As you may have guessed from my lack of updates, I am back at home in the U.S. I didn't realize how long I'd been gone until I arrived back. Still, I miss my classmates and coworkers in China and hope to return soon.
Thanks for reading,
Jake
Monday, December 15, 2008
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Yunnan
I took off work and went to Yunnan from July 26 to August 3. The trip was amazing.
Some Highlights:
Yunnan I
Yunnan II
Yunnan III
Yunnan IV
I will follow up shortly with a post about the Olympics.
Some Highlights:
- Seeing my friend Ryan, who was living in Yunnan's capital Kunming and was in Nanjing in the spring. We had an excellent meal and an epic karaoke night.
- The best meal was in Dali on the second night. We had amazing mushrooms, veggies, a whole fish, and eel soup. Mmm.
- We had the good timing of being in Dali for the Torch Festival. A thousand Chinese people ran around the city's Old Town with torches and started bonfires. They threw fine saw dust on the torches causing them to flare up. They did this at people's feet a lot of the time to scare them. I only saw one person get lit on fire in a foreigner on foreigner attack. No injuries.
- Hiking Tiger Leaping Gorge where the cliffs rise 3900 m (12,800 feet, that's 2.4 miles) above the Jinsha river. Took donkeys up the steepest part which was terrifying. The donkey handlers would just walk behind and make noise to make them go forward. I squealed plenty as they'd sometimes step half an inch from the edge of the cliffs.
- Songzanlin Lamasery in Shangri-la is the largest Buddhist temple complex I've ever seen and has 700-some monks. The frescoes, statues, and chanting monks were amazing. Also watched the swarms of crows that circle the monastery.
Yunnan I
Yunnan II
Yunnan III
Yunnan IV
I will follow up shortly with a post about the Olympics.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Olympics
The Olympics are 23 days away. Here are some Olympic-related photos I've taken around Beijing.
Not directly related to the Olympics but slated to be finished then, the China Central Television Headquarters as seen when I get off the subway going to my tutoring job. It's much huger than that (you can see the cranes on top just barely), but it's far away.
The Beijing National Aquatics Center, next to the Bird's Nest changes colors every few seconds.
The Beijing National Stadium, nicknamed the Bird's Nest.
The wall across from the bus stop near my apartment has a banner with the Fuwa playing various Olympic sports. One of them seems a little odd though.
Every day I get off the bus and walk 15 minutes to work, passing this huge Olympic countdown clock. It is one of many all over China. No one knows what it will do when it hits 0. Maybe stop, maybe explode.
Not directly related to the Olympics but slated to be finished then, the China Central Television Headquarters as seen when I get off the subway going to my tutoring job. It's much huger than that (you can see the cranes on top just barely), but it's far away.
The Beijing National Aquatics Center, next to the Bird's Nest changes colors every few seconds.
The Beijing National Stadium, nicknamed the Bird's Nest.
The wall across from the bus stop near my apartment has a banner with the Fuwa playing various Olympic sports. One of them seems a little odd though.
Every day I get off the bus and walk 15 minutes to work, passing this huge Olympic countdown clock. It is one of many all over China. No one knows what it will do when it hits 0. Maybe stop, maybe explode.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Qingdao on the 4th of July
On Thursday night at 10 p.m., I got on a train to Qingdao with my classmate Shanthi from fall semester. She's in Beijing as part of a University of Iowa student journalism volunteer corps, along with my classmate Marcus from the Spring.
I took the hard seats and got in a little before 7 a.m. which would prove to be the start to a very long day. By 9 a.m., we were at the apartment of three friends (Kelli, Beth, and Lynn) who are spending the first couple months of the summer in Qingdao. There were four additional people who had been traveling around since school ended. Marcus and Dan had just gotten in from Weihai, another city in Shandong Province, and Yayoi and Wes had gotten in from god knows where.
The nine of us set out planning the for a good Fourth of July Afternoon. For me and about half of them that meant a trip to, befitting traditional middle American celebrations, Wal-mart.
Yayoi and I, being happy for the camera while trying to hide from the rain under a backhoe.
By around 4 p.m., we went to the beach with all of our preparations in tow. These included over one hundred sticks of meat and veggie chuanr (Chinese kabobs), fixings for an impromptu grill a keg purchased for US$8.50, and various swim wear. We were being optimistic because, while the day started out hot and muggy, it had drizzled a little and got much cooler after 2 p.m. We got in the water and the rain picked up. It was fun, just very cold. Once back out of the water with no end to the rain in sight, it became less fun. No cabs were around the beach, so we had to send two people out on the streets to look for some. Seeing those cabs roll up to save us from wet, cold misery was ranks as one of my most relieving moments in recent memory.
Wes and Lynn seated by the grill as it flares up.
We went back, everybody piled into their cave like bathroom to rinse off in the shower. To give some idea of this bathroom, the only drain was the squatter on the other side. Nonetheless, I was thankful to be warm. I changed clothes and mostly watched as everybody huddled around our impromptu grill. We started the coals with Baijiu, of course, and with the assistance of a fan it actually got going pretty quick. We spent the next two hours gorging on chuanr, beer, and ending with s'mores. We then walked down to the nearby food street to pick up some fireworks this one shopkeeper was holding for us. We ended up talking to these two middle-age Chinese dudes for like two more hours and as is Chinese style, they tried to fill us with more beer and food. Talked a lot of politics. Then, we light of firecrackers in the street. That action had been made illegal for the month of July due to something probably Olympic related. But when we said it was America's national day, some the Chinese we met said, "Oh, no problem."
Four of us sleeping on the floor the next morning, as taken by Kelli from the table.
In true spring semester form, we then went out to a club and danced. This ended in us getting back around 3 a.m., running in through yet another downpour and getting wet. Seven of us piled into one room of the apartment, sleeping on one couch; a wooden table, which the actual resident does uses as a bed and is about as soft as a Chinese bet; and the floor covered in bamboo mats. That brought the end to my first Fourth outside of the U.S. and probably my longest and most interesting anywhere.
I rounded out Saturday sleeping in, going to the Tsingtao Beer Factory, and swimming in the rain once again. Came back Sunday morning on a 7:40 a.m. soft seat train that got in at 2 p.m.
Work tomorrow. It's going very well and I enjoy it. I'll try to update soon about that and the other conditions of my life in Beijing.
I took the hard seats and got in a little before 7 a.m. which would prove to be the start to a very long day. By 9 a.m., we were at the apartment of three friends (Kelli, Beth, and Lynn) who are spending the first couple months of the summer in Qingdao. There were four additional people who had been traveling around since school ended. Marcus and Dan had just gotten in from Weihai, another city in Shandong Province, and Yayoi and Wes had gotten in from god knows where.
The nine of us set out planning the for a good Fourth of July Afternoon. For me and about half of them that meant a trip to, befitting traditional middle American celebrations, Wal-mart.
Yayoi and I, being happy for the camera while trying to hide from the rain under a backhoe.
By around 4 p.m., we went to the beach with all of our preparations in tow. These included over one hundred sticks of meat and veggie chuanr (Chinese kabobs), fixings for an impromptu grill a keg purchased for US$8.50, and various swim wear. We were being optimistic because, while the day started out hot and muggy, it had drizzled a little and got much cooler after 2 p.m. We got in the water and the rain picked up. It was fun, just very cold. Once back out of the water with no end to the rain in sight, it became less fun. No cabs were around the beach, so we had to send two people out on the streets to look for some. Seeing those cabs roll up to save us from wet, cold misery was ranks as one of my most relieving moments in recent memory.
Wes and Lynn seated by the grill as it flares up.
We went back, everybody piled into their cave like bathroom to rinse off in the shower. To give some idea of this bathroom, the only drain was the squatter on the other side. Nonetheless, I was thankful to be warm. I changed clothes and mostly watched as everybody huddled around our impromptu grill. We started the coals with Baijiu, of course, and with the assistance of a fan it actually got going pretty quick. We spent the next two hours gorging on chuanr, beer, and ending with s'mores. We then walked down to the nearby food street to pick up some fireworks this one shopkeeper was holding for us. We ended up talking to these two middle-age Chinese dudes for like two more hours and as is Chinese style, they tried to fill us with more beer and food. Talked a lot of politics. Then, we light of firecrackers in the street. That action had been made illegal for the month of July due to something probably Olympic related. But when we said it was America's national day, some the Chinese we met said, "Oh, no problem."
Four of us sleeping on the floor the next morning, as taken by Kelli from the table.
In true spring semester form, we then went out to a club and danced. This ended in us getting back around 3 a.m., running in through yet another downpour and getting wet. Seven of us piled into one room of the apartment, sleeping on one couch; a wooden table, which the actual resident does uses as a bed and is about as soft as a Chinese bet; and the floor covered in bamboo mats. That brought the end to my first Fourth outside of the U.S. and probably my longest and most interesting anywhere.
I rounded out Saturday sleeping in, going to the Tsingtao Beer Factory, and swimming in the rain once again. Came back Sunday morning on a 7:40 a.m. soft seat train that got in at 2 p.m.
Work tomorrow. It's going very well and I enjoy it. I'll try to update soon about that and the other conditions of my life in Beijing.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
My Apartment
Three days ago, one of the three other guys who live at my apartment showed up. He had taken an extra week off for the Dragon Boat Festival. He explained to me how to work the air conditioner (it was unplugged) and the hot water. The hot water required I turn on a lever for the gas, three levers that led to the water heater, and another valve to make the water go through the heater. I took my first hot shower in the past 10 days, it was great.
The apartment has actually grown on me. I cleaned up and consolidated my stuff so I could fit my stuff in the half of a cupboard available to me. Now I have plenty of space. I have hot water. And, it's only 15 minute bus and 15 minute walk to work. I'll have to move out in like a week and a half and pay for the place I'm living in.
