Photo via Average Annual High Temperature: 76☏ Or order Braised Short Rib Tacos or a Chicken Tinga Salad for lunch at MADRE Taqueria. Grab a Quiche, Fresh Berry Waffle, or any of the other farm-inspired breakfasts at Big City Coffee & Cafe. Split a Yaya’s House Pizza and sip on a True Grit Cocktail at The Wylder. Go tubing or downhill mountain biking at Bogus Basin. Watch an outdoor concert, attend a gardening class, or stroll among sculptures and other art at Idaho Botanical Garden. Take a walk along the Oregon Trail Reserve to see the Boise Front and Kelton Ramp, a historic wagon path forged by traveling pioneers. Bike the 25-mile Boise River Greenbelt, one of the city’s most popular parks, straight into the heart of Boise. Put on some blue face paint and catch a Boise State Broncos’ game at Albertsons Stadium. See exotic animals like red pandas and leopards at Zoo Boise. Beyond its fantastic weather, this fast-growing city is also among the top 20 best places to live in America, and the top 100 places to retire.
Boise’s winters are free of the heavy snowfalls and sub-zero temperatures that are common elsewhere in the region, while summers are sunny, warm, and tend to have low humidity. Home Price: $191,000 median purchase price $834 median monthly rentīoise, the capital city of Idaho, is one of the most beautiful places to live in the Pacific Northwest and one of the best places in the U.S.I met my goal from my last blog of making a Chinese friend! I count Zhao Laoshi and his sister as my first two, since I hung out with them outside of class.Photo via Average Annual High Temperature: 64☏ We played until the sky turned peach-colored, and then walked back, tired and satisfied. It was hot and a little muggy, but we didn’t mind. After that we threw a Frisbee around the Bei Wai athletic field. We stayed for four hours, watching Chinese TV, eating steamed dumplings, and talking casually about politics and language. He and his sister invited us over for lunch. Yesterday was Saturday, and I spent most of the day at Zhao Laoshi’s house with other students in my class. It’s so much more exciting and rewarding when you can witness everything first-hand. I wouldn’t be nearly as interested in learning about China if I weren’t actually here. If there’s any advice I have to give about living abroad, it’s to seize every opportunity you have to learn about where you are. The first week it was Chinese history, then we spent two weeks on politics, and this week it’s the economy. I kept thinking, “Whoever thought Santa’s elves live at the North Pole apparently didn’t know about places like this.” Each week we cover a different topic.
This specific factory makes one-third of the world’s shoes, mostly for big brands like Nike and Adidas. One of my favorites this week was about the lives of factory girls who live in one of China’s booming southern cities.
Every reading is engaging and interesting.
On Friday I had class until late in the afternoon, and then I read about China for my area studies course, which I love. It was a simple day, with no fireworks or excessive patriotism, but it was one of the best Fourths I’ve had. After that we went to the Bei Wai library, which is brand new, huge, and completely stunning, and we talked with Zhao Laoshi about different ways to learn Chinese. Some residents of the neighborhood were there too, but they were playing in a league of their own. Afterwards, my language tutor (Zhao Laoshi), a few other students, and I played Ping-Pong at an outdoor court nearby. Sunlight streamed through gaps in the trees while we all ate watermelon, roasted chicken, beef sandwiches, root beer floats, and other delicious American delicacies (see gallery below). Everyone got out of class early to prepare for the holiday in the west campus garden. The first was the Fourth of July, which couldn’t have been better timing. A thunderstorm with flooding rains brought us three beautiful days of sunshine. If it rains hard enough, however, the skies get washed clean for a few days, which is exactly what happened at the beginning of last week. The city sits in a valley just above sea level, and is flanked on three sides by mountains, which trap the murky air inside city limits. As I learned recently, though, this is partly because of topography. This article from February says you can even see the pollution from space. Since the smog is so thick, most days you can’t see the sky, or the sun, or sometimes even the tops of tall buildings. This is exceptionally uncommon in Beijing where pollution is an almost permanent resident. For the past three days, the weather has been perfect.