Talk About Inspirational

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger | Stand a little taller

What doesn't kill you makes a fighter



It's sometimes easy for us to live in a world that centers on ourselves and our problems. Don't get me wrong, I am totally guilty of this on many, many occasions. We're naturally inclined to let our problems affect every aspect of our lives, especially our perspective. We start to think it's the end of the world, wallow in self-pity, work towards a solution, etc.

But, have you ever stopped and taken a step back? Sometimes, our problems aren't even that big of a deal. Why do we blow the issue out of proportion? I came across a video yesterday. It's Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger" featuring a few children from Seattle's Children Hospital. I watched it a few times and each time, it brought both tears and a smile to my face. These children are battling a problem SO MUCH bigger than any problem than I am and yet, they remain positive. They continue to hold onto hope. We need to do that sometimes. Find HOPE.

Watch this video. Be inspired!

Sometimes, we have got to stop and realize that we're not the only one in the world with problems. There are some battling much more, much serious. But no matter what, stay positive. Find the hope, the joy in every situation.

Pretty Little Liars and Some Grey's

Anyone else a fan of the show Pretty Little Liars? My friend E got me watching right before I left for Beijing and am now hooked! E has been harrassing me to watch this show for the longest time but I never understood the hype over it, but now I can kind of get it! Since getting to Fuzhou a week ago, I've had quite a bit of free time on my hands so I blazed through Season 2. Not completely sure what to do with myself now. Good thing Season 3 is premiering a few days after I get back to the States. I want to know who else is on Team A!! Could Spencer's sister Melissa really be on Team A? Are Aria and Ezra going to stay together? How will Hannah cope with the fact that Mona, her supposed BFF, tried to kill her? Will Emily and the rest of the girls figure out how Maya died? Too many questions!

Since we're on the topic of television, DID ANYONE WATCH THE SEASON FINALE OF GREY'S ANATOMY!? I'm such a loyal fan of Grey's. No lie. Ever since last week's pre-season finale episode, I've been bracing myself for this finale. There aren't really words to acurately describe how I felt while watching the finale. I had to stop in the middle of it because I couldn't handle the screams from the pain. Discomfort for sure. And then they just had to kill Lexie. Seriously?? Anyone but Lexie! I started bawling at that point. Pretty sure that was the first time we've ever seen Mark Sloane that real. I can't wait till September for the season premiere! All the original characters renewed their contracts so they can't be separating. RIGHT??? Is anyone else going to die from the plane crash??

Any other good tv shows out there?

Summer Reads on My Kindle Fire

One of my favorite things ever is snuggling up and spending time buried in a book. Call me a bookworm if you'd like. While abroad, I haven't been able to read very much...and have resorted to online magazines. It was tough trying to shove books into my luggage when packing for the semester. I was able to fit 2 books: The Help and an Ann Brashares' novel. Sadly though, I blew through both within a month into my semester in Beijing.

My awesome father though surprised me and told me that he bought me a Kindle Fire! Y'all, I'm SO excited to get home and start using that e-reader. Don't get me wrong, I will still be purchasing hard copies of books! I've always been so adamantly opposed to e-readers because I absolutely love the feeling of holding onto a book and flipping through the pages. However, after spending an entire semester away from books, I've come to the conclusion that e-readers are VERY practical and am now in support.

Not only am I on the hunt for the PERFECT Kindle cover (preferably teal, chevron, monogrammed?) but I have started thinking about summer reads! My list of summer reads is growing by the day. Some will be purchased on the Kindle, some will be hard copies. Here are a few:

Love Does by Bob Goff

I've been so excited for this book since its release and haven't heard a single negative comment about it!



The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

Yeah, I'm getting on this bandwagon. Gotta check out what all the hype is about.



How Remarkable Women Lead

I love me some self-help books!

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

A summer isn't complete without a Nicholas Sparks' novel!

Baby Proof by Emily Griffin

HUGE fan of Emily Griffin and her writing.

What are some "Must-Reads" on your summer list?



No Regrets, No Missed Opportunities

Currently, I'm enjoying my last couple of weeks in China at my grandparents in Fuzhou. It's weird being away from Beijing, being away from the two week study trip. I realized this morning that I am officially a senior in college. It hit me and I had a minor panic attack but am now letting this scary thought fully sink into my brain. Where has time gone? When did this all happen?

Being away from Beijing and the entire study abroad experience for a few days now, I've been processing a little bit--thinking about all that I've learned and seen. I smile the most thinking about all the conversations that I had with my friend Madison. We met way back on the first day in January when we both arrived at Peking University and instantly clicked. Throughout the semester we got to know one another more and more but I think we truly grew close during the two week study trip.

This girl and I had many, many heart-to-hearts about almost everything: school, internships, faith, futures, family, boys, life, and anything in between. We had this saying: No Regrets, No Missed Opportunities. I'd like to think that I have lived the past 20 years of my life without any regrets. I truly believe that I haven't and I pray that I continue to live without having any regrets. When I'm old and probably sitting next to Madison again, I want to be able to look her and anybody else and tell them that I've lived my life to the fullest. NO REGRETS.