Work is going well. I'm doing research for the planned revamp of the lifestyle page. I also wrote the online headlines for today. Hopefully within a week or two I'll be writing actual stuff for the magazine.
I'm now looking at a four day weekend. By the end, I will hopefully have finished my final paper for spring semester, have written my first bar review, and have confirmed where I will live for the remainder of the summer.
Right now, I'm hanging out at my friend Kevin's apartment, who I know from fall semester in Nanjing. Might go out and watch the Euro Cup game late tonight.
The apartment has actually grown on me. I cleaned up and consolidated my stuff so I could fit my stuff in the half of a cupboard available to me. Now I have plenty of space. I have hot water. And, it's only 15 minute bus and 15 minute walk to work. I'll have to move out in like a week and a half and pay for the place I'm living in.
Work is going well. I'm doing research for the planned revamp of the lifestyle page. I also wrote the online headlines for today. Hopefully within a week or two I'll be writing actual stuff for the magazine.
I'm now looking at a four day weekend. By the end, I will hopefully have finished my final paper for spring semester, have written my first bar review, and have confirmed where I will live for the remainder of the summer.
Right now, I'm hanging out at my friend Kevin's apartment, who I know from fall semester in Nanjing. Might go out and watch the Euro Cup game late tonight.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Beijing
I will try to keep this brief.
As of tomorrow, I'll have been in Beijing for a week. I worked three days at my internship last week. It's a very casual environment, certainly nothing like what I'm used to from past summers. So far I've only worked on revising the magazine's source list which they monitor in their capacity as a news digest. I'll go in to work tomorrow to discuss what I'll be doing on a more regular basis.
I've looked at four apartments, two of which are good prospects. Hopefully will have something nailed down by the end of the week.
Went out Friday and Saturday night with a complex amalgamation of friends and friends of friends. Example: three students in CIEE were from Soka University in the OC. Their German friend from the same university visited them for the last couple days of our program in Nanjing. He happened to be on the same train going to Beijing as me and another girl from my program. I went out with him and met his Chinese friends. They're all very cool and I hope to hang out with them in the future, although he has already left China for Japan. Two friends passing through independently of each other also came along bringing their friends. Anyway, this is a good change of pace from the built-in friends of the program I just completed.
One other anecdote. I was on my way to check out this interesting apartment in a hutong (traditional maze like alleyways that used to be where most Beijingers lived), and it began to downpour. Some alleyways flooded to like a foot. In the end, I purchased sandles and waded through it all. The apartment has 6 rooms around a courtyard. Half belong to a Chinese family, one room belonging to a Chinese-Canadian dude, and the other one I could possibly rent. Could possibly be an interesting cultural experience.
Right now, this dude on the computer next to me in this huge internet cafe is watching a childrens fashion/talent show thing, and it's really creeping me out. Why couldn't I have sat next to one of the hundred other dudes playing World of Warcraft?
Lastly, I'm writing bar reviews for an english entertainment publication called City Weekend. Pays OK but will pay for my night life. First one's due friday, I already visited it in the same hutong in the apartment.
As of tomorrow, I'll have been in Beijing for a week. I worked three days at my internship last week. It's a very casual environment, certainly nothing like what I'm used to from past summers. So far I've only worked on revising the magazine's source list which they monitor in their capacity as a news digest. I'll go in to work tomorrow to discuss what I'll be doing on a more regular basis.
I've looked at four apartments, two of which are good prospects. Hopefully will have something nailed down by the end of the week.
Went out Friday and Saturday night with a complex amalgamation of friends and friends of friends. Example: three students in CIEE were from Soka University in the OC. Their German friend from the same university visited them for the last couple days of our program in Nanjing. He happened to be on the same train going to Beijing as me and another girl from my program. I went out with him and met his Chinese friends. They're all very cool and I hope to hang out with them in the future, although he has already left China for Japan. Two friends passing through independently of each other also came along bringing their friends. Anyway, this is a good change of pace from the built-in friends of the program I just completed.
One other anecdote. I was on my way to check out this interesting apartment in a hutong (traditional maze like alleyways that used to be where most Beijingers lived), and it began to downpour. Some alleyways flooded to like a foot. In the end, I purchased sandles and waded through it all. The apartment has 6 rooms around a courtyard. Half belong to a Chinese family, one room belonging to a Chinese-Canadian dude, and the other one I could possibly rent. Could possibly be an interesting cultural experience.
Right now, this dude on the computer next to me in this huge internet cafe is watching a childrens fashion/talent show thing, and it's really creeping me out. Why couldn't I have sat next to one of the hundred other dudes playing World of Warcraft?
Lastly, I'm writing bar reviews for an english entertainment publication called City Weekend. Pays OK but will pay for my night life. First one's due friday, I already visited it in the same hutong in the apartment.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Last Week
My second to last weekend of the semester ended up completely wasted. Classes were done as was my culture class presenation on the Chinese media, so I just wanted to relax. I pretty much just hung out and didn't do any work until Sunday.
That Monday, I had my speaking class final which was moved up because my teacher was leaving town. With only the Sunday night preparation, I did well. I only screwed up once when I thought he was saying minorities (minzhu) in China when really he was saying democracy (minzu) in China. The format of that portion was pick one of two surprise topics and give your opinion. My other choice was Sharon Stone, which made me think of Fatal Attraction as I hadn't seen the inflammatory comments she made yet.
Tuesday, I went with my girlfriend, Chang Xiu, to Danyang, a.k.a. Glasses City, which is a huge center of Chinese glasses manufacturing. I bought two pairs (one of which has already broken) for like US$19. Chang Xiu bought these colored contacts for her and her roommate. I decided since I didn't have another final until Thursday that we mineaswell go from Danyang to Suzhou, spend the night and sight see in the morning.
We got to Suzhou by bus at about 4 p.m., checked into a hostel and went to the Master of Nets garden. After checking that out, we walked around the city for a bit and went to this place that had traditional Suzhou food.
Wednesday, I went to see the silk museum. It was pretty small and only 7 kuai, but in addition to various silk displays and weaving, there was this silk worm breeding room. I had silk worms in cocoon, worm stage, and nasty-looking full development stage. It was completely disgusting seeing hundreds of these things, but interesting and I took some pictures.
Next was this part of the historic city wall, with a garden next to several canals and bridges. The ticket included a kind of amateur Kunqu opera (I think that's what it was) and a ten minute bought ride. Nice scenery. I was about gardened out already. After that, tried to take a real boat ride, but timing didn't work out. We ended up eating bizarre Chinese fruit next to a river and then heading back on a 4 p.m. train. I got back and studied like crazy.
Thursday morning, my reading class test went OK. There were several questions from chapters he said wouldn't be on the test, which I ended up mostly guessing on. I had only half written my essay that was due with the test, and hurriedly finished it in 50 minutes before our 12 p.m. luncheon banquet. I doubt I got an A, but I think it was a good B performance.
I feasted on CIEE's dime at the luncheon at Swede & Kraut, a German restaurant that also serves other western food. I was so full after chicken parmesan, croquettes, salad, and a brownie with ice cream that I pretty much did nothing the rest of the day except go to the gym later that day.
Friday, I wrote five of eight pages of my culture class paper, which still is unfinished, despite yesterday's deadline. With the banquet that night and KTV after, plus goodbyes the rest of the weekend, there just wasn't time. Not too worried as the professor said, "Just make sure you hand it in before you leave China." I guess he didn't consider my staying the whole summer when he said that, but I think it still gives me a little time. The banquet included our teachers this time, and me and classmates toasted our teachers with baijiu and gave them gifts. Afterwards was a picture frenzy followed by several people singing Chinese songs (2 classmates, 2 Chinese roommates). KTV was the standard fair (sp?) but very fun nonetheless. I went home at 3 a.m., a group stayed out till 7 a.m. though since we had the room rented until 5:30 a.m.
Saturday, I got up around 11 a.m. to say goodbye to a classmate. I spent the vast majority of my day packing. Chang Xiu and I went to see a movie at night. We ended up seeing the Chronicles of Narnia dubbed into Chinese, as of the selection of 6 movies, it was the only one with tickets available at the time. Hung out with people until 5:30 in the morning after as many of them were leaving the next day.
Sunday, I went out with more people who leaving for lunch, finished packing, went to the gym one last time, went to dinner with my roommate this semester, my roommate from last semester and another roommate who's a good friend of mine. After that I puttered around on my paper adding a page. At 10:45, I left on a train with my classmate, who happened to be going to Beijing as well. We had hard seats, which I was kind of dreading, but were OK. It just meant I would wake up every 30 minutes to one hour to readjust myself.
I arrived at 9 a.m. and some of Jerry's (my roommate from fall semester) friends met me at the train station. They took me to the place I'm crashing (another friend of Jerry's apartment) for free until I find a more permanent place. I can live there up to a month until the guy comes back. As of now, it's empty until the other roommates get back in a couple days. It's pretty dirty and thread worn, but for free I can't complain. I went in to my internship at Asia Weekly for a quick meeting. I will be working from 9 to 5 Tuesday through Thursday, starting tomorrow. I got back to my place and walked around for about two hours. Beijing is so huge! It took forever to go such a tiny distance on my map, and I discovered almost nothing interesting, besides a grocery store which sells decent looking cheese.
Right now, I'm in an Internet cafe since where I'm staying doesn't have Internet access. It's one of the seedy World of Warcraft one's you read about in magazine stories about China. It's 11:15 p.m. and really crowded. I have all my pictures on a thumb drive, which doesn't work on the computer I got. Hopefully I'll post some pictures from Suzhou and the farewell banquet soon.
