second term let's goooo

part one: homecoming

here's a quick recap of my time back home in pictures!

part two: belated lantern fest

we got back right at the tail end of chinese new year also known as lantern festival. despite having class in a day and recovering from jet lag, i was convinced to go out to ximen where there were a bunch of lanterns and festive things laid put along the main drag. and shoutout to our friend because without his heads up, we would've missed it. i'm really glad i went! i made a wish at the blessing lantern forest. we also spotted a moodeng!!!

part three: movies galore & a special bday

during sylli week we went to see Mulholland Dr. which i think was accurately described as "a fever dream". and before i knew it, there was a birthday to celebrate!! we celebrated with friends the weekend before and it was straight vibes – went a little wild at a grill place and then off to our favorite riverside music spot. on the actual day, per instructions we got pizza and went to Nosferatu (which i did not really vibe with). i mean it was a silly movie but i'm just bad at anything remotely "horror". now there are a bunch of movies to see: Micky 17 actually in the books already. but also need to see The Brutalist and A Real Pain.

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ofc getting back into school is a process but i love all my classes this term! i already even found a prof that has agreed to supervise my thesis. and this term i have one class a day which is really good. not only can i be productive the other half of the days but also i don't fall asleep in class 😅. i'm taking "international images and global communication", "statistics for communications", "minorities in media" and "language, culture and digital media". the last one is not from my department, but actually the department of ethnology. slightly surprisingly, in the first couple of weeks, all but the stats have mentioned information from one of the others. like we'd read or reference the same researchers or concepts.

part four: pingxi & shifen

here's a hot family trip that was out of the city. i went with a friend's host family to pingxi (for the lanterns) and shifen (for the waterfall). it's much easier to access by car. i'll take a 45 drive over a 2.5 hour bus ride any day. it's finally starting to get hot here and it was the perfect day to be out. we did the fire lanterns and had 花生捲冰淇淋 which is peanut flakes and cilantro all rolled up in a sort of mochi-like wrapper.

we got to write on all sides of the lantern. the one in the photo is 加油 (let's go/you got this), 蛇我其誰 (if not a snake/me then who) that is a saying to reflect confidence and readiness to take responsibility or the lead) and my english signature.

recent movie reviews (pls don't come for me)

Nosferatu 3/5

Mickey 17 4/5

a Real Pain 3.5/5

Conclave 3/5

the Brutalist 4/5

sorry for not updating this very often. life is generally very mundane and repetitive so it doesn't feel "blog worthy". if you're ever curious what's happening, hit me up!

♡蘇晨