos que están con las prácticas en Málaga y en Marbella así que lo aproveché y organicé un viaje para visitar a los dos. Mi compañera de trabajo iba ir a Granada entoncés después de hablar con ella sobre mis planes me ofreció ir con ellas así que podría estar una horas allí y después cogí el autobús por la tarde a Málaga que solo tardó una hora y media en llegar. Solo estaba en Grandada unas horas pero el sol brillaba y las cosas que ví allí fueron fantasticas.

    La empresa donde estoy una becaria también tiene una oficina en Málaga entonces algunos de mis compañeros escribieron un listado de los sitios que deberíá visitar. Llegué allí por la tarde pero las procésiones ya han empezado. No quedé en el piso de mi amiga, encontré un sitio en AirBnb, estaba situada cerca del piso de mi amiga. Era super barato y el anfitrío era muy simpático. Habían más viajeros en el apartamento así que fue genial.

    Durante la primera noche, vimos a unas de las procésiones y después nos fuimos a un bar que se llama ‘El pimpi’. Es un bar muy conocido cerca del Castillo y el vino es buenísimo.

    Hicimos una vuelta buenísma al Castillo la mañana siguiente y las vistas eran impresionantes, se puede ver al puerto y al estadio de fútbol. Por la tarde, encontramos con otros estudiantes y fuimos a una bar que se llama Mañana – vale tres euros por dos horas de cerveza libre pero era muy dificíl a llegar. Con las procésiones era imposible a llegar a cualquier sitio. También conocí a unas personas que estaban de vacaciones de Madrid y también de la misma ciudad de Inglattera! Es un mundo muy pequeño.

    El otro amigo vive en Marbella entonces fuimos allí también, aunque si cuento la verdad solo nos fuimos para cenar la comida de Hard Rock Café y comprar una camiseta. El tiempo era terrible por la tarde pero el pueblo es muy bonito para visitar. Más tarde, tomamos una bebida enfrente de la catedral y nos fuimos a dormir muy pronto para estar lista para mi viaje inesperado de nueve horas para volver a Madrid.

     

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

    This month has been mainly work related, I have so many deadlines at work to meet and as I only have 11 week left of my placement I am determined to finish them all on time. However, it’s not all work as we got a lovely four day weekend at Easter, I decided to do a little bit of travelling.

    I have a couple of friends that are doing their placements in Malaga and Marbella so I took advantage and made plans to visit them both. My work colleague was going to Granada so after chatting to her about my plans she offered to take me with her so I could spend a few hours there and then I caught the bus in the afternoon to Malaga which just took an hour and a half. I was only in Granada for a couple of hours but the sun was shining and the bits that I did see were fantastic.

    The company where I’m doing my work placement also have an office in Malaga so some of my work colleagues wrote me a list of places that I should visit. I got there late afternoon but the processions had already started. I didn’t stay with my friend, I found a place to stay on AirBnb which was around the corner from my friend’s apartment. It was so cheap and the host was really nice. There were other travellers in the apartment so that was great.

    On the first night we saw a couple of the processions and then headed to a bar called ‘El Pimpi’. It’s a very popular bar near the castle and the wine is beautiful.

    We had a nice walk up to the castle the next morning and the views were breath-taking, you can see the port and the football stadium. In the evening we met up with some other students and we went to a bar called Mañana – its 3 euros for two hours of unlimited beer but extremely hard to reach. The processions made it almost impossible to reach anywhere. I also met some people that were on holiday from Madrid and also from my home town in England! It’s a very small world.

    My other friend lives in Marbella so we visited there too, although if I’m honest we just went there for the Hard Rock Café food and for a t-shirt. The weather was quite terrible in the afternoon but it was still a nice town to visit. In the evening, we had a drink across from the cathedral and then an early night ready for my unexpected nine hour journey back home.