That Monday, I had my speaking class final which was moved up because my teacher was leaving town. With only the Sunday night preparation, I did well. I only screwed up once when I thought he was saying minorities (minzhu) in China when really he was saying democracy (minzu) in China. The format of that portion was pick one of two surprise topics and give your opinion. My other choice was Sharon Stone, which made me think of Fatal Attraction as I hadn't seen the inflammatory comments she made yet.
Tuesday, I went with my girlfriend, Chang Xiu, to Danyang, a.k.a. Glasses City, which is a huge center of Chinese glasses manufacturing. I bought two pairs (one of which has already broken) for like US$19. Chang Xiu bought these colored contacts for her and her roommate. I decided since I didn't have another final until Thursday that we mineaswell go from Danyang to Suzhou, spend the night and sight see in the morning.
We got to Suzhou by bus at about 4 p.m., checked into a hostel and went to the Master of Nets garden. After checking that out, we walked around the city for a bit and went to this place that had traditional Suzhou food.
Wednesday, I went to see the silk museum. It was pretty small and only 7 kuai, but in addition to various silk displays and weaving, there was this silk worm breeding room. I had silk worms in cocoon, worm stage, and nasty-looking full development stage. It was completely disgusting seeing hundreds of these things, but interesting and I took some pictures.
Next was this part of the historic city wall, with a garden next to several canals and bridges. The ticket included a kind of amateur Kunqu opera (I think that's what it was) and a ten minute bought ride. Nice scenery. I was about gardened out already. After that, tried to take a real boat ride, but timing didn't work out. We ended up eating bizarre Chinese fruit next to a river and then heading back on a 4 p.m. train. I got back and studied like crazy.
Thursday morning, my reading class test went OK. There were several questions from chapters he said wouldn't be on the test, which I ended up mostly guessing on. I had only half written my essay that was due with the test, and hurriedly finished it in 50 minutes before our 12 p.m. luncheon banquet. I doubt I got an A, but I think it was a good B performance.
I feasted on CIEE's dime at the luncheon at Swede & Kraut, a German restaurant that also serves other western food. I was so full after chicken parmesan, croquettes, salad, and a brownie with ice cream that I pretty much did nothing the rest of the day except go to the gym later that day.
Friday, I wrote five of eight pages of my culture class paper, which still is unfinished, despite yesterday's deadline. With the banquet that night and KTV after, plus goodbyes the rest of the weekend, there just wasn't time. Not too worried as the professor said, "Just make sure you hand it in before you leave China." I guess he didn't consider my staying the whole summer when he said that, but I think it still gives me a little time. The banquet included our teachers this time, and me and classmates toasted our teachers with baijiu and gave them gifts. Afterwards was a picture frenzy followed by several people singing Chinese songs (2 classmates, 2 Chinese roommates). KTV was the standard fair (sp?) but very fun nonetheless. I went home at 3 a.m., a group stayed out till 7 a.m. though since we had the room rented until 5:30 a.m.
Saturday, I got up around 11 a.m. to say goodbye to a classmate. I spent the vast majority of my day packing. Chang Xiu and I went to see a movie at night. We ended up seeing the Chronicles of Narnia dubbed into Chinese, as of the selection of 6 movies, it was the only one with tickets available at the time. Hung out with people until 5:30 in the morning after as many of them were leaving the next day.
Sunday, I went out with more people who leaving for lunch, finished packing, went to the gym one last time, went to dinner with my roommate this semester, my roommate from last semester and another roommate who's a good friend of mine. After that I puttered around on my paper adding a page. At 10:45, I left on a train with my classmate, who happened to be going to Beijing as well. We had hard seats, which I was kind of dreading, but were OK. It just meant I would wake up every 30 minutes to one hour to readjust myself.
I arrived at 9 a.m. and some of Jerry's (my roommate from fall semester) friends met me at the train station. They took me to the place I'm crashing (another friend of Jerry's apartment) for free until I find a more permanent place. I can live there up to a month until the guy comes back. As of now, it's empty until the other roommates get back in a couple days. It's pretty dirty and thread worn, but for free I can't complain. I went in to my internship at Asia Weekly for a quick meeting. I will be working from 9 to 5 Tuesday through Thursday, starting tomorrow. I got back to my place and walked around for about two hours. Beijing is so huge! It took forever to go such a tiny distance on my map, and I discovered almost nothing interesting, besides a grocery store which sells decent looking cheese.
Right now, I'm in an Internet cafe since where I'm staying doesn't have Internet access. It's one of the seedy World of Warcraft one's you read about in magazine stories about China. It's 11:15 p.m. and really crowded. I have all my pictures on a thumb drive, which doesn't work on the computer I got. Hopefully I'll post some pictures from Suzhou and the farewell banquet soon.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Torch relay comes to Nanjing
Yesterday, the Olympic torch relay came through Nanjing. The Chinese roommates began prepping the day before, spreading hats and small flags between them. The morning of my roommate went with the Chinese department to stake out a spot on the route at 7 a.m. The relay was set to start in south Nanjing at the aptly named Olympic Stadium and go to the Drum tower, which is only about 15 minutes down the road. My impression was it started at 8 and was supposed to arrive at the end at 10:30.
My preparations involved deciding to skip class. I woke up at 8:06, just after my classes were supposed to start. I texted my classmate Kelly, and she said after only two of six students came class was canceled. The same happened with all the other classes as well. I woke up, threw on the clothes from the day before, and got some noodles for breakfast on the street as the wontons I normally get were sold out because of the crowds.
I found my roommate and classmates on the street. Despite a million people probably being along the torch route, it was long enough that I didn't have a problem fitting in, especially since my height enabled me to see over most everyone's head. As we waited, people yelled the chant 中国(Zhongguo, China)，and the crowd would reply 加油 (Jiayou, Hurray!). Popular variations included 奥运 （Olympics)，加油！，南京 (Nanjing), 加油！，北京，加油！The Chinese department students sang a couple national songs. Pictures were taken with all kinds of China and Beijing accouterments. This is when I photojournalist must have taken my picture, above, which appeared on QQ.com along with pictures of a couple of my classmates.
At about 10:15, the torch got to us. We were right at a hand off point in the relay. A huge media and police entourage came, then the torch runner. Anything that came by got big cheers from the crowd. The middle age woman lit the bald middle age man's torch, and he ran off. Everyone involved is thrilled.
We milled about after, went and ate baozi/jiaozi, and I went to 40 minutes of my second class, which most people went to from 11 to 12. Everyone was still decked out in Zhongguo gear, my professor just talked about the torch and went off on tangents like he usually does. The whole day gave me the vibe of a festival or the excitement associated with anticipating Northwestern's Dillo Day.
Last day of class tomorrow, finals next week! Maybe an internship confirmed too!
My preparations involved deciding to skip class. I woke up at 8:06, just after my classes were supposed to start. I texted my classmate Kelly, and she said after only two of six students came class was canceled. The same happened with all the other classes as well. I woke up, threw on the clothes from the day before, and got some noodles for breakfast on the street as the wontons I normally get were sold out because of the crowds.
I found my roommate and classmates on the street. Despite a million people probably being along the torch route, it was long enough that I didn't have a problem fitting in, especially since my height enabled me to see over most everyone's head. As we waited, people yelled the chant 中国(Zhongguo, China)，and the crowd would reply 加油 (Jiayou, Hurray!). Popular variations included 奥运 （Olympics)，加油！，南京 (Nanjing), 加油！，北京，加油！The Chinese department students sang a couple national songs. Pictures were taken with all kinds of China and Beijing accouterments. This is when I photojournalist must have taken my picture, above, which appeared on QQ.com along with pictures of a couple of my classmates.
At about 10:15, the torch got to us. We were right at a hand off point in the relay. A huge media and police entourage came, then the torch runner. Anything that came by got big cheers from the crowd. The middle age woman lit the bald middle age man's torch, and he ran off. Everyone involved is thrilled.
We milled about after, went and ate baozi/jiaozi, and I went to 40 minutes of my second class, which most people went to from 11 to 12. Everyone was still decked out in Zhongguo gear, my professor just talked about the torch and went off on tangents like he usually does. The whole day gave me the vibe of a festival or the excitement associated with anticipating Northwestern's Dillo Day.
Last day of class tomorrow, finals next week! Maybe an internship confirmed too!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Earthquake
The earthquake hit Sichuan province last Monday, May 12. It hit near the city of Wenchuan between Chengdu and Jiuzhaigou, where I traveled last semester. I didn't feel anything in Nanjing; a few people claimed they did. Several of my friends received texts forewarning them. News reports said people were evacuated from buildings in Beijing and Shanghai, I don't know what that was about.
Chinese people are really pulling together in the relief effort. I've been inundated with facebook messages, got a text message asking me to donate, and people are collecting clothes to donate. The Chinese government announced a three day period of morning beginning Monday. Businesses like bars and movie theaters were instructed to close. At 2:28 p.m, a siren sounded for three minutes marking the exact time the earthquake struck a week ago. I went to a candlelight vigil on Monday. The pictures are from near the end, when I finally figured out the nighttime settings on my camera.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Shanghai Weekend
On Friday morning, I went to Shanghai. I had two job interviews that afternoon, so I wore my suit from about 1 p.m. onward. Both went well, I think. I'll probably know whether I have a job offer in about 2 weeks.
After the last interview ended at about 6 p.m., I met up with Trenton, Yayoi, and Marcus at their hostel. I was staying at Nick and James' apartment, two Shanghai residents who I know through a friend last quarter. I didn't go back, so I was, once again, still wearing my suit. Tommy, Yuki, Ryan, and Hannah got in to town a few hours later and we all went out to dinner together, Nick accompanying.