It's hard though sometimes to make that one tough decision, knowing that you'll have to live with it for the rest of your life. But honestly, don't rush the decision. Give yourself time to sit quietly and think through options. As cheesy as it may sound, follow what your gut tells you. It's true when they say that your gut doesn't lie. Lastly, don't let others make a decision for you because when you let that happen, that's when the regrets start creeping in. Do things for YOU, not for anybody else.

After hugging Madison goodbye in Guangzhou, through tears we choked out: No Regrets, No Missed Opportunities. At the airport, I was surfing through Twitter and came across the most perfect Jane Fonda quote:

It's never too late - never too late to start over, never too late to be happy

Truth be told, a few months ago I was feeling stuck. Not completely sure what I was doing with my life and where I was headed. Remember that mid mid-life crisis? It hit me though. I'm 20 years old. My life is just beginning. I shouldn't feel stuck. This is the time in my life where I am the most free! No obligations. I can do whatever I want. Chase after those opportunities! Chase after those dreams! Like Jane Fonda says, it's NEVER too late! Make those changes. Create that new beginning for yourself. 

Grabbing Onto Life in Guangzhou

Guangzhou was by far my favorite city out of the entire trip. It may not have necessarily been the city that I loved the most but the group I was with definitely grew a lot closer by the time we reached our last city.

Before arriving to Guangzhou, we took an early morning bus to the city of Dongguan for a couple of site visits. I'm pretty convinced that we saw EVERY library in the city of Dongguan. By the time we reached Guangzhou, I was in desperate need of a shower and food. After dinner, a few of us decided that the night was still young so we spent HOURS in a Papa John's laughing away. The employees were probably so entertained by the four of us.

I was so bummed that my time in Guangzhou was going to be so short. I honestly only had two full days in this city and wanted to take full advantage of the two days. Guangzhou is a diverse yet so chaotic of a city. But, I loved it!

Day 2 kicked off with an early morning site visit to China's second largest asset management firm. We had a sit down Q&A session with the managing director and managing HR director of the company and learned so much about investing in China. It was definitely a wonderful opportunity and another great site visit!

Following the site visit, we changed and adventured out to find some Nigerian food! Authentic Nigerian food is the bomb dot com! So glad we were able to better understand the Nigerian culture and we made a few friends along the way.

With a full stomach, we headed to a park to check out a few museums. For some reason the blue line group just really enjoys amusement parks because after the museums, we stumbled upon yet another amusement park. We spent an hour at the bumper cars and we drew a crowd around the pen. We were quite the attraction! Bumped out, we headed to dim sum for dinner and then the Canton Tower. Y'all, there are no words to describe the beauty of the Canton Tower! This 484m high tower is lighted up at night and has a gorgeous view of the Pearl River Delta. I fell in love! One of the attractions at the Canton Tower is the SkyDrop. Pretty much your standing up, strapped up, and you drop along the outside of the Canton Tower at a slant. Alex, Matt, Madison, and I thought, "Why not? You only live once!" So we dropped 30m (about 100ft) and we yelled like BABIES. It's such a peaceful ride up, overlooking the entire city and ALL OF A SUDDEN, THEY DROP YOU. The operators thought we were adorable so they gave us one extra ride. Honestly, there are no words to describe that feeling! It's terrifying...yet liberating. Makes you really appreciate life as your life flashes before your eyes. Once we were able to feel the ground again, we just laid on the ground for half an hour in silence staring at the Tower.

The Canton Tower! The structure changes colors every few seconds. What a sight to see!

City of Guangzhou and the Pearl River Delta

Sat in on a dress rehearsal at the Sun-Yat-Sen Memorial



My last day in Guangzhou was quite interesting. We were all having a ton of fun and all of a sudden we had a little run in with the police. Nothing too major but I'm glad that we were all able to get out of that situation together! My last night on this trip was great! We all pulled all nighters (as I had an early flight back to Beijing) with some drinks, heart-to-hearts, and card games. I've grown close with the four other people on the trip and I couldn't have asked for a better group to travel with! Thank you so much Blue Line!

Shenzhen the Land of Leisure

We were all VERY glad to wake up early and grab an early flight out of Wenzhou to Shenzhen. But, of course a visit to a city would never be complete without a bit of drama. My question is: WHY must cab drivers feel the need to take advantage of foreigners? Honestly, I don't want to deal with your nonsense at 7 in the morning. Never in my life have I met someone as dishonest nor manipulative as this cab driver. And never in my life have I ever raised my voice like that at someone NOR do I ever want to again. After getting out of that cab ride, I just felt AWFUL for having to yell at someone. NEVER AGAIN.