  • Struan Rutherford, 2015, China – April 2015

    最近几个星期，我有跟我姐姐在中国旅游的机会。这是我姐姐第一次来中国所以我得保证我姐姐享受旅游因为我是她的导游。我们在桂林见面然后我们一起去上海，西安和北京。姐姐带来有些英国礼物送给我，比如巧克力复活节彩蛋。不幸，我姐姐还带来英国天气：桂林，上海和北京大部分时间有大雨。尽管如此，我们旅游很成功，我们开心。虽然从上海环球金融中心顶的风景被多云隐藏，但是长城天气，风景特别好（图片下面的图片比较风光）。我姐姐最喜欢的城市，她最终挑选北京。除了天气以外，北京有别好处，包括北京是我住的地方。我能用我当地知识来把姐姐表示北京最好的饭馆，酒吧。我渐渐成为当地人。

    在上海的时候，我们过复活节。我再次觉得在中国过基督教的节日是有点奇怪的经验。不过，复活节在现代中国不太流行，跟圣诞节不同。复活节可能没有流行因为是不太商业化的节日：没有买很多礼物的复活节传统。还是，我和姐姐去上海大教堂的庆典。教堂非常漂亮 ：外面和里面都非常华丽。两个地方让我吃惊：首先，众多中国人去听英文教堂服务。中文教堂服务当天早些时候被举行可是我认为太多中国人想去听中文的所以他们代替需要去英文的。我已经听到中国现在有全球最大基督徒人口之一的统计但是直到你看到中国教堂会众的时候，这个统计牵强附会。第二个可怪事件是外国教士。似乎中文和英文的教堂服务都被外国教士举办。由于中国很大基督徒人口，我吃惊因为我认为中国教堂大概有中国教士。

    夏天来到北京。我晒伤的皮肤是证据。虽然天气最近非常好，每天涂防晒霜有点麻烦。太阳会鼓励我住在里面，更努力学习！

     

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

    In the past couple of weeks, I have had the opportunity to travel around China with my sister. This was my sister’s first time in China so, as I was the tour guide, I was under pressure to give her a good impression of the country. We met in Guilin and travelled to Shanghai, Xi’an and Beijing. My sister brought a few British gifts for me, for    example a chocolate Easter egg. Unfortunately, my sister also took British weather with her: in Guilin, Shanghai and Beijing it rained for the majority of the time. Nonetheless, we still had a great time. Although the views from the top of the Shanghai World Financial Tower were a little obscured by clouds, the weather and scenery from the Great Wall was fantastic (look at the pictures below for the comparison). Ultimately my sister chose Beijing as her favourite city. Besides the weather, Beijing had the advantage of it being where I live. I was able to use my local knowledge to show my sister the city’s great restaurants and bars. I am gradually feeling more like a local.

     

    In Shanghai, we celebrated Easter Sunday. It was again unusual to celebrate a Christian festival in China. However, unlike Christmas, Easter is not as popular in China today. This is possibly due to its less commercial nature as there is not a large tradition of buying numerous gifts at Easter time. Nonetheless, my sister and I went to a church service at a cathedral in Shanghai. The church was stunning, both the exterior and interior were very ornate and attractive. Two elements surprised me: firstly, the huge number of locals who attended the English language service. The Chinese service was earlier in the day but evidently too many locals wanted to attend so they joined the English service instead. I have heard the statistics saying that China now has one of the largest Christian populations in the world but it is hard to believe until you see the Chinese congregation yourself. The second surprising sight was the foreign clergy. It seemed that both services had been conducted by foreign clergy. I found this surprising as I thought that with a large domestic Christian population, Chinese churches would have Chinese clergy.

    Summer has arrived in Beijing. The evidence is my sunburnt skin.

    Although the weather is nice, using sun-cream can be a bit troublesome. It will encourage me to stay inside and do more work!