Afterwards, we followed Nick to this "CD release party" for a friend's band, although I didn't see any CD's around. We watched the two opening acts, the second being Angry Jerks, a punk band from Nanjing. I checked my suitcoat and moshed for a while, which was both tiring and refreshing since I hadn't done it in a while. The main event, Nick's friend's band, had technical difficulties that lasted a long time, so we left before they went on. We went to a club called Bon Bon, the same one I went to last time I was in Shanghai because the new group of people wanted to go. Same fake booze, didn't close until 4 a.m. Finally changed out of my suit in the morning, which is luckily undamaged. We went to City Diner for a late lunch, and had a hamburger. We went to a ticket vendor at Zhongshan Park, then relaxed in the park. Left on a 7 p.m. train, making it a whirlwind trip.
I relaxed until class started today, just sending more e-mails following up on jobs and my honors application.
Here's more pictures of Xinjiang
A supermarket and hotel at night in Kashgar
A traditional house in Kashgar's old town. The two seated women are 88 and 90 years old and are the last of four wives who were married to a man who has been long dead.
Sheep tied up in a row at the livestock market.
After the last interview ended at about 6 p.m., I met up with Trenton, Yayoi, and Marcus at their hostel. I was staying at Nick and James' apartment, two Shanghai residents who I know through a friend last quarter. I didn't go back, so I was, once again, still wearing my suit. Tommy, Yuki, Ryan, and Hannah got in to town a few hours later and we all went out to dinner together, Nick accompanying.
Afterwards, we followed Nick to this "CD release party" for a friend's band, although I didn't see any CD's around. We watched the two opening acts, the second being Angry Jerks, a punk band from Nanjing. I checked my suitcoat and moshed for a while, which was both tiring and refreshing since I hadn't done it in a while. The main event, Nick's friend's band, had technical difficulties that lasted a long time, so we left before they went on. We went to a club called Bon Bon, the same one I went to last time I was in Shanghai because the new group of people wanted to go. Same fake booze, didn't close until 4 a.m. Finally changed out of my suit in the morning, which is luckily undamaged. We went to City Diner for a late lunch, and had a hamburger. We went to a ticket vendor at Zhongshan Park, then relaxed in the park. Left on a 7 p.m. train, making it a whirlwind trip.
I relaxed until class started today, just sending more e-mails following up on jobs and my honors application.
Here's more pictures of Xinjiang
A supermarket and hotel at night in Kashgar
A traditional house in Kashgar's old town. The two seated women are 88 and 90 years old and are the last of four wives who were married to a man who has been long dead.
Sheep tied up in a row at the livestock market.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Xinjiang
My travelmates, Trenton and Kelli.
Last month, I spent 10 days in Xinjiang. On April 17, I left Nanjing and flew to Urumqi with Kelli to meet Trenton, who had flown out that morning. We spent one night there, then flew to Kashgar. After two days, we hired a driver and spent three days on the highway that runs through the Pamir Mountain Range to connect to Pakistan. Along the way, we spent one night sleeping in a Yurt next to Karakul Lake and another night in a Tashkurgan. We backtracked to Kashgar and after a few hours hopped a sleeper bus to Hotan. We spent two days and one night in Hotan than took an 18 hour bus that crossed the Taklamakan desert, which takes up a huge part of the province. The bus ended up back in Urumqi, where we bought hard sleeper tickets back to Nanjing. The train took 40 hours, traversing most of the country.
As my time is limited, I will mostly represent my journey through the pictures I took.
Urumqi
My mother had informed me the weather was volatile here, but we felt the full extent. When Trenton got here the previous morning it was sunny and 70 degrees. We arrived at night to rain and woke up to snow. Urumqi is a rather unexciting city, we spent most of our time ate the only expat hang out in town, drinking coffee and eating western food. That said, it was a relaxing starting and ending point for our trip. We did have an amazing Xinjiang specialty, Da Pan Ji (chicken, potatoes, peppers) for lunch on Day 2.
Kashgar
A bakery specializing in the Uighur Naan on one of the large streets in the minority dominated old city. Bread would be our main staple on our journey along the highway to Pakistan.
A bowl goat head at the night market across from the mosque. The three of us ate half a head, and it wasn't that bad.
The livestock market, on the outskirts of town. We mostly saw sheep and cows with a few donkeys and goats too. Most people were chasing sheep around and tying them together by their necks with ropes tied to pickets in the ground.
Pamir Range (Karakul Lake and Tashkurgan)
This mountain is about 7500 meters tall, which isn't that much shorter than Everest. The reflection is in Karakul Lake, and the pictures all look like they are fake because it's so breathtaking. I was at 3800 meters and was feeling the altitude, which forced me to do everything really slowly.
The people renting us our yurt were giving us trouble about the food we were asking for. We ended up starting to walk around the lake and this Kyrg minority family offered to feed us for 10 kuai a head. Only the father, pictured here, knew Mandarin, and only a few words at that. The rice, veggies, and a couple bits of lamb meat were not that great, but it was well worth the experience of seeing how they live in this two room stone house.
The yurt we stayed in next to the lake. There was a wood stove that kept it warm. That went out at about midnight when all we had was about 30 blankets to keep us warm. They were so heavy they pinned us to the floor. Even so, I still woke up freezing.
Tashkurgan, the second to last city from the Pakistani border. The city has 50,000 residents, 30,000 of which are Tajik (remember, this is a really small city for China, Kashgar is 200,000). The generator at our hotel broke that night, so we subsisted on candles. We had some excellent Chinese food in this city, which we sought out because otherwise we had only been eating bread and lamb meat.
The "Ancient Stone City," basically abandoned ruins marked by a sign. I believe it's an old outpost. It's the highest vantage point in town from which I took the above picture. I was able to climb around on it freely. Definitely the highlight of Tashkurgan
Hotan
Hotan was a dusty city on the edge of the Taklamakan desert. The city of 100,000 had a very Chinese feel in most places and may well have been half-Chinese, half-minorities. Known for their jade, we spent most of our time jade shopping.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Back from Xinjiang
My apologies for not leaving a note about my leaving for Xinjiang province for 10 days. Midterms had me really swamped, and I left immediately afterwards on Thursday. I have a few hundred pictures to sort through and a couple essays to finish tomorrow, but I will prepare an epic post to match my epic vacation.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Beijing Weekend
Hopped an overnight soft sleeper to Beijing, arriving Friday morning 6:45. I was pseudo-traveling with three girls from Nanjing--Shirlene, Lisa, and Bethany. They took a different train there and stayed in a different hotel. Also from Nanjing, Alex's girlfriend, Zheng Yu, flew to Beijing, but stayed in my same hotel. We would all travel back together on the same train.
Beijing University has this enormous lake with a 10+ story pagoda on one side. Totally blows Nanjing University Campus out of the water.
I went to visit my friend Alex from CIEE Nanjing last semester whose birthday it was on Thursday. I stayed in this large hotel/dorm complex where most foreigners at Beijing University are housed. Forgot my passport, so spent my whole morning (like 3 hours) finding a fax machine, the fax being too unclear, and then having my roommate scan and e-mail it to me. It was well worth the trouble and the 260 kuai to stay in such a convenient and well-furnished location. I've had some very bad experiences with Beijing hostels in the past.
Had lunch in the nearby Korean area, Wudaokou. We ate Korean food, for which my love is increasingly growing. I would eat again on Sunday at a Korean restaurant in this area. Despite Nanjings plethora of Korean restaurants, none stood up to the two I ate at over the weekend.
After lunch, we went back to campus and had a mini-campus tour. The weather was beautiful because they had recently launched a weather rocket, which made it rain, and cleared away the pollution for a while. The campus was also amazing, replete with this huge lake and pagoda, lots of traditional architecture, and the library where Mao Zedong began developing his ideology.
Alex, a bunch of his friends, and I went out to a Thai restaurant for this guys birthday. It was a huge meal and included plenty of seafood. Then, we went to smoke a hookah at a bar in Houhai, a bar district that encompasses this lake, meaning there were hundreds of bars. Sat outside, had a beer, pretty low key night.
The next day, got my train back finally figured out, thanks to the three other girls in town. Every ticket vendor was saying there weren't any tickets for Sunday night arriving Monday morning. This was possible since it was a holiday weekend. Everyone had Friday off for Qingming Jie, what I call the clean-off-your-family-tomb-and-burn fake-money festival. Turns out, they were just all too lazy to check and assumed there wouldn't be tickets. The three girls successfully purchased me a ticket at the train station (a 60 kuai cab ride away).
That afternoon, I ate lunch at a restaurant called Lush in Wudaokou, best known for being open 24/7. It serves western style food that you might find at like a Denny's, but slightly better than that of course. I ate with Alex, his gf, and Caroline, another girl from the previous semester in Nanjing.
That afternoon, Alex, Zhengyu and I went to the Summer Palace. Apparently, the summer retreat for the rulers is built around the largest man-made lake. Read the wikipedia page for more. Took a boat across the lake and saw the huge marble boat that was commissioned by Empress Dowager Cixi, who pretty much controlled China through her son in the 1800's. The funds were supposed to be used on the Chinese navy, and this among many misappropriations account for a lot of Chinese military weakness at the time.
Me, Alex, and Zhengyu in the gardens at the Summer Palace.
That night we went to dinner at a pizza place called Kro's Nest. The pizza definitely is on par with US pizza and is the best I've had in China. The large's were huge, think bigger than a big new yorker, probably like 36 inches. I nearly completed a half, the fullest I've been this semester to the point of discomfort. Well worth it though. We went across town to have a drink with Alex's friends who were at another Kro's Nest location by coincidence. From there went to the Sanlitun (pronounced Sanlituar in a Beijing accent) to this place called Blue Bar. They had a great patio on the roof, so we sat up there and had more drinks. Afterward, went to China Doll next door, but that wasn't much fun. Late night, returned home at approximately 5 a.m.
