I turned 21 last Sunday. It was pretty anticlimactic.

I don’t usually get very excited about nature. I can appreciate a nice view, I can smell the pretty flowers, but sooner or later I lose interest and want to go back inside to cocoa and blankets.

Imagine my surprise when a day of looking at rocks and saltwater turned out to be the most spectacular experience of my trip so far.

It’s been an incredibly emotional week, but nonetheless, these last few days have also been filled with so much growth, laughter, and joy. For the past month, I have been participating in the IES Rome JTerm and taking a class entitled From Pontius Pilate to Theodosius: The Advent of Christianity. As part of this course we have spent as much time in the classroom as we have in this ancient city of Rome studying the beginnings of Christianity.

Last night we got to go to a the Technical University Ball at the Hofburg. We made the journey via tram in our long gowns and tuxes and arrived at around 11:00 pm. It was so beautiful inside the building and there were several different rooms dedicated to different kind of dancing. There was the main ballroom, which was more formal and it was mostly couples who actually knew how to dance. There was also a salsa room and a disco room. It was all very elegant and so so fun.

The title of this post is the best compliment someone could give me. It means, “You look really French.” It is a goal of mine to dress, act, and (eventually) speak like a French person. I would love to live in Europe one day so I might as well start learning to blend in now! Unfortunately I get “Tu as l’air vraiment fatigué” much more frequently. But I’m working on it! I have been trying to look a little less lost, wear a scarf every day, and stop smiling at strangers (no matter how cute their dog or baby is). Some days go better than others.

This year, it is estimated that 3.6 billion people will make journeys home for what is known as 春节, the Spring Festival, Chūnyùn, or perhaps more clearly: Chinese New Year. In 2014, New Year’s Eve landed on Thursday night, January 30. The IES dorm-dwelling students were lucky enough to join host families in celebrating.

Since I’m here in Shanghai a few weeks early to celebrate Chinese New Year with family, I thought I’d share with everyone what’s happening during one of China’s most important traditional holidays! Not much happened during the day of the 30th, except for the occasional “pop” from fireworks. But dinner was amazing! We took a taxi to the restaurant on Huaihaizhonglu and got to see the wonderful lights of a very affluent part of the city. You could maybe see clearly about fifteen feet in front of you due to all the smoke from the fireworks.

I said in my very first post that I would try to go somewhere every weekend, and so a few weeks ago I went to Atsuta Shrine to watch Touka Shinji, a ceremony performed by Shinto priests at the start of the year. Some of the priests played instruments while the others dance (I call it dancing but it is more similar to making slow, deliberate movements with a sword and a fan). They apparently needed to step on the ground to stabilize evil spirits and pray for happiness.