american writer in china | Anastasia Taber

The Chinese Millennials—How a Generation Views Its Country

Thursday the 15th of December 2011 — Written by Anastasia Taber

I am writing this post before I travel during the National Holiday. For those of you who don’t know what that is, the National Holiday is an annual government-sanctioned holiday that occurs every October. Usually the holiday lasts seven days, but the dates aren’t ever clear until about a month before, and this year the government surprised everyone by giving nine days off, not seven. The number of days off supposedly corresponds with how well…

This semester has changed my life

Sunday the 4th of December 2011 — Written by Anastasia Taber

This semester has changed my life. From a young age I have read books as a way to gather knowledge about the world. Both of my parents share an ardent love of books; my dad a passionate devotee to non-fiction, my mother with her perennial stack of bedside fiction that never seems to shrink despite constant reading. Growing up, my mother filled the house with movies and TV shows, and some of my fondest memories…

Tagged: american student / american writer in china / beijing / blog / censorship / china / chinese / chopsticks / communism / conclusions / georgetown student / study abroad / study abroad blog / study abroad china / writing

Chinese Millennials Reaction to Steve Jobs’ Death

Monday the 17th of October 2011 — Written by Anastasia Taber

I wrote in my journal one day, “Today is one of those days where I say, ‘Wow, all that really happened?’” That was the day I visited Dandong, a city on the border of North Korea and China. I was travelling with my Chinese roommate and her friends during the National Holiday period—basically a weeklong holiday that occurs every October and is meant to encourage Chinese people to travel and pump some spending money into…

Tagged: american student / american writer in china / blog / chinese reaction / dandong / georgetown student / living in china / national holiday / north korea / personal freedom / shenyang / steve jobs / steve jobs death / study abroad / study abroad china

This is China

Monday the 3rd of October 2011 — Written by Anastasia Taber

A man walks up to you and your friends, says “Hello,” looks away from you, but still stands right next to you. You quickly look around for his friend’s camera taking an opportunistic shot, but you can’t find it. The guy is standing next to you just for the hell of it. “This is weird,” your friend says. “No,” you reply. “This is China.” So many moments occur on a daily basis here that are…

Tagged: american student / american writer in china / blog / chinese food / culture shock / georgetown student / hutongs / living in china / peanut butter / study abroad / study abroad china / underground market

Nanhu Peasant Market

Tuesday the 20th of September 2011 — Written by Anastasia Taber

The following is a reflection I wrote for my film class, Moving China. Our assignment this week was to visit the Nanhu Peasant Market in Beijing and film and edit a video (which I’m in the middle of right now). For those of you who wish to see my films, I’m sorry to inform you that I cannot post them until I return in December, but no doubt I will keep you posted on the…

Tagged: american writer in china / beijing / blog / china / film class / georgetown student / nanhu peasant market / student blogger / study abroad / study abroad blog / study abroad china

It’s gonna be an interesting semester…

Sunday the 18th of September 2011 — Written by Anastasia Taber

I know that it’s been about two weeks since my last update, which is a virtual no-no in the blogosphere. Since the Silk Road trip, I have been struggling to find that nice balance between classes, sleep, and actually going out there and getting to experience Beijing (for some reason, sleep always gets the shaft). When I say struggling to find a balance…I’m not kidding. In the past two weeks I have: gone to Tiananmen…

Tagged: american writer in china / beijing / blog / china / forbidden city / georgetown student / nanhu peasant market / silk road american student / study abroad / study abroad blog / study abroad china / tiananmen square

Night Ten: Clubbing in Xi’an

Sunday the 11th of September 2011 — Written by Anastasia Taber

My friends and I met up, going to dinner and settling on McDonalds (Xi’an is very westernized). Since the beginning of the trip, my digestive system has had trouble keeping up with the Chinese food. It’s kind of amazing, that in America, McDonalds upsets my stomach, whereas in China I was using it to settle my stomach. Apparently McDonalds can run out of fries, or at least in China, because we were served curly fries…

Tagged: american writer in china / blog / china / chinese clubs / chinese nightlife / georgetown student / silk road american student / study abroad / study abroad blog / study abroad china / western food / western food in china / xi'an

Day Ten: I want a shower

Sunday the 11th of September 2011 — Written by Anastasia Taber

We arrived in Xi’an around 7:30am. My last shower had been the previous previous night in Xia’he, about five cities ago. I brushed my teeth, wet-wiped my arms, and changed my shirt, but that was still not enough to rid myself of the gross feeling that comes after a Chinese night train. Xi’an was the train’s last stop, so we waited 10 minutes or so after stopping to disembark. We dragged our stuff across the…

Tagged: american writer in china / barter / blog / china / georgetown student / lazy susan / silk road american student / study abroad / study abroad blog / study abroad china / terracotta army / xi'an

Day Nine Part Four: The Long Road

Wednesday the 7th of September 2011 — Written by Anastasia Taber

We finally arrived in Lanzhou around 5 or 6pm. A number of my friends decided that they didn’t really like Lanzhou. Perhaps it was the layout of the city, but I think it was mostly because of the people. The staring there was the worst, and after one day my black friend couldn’t stand it anymore. At least in other cities, a nice portion of the people don’t bother to stare at you (at least…

Tagged: american student / american writer in china / blog / china / chinese train / fried rice / georgetown student / hard sleepers / lanzhou / silk road / squat toilet / study abroad / study abroad blog / study abroad china / taiwanese food / trains in china

Day Nine Part Three: There is no right of way

Tuesday the 6th of September 2011 — Written by Anastasia Taber

(There are four blog posts to Day Nine…stay pumped) After my presentation, we clambered onto the bus and rolled out from Xia’he to Lanzhou. Of course we made a few pit stops on the way. We stopped for lunch at Linxia’s Languan Square. TBC likes to plop us in random towns and tell us “Okay, now go find food.” It makes for a interesting and real experience, no doubt. My friends and I went walking around and found…

Tagged: american student / american writer in china / beef noodles / blog / chinese muslims / culture shock / georgetown student / silk road / study abroad / study abroad china / women's rights / xichuan mosque

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