     

  • Samuel Franklin, China – April 2015

    在我最近参加的国际象棋比赛中，我最大的错误甚至在第一轮比赛开始之前发生了。怎么了？我也不太清楚，但因为一般说更好笑对自己而不要隐藏尴尬的事件，我会向读者透露我的愚蠢。简单地说，我去了错误的省份。我以为这次比赛在河北省举行，所以提前在网上订票，然后当天我很早就到达北京西火车站。我一出去河北高铁站，我就找到了一位司机开车带我去比赛的地点。不过，没想到司机没有认识到我很清楚地告诉他的酒店。因此，我给比赛的委员会打电话，让他给司机导航。我等着一分钟，司机挂上了电话转向我，不改色地说，“你在错误的省份。”

    A very international team, with Koreans, Afghans, Spaniards, Americans…

    那天晚些时候，我最终到了位于北京燕郊（六环之外）的酒店。幸运的是，那一天只是报名比赛的一天，而且从河北到北京坐高铁不到一个半小时。除了交通的方面以外，我这次的表现不错。虽然没有得到冠军，因为我没有中国的国际象棋等级分的关系，我还有很多机会与最强的棋手比赛。

    我最近从山东省的青岛回来了。我在青岛的老城区呆了四夜，过了比较悠闲轻松的时间。对一位想念在欧洲的海滩假期的人来说，去青岛旅游很有吸引力。我花了很多时间懒懒地躺在沙滩上一边读书一边打盹。其实我还做了些更积极的活动。例如，我在海洋大学留学的同学让我第一次经历定向。不言而喻，我还参观了那里的一所名胜古迹。那就是青岛啤酒博物馆。在啤酒节，吃着海鲜，喝一杯原浆青岛肯定是这一年的一个亮点。

    参加足球训练或者比赛时，我从来没遇到任何交通问题，只有自己的足球水平和健康的问题。自从二月来，我与对外汉语学院的足球队参加北大杯。所有专业的学院有个队，你可以想象今年数学系（1-2输了）和国管学院都是夺冠热门。现在是小组赛的阶段。与别的学院比起来，因为大部分的学生是交换生，我们队只有很短时间在一起练习，熟悉队友的优势和弱势。无论如何，这周日与化学系的比赛是肯定要赢得。希望会有有力的天气。

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

    The start of a gruelling 80 minutes against the mighty maths faculty.

    In my most recent chess tournament my first blunder occurred even before the start of the first round. How so? I’m still not so clear myself, but because it’s often said that it’s better to laugh at one’s errors than to conceal them, I have decided to divulge my stupidity to the reader. Basically, I went to the wrong province. I was sure that the tournament was to take place in Hebei , so I booked my train tickets in advance online, and on the day I arrived in good time at Beijing West station. As soon as I left Hebei high speed rail station, I found myself a taxi to drive me to the venue. However, the driver rather unexpectedly did not recognise the address I so clearly told him. And so I called one of the organisers to navigate this clueless driver. I waited less than a minute before the driver hung up the phone, turned to me and said very matter of factly, ‘You’re in the wrong province.’

    Later that day, I finally arrived at the hotel in Beijing’s Yanjiao district (outside the sixth ring road). Fortunately, it was only the event registration day, whilst the high speed from Hebei back to Beijing took less than an hour and a half. Aside from transport, my performance in this tournament wasn’t bad. Although I did not win the event, partly due to my lack of a Chinese chess rating, I had the chance to be paired against a number of the tournament’s strongest players.

    Having tried both now, I can honestly say I prefer my beer in a mug than in a plastic bag – but to each his own.

    Recently, I arrived back from Qingdao in Shandong province. I stayed in Qingdao’s old town for four nights, having an appropriately leisurely and relaxed time there. From the perspective of someone who misses family holidays by the sea, Qingdao held a clear attraction. I spent a great deal of time lazing on the beach, reading and dozing off (not because of the book). I did in fact also partake in some more active activities. For example, my classmate studying at Qingdao Ocean University took me orienteering for the first time. Of course, I also visited the Qingdao beer museum. Enjoying the local seafood with a glass of draft Qingdao on Beer Street has certainly been one of the highlights of this year.

    When going to football training or matches, I have never encountered any problems with transport, only problems with my footballing ability and fitness. Since February, I have been playing in the Peking University Cup with the faculty of Chinese as a second language. Each faculty puts forward a team, and as you can imagine the maths and international relations faculty are once again favourites this year to take the cup. We are presently in the group stages. Compared to the other teams, because most of the students in my faculty are short term exchange students, we have had only a short period of time to practice together and get to know each other’s weaknesses (and some strengths).