On Sunday, I checked out of the hotel and, after lunch, went shopping in Wudaokou. I bought a pair of shoes at Hotwind, which was long overdue. Cost like US$40, and were pretty sweet, plus I apparently get lifetime repairs on them(?).
To that point, I had had a pretty epic cuisine experience that weekend--I only at Chinese food once for breakfast the first morning. But our last dinner on Friday was the piece de resistance. We ate at a pretty upscale Japanese restaurant. I had a couple pieces of thick sashimi as well as a dozen pieces of four different sushi. Topped off to perfection with an Asahi.
Returned back on a 9:3o p.m. train that arrived around 7 a.m. Monday. Just enough time to cab home, take a shower and go to class.
Busy week, this Thursday I have a speech class midterm. I'll update with how it goes.
Beijing University has this enormous lake with a 10+ story pagoda on one side. Totally blows Nanjing University Campus out of the water.
I went to visit my friend Alex from CIEE Nanjing last semester whose birthday it was on Thursday. I stayed in this large hotel/dorm complex where most foreigners at Beijing University are housed. Forgot my passport, so spent my whole morning (like 3 hours) finding a fax machine, the fax being too unclear, and then having my roommate scan and e-mail it to me. It was well worth the trouble and the 260 kuai to stay in such a convenient and well-furnished location. I've had some very bad experiences with Beijing hostels in the past.
Had lunch in the nearby Korean area, Wudaokou. We ate Korean food, for which my love is increasingly growing. I would eat again on Sunday at a Korean restaurant in this area. Despite Nanjings plethora of Korean restaurants, none stood up to the two I ate at over the weekend.
After lunch, we went back to campus and had a mini-campus tour. The weather was beautiful because they had recently launched a weather rocket, which made it rain, and cleared away the pollution for a while. The campus was also amazing, replete with this huge lake and pagoda, lots of traditional architecture, and the library where Mao Zedong began developing his ideology.
Alex, a bunch of his friends, and I went out to a Thai restaurant for this guys birthday. It was a huge meal and included plenty of seafood. Then, we went to smoke a hookah at a bar in Houhai, a bar district that encompasses this lake, meaning there were hundreds of bars. Sat outside, had a beer, pretty low key night.
The next day, got my train back finally figured out, thanks to the three other girls in town. Every ticket vendor was saying there weren't any tickets for Sunday night arriving Monday morning. This was possible since it was a holiday weekend. Everyone had Friday off for Qingming Jie, what I call the clean-off-your-family-tomb-and-burn fake-money festival. Turns out, they were just all too lazy to check and assumed there wouldn't be tickets. The three girls successfully purchased me a ticket at the train station (a 60 kuai cab ride away).
That afternoon, I ate lunch at a restaurant called Lush in Wudaokou, best known for being open 24/7. It serves western style food that you might find at like a Denny's, but slightly better than that of course. I ate with Alex, his gf, and Caroline, another girl from the previous semester in Nanjing.
That afternoon, Alex, Zhengyu and I went to the Summer Palace. Apparently, the summer retreat for the rulers is built around the largest man-made lake. Read the wikipedia page for more. Took a boat across the lake and saw the huge marble boat that was commissioned by Empress Dowager Cixi, who pretty much controlled China through her son in the 1800's. The funds were supposed to be used on the Chinese navy, and this among many misappropriations account for a lot of Chinese military weakness at the time.
Me, Alex, and Zhengyu in the gardens at the Summer Palace.
That night we went to dinner at a pizza place called Kro's Nest. The pizza definitely is on par with US pizza and is the best I've had in China. The large's were huge, think bigger than a big new yorker, probably like 36 inches. I nearly completed a half, the fullest I've been this semester to the point of discomfort. Well worth it though. We went across town to have a drink with Alex's friends who were at another Kro's Nest location by coincidence. From there went to the Sanlitun (pronounced Sanlituar in a Beijing accent) to this place called Blue Bar. They had a great patio on the roof, so we sat up there and had more drinks. Afterward, went to China Doll next door, but that wasn't much fun. Late night, returned home at approximately 5 a.m.
On Sunday, I checked out of the hotel and, after lunch, went shopping in Wudaokou. I bought a pair of shoes at Hotwind, which was long overdue. Cost like US$40, and were pretty sweet, plus I apparently get lifetime repairs on them(?).
To that point, I had had a pretty epic cuisine experience that weekend--I only at Chinese food once for breakfast the first morning. But our last dinner on Friday was the piece de resistance. We ate at a pretty upscale Japanese restaurant. I had a couple pieces of thick sashimi as well as a dozen pieces of four different sushi. Topped off to perfection with an Asahi.
Returned back on a 9:3o p.m. train that arrived around 7 a.m. Monday. Just enough time to cab home, take a shower and go to class.
Busy week, this Thursday I have a speech class midterm. I'll update with how it goes.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Hangzhou
This Thursday after class, everyone got on a bus to go to Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province. There's a saying in Chinese that there's heaven above and Hangzhou and Suzhou on earth. The city is known for it's gardens, parks, and the huge West Lake.
The bus ride took about 4 hours and was followed up by a meal at one of the 4 most reputable restaurants in town. We tried several Zhejiang dishes including a dish which was the equivalent to the western beggar's chicken, wrapped in leaves. Also had some fish in this odd sweet sauce that's supposedly a Zhejiang dish.
A guy in our program had friends in Hangzhou, so we checked out a couple bars with them that night. Seemed to have a pretty diverse selection, probably beats Nanjing slightly in terms of nightlife. I went from a Mexican restaurant/bar to a Reggae bar on to an intense dance club (there were lots of lasers) and back to the Reggae bar, where I proceeded to eat a pretty good hamburger.
Friday, we visited this huge park with this famous temple in it. I wish I could say something about the temple, but I didn't actually go inside, I just wandered around the park. I've seen so many temples, I'm almost templed-out, and there was plenty of other cool stuff to see. Particularly, all over were these Buddhas carved in the stones around the temple, sometimes high up in the rocks.
A cave entrance in the park with Buddhist carvings. We could pretty much go wherever so I walked through the interior and out another entrance.
I went through a cave, up these stairs in these rock formations an climbed the steps up this small mountain/hill thing. Hung out on top and wandered down the other side to see the temple complex rising through the trees on one side. It was very serene, I can only imagine how tranquil it would be before the city and tourism had grown.
Followed that up with a meal at Grandma's Kitchen, another of the 4 most reputable restaurants. I ate what probably was jellyfish as well as this fatty pork back, among many other things.
West Lake
Then we took a boat out to an island in West Lake. After that had some R&R, went to the Mexican restaurant for burritos, and out for the night.
Saturday morning, we went out to the tea growing mountains where we heard a lecture/sales pitch for this one type of tea. We all got to drink the tea, which was delicious, but not delicious enough for me to part with 150 to 300 kuai. Also learned about pouring tea, how it's grown/dried, different ways to steep it. The lecture was given by this spunky employee who's English was really good and at one point made a Brokeback Mountain joke. We then climbed an adjacent mountain with tiers of tea plants being grown.
Trenton tries and fails to take a picture with a tea picker. He later gave her 20 kuai, she promptly stopped working and walked off the mountain.
The program took us all to Papa John's (what?) for lunch and then we took the bus back home. That will round out my traveling until my 10 day break that starts on April 17, when I plan to go to Xinjiang.
The bus ride took about 4 hours and was followed up by a meal at one of the 4 most reputable restaurants in town. We tried several Zhejiang dishes including a dish which was the equivalent to the western beggar's chicken, wrapped in leaves. Also had some fish in this odd sweet sauce that's supposedly a Zhejiang dish.
A guy in our program had friends in Hangzhou, so we checked out a couple bars with them that night. Seemed to have a pretty diverse selection, probably beats Nanjing slightly in terms of nightlife. I went from a Mexican restaurant/bar to a Reggae bar on to an intense dance club (there were lots of lasers) and back to the Reggae bar, where I proceeded to eat a pretty good hamburger.
Friday, we visited this huge park with this famous temple in it. I wish I could say something about the temple, but I didn't actually go inside, I just wandered around the park. I've seen so many temples, I'm almost templed-out, and there was plenty of other cool stuff to see. Particularly, all over were these Buddhas carved in the stones around the temple, sometimes high up in the rocks.
A cave entrance in the park with Buddhist carvings. We could pretty much go wherever so I walked through the interior and out another entrance.
I went through a cave, up these stairs in these rock formations an climbed the steps up this small mountain/hill thing. Hung out on top and wandered down the other side to see the temple complex rising through the trees on one side. It was very serene, I can only imagine how tranquil it would be before the city and tourism had grown.
Followed that up with a meal at Grandma's Kitchen, another of the 4 most reputable restaurants. I ate what probably was jellyfish as well as this fatty pork back, among many other things.
West Lake
Then we took a boat out to an island in West Lake. After that had some R&R, went to the Mexican restaurant for burritos, and out for the night.
Saturday morning, we went out to the tea growing mountains where we heard a lecture/sales pitch for this one type of tea. We all got to drink the tea, which was delicious, but not delicious enough for me to part with 150 to 300 kuai. Also learned about pouring tea, how it's grown/dried, different ways to steep it. The lecture was given by this spunky employee who's English was really good and at one point made a Brokeback Mountain joke. We then climbed an adjacent mountain with tiers of tea plants being grown.
Trenton tries and fails to take a picture with a tea picker. He later gave her 20 kuai, she promptly stopped working and walked off the mountain.
