Study Abroad with UNA
Destinations
A Warm Cup of China
I love coffee shops. I just love them. Whenever I travel, I always make sure to visit as many coffee shops as possible. It’s just my thing. So you can imagine my joy when I discovered that there was a coffee shop on the campus we are staying at. Walan Coffee Shop has Western food and music and some amazing coffee. I came for many meals, coffee breaks, late night chats, and just to hang out and find peace in the midst of a busy trip. Although it was fairly dirty and the service was terrible, we all … // Read more
People’s Park
People’s Park is a very famous park in China, but I have learned that people in China say that everything in China is famous. I have figured out that famous might just mean popular. Anyway, the park is incredible. Gorgeous scenery and very peaceful. The first time I went, there were not many people there– only a few people doing some Tai Chi and calligraphy and some men offering boat rides. However, my next visit included hundreds of people dancing, singing opera, playing instruments, doing Tai Chi and doing calligraphy on the streets. Two little old … // Read more
Closing Time-Chelsea Hughes
Well today was our last night in China. Leaving tomorrow will be very bittersweet, because I am so ready to see AMERICA and my family, friends, food, and sweet puppy, but I have enjoyed soaking in the culture and learning so many new things! The past two days might have been my favorites, aside from our performance night, because of the places we visited. Yesterday, we visited one of the Seven Wonders of the World, The Great Wall. I was so excited to climb it. I was amazed by the beautiful landscape that surrounded the wall that stretches for over … // Read more
Started From the Bottom Now We’re Here
Two words: Mt. Tai. I have never seen something so astonishing in my entire life. Climbing Mt. Tai was hands down the most phenomenal experience of my twenty years on Earth. That is not an exaggeration. It was such a challenge and such a struggle to climb up 6,500 steps, but when I finished, I felt like I could conquer the world. We all encouraged each other and pushed ourselves. We even made some Chinese friends along the way! We kept asking how much further and someone finally answered us in English! She told us we … // Read more
True Cultural Experience
Call a cab in New York and call a cab in China and let me know what you think. It is quite a feat to get a cab in the middle of Tian Jin–far more difficult than getting a cab in New York City. With some help from a girl from Florida State University, we finally got a few cabs for our first night out on the town. Only four people can ride in a cab so we all had to split up. It is hard to even explain the traffic in Tian Jin. There are basically no road … // Read more
A China Tale- Chelsea Hughes
Today was our last night in Tianjin! They served us a beautiful farewell dinner, where the employee’s from TJFSU expressed their overwhelming gratitude for us visiting their university. The past couple of days have been very hectic though. Most classes were winding down and all the students were trying to do some last minute sight seeing as well. Yesterday, was also our performance of Shakespeare’s “A Winter’s Tale.” We have been rehearsing daily for this amazing opportunity to perform in CHINA! The show started at 7:00pm and we already had students in the auditorium by 5:45pm. They were so excited … // Read more
Machu Picchu
Today we went to Machu Picchu, an old Inca civilization that is about 7,000 feet up in the Andes mountains. It is one of the 7 wonders of the world and after only 5 minutes of walking around you easily see why. The stones used to build the city are made from white granite and so perfectly cut to fit. The architecture was incredible and hard to imagine how they did it. After exploring all of the city we hiked up about a mile to the top of a mountain that overlooks all of Machu Picchu. It was the most … // Read more
Welcome Home!- Chelsea Hughes
This weekend I experienced Tianjin on a totally new level….I was fostered by a Chinese family! On Saturday, all of the UNA students went home to spend the night with a host family. At first, I was a little nervous to be staying with people I did not even know, but I soon gave into the idea that this would be a great story to share with my grand-kids one day. I had two girls, Mindy and Fiona, pick me up at the school. Then, by subway, met Hailey at Culture Street. After I spent the day learning the history … // Read more
Toe Up About Confucius
Confucius is one of the most well-known philosophers in history, and we got the privilege of touring different areas related to his life. It was incredibly interesting to see the history all around me. The architecture is absolutely gorgeous. Aside from the gorgeous scenery and fascinating history around me, all I could think about was the toe I stubbed the day before. My poor little pinky toe was in so much pain. (I’m a baby, I know). It started pouring down rain, and I had forgotten my rain jacket. After getting soaked, I remembered that I … // Read more
Let’s go to the Opera!- Chelsea Hughes
The past couple of days have been so fun! On Thursday night, we went on a boat right of the Haihe River. The view of Tianjin along the river was beautiful! Yesterday, we had some ladies who performed in the Beijing Opera come and speak to us. They performed famous pieces from the Opera, which included singing and dancing. They had trained since they were 12 years old to become performers in the opera. When their dreams finally came true, they were four women selected out of 2,000 others. Before the class was over, they taught some of us their … // Read more
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