I was so happy to land in Shenzhen and put behind the morning drama that had taken place. Shenzhen was going to be a happy city! I mean, HELLOOOOO it's the richest city in China! Shenzhen is filled with malls and amusement parks. That's pretty much the entire city. No, I'm being completely serious here! People in Shenzhen have the money to spend! ...as did we. After realizing that we had not been spending much of the money we had been given, the five of us treated ourselves to an amazing, 5-star dinner. I about melted in my seat from all the delicious food we ordered. Steak, salmon, sushi, curry, chicken, pasta... Well deserved treat, I say!

Window of the World Amusement Park

 

The rest of our time in Shenzhen consisted of: site visit with Lexmark, melting in the sun, haggling at the biggest electronics market, trying to see the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, drinking these REFRESHING mango drinks, and also causing a scene at said mango drink store.

I visited both of China's only stock exchanges--one in Shenzhen, one in Shanghai



Most refreshing drinks ever!

Had a wax apple for the first time. Absolutely delish!

It's always an adventure on the Blue Line!

Why Are We in Wenzhou?

"Why are we in Wenzhou?" This question ran through all of our minds...multiple times during our two day stay.

When I thought Hangzhou had very few foreigners, I should've waited for Wenzhou. I'm pretty sure that my friends and I were one of the only few foreigners in Wenzhou besides the Turkish ice cream guy we met. We got some weird stares, people chattered, people pointed.

We got into Wenzhou our first day pretty late so the only thing we had time to do was find some dinner. Thing is, our hotel wasn't really in a "commercial" part of town so we settled on a hole-in-the-wall restaurant on the side of the street. The group decided to pick a restaurant that served Fuzhou-cuisine. If you all know anything about me, you know that this was done intentionally because my family is from Fuzhou. The group wanted to try some authentic Fuzhou food.

After a few confused looks from the owner of the restaurant, we finally got some home-cooked food and chowed down. Over a table full of food and beverages, we all sat around enjoying food and sharing stories with one another. My favorite kind of night!

Funny thing about Wenzhou? There isn't even a full page of things to do in this city in our travel book. Since we didn't have a site visit in this city, we thought: "Why not hit up the amusement park?" The second I got off that ferry and stepped onto that island/amusement park, I started laughing. We all felt as though we were in the Twilight Zone. SERIOUSLY. No one was there and it was completely silent except for the creepy music playing. There really are no words to describe this place.

Sad how this one photo sums up Wenzhou and our time in this city

Top: View of Wenzhou before boarding the ferry to the island

Bottom Left: Tower on the island

Bottom Middle: We decided to have some fun on a kid's playground. Two grown men on a swingset?

Bottom Right: We were highly entertained by the Turkish ice cream man.

Wenzhou was extremely odd and to be honest, I don't even know how exactly to describe this city.

Beautiful City of Hangzhou

My two-week study trip is officially over (a few days ago)! Due to limited Internet access, I wasn't able to update you all on my adventures after Shanghai. Not to worry, I will catch you all up.

City number two on the itinerary was Hangzhou. The city is known to be clean and pedestrian friendly. Yup, Hangzhou lived up to its name. After a short bus ride, we arrived to Hangzhou, dropped off our luggage, and hit up a food street right by the hotel. It was the perfect way to get a tiny taste of the city (no pun intended)!

Food streets are my favorite!

Day 2 kicked off with a little bit of site seeing. We spent the morning soaking up the sun at West Lake and visiting the different exhibits along the lake. It was absolutely gorgeous, clean, and relaxing. I could've spent the entire day there! After spending a couple of hours at West Lake, we hit up the National Silk Museum and learned a little about the history of silk. Favorite part of the museum? Seeing the live silkworms. Pretty cool!

Man and his raft on the West Lake



How beautiful is the view of West Lake??

My friend Madison (on the right) decided to join in and practice tai chi {while I tried my best to contain my laughter}

 

Mid-afternoon on day 2, we headed to the outskirts of Hangzhou and visited our second company: one of China's top real estate development companies. This was definitely one of my favorite sites. We got the VIP treatment and toured the development on a golfcart. The development was nothing like what I have seen in China before. It was very similar to a development in the United States. It was a tiny town built by this company that consisted of schools, retail stores, grocery stores, as well as condominums. The buildings are Western influenced and were BEAUTIFUL. I will admit, I would move to this development if I had a job opportunity in Hangzhou!

Aren't I right? Aren't these condos BEAUTIFUL!?

After an exhausting second day in Hangzhou we all decided to head back to West Lake and grab dinner. The view at dinner was beautiful! We couldn't get enough of West Lake so we went back to the hotel to clean up and a few of us got right back in a cab to spend the night out by the lake.

To me, Hangzhou is a REAL Chinese city. There aren't that many foreigners and the majority of the city's population consist of the elderly and the young children. It's definitely a problem that China is currently facing.

I had an amazing time in Hangzhou but what I remember the most about that city will be bonding with the other students on the line. It was definitely the turnaround point for the group!