The program took us all to Papa John's (what?) for lunch and then we took the bus back home. That will round out my traveling until my 10 day break that starts on April 17, when I plan to go to Xinjiang.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Migrant School and Shanghai
We went to the migrant school Thursday afternoon and had to teach the kids for about an hour. Our group taught them "I'm a Little Teapot" and played hangman. We also tried to play this game outside, but that kind of failed. We were told the kids would be 8 to 10 years old, it is a primary school after all, but some claimed to be as old as like 14 or 15.
It was to be expected, kind of chaotic. At the start they were really well behaved, but "I'm a Little Teapot" definitely started to lose them. The school building was supposedly only a few years old, but certainly didn't look that way. I guess most of the kids there were from Anhui and Jiangsu (outside Nanjing) province. They proclaimed proudly how many students had graduated and gone on to middle school recently. I can't remember the exact numbers, but if that's something to be proud of, I wonder what a really bad school is like.
Right after that, I went to Shanghai with Jim, Tim, and (Dan) Butters. Jim was in the program last semester too, and his family had moved to Shanghai from Rochester when he was 10 years old. That said, we stayed at his family's apartment in a compound about a 45 minute ride west from the train station. Got there at like 10, ate leftover lasagna, played with his awesome British bulldog (which involved a marshmallow gun), played Xbox and were asleep by like 12:30.
The next day I woke up, put my suit on, printed off my resume and clips and headed toward the Jing'an Temple area closer to the center of the city for my internship interview. The guy was an hour late because he had to run out for something. Should know about the internship sometime this week. Met up with a large group of CIEE people who had arrived Friday afternoon. We went to a cheap noodle restaurant suggested by Jim's mom (who works for this expat guide/phone service thing). Then walked to the Bund to go to a bar called I Heart Shanghai. It was pretty dead so after one drink, we went to a bar called Mural, which had some "all you can drink for 100 kuai" thing. Not too exciting, met up with Jim/Tim and some of his friends, street food after. I would learn that night and the next night "open bar" also means watered down alcohol, which was pretty gross and led to me drinking beer. I end up sleeping on the floor in the CIEE hotel room with 6 other guys, Jim's place was an inconvenient taxi ride away.
Saturday, woke up showered and put my suit back on. We grabbed breakfast at the City Diner (banana pancakes) and in the afternoon went to the Shanghai Museum. The weather was great and we had to wait like 45 minutes to get in. The minority culture, currency, and sculpture exhibits were amazing. Around 5, finally made it back to Jim's to clean my self up and bring my stuff back to the hotel. For dinner, we went out to a Xinjiang restaurant and ordered what was probably a half to a quarter of lamb (we had pre-ordered a whole one but shown up late and they had already sold part of it). Still it was a TON of meat. They gave us gloves and we pretty much just dug in to a pile of roasted lamb, biting the meat away from the fat. It was pretty awesome. Had other dishes too, but most everything had lamb in it. Ping Ping and friends who live in Shanghai also came.
Then, we went to a club called Bon Bon for an all-you-can-drink thing for Lynn in our programs birthday. 120 kuai for guys, 80 for girls. We all had a shot of tequila for her birthday, which they interpreted as pouring half a glass out. Turns out, because it's watered down, probably was equivalent to a shot, just even more disgusting than normal tequila. So after that mostly drank the warm beer they had. Gotta make money somehow I guess. There was no place to sit, so we pretty much danced for the entire time from 10 to like 1:30 or 2 when we left. It was a pretty big place, had a hip-hop dance room and a techno dance room.
The next day, we went to an amazing restaurant called Element Fresh for brunch. I'd been there twice before, it pretty much serves really fresh, yuppie diner food to yuppies. Really good though, had an omlette, steak, fruit, toast, potatoes for 68 kuai. We ate outside in the sun since it was warm out and it was easily the most relaxing thing I've done in weeks. Caught the train back at 2:30 and studied.
Other than that, we went to an Irish-style Pub in the Sheraton Hotel for Saint Patty's Day. A normal Guinness cost as much as my Element Fresh meal, thank god we negotiated them down to 35 kuai since we were in a group. Seemed to be a lot of 40+ British dudes, I didn't know the British celebrated the holiday.
It was to be expected, kind of chaotic. At the start they were really well behaved, but "I'm a Little Teapot" definitely started to lose them. The school building was supposedly only a few years old, but certainly didn't look that way. I guess most of the kids there were from Anhui and Jiangsu (outside Nanjing) province. They proclaimed proudly how many students had graduated and gone on to middle school recently. I can't remember the exact numbers, but if that's something to be proud of, I wonder what a really bad school is like.
Right after that, I went to Shanghai with Jim, Tim, and (Dan) Butters. Jim was in the program last semester too, and his family had moved to Shanghai from Rochester when he was 10 years old. That said, we stayed at his family's apartment in a compound about a 45 minute ride west from the train station. Got there at like 10, ate leftover lasagna, played with his awesome British bulldog (which involved a marshmallow gun), played Xbox and were asleep by like 12:30.
The next day I woke up, put my suit on, printed off my resume and clips and headed toward the Jing'an Temple area closer to the center of the city for my internship interview. The guy was an hour late because he had to run out for something. Should know about the internship sometime this week. Met up with a large group of CIEE people who had arrived Friday afternoon. We went to a cheap noodle restaurant suggested by Jim's mom (who works for this expat guide/phone service thing). Then walked to the Bund to go to a bar called I Heart Shanghai. It was pretty dead so after one drink, we went to a bar called Mural, which had some "all you can drink for 100 kuai" thing. Not too exciting, met up with Jim/Tim and some of his friends, street food after. I would learn that night and the next night "open bar" also means watered down alcohol, which was pretty gross and led to me drinking beer. I end up sleeping on the floor in the CIEE hotel room with 6 other guys, Jim's place was an inconvenient taxi ride away.
Saturday, woke up showered and put my suit back on. We grabbed breakfast at the City Diner (banana pancakes) and in the afternoon went to the Shanghai Museum. The weather was great and we had to wait like 45 minutes to get in. The minority culture, currency, and sculpture exhibits were amazing. Around 5, finally made it back to Jim's to clean my self up and bring my stuff back to the hotel. For dinner, we went out to a Xinjiang restaurant and ordered what was probably a half to a quarter of lamb (we had pre-ordered a whole one but shown up late and they had already sold part of it). Still it was a TON of meat. They gave us gloves and we pretty much just dug in to a pile of roasted lamb, biting the meat away from the fat. It was pretty awesome. Had other dishes too, but most everything had lamb in it. Ping Ping and friends who live in Shanghai also came.
Then, we went to a club called Bon Bon for an all-you-can-drink thing for Lynn in our programs birthday. 120 kuai for guys, 80 for girls. We all had a shot of tequila for her birthday, which they interpreted as pouring half a glass out. Turns out, because it's watered down, probably was equivalent to a shot, just even more disgusting than normal tequila. So after that mostly drank the warm beer they had. Gotta make money somehow I guess. There was no place to sit, so we pretty much danced for the entire time from 10 to like 1:30 or 2 when we left. It was a pretty big place, had a hip-hop dance room and a techno dance room.
The next day, we went to an amazing restaurant called Element Fresh for brunch. I'd been there twice before, it pretty much serves really fresh, yuppie diner food to yuppies. Really good though, had an omlette, steak, fruit, toast, potatoes for 68 kuai. We ate outside in the sun since it was warm out and it was easily the most relaxing thing I've done in weeks. Caught the train back at 2:30 and studied.
Other than that, we went to an Irish-style Pub in the Sheraton Hotel for Saint Patty's Day. A normal Guinness cost as much as my Element Fresh meal, thank god we negotiated them down to 35 kuai since we were in a group. Seemed to be a lot of 40+ British dudes, I didn't know the British celebrated the holiday.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
The Past Week
As usual, not a lot's been going on besides studying. This past weekend, I just did the usual hanging out thing. Spent one night at this bar with live jazz with most of the people in my program. On Friday, Ping Ping (our program assistant) had a party at her apartment, which was packed because her roommates also invited all of there friends. The over-crowded apartment reminded me of my freshman year, but in a good way. I guess. After that we went to a bar with Salsa dancing, although I admittedly only watched. I possess no actual talent, I have to take a dance class or something when I get back to the U.S. I spent Saturday working at the voice recording job again.
By Sunday morning, I was feeling slightly ill, this feeling I usually get before I get actually sick. No surprise really, everyone in the program has a bad cough, one girl had pink eye last week, another bronchitis, and my roommates been sick on and off for a week, sometimes with a fever. Rather than fight with the same advice I always get from Chinese people, I just went along with it this time. I'm wearing more clothes than I need to keep me warm and drinking only hot water. Might be doing the trick, haven't gotten actually sick yet although I still wake up with a sore throat.
On Sunday, I did go to an all you can eat sushi and teppanyaki restaurant for Shirlene's birthday. It was all you can eat for 150 kuai, so we gorged on steak, shrimp, fish, raw sashimi, etc. Almost gave me a meat coma. I followed up that fine dining experience by going to a place called Taj Mahal which had Indian food and was, surprisingly, actually run by Indian and/or Pakastani people. It was free too since enough of the Chinese roommates went that it counts as a "Target Language Meal" because we presumably spoke Chinese.
Last night, my roommate and I had like an hour long conversation in Chinese after we got on the topic of politics and foreign policy. It started off with how crazy Korean people are, or at least how some of their scholars think the way history went down. Ended up talking about Darfur, Taiwan, Kosovo, Bush, Clinton, Hillary, Iraq, oil, how the U.S. start's too many wars, how Jiang Zemin is a real "piece of shit" for not at least getting really mad about the U.S. plane bombing the Chinese embassy in Belgrade back in the '90s, how much of a badass Mao was before 1949 and how he screwed stuff up after. It was good, I'm starting to learn how to say all these things and it's funny to learn the Chinese pronunciations for these words which is funny sometimes (ex: Bush is BuShi). It tied in well with the vocab from newspaper articles I've been reading for my one-on-one class about China/Taiwan and most recently an article about Condi meeting with Hu Jintao.
