Mah Jong

You HAVE to play Maj Jong if you're in China. The experience just isn't complete without it.

Consequently, I found myself explaining the game to my Stanford friends. Those who have played the game know that you need to collect tiles in sets of three, and that if you have two of the same tile and someone else discards that tile, you can "Pong!" and take it. There is another rule where, if you already have three of the same tile and someone discards the fourth, you can "Gang!" and take it, although this impressive move is pretty rare.

But when I taught the "Gang!" move, my friends said, "Oh! So it's like...a MEGA PONG!" Indeed it was. In the games we played thereafter, we refer to eating that fourth tile as a "MEGA PONG!"

Mah Jong just became infinitely more fun. :D

Italy Mead...or Cheetos?

I attribute my lack of postings to the Chinese firewall, but I finally caved in and bought a vpn. :/ But let the fun stories commence!


During my flight to Beijing, the flight attendant stopped to ask what I wanted to eat. She asked "Italy mead...or Cheetos?" I looked up at her, shocked. United Airlines serves mead and cheetos for dinner? Best airline ever? I think so. But just to be sure, I asked, "Umm, can you please repeat the options?" She looked at me, hugely relieved, and repeated, "Would you like pasta or chicken?"

Turns out she was trying to say "義大利麵 or 雞肉?"

And so it begins...

I've never been much of a blogger, and I highly doubt that I'll post anything but pictures here, but I've created this blog so I can share my travels and adventures in Beijing this quarter...also, so that I can practice my Chinese. :P

我很期待这次能去北京留学。我从小到大都住在加州。虽然常常跟家人去各地旅游或回台湾探亲，我从来没有尝试在另一个地方生活。这学期，我想多多了解中国文化，练习中文（希望我回美国不会有北京腔！），还有在北大认识很多朋友！

这短短两句花了我10分钟才打出来的。天啊！