Skiing in China

Chinese Word: Skiing 滑雪（Hua Xue）

Phrase: 说起来容易，做起来难

  （shuo qi lai rongyi, zuo qi lai nan）It’s easier said than done!

This Past weekend I went skiing for the first time! Four other students and I arranged to go to a ski resort about an hour away from Jinan. I always imagined that skiing wouldn’t be that hard but I realized pretty quickly that it looks easier than it actually is. I think this is a truth with everything in life! When I was attempting to ski I fell down more than 10 times!  The next day my whole body was sore, I don’t know if it was from my attempt at skiing or falling down too many times!

            There were a lot of people at the ski resort this day because there was a skiing festival. I was interviewed by the local news channel as well as the friends that came with me! So I was on the news in Jinan! I had a friend who was riding the public bus, he told me that he heard my voice but couldn’t find me. Later he realized it was me on the news! I also ran into my Chinese Language teacher and her daughter at the ski resort. Her daughter has been skiing for three years. In the pictures below you can see her daughter teaching me how to ski. I appreciate her effort but I think it will take many times for me to learn how to ski.
 Christmas is just a few days away and it was really a pleasure to be surrounded by snow.  I could feel the Christmas spirit everywhere!

LINK TO WATCH ME ON THE JINAN LOCAL NEWS:

http://v.iqilu.com/2011/12/18/3712968.shtml

MY CHINESE LANGUAGE TEACHER AND HER DAUGHTER

MISCELLANIOUS PICTURES

CULTURAL FACTS ABOUT CHINA:

On December 22^nd in China there is a holiday called 冬至(dong zhi). It is the shortest day of the year. This holiday celebrates the winter solstice. On this day everyone eats dumplings (饺子jiaozi).  On this day I went to eat dumplings with my Chinese language teacher and we were both surprised at how many people were at our usual dumpling restaurant. We had to wait almost an hour for a table, but it was worth wait!

Christmas Eve in china is called Ping An Ye (平安夜). The ping in ping an is the same sound as pingguo （苹果）. Ping guo is the Chinese word for apple. So every Christmas Eve many people will give apples to their friends and family.

DECORATED AND PACKAGED APPLES FOR CHRISTMAS EVE (平安夜)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!
圣诞快乐！新年快乐！