Tomorrow, the program is going to a migrant primary school to volunteer in the afternoon. Pretty much, migrants move to the city's to find work, but they remain pretty much second class citizens, so there kids get second class schools. Each group of us is supposed to teach the kids a song, play a game, do a skit, story, something that is "American." We'll see how that goes, may have to brush up on "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes."
Upon return from that I will leave promptly for Shanghai. On Friday, I have a "talk" with a guy about a magazine where I could possibly get an internship. Kind of hard to say what that will actually be like. Getting my suit coat sleeves shortened for an amazing 15 kuai repair, so that they'll be the right length for when I wear it at the interview and going out.
I'm already getting into minutia, but I'm at a loss for what to write. Still trying to update every week though.
By Sunday morning, I was feeling slightly ill, this feeling I usually get before I get actually sick. No surprise really, everyone in the program has a bad cough, one girl had pink eye last week, another bronchitis, and my roommates been sick on and off for a week, sometimes with a fever. Rather than fight with the same advice I always get from Chinese people, I just went along with it this time. I'm wearing more clothes than I need to keep me warm and drinking only hot water. Might be doing the trick, haven't gotten actually sick yet although I still wake up with a sore throat.
On Sunday, I did go to an all you can eat sushi and teppanyaki restaurant for Shirlene's birthday. It was all you can eat for 150 kuai, so we gorged on steak, shrimp, fish, raw sashimi, etc. Almost gave me a meat coma. I followed up that fine dining experience by going to a place called Taj Mahal which had Indian food and was, surprisingly, actually run by Indian and/or Pakastani people. It was free too since enough of the Chinese roommates went that it counts as a "Target Language Meal" because we presumably spoke Chinese.
Last night, my roommate and I had like an hour long conversation in Chinese after we got on the topic of politics and foreign policy. It started off with how crazy Korean people are, or at least how some of their scholars think the way history went down. Ended up talking about Darfur, Taiwan, Kosovo, Bush, Clinton, Hillary, Iraq, oil, how the U.S. start's too many wars, how Jiang Zemin is a real "piece of shit" for not at least getting really mad about the U.S. plane bombing the Chinese embassy in Belgrade back in the '90s, how much of a badass Mao was before 1949 and how he screwed stuff up after. It was good, I'm starting to learn how to say all these things and it's funny to learn the Chinese pronunciations for these words which is funny sometimes (ex: Bush is BuShi). It tied in well with the vocab from newspaper articles I've been reading for my one-on-one class about China/Taiwan and most recently an article about Condi meeting with Hu Jintao.
Tomorrow, the program is going to a migrant primary school to volunteer in the afternoon. Pretty much, migrants move to the city's to find work, but they remain pretty much second class citizens, so there kids get second class schools. Each group of us is supposed to teach the kids a song, play a game, do a skit, story, something that is "American." We'll see how that goes, may have to brush up on "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes."
Upon return from that I will leave promptly for Shanghai. On Friday, I have a "talk" with a guy about a magazine where I could possibly get an internship. Kind of hard to say what that will actually be like. Getting my suit coat sleeves shortened for an amazing 15 kuai repair, so that they'll be the right length for when I wear it at the interview and going out.
I'm already getting into minutia, but I'm at a loss for what to write. Still trying to update every week though.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
I leave the U.S. and everything goes to hell...
Barack Obama still doesn't have the nomination, and now, Brett Favre retires!
Work/School
All I've been doing is studying and hanging out, nothing very interesting. On Thursday, we had our dinner/KTV extravaganza with our roommates, which was pretty standard. On Saturday, I worked for 6 hours at a english voice recording job, recording the listening section of 20 different tests. It was pretty mind numbing, we (Shirlene and I) got one 10 minute break in the middle. It was not enjoyable, but I did get paid 150 kuai (A little over $20 an hour). I may do it again this weekend since the money's so good.
The beginning of the week was heavy on homework. A dialogue for speaking class on Monday and several book exercises and a couple texts to read, 60 word vocab dictation test and a 400 character essay on Tuesday. Also on Tuesday, I had my first one-on-one reading class with my professor.
So I've been taking it easy since then. Looking forward to getting done with my last 2 hours of class tomorrow from 8-10 and then the weekend.
Work/School
All I've been doing is studying and hanging out, nothing very interesting. On Thursday, we had our dinner/KTV extravaganza with our roommates, which was pretty standard. On Saturday, I worked for 6 hours at a english voice recording job, recording the listening section of 20 different tests. It was pretty mind numbing, we (Shirlene and I) got one 10 minute break in the middle. It was not enjoyable, but I did get paid 150 kuai (A little over $20 an hour). I may do it again this weekend since the money's so good.
The beginning of the week was heavy on homework. A dialogue for speaking class on Monday and several book exercises and a couple texts to read, 60 word vocab dictation test and a 400 character essay on Tuesday. Also on Tuesday, I had my first one-on-one reading class with my professor.
So I've been taking it easy since then. Looking forward to getting done with my last 2 hours of class tomorrow from 8-10 and then the weekend.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Roommates
Da Peng (means "Big Bird") moved in yesterday at around 9 a.m. He said it was a two or three hour train ride from where he lives in Shandong (the province north of Jiangsu). He came with a bunch of packets of dried fish, that I guess come from that province, which he gave to me and a several other people. Not bad, really salty and fishy. He seems pretty chill to live with, should be a good semester. I knew him from playing basketball and drinking baijiu with him last semester.
Speaking of which, Jerry, my old roommate, gave me a bottle of baijiu, named after the first Chinese to make alcohol some 3000 years ago. It's OK, 52% alcohol. Its way better than the Erguotou, which comes in 3 kuai flasks on the street, although that is good for passing time on trains.
I just got back hot pot with Da Peng and several other roommate pairs. I may have changed my mind about hotpot, now that I'm better at using chopsticks. I used to not like it because you have to put the meet/veggies into the pot and let them cook before picking them out. It makes for a long meal and I'm never sure when I'm full. Although in a social setting such as tonight, it was a lot of fun.
Tomorrow we go out with all the roommates to dinner and then KTV. Last semester it was a lot of fun so it should be fun this time around. Usually involves a lot of ganbei-ing, the Chinese equivalent of cheers when you finish your drink. I'll try to take a picture to throw up here.
I'm definitely staying in A ban as my laoshi thinks I can handle it. It will be a lot of work but my Chinese will be so much better at the end. Plus, Da Peng only likes to speak Chinese since he's a Chinese Lit major.
Speaking of which, Jerry, my old roommate, gave me a bottle of baijiu, named after the first Chinese to make alcohol some 3000 years ago. It's OK, 52% alcohol. Its way better than the Erguotou, which comes in 3 kuai flasks on the street, although that is good for passing time on trains.
I just got back hot pot with Da Peng and several other roommate pairs. I may have changed my mind about hotpot, now that I'm better at using chopsticks. I used to not like it because you have to put the meet/veggies into the pot and let them cook before picking them out. It makes for a long meal and I'm never sure when I'm full. Although in a social setting such as tonight, it was a lot of fun.
Tomorrow we go out with all the roommates to dinner and then KTV. Last semester it was a lot of fun so it should be fun this time around. Usually involves a lot of ganbei-ing, the Chinese equivalent of cheers when you finish your drink. I'll try to take a picture to throw up here.
I'm definitely staying in A ban as my laoshi thinks I can handle it. It will be a lot of work but my Chinese will be so much better at the end. Plus, Da Peng only likes to speak Chinese since he's a Chinese Lit major.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Xi'an
Got back from Xian much as I arrived--at an unusual hour. We got in at 5 a.m., checked into a hotel and had about 1-1/2 hour to rest before we started our sightseeing. Went to see some hot springs, the Terracotta Warriors, the Big Goose Pagoda, and the Great Mosque. The hot springs were where some emperor used to bathe, not very interesting. But it's als where the Xi'an Incident occurred. Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Nationalist party, was kidnapped from his field headquarters outside Xi'an by essentially a warlord and forced into a truce with the Communists. Bullet holes remain and period furniture fills the small rooms of the field headquarters. More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi'an_Incident.
The rest was the same old same old. In our free time, I got to eat a lot of the famous street food, although much of the time I wasn't sure why it is famous. Rou jia mou, often referred to as a Chinese hamburger and supposedly is Xinjiang specialty, is actually much better in Nanjing. Did have some awesome spicy crayfish, so now I'm starting to realize that the worse something looks, often the better it tastes.
The first weekend trip is also used as an opportunity to bond with all the people we're just meeting. That meant going out at night, in this case to karaoke (KTV). And that I was completely exhausted. Arriving back in Nanjing at 11 p.m. Sunday night, by plane, we only spent one real night in the hotel.
Class
Class is proving hard enough that I'm holding off on getting a job. I should be able to keep up in real A ban (not A2 ban I was placed into), so I should learn a lot this semester. Trying to focus on my tones, as they are my weakest point.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Class
Over the weekend, a couple guys came from Shanghai, so I went out with them both nights. Helped out new people buy cell phones on Saturday and went back to the Massacre museum on Sunday. Last time, it had been overrun with people because of the anniversary, so I had only seen the mass graves and Peace monument, not the actual museum itself. The Museum is huge with thousands of artifacts and pictures. It seemed almost like evidence for some sort of court proceeding against the Japanese. No mention of the dropping of the bomb, but plenty of mention of Chinese resistance triumphing over the Japanese invaders. Not outright bias in most things, just bias by what was omitted. Disturbing as always. If you want to know more go to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanking_Massacre.