    In any case, this Sunday’s match against the chemistry faculty is a must win, a real six-pointer. Hopefully the weather will be favourable.

     

  • Nadia, Beijing, China – April 2015

    我在⽢甘肃的经历

    本⽉月初是清明节。我决定了趁机会去⽢甘肃和⻘青海旅⾏行。最初，我不知道应该去四川旅⾏行或者⽢甘肃，最后，我选择了⽢甘肃因为⽢甘肃的游客不多。虽然在云南旅⾏行很好玩，但是游客挺多。这⼀一次，我想 去没有很多游客的地⽅方。

    因为嘉峪关的机场是张掖最近的机场，我从北京坐⻜飞机到嘉峪关。到嘉峪关以前我知道我在那⼉儿有 两个⼩小时，但是我已经决定从机场坐出租⻋车到嘉峪关的⽕火⻋车站。在⻜飞机坐在我旁边的男⼈人觉得去嘉 峪关但不看名胜古迹就不好，所以他跟他家⼈人带我去嘉峪关的很多名胜古迹，帮我拍照。然后他们 给我吃烤⾁肉。最后，他们送我去⽕火⻋车站。我从来没有经过了这个⽔水平的好意！

    从张掖我去看⻢马蹄寺和张掖丹霞。这两个地⽅方很美。我在那边交了很多中国朋友，我们都⼀一起去吃 晚饭。

    张掖以后我去⻘青海的同仁，然后去⽢甘肃的夏河。夏河有⼀一个很有名的寺院叫拉⼘卜楞。⼏几百藏族⼈人从 拉萨去拉⼘卜楞朝圣。拉⼘卜楞的科拉有三公⾥里，我看到了⼀一些⼈人为每向前迈⼀一步就跪拜！这就意味着 为了绕⾏行，他们很可能要花费⼤大量的时间。你从没⻅见过这样的情景！

    同仁和夏河的多数民族是藏族⼈人，但是还有穆斯林回族⼈人。我对多元社会有兴趣，所以看到回族⼈人 帮助藏族⼈人建设⻄西藏区拉⼘卜楞的⼀一些建筑。中国的族群多样性⾮非常惊异。

    我在郎⽊木寺跟别的游客决定了搭便⻋车到兰州。在中国搭便⻋车⼜又好玩，⼜又容易！我们每⼀一次不等在路 上五分钟多。⽢甘肃⼈人对我很好奇。他们很愿意帮助我们去别的地⽅方.总的来说，这是⼀一次⾮非常成功 的旅⾏行。

     

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

    Adventures in Gansu

    At the start of the month we had Tomb Sweeping Holiday so I decided to go traveling solo to

    Gansu and Qinghai province. Initially I was deciding between visiting Sichuan or Gansu, but I chose Gansu because it is the path less travelled. While Yunnan was incredible, it was also quite touristy, and this time I wanted to go somewhere that few go. I flew in to Jiayuguan, an old fort town, since it was the nearest airport to Zhangye, my first destination. I knew I had two hours until I had to get my train so I planned to get a taxi straight from the airport to the train station just to be safe. The man next to me on the plane thought it sad I wasn’t staying to see Jiayuguan, so when we landed, he and his family drove me to all the famous sights

    around Jiayuguan so I could take photos, then fed me a huge barbecue feast, and finally sent me off to the train station. Never in my life had I experienced this level of kindness from

    anyone before!  From Zhangye I visited Horse Hoof Temple and the Rainbow / Candy Mountains. Both were beautiful as you can tell from the photos. I made a lot of Chinese friends and at the end of the day we had a huge meal together.

    After Zhangye I went to Tongren in Qinghai province, and then onwards to Xiahe, back in Gansu. Labrang Monastery is in Xiahe and is very famous and hundreds of Tibetan pilgrims from Lhasa were there to pray. The kora (the path of prayer wheels) extended for 3km and I saw some groups of people prostrating at every step they took forwards, meaning they must have spent hours just going around the kora once. It was really quite a sight.

