My Semester Abroad

Local college students — from the Puget Sound area or studying at a Puget Sound university — are traveling the world as part of their studies; several are sending dispatches about discovering their corner of the globe. They welcome your comments and questions.

Editor's note: Thanks to all the students who shared their experiences on traveling and learning. "Semester Abroad" is being discontinued.

All blogs and discussions:

June 20, 2006

A treat from the Beijing backyard

Posted by Alyssa Thornley at 02:39 PM

We arrived today at the Beijing Internatonal Airport at about 4 p.m. local time (1 a.m. Seattle time) but we weren't really interested in resting. After six months of planning, it was too exciting to just arrive and go straight to sleep!

Driving toward our host university was so amazing! It was strange how so many brand-new high rises and large office buildings were existing in the same space as older neighborhoods that are crumbling into dust and sand--right across the street from one another.

The professor hosting us at the university introduced us to our student host, WeiWei, and arranged a large meal at the hotel restaurant. I wouldn't be exaggerating to say it felt like eating like royalty; each dish was more delicious than the one before. The most interesting thing we ate, though, wasn't even that exotic: it grows in the backyard of my house in Bellingham--we ate fern! They lightly boiled it, put a type of vineger (I think) on it, and served it chilled. It was AMAZING. We made a rule to try new things every day, and not eat the same dish more than twice this week, though we made an exception for the fern.

Jennifer Henrichsen
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