Visiting a Buddhist Temple in Qingdao

Today we went to a Buddhist Temple near our school. There were a lot of monks and other visitors there, and one monk gave us a tour of the different halls for praying.
I asked the monk if people pray just out of respect or if they actually pray for certain things, and he gave me a very Chinese answer. He said that they don't actually believe that Buddha or the statues will do anything, they just thank him for his teachings and pray that they can receive his teachings. But then he said they also ask him for wisdom in decisions like finding work, or buying a house.
There's also plates of apples in front of the Buddhas and if you're having troubles or if someone is sick, you can take an apple for them to eat as a kind of blessing.
There were a lot of people cow-towing (if that's what its called), they would bow and turn their hands palm-up to receive his teachings.
It was very beautiful there, everything was so intricately done.

After a while, they also let us eat with them in a cafeteria room. They put out bowls for everyone, and then the monks chanted for a while. I took a video but I can't seem to upload videos on here. It was pretty cool. Then we ate. You have to eat everything you're given, cause they don't believe in wasting food. And they also don't eat meat. The food they gave us was really good though. We had white rice, cucumber, a type of thin green vegetable/herb, and eggplant. It was pretty good.
Then we left.
Today was the first day of sun in a week, everyday this week it rained non-stop, so it was a really nice day for visiting the temple.
I tried to take close-up pictures of the temple's details, it was really beautiful.

The Beijing Opera~

Today we went to see the Beijing Opera. It took place in a small theater room, and we were the only guests. I took lots of videos but they probably can't be uploaded on here properly.

After the performances, they did our make-up. Don't I look awesome?!

I tried to call Nick so he could see before I take it off but its too early there :( I guess he can see the pictures- I don't look too good on the webcam anyway.

Then we went to a cafeteria at the school where they had prepared dumpling stuffing and dough, and they taught us how to prepare the dough into the round shells, and then we stuffed them.

That's about it. Today was pretty fun- I wish I could upload those videos!

Thursday 17-July- 2008

Oh, and a few days ago, I went to MYKAL with some classmates, and we went to a children's play station and made the little thing in the picture, it will stick to mirrors and windows I think, so i'm going to put it up when I get home~ Cute cute cute!

Yesterday I went to get a facial. I paid $11 for a 2 hour facial and massage! It was awesome! Although somewhat embarrassing cause they were shocked by how bad my skin is :(
What can I do?~
My classmate told me that I shouldn't use any microbead things, and I do think they've been hurting my skin, so I went and bought some Olay. I wanna go see a dermatologist when I get home, I'm 21! My skin needs to chill!!

This afternoon my tutor helped me book a $152 ticket from Qingdao to Seoul, I'll arrive in Seoul at 9:45 pm on August 8, about the same time as Nick! So that's awesome, I just have to remember to go pay for the ticket tomorrow, they need cash. Oh, developing countries....

I think the massage and facial made me feel sooo much better, I've been in such a good mood since. Its only $11 the first time, and then its $50 the second time, so I'm going to ask around and find a different cheap place to get a massage. In the US I think its at least $60 for half an hour, so really $50 wouldn't be bad, but I'm running out of money!

Anyway, if anyone who reads this wants anything specific from China please tell me soon! I only have three weeks and I have a lot of work to do so I won't have that many chances to shop. I should be shopping this weekend~ I think I'll get some people some skin food products from Korea, skin care and makeup is cheap and good there, so if thats what you want tell me soon!
China is better for little things to put around on shelves, so if thats what you want you need to say something.

Tuesday

Today after class, I went with a few other students to the korean restaurant that I like, and found out there are actually 3 (THREE!) different types of galbi. Galbi, for those of you who don't know, is marinated beef/AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS!
I also found out that this restaurant has amazing mixed rice. I'm so happy. It's the only good thing about China: the Korean food. There's also the Italian pizza and gelato at Da Milano. Yep, best thing.
And coffee places are really nice, too.
Today I used DimSum to finish most of my homework in about an hour and a half. It used to take about six hours or more. I also told my teacher that our director that we weren't learning anything, so hopefully they'll slow down the class to make it more useful. I know I didn't pay any money to come here (some kids paid $10,000 to come here for the summer!!!), but I still don't think my summer should be wasted looking up words in dictionaries and not having time to learn them. Now that I have Dimsum I can study a little bit more, so that should help.
Yesterday at a coffee place, I picked up a magazine cause I was bored, and I could get the gist of a few of the articles. It was really cool, I felt superfly~.
Ok, well, back to studying.......merr.

Night Market - Taidong

Today I went to the night market again, but I didn't buy anything, everything seemed pretty junky. There were so many people, so I took a few pictures. The first is of the crowded (and incredibly SMELLY) bus we were on. Chinese people need to learn: De-O-Der-Ant!!! Why is that so much to ask!!??

you know, China really does have too many people.......

I ate McDonald's, and I do so despise McDonald's, but i didn't want to get lost looking for somewhere better to eat.

Anyway, cool pics. Always bargain.
Peace.