Blogging Around the World
Excerpts from student blogs. Marsden students can read full blogs on MyMarsden.
5/04/2010 Alex Cliffe
China Trip Day One: Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni
Hi everyone; Alex here in Beijing! We've all had such an amazing time so far and everything just gets more and more exciting. So, slightly late, here's what happened on our first day.
We arrived in Beijing after a thirteen hour flight. Slightly jet-lagged and tired, we went to our hotel- Holiday Inn Express. It's really nice with great rooms, stunning views and free internet!
Then we had our first lunch. It was all really delicious and we've all gotten the hang of chopsticks. That is,apart from me who dropped a piece of duck in my lemonade. I'm still learning!
We then visited the Temple of Heaven. It was amazingly beautiful and so intricate and detailed. There were such pretty colours, like reds, greens and blues. It also has a gold roof, which is a sign of royalty and importance (it was designed by an emporer in the Ming Dynasty).
Then we had our first bargaining experience. That's incredibly stressful for us Westerners and we may have got slightly ripped-off by our prices. The markets are full of such amazing things: jade, pearls, shoes, knock-off bags...Our day ended with a meal at a Chinese resturant with another yummy meal and some well-deserved rest.
That's all for now
Zai Jian
4/04/2010 - Kimberley Low and Kate Burgess
Day 4 in China: Great Wall
Today, we have become Real Men! (Chairman Mao said You are not a hero until you have climbed the Great Wall, and that is what we did today.)
On the way out of the city, to the Great Wall, we stopped off at a jade factory, to see how jade is carved. In ancient times, it was cut with a strap of ox leather, which obviously took a long time! None of us bought any jade though, since we spent all our money yesterday on gourmet tea...
The buses queued for ages to get us to the wall, since it was a public holiday. We climbed the easier side of a loop of the Great Wall, but it wasn't exactly easy. The steps are sometimes 5 bricks high and sometimes only 1, and by the time you've climbed several flights upwards, your legs wobble madly as you come down again.
After the Wall, we had lunch, then went to see the Ming Emperor Tombs and the Sacred Way (on which the dead emperors were carried to the tomb site). Again, there was a huge traffic jam, so a lot of us had a nap for an hour or so :) The Soul Tower of the tomb we saw was beautiful, but after the traffic jam, we didn't have time to climb it to see the tomb mound on the other side. Instead, we hurried off to see the Sacred Way, with several types of huge stone mythical creatures and camels and elephants, and also stone soldiers and officials, adorning both sides of it, and a huge stone turtle in the building at the end!
After all this, we went for a buffet dinner, where we all ate plates full of fruit and vegetables, since we haven't had fresh healthy things since we left (but still had room for ice cream!).
Now we're going to have a pj party (shui yi pai dui)
Happy Easter!
Kim and Kate
4/04/2010 Charlotte Mear
Puerto Rico
Hi everyone! I know it is the holidays but i'm going to post something anyway. At the moment i am in Puerto Rico but about 3 days ago we had a week in Havana Cuba. Cuba was fun but quite different - it was like living in a world 60 - 70 years ago. All the cars on the street were all the old really cool ones! The food in Cuba wasn't very nice and was very repetitive. Cheese and Ham sandwiches for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. While we were in Cuba we drove to Trinidad for 2 days which was really nice. Now, since we have been in Puerto Rico it has been stinking hot! We thought it was hot in Cuba but here it is really really hot!!! The beaches here are really average and we are so spoilt at home with everything! Will try and post something again soon! Happy holidays : ) Charlie!
2/04/2010 Day 2 - Maryam Hamid
Tiananmen Square + Forbidden City + Hu Tong Province + Kung Fu Show = Long/Exciting Day
Today we braved the cold morning air to journey to one of China's most renowned & special landmarks - Tiananmen Square. We all piled onto the bus bundled up in jackets & our newly purchased panda hats (now compulsory in our uniform) & listened to our guide Sammys brief on the historic location we were about to visit.
Tiananmen Square sprawls over 72hectares of land in the heart of Beijing, & is the location of China's most revered & honoured leaders mausoleum - Chairman Zedong Mao. It has the capacity to hold 1million people on it at one time! We proudly wore our panda hats across the square, & received many funny looks & exclamations of "hao wanr!" (funny!). After taking multiple photos with the entrance to the Forbidden City, we stripped of all bags, cameras & sadly our panda hats, to go pay our respects to the conserved body of Chairman Mao. It truly was an experience, being in the presence of such an influential & key leader in the history of China.
After this, we journeyed across the square again, to the Forbidden City situated across the road. This was a colossal, sprawling set of buildings made for only the emperor, royal family & high ranking officials to inhabit. This sight took longer to see, with all the photo taking & history to take in, & the fact we had to cover 960m in about 2hours. Nonetheless, it was yet another unforgettable experience, actually being in the very same palace emperors lived, the very ground soldiers walked upon. Read the rest of Maryam's blog at My Marsden
28/02/2010 Charlotte Mear
Park City, Utah / Steamboat, Colorado, America
Over the last couple of days one of my family friends, Jason dislocated and fractured his arm when going off a jump on his snowboard :( Luckily it was coming to the end of his holiday. My brother George got really sick so wasn't much fun for him either. Yesterday evening after a 7 hour drive and stopping at one of the deep fried diners "Wingers", we arrived at a new location - Steamboat, Colorado. Nice cosy apartment and very comfy beds with the main ski field right on our doorstep! Today - no skiing because brother George is quite sick and we we are all still tired.
14/02/2010 Charlotte Mear
First full day in Salt Lake City, Utah, America.
Snowing and cold here. Woke up 10.30 this morning American time, still tired from the long trip here. Family decided it was just going to be a relaxed day because the snow conditions aren't great. Did 4 hours of school work between 11 and 3 and now have just come back from a walk around the village. It takes about 15 minutes uphill to get to the main shopping part and everything is on this one street. About half way up the street there is the most amazing chocolate shop with everything you could imagine! Not a jam packed day but at least caught up on some sleep : ) Hopefully ski tomorrow. Hope everything's good back home. Love Charlie : P
26/01/2010 Lucy McLeod
My First Few Days in the Land of Lego
Hej (my first and to be honest one of few Danish words in my vocabulary). My name is Lucy and although now officially a Marsden 'old girl', I'm very happy that I have the opportunity to share my new and exciting experiences that I will have this year in Denmark with the 'Marsden Family'. I have just begun what will be a life changing year for me, a year as a Rotary Exchange student living in Denmark with a new family, attending a new school and of course learning a new language and way of life.
I have only been here for two days now and I already love it. I am surrounded with snow which is amazing but everyone thinks I am crazy for loving it so much! I am currently staying with my councillor from my hosting Rotary Club in a town called Middelfart (yes it is slightly humorous) in an apartment on the waterfront. It's truly beautiful here and my councillor and her family are so kind and make me feel so welcome.
I start language school tomorrow which I am in dire need of as Danish is said to be one of the hardest languages to learn. My Danish skills will need to improve by the time I go to school in early February as all classes are in Danish. I visited my school yesterday, it's called the Fredericia Gymnasium and it looks like a modern art gallery. The atmosphere is relaxed and it feels like a giant year 12 and 13 common room! There is no uniform and it is co-ed so it couldn't be more different to Marsden. I look forward to starting school with the four other exchange students from around the world in a week or so but of course am a bit nervous as I will be stepping into the unknown.
I am so excited what this year will bring so stay tuned to see what Denmark throws at me in the next year. Farvel!