     

    Both Tongren and Xiahe have Tibetan majorities and Hui Muslim minorities. I am fascinated by multicultural societies and it was great to see Hui people helping to build parts of the Monastery in the Tibetan side of town. China’s ethnic diversity is truly incredible. On my way back from Langmusi to Lanzhou I decided to hitchhike with another traveler I met and it went really well! We didn’t ever have to wait longer than 5 minutes for a ride; people were curious and helpful. All in all, it was a very successful trip.

  • Imogen Page-Jarrett, Beijing, China – April 2015

    2015年北京大学国际模拟联合国大会 

    四月9号日至12日我参加北京大学国际模拟联合国大会，担任国际劳动组织“妇女劳动权益与性别平等”辩论的美国资方代表，也是这次会议唯一的外国代表！自2007年创立伊始，AIMUN已成为一个吸引着全球青年的舞台。在这里，青年心怀世界，探讨政治、经济、环境等多领域问题。同时，AIMUN作为中国最有知名度的模拟联合国会议之一，在这个平时避免碰到政治讨论的国家，模拟联合国这个舞台则让青年对该问题形成看法的机会，现在在中国模拟联合国会议已经流行了。

    我以前从来没有听过中国年轻人讨论政治的事，因此AIMUN给我带来了新鲜的感受。虽然辩论中没碰到中国国内的政治事务，听见大学生从其他国家视角出发很有趣。写决议书时，我发现其他代表的看法跟我自己的不太一样。例如，美国政府代表表现得好像有一种独裁权力，跟现实政府不同，他对国民与非政府机构表态是用有“强制”意思的词语。他的表现可能归于中国政府的权力，如果政府实施措施，国民就顺从。我跟他解释，美国更强调自由意志，而且，因为选举这个事情政府也需要考虑到让国民满意。在这次辩论妇女权益的会议上，我徒然试图提高对目前在英国与美国爆发的女权运动的认识，毫不吃惊的没有人听说过，所有我关注的媒体平台在中国翻墙后才能看到。

    不言而喻，我没注意到辩论中微妙之处，就我理解，这次辩论太“友善”了，缺乏亮点和创造力，代表们宁愿导致紧张状态，还不如合作。因此，我们花了很长时间定义等等。总之，我感觉大家太注意到优秀演讲的国家，而没关注演讲缺乏的国家。我特别赞同韩国代表的表演，她注意到韩国保守社会的性别角色，讲到妇女愿意让男性去领导这一点。

    AIMUN的代表来自中国各地参加大会，大部分也是他们大学唯一的代表。AIMUN还举办了开幕式、闭幕式、市内观光、欢迎舞会及告别舞会。演讲嘉宾也在两次仪式上致辞，包括中国联合国协会副总干事沈茵茵女士。听到这些国际任务致辞使会议的目标感更强，就像我们跟世界上所有其他模拟联合国会议握手一样。这次会议是很难得的机会，让我认识到中国各地的大学生，与他们举动学术辩论。

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

    Asian International United Nations 2015

    On the 12th of April I took part in the Asian International United Nations, and was given the role of “US Employers” in the International Labour Organisation’s debate on “Women’s Labour Rights and Gender Equality”. I was the only foreign delegate in the room! Since it began in 2007, AIMUN has been a platform for youths around the world who share a common interest in understanding global issues and working together to come up with lasting solutions. AIMUN is amongst the best known and most recognized MUN conference in China. In this nation which often avoids talking about politics, the platform that is the Model United Nations provides a way for young people to develop opinions on global issues, and due to this fact, MUNs have become popular all over China.

    I have never had the chance to witness young people discussing politics before, and in this sense AIMUM was a completely new experience. Although nothing about China’s internal politics was discussed, it was interesting to hear these university students take on the view of other nations and debate in their place. I did notice some unusual points when drafting resolution papers. For example, the US Government representative acted as if he had a much more authoritarian role than in reality- using words implying “force” towards the population and organisations. This could stem from living in a country where, if the government wants something, people will bend to it. I explained that in America, there was more of a sense of free-will, and the government also had to think about pleasing the people, from an election perspective. In this debate on women’s rights in the workplace, I also tried in vain to raise awareness of the current young feminist movement in the UK and US, but no one had heard of it, unsurprisingly as the media channels I follow are blocked.

