Sunday, November 28, 2010

Hogwarts?! I thought we were going to China!!


It all started when we put our luggage on the luggage carts (see first blog for picture) and were walking around... wide eyed and completely lost. I felt like 11 year old Harry looking for platform 9 3/4 at King’s Cross! That was when we realized there would be a lot of Harry Potter references this trip! Here’s a list of why China has reminded me of Harry Potter:
-We are living at a boarding school! And there are a lot of stairs and secret passageways. Admittedly it would be way cooler if Daguanghua was a castle (although it kind of is compared to the rest of the city) and the staircases moved unexpectedly!
-I feel like Harry... everyone stares, points, and whispers at us wherever we go! We’re celebrities for something we have no control over!
-Muggle money is useless here!
-For some reason we always speak in British accents! It doesn’t really make sense- we’re American... in China. Go figure!
-Everything is new and intriguing. Going from America to China is like going from the Muggle world to the Wizarding world!
-I see Cho Chang everywhere...
-There are a lot of cats around where we live. The orange one... that’s Crookshanks!
-There is a cupboard under the stairs!


Rumors that a small boy with untidy black hair and a lightening bolt scar is living there have neither been confirmed or denied!
-We have ridden multiple night busses... and just like THE Knight Bus, the busses here in China drive CRAZY and squeeze through impossibly small spaces!
-Half of the candies we’ve tried seem like they could be ear wax flavored Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans.........
-I have a class full of Harry Potter names! :) My Arthur always wears a Harry Potter shirt!
He knows what’s up!!

-The lights in our hallway are sound sensors. How do we turn them on? Shouting “LUMOS”, of course!
-We have a common room!
-Somehow at the beginning of the trip Cierra and I were dubbed with the nickname “The Wizards”. I have no idea how we got it, but it has stuck! So being called and responding to “wizard” everyday has got to be affecting me!
Those are just some of the ways we feel like wizards! My group always makes Harry Potter references. If you know me, you know I love that! :) Haha! This past week we’ve been doing a Harry Potter marathon in honor of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 coming out. All of us were bummed to be missing the premier back home! I forget what a nerd I am until I am with a new group of people and they don’t know how much I know about Harry Potter. Ya, I shocked this group. 
 Due to a lucky coincidence we found a theater that shows english movies!!!! What a relief! There was no way I was going to be able to wait until I got home to see it! On Monday the group trekked downtown to see the movie! It was so much fun!! :) We wanted to dress up or something (too bad I left my radish earrings at home!), but we have very limited resources here in China! Kayla and I started the trend of drawing scars on our foreheads... even the Asians sitting in front of us joined in! Yes, I got made fun of once the movie started because I was so ridiculously excited. So sue me! I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I laughed, cried, and screamed out loud. Ha! And I left more than satisfied. In my opinion this is the best movie by far!!!! :) I didn’t even notice the Chinese subtitles at the bottom!

Jenni and Kayla. Ready for Harry Potter!!! :) And standing in front of the Chinese sign! I was so glad Kayla was there! She was stand in for Madi... Madi and I usually end up holding onto each other the whole movie. Haha! Truth be told I probably would have died this trip without Kayla! She’s become one of my best friends!!! :)
Heather and me anxiously awaiting the movie!

My new friends! :) 



Long Live Harry Potter!

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