Class started today at 8 a.m. I had been placed in an A2 class, which was more like an A/B class, so I will be trying the A class tomorrow. The A2 class would be fine, but I want a challenging class. I've been lazy with my Chinese lately, so it needs something to jump start it. Only three days of class this week, and then we have our orientation field trip to Xi'an. I've already been there, but it should be fun anyway.
Class started today at 8 a.m. I had been placed in an A2 class, which was more like an A/B class, so I will be trying the A class tomorrow. The A2 class would be fine, but I want a challenging class. I've been lazy with my Chinese lately, so it needs something to jump start it. Only three days of class this week, and then we have our orientation field trip to Xi'an. I've already been there, but it should be fun anyway.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Back in NJ
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Huge Buddha on Lantau Island, next door to Hong Kong Island, but in the same Special Administrative Region (SAR). Sits on a hill above a monastery. (Below) Hong Kong from Victoria peak at night. The peak is as tall as some of the skyscrapers next to it. In other words, it's pretty steep.Got back in Nanjing yesterday. Took a soft sleeper train direct from Hong Kong to Shanghai, then got a fast train back to Nanjing. About 25 hours start to finish, which isn't bad when you sleep for 10 of them. Soft sleepers come with a TV screen at the foot of the bed with 2 channels. I watched two episodes of this Chinese show that was a rip off of Sex in the City almost exactly. Even one women with short hair died slightly red. Really funny though, and a sign my listening comprehension is improving.
My lunch meeting on Tuesday went well. Might freelance and get paid for it. Exciting, but I've never written for a magazine before. I could live wherever I wanted and travel, potentially, if I need to to write a story. Could possibly do it in conjunction with another part time internship/job.
Other than that, saw the Buddha on Monday, and went to Hong Kong library at night to look at a book for my potential honors thesis. Also so The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, which I would recommend. Movie selection is much better in Hong Kong.
It's really good to be back in Nanjing, feels like home. It's really great to see some of my Chinese and a couple people back from last semester. New kids on the way, a few are here already, but most will arrive tomorrow. I found out today also that I wouldn't have to take the placement test again, I'll just be placed in the A level class (there's A (good), B (intermediate), C (everybody lower), and people taking real university classes (ridiculously good)).
If anything interesting happens, I will update.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Relaxing until Tuesday
Back in Hong Kong taking it easy after lugging my backpack around Macau for two days. I couldn't find a good place to stay that was reasonably priced. I stayed in a non-registered place, pretty much a cheap bed in a place with the "floating population" you read about in China. Didn't think it was too safe, so I decided not to stay another night and came back. I still got a sense for Macau and saw a few sights.
Voted today. Kind of cool seeing a bunch of expat democrats going into a diner to vote.
I'm talking to a guy about a potential internship on Tuesday, and then I'll head back to Nanjing for school to start on Friday. I will probably make a day trip out to Lantau island tomorrow to see this huge Buddha. Going to go catch a movie now then try to go to sleep early.
Voted today. Kind of cool seeing a bunch of expat democrats going into a diner to vote.
I'm talking to a guy about a potential internship on Tuesday, and then I'll head back to Nanjing for school to start on Friday. I will probably make a day trip out to Lantau island tomorrow to see this huge Buddha. Going to go catch a movie now then try to go to sleep early.
Back in Hong Kong
Came back unexpectedly early because Macau was too expensive. More on that later, it's 3 a.m.
Friday, February 8, 2008
In Hong Kong
Arrived in Hong Kong yesterday. I keep coming up with different ways to think of the city in my head. In some ways, it is the closest thing to Blade Runner or StarWars (the new ones) I've seen. Surely ever high-technology-future scifi writer has to have seen this city. People walk up to me, Africans, Indians, Chinese accosting me about buying a suit, hasheesh, a watch etc. I'm staying in a room that's closet size, my bed + two feet. Signs are everywhere in English, Chinese, you name it. The rich live super-baller lifestyles while the poor are almost comically poor. It's easily the most cosmopolitan city I've been to (sorry New York).
Hong Kong also seems kind of like the Bay Area, but a better version. First, all unwanted elements are pushed out of the city proper (in this case to where I'm staying in Kowloon across the harbor), and there are special places for rich people to live (the closer to the top of Victoria Peak, the richer). Second the weather is mild, although it does get hotter here in the summer. Third, as mentioned above. Fourth, everybody's a huge yuppie. I could keep listing.
I keep going back and forth as to whether I love or hate HK. You have to have money to get the most out of the city by shelling out for that good dinner or show or to get even moderately good digs. The racial economic gap is still large--all the lower class is Chinese. That brings me to the fact that this city is dripping in British-ness. If the Chinese guy is upper class, he has a British accent. I love the historical feeling, as this still feels like a colony, a feeling I've never gotten anywhere before. The feeling definitely makes the material from my Chinese history courses come alive. But still, their British, it's just so unappealing.
I wish I could post pictures since I have many interesting ones. I didn't bring my computer, so I'm at an internet cafe.
Anyway, going to Macao tomorrow morning for a day or two. Vegas of the East and all that. Back on Sunday to vote in person with Democrats Abroad (woohoo 11 expat delegates). Good thing I'm in Hong Kong and this happens to be the only place in China with a branch otherwise I would be too late to vote. That said, vote Obama on February 19th.
Hong Kong also seems kind of like the Bay Area, but a better version. First, all unwanted elements are pushed out of the city proper (in this case to where I'm staying in Kowloon across the harbor), and there are special places for rich people to live (the closer to the top of Victoria Peak, the richer). Second the weather is mild, although it does get hotter here in the summer. Third, as mentioned above. Fourth, everybody's a huge yuppie. I could keep listing.
I keep going back and forth as to whether I love or hate HK. You have to have money to get the most out of the city by shelling out for that good dinner or show or to get even moderately good digs. The racial economic gap is still large--all the lower class is Chinese. That brings me to the fact that this city is dripping in British-ness. If the Chinese guy is upper class, he has a British accent. I love the historical feeling, as this still feels like a colony, a feeling I've never gotten anywhere before. The feeling definitely makes the material from my Chinese history courses come alive. But still, their British, it's just so unappealing.
I wish I could post pictures since I have many interesting ones. I didn't bring my computer, so I'm at an internet cafe.
Anyway, going to Macao tomorrow morning for a day or two. Vegas of the East and all that. Back on Sunday to vote in person with Democrats Abroad (woohoo 11 expat delegates). Good thing I'm in Hong Kong and this happens to be the only place in China with a branch otherwise I would be too late to vote. That said, vote Obama on February 19th.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Guangzhou
Arrived in Guangzhou after a 34 hour train ride from Shanghai. The trip was scheduled to only take 17 hours, but I was held up by power outages in Western Jiangxi Province and all of Hunan Province. I befriended a guy named Mr. Lee who would keep me updated as to what the train staff was saying. Also, I actually buckled down and bought one of the sketchy boxed lunches (rice, cucumbers and onions, a half of a hard boiled egg sitting in what looked like sour kraut, piece of tofu, 2 pieces of what was probably fried chicken, and bean curd that looked like brains).
Arrived at 3 a.m. and got to a hostel. Found a huge cockroach on the floor of the bathroom today, on its back flailing. The one standard I hold a hostel to, and it fails. Freezing too, this far south most hotel rooms don't have heat. It's on Shamian island, a sand bar t hat had been taken over by the British/French and used as a trading post under the hong trading system. Little traffic, pretty chill, Starbucks nearby.
Taking in museums, have already been to three. Went to a Canadian bar last night with a friend of a friend. Probably won't make it to Hong Kong until the 6th.
Arrived at 3 a.m. and got to a hostel. Found a huge cockroach on the floor of the bathroom today, on its back flailing. The one standard I hold a hostel to, and it fails. Freezing too, this far south most hotel rooms don't have heat. It's on Shamian island, a sand bar t hat had been taken over by the British/French and used as a trading post under the hong trading system. Little traffic, pretty chill, Starbucks nearby.
Taking in museums, have already been to three. Went to a Canadian bar last night with a friend of a friend. Probably won't make it to Hong Kong until the 6th.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Change of Plans
My flight to Kunming in Yunnan was canceled twice because of 4 days of snow, so I will not be going. Instead, I'm going to Shanghai with a friend to kill time until I can get out to the Hong Kong area. I'll try to get a train, but, because of the Spring Festival rush, I may fall back on flying. The Shanghai airport will probably be back to running normally long before the Nanjing airport.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
It's been an even longer time
Snow outside my window 1/26
I admittedly fell off the wagon pretty hard with my blog. As you probably know, I made the decision to go back to China for another semester. I'm in the same program at Nanjing University, but will be taking higher level classes with the hope of becoming more fluent. Class doesn't start until February 18th because everyone is off for the week after the new year (on Feb. 6).
Last semester wrapped up with a very Chinese Thanksgiving, a couple more trips to Shanghai, Chinese language finals, a large research project (we surveyed 89 locals and wrote a 10 page paper), general merriment, and goodbyes. I went back to the U.S. for a month. After Christmas and New Years, I commenced my tour of the Midwest--Northwestern, Minneapolis, and Carleton College. Arrived in Nanjing yesterday after a marathon 36 some hours of travel.
I was looking forward to getting out of the Wisconsin weather, but it started snowing last night and doesn't seem like it's letting up.
Tomorrow or Monday, I plan on going to Yunnan for a week or two and then go to Hong Kong. My updates won't be elaborate while I'm traveling (not taking my laptop), but I plan to go to internet cafes to write what cities I'm in so my parents can keep track.
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