    There were of course many subtleties that I was unable to pick up on, but in general I felt the debate was too “nice” and there lacked the spark of an argumentative debate; delegates seemed hesitate to cause tension, more willing to cooperate together. As a result a lot of time was spent defining terms and deciding the direction of the debate. I felt that largely, countries with good speakers were overly represented and dominated countries who didn’t present as well. However I thought South Korea was particularly impressive when talking about gender roles in conservative Korean society and how many women are willing for men to take the lead.

    The delegates of AIMUN came from all over China to participate in the conference, mostly representing their whole universities. AIMUN also organised welcoming and closing ceremonies and extra events like a city tour, a cocktail party and farewell party.  The ceremonies also had guest speakers including the Deputy Director-General of the United Nations Association of China, hearing such international figures speak gave the conference a sense of greater purpose, like we were linked to other MUNs around the world. The conference was a fantastic opportunity to meet Chinese students from all over the country and engage with them on an academic level.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Xi’an – Emily Martin, China – April 2015

    西安

    虽然我已经在中国居住了10个月，但一直没找到合适的机会去参观一个重要景点——兵马俑。我的朋友来中国旅行，要我跟他一起去西安游览名胜古迹，这个愿望终于得以实现。

    我们决定坐便宜的慢速火车去西安。坐这种火车的体验很特别，可以让我朋友很快地适应中英文化差别。火车站挤满了背着大包小裹的游客及民工。辛亏我们是上铺 ，可以逃避人们好奇的眼光。

    Terracotta Warriors

    我们刚抵达西安就坐车来到兵马俑。我之前听说兵马俑景点常常人满为患，有可能一个展品也看不见，可事实上并不是这样：有些兵马俑遗址让我感到非常震惊——大概跟足球场差不多大。最可观的是细微之处——每个勇士脸上都有着独特的表情。

    除了兵马俑外，西安值得游览的名胜古迹已经为数不多。虽然西安是一座知名的文化古都，但许多古代文物、古代文化遗产均已失传。现在，大型工厂代替了古代建筑， 浓重污染代替了古代文化。

    虽然传统中国文化不太丰富，西安却也是中国穆斯林文化的主要聚集地。回民街上充满五彩霓红灯和售卖阿拉伯美味的小摊子。我们还品尝了夹着牛肉的中式煎饼。绝无仅有特色菜肴表现了中国文化与阿拉伯文化的完美融合。

    西安唯一保存完好的古代建筑就是古城墙了。为了领略这里的美景，我们租用了一台双人自行车，可是那天雾霾严重，看不清城墙外边。我看着美丽的古城墙与这座饱受工业污染的城市，体会到新旧文化的碰撞依然是现代中国的一个本质方面。

     

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

    Despite living in China for the last 10 months, there was one key sight I had yet to see: perhaps the most famous of them all – the Terracotta Warriors.  A friend from home’s visit gave me the perfect excuse to escape to Xi’an for a few days to show him the sights and tick off the final item on my China bucket list.

    We decided to take the cheaper overnight train on the way there. This was quite a different experience to a trip on the bullet train, and gave my visiting friend a baptism of fire in adjusting to cultural differences. We were quite the spectacle in the station full of migrant workers and tradesmen carting huge sacks of produce to and fro. Fortunately on the train itself we were at the top of the triple bunk beds so avoided the plethora of curious stares.

    We arrived in Xi’an and went straight to the Terracotta Warriors. Having heard tales of the exhibits being so crowded that it was impossible to even get a glimpse, I had prepared to be disappointed. However, the reality couldn’t have been more different. The first thing I noticed was the sheer size of the main pit – it must be around the size of a football pitch, if not larger. However, it is the detail  that is most impressive – each warrior has a unique face and expression.

    Xi’an is known almost exclusively for the Terracotta warriors for a good reason – despite once being the capital of China, there is sadly little left from its former glory days as the capital of an ancient civilisation. Instead industrialisation has become the main priority and engulfed the city in smog and factory infrastructure.

    While Chinese history and culture may be in short supply, Xi’an has become a hub for Chinese Muslims. The main street in the Muslim quarter is a bustling avenue of neon lights and fragrant Chinese-Arab delicacies. The interesting blend of cultures is personified by the cuisine – we were treated to tagine style beef served in a Chinese pancake.

    The only remaining relic of Xi’an’s rich past is the majestic city wall. We hired tandems to cycle along it, but unfortunately Xi’an showed its roots as a centre of industry and the pollution was so bad we could barely see past the edge of the wall. This did however make for an interesting contrast of old and new China, a juxtaposition I have grown to realise in an intrinsic part of China today.

     

  • Phoebe Ellis – Germany, April 2015

    Anseidlung in Jena

    Ich habe jetzt für länger als einen Monat in Deutschland sein! Zuerst fühlte ich ziemlich Heimweh und fand ich es mich schwierig zu niederlassen. Ich hatte niemand getroffen, weil die Universität nicht anfangen hatte. Aber fühle ich jetzt viel besser. Meine ersten Vorlesungen waren letzte Woche und ich habe viele neue Leute von rund der Welt getroffen! Wir besuchten auch viel Partys und andere Erasmus Verantstaltungen. Das Nachtleben in Deutschland ist sehr anders im Vergleich als England, die Partys anfang früher und beenden viel später! Es ist aber super toll!

    Wir haben auch Ostern in Berlin verbracht, das war schön. Ich habe eine Freundin, die Berlin lebt und deshalb war sie eine sehr gute Reiseleiterin. Wir besuchten Potsdam am Ostersonntag. Potsdam liegt etwa 15km weg von Berlin und es hat viele schöne Schlössen und Parks. Mein Handy hatte keine Batterie und leider könnte ich keine Fotos nehmen! 🙁

    Ostern in Deutschland ist mehr als in England gefeiert und es war nett, alle die bunten Eier zu sehen. In jeder Supermarkt gab es verschiedene Arten von bunten Eiern aber keine schokolade Eier! Ich glaube, dass dieses Jahr mein erstes Jahr ohne shokolade Eier ist!

    Ich habe auch gemerkt, dass am Sonntags in Deutschland, der Land geschlossen ist! Man kann Nirgendwo gehen oder kaufen Nichts. Deswegen verbringen wir die meisten Sonntags im Park. Das Wetter hat echt sonnig und ziemlich warm werden, also sitzen im Park mit einem kalten Bier fantastisch ist.

    Ich habe auch einige ,Tandem Partners’ getroffen. Ein Tandem Partner ist ein Person, die ich mit treffe, um Deutsch zu sprechen und deshalb mein Deutsch verbessern.

    The Berlin Cathedral

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

    Settling in Jena

    I have now been in Germany for over a month! At first I felt quite homesick and I found it difficult to settle in. I hadn’t met anyone because the university hadn’t started yet. However now I feel much better! My first lectures and classes took place last week and I have met many new people from all around the world. So far we’ve been to lots of partys and other erasmus events. The nightlife in Germany is very different to England! The night starts much later and therefore finished much later too. It’s great though!

    We spent Easter in Berlin, which was lovely. I have a friend who lives in Berlin so she was a great tour guide for us. On Easter Sunday we visited a small city called Potsdam which is located about 15km away from the center of Berlin. It’s got lots of beautiful palaces and parks. However my phone ran out of battery so I couldn’t take any photos! 🙁

    Easter is celebrated more in Germany than it is in England and it was nice to see all the colourful eggs. In every supermarket there were so many different types of coloured eggs but no chocolate ones! I believe that this is my first Easter without eating a chocolate Easter egg!

    I have also realised that on Sundays in Germany everywhere is closed. You can’t go anywhere or buy anything! Because of this we have spent the majority of Sundays in the park. The weather has been really sunny and quite warm. Its great to sit in the park with a cold beer 🙂

    I have also met a few Tandem Partners. A Tandem Partner is a person who I can meet to speak German with and therefore improve it!