UBER POST

So I lied. I haven't been posting anything. I've been busy. So to make up for it I'm just going to tell you everything I have been doing for the last three weeks in one EPIC UBER POST!

Okay, so three weeks ago I went to the Olympic Park!


It was so much cooler than the Olympic park in Sydney. The Buildings are just designed to be awesome.



The Watercube has a moat which actually goes into the building too. I almost pushed my friend in, but I thought that'd be bad. It was really neat to see the building from the inside too. For those of you that have been in Beinike (however you spell it), the Watercube has the same effect of light coming in.



The Bird's nest was also pretty sweet. It's so well designed, but at the same time doesn't seem like it can hold too many people. They tried to stop people from going on the track, but I really wanted to, so I did. Well, a little. I stuck my leg through the fence. They also didn't want me to touch the giant inflatable Huanhuan, but no rope can stop me. It was pretty cool, though it took waaaaaaaaay to much time. It was an entire afternoon.

Then Austin, Lea, and I went to Wal*Mart, which is a lot worse in China than in the US. But on the plus side, it had this:



Then it was Halloween. We had some bad chocolate, carved pumpkins and watched a movie. It was okay, but I think Yale might have been more fun.

Fast forward one week. Welcome to the Deer Park. I was going to go to 798 (which I will do and tell you about later) but Ming Yee and Lea were going to Deer park and I thought, well, no one else will ever go to deer park, lets do it. So it took us forever to get there as we left nice Beijing and made our way to the far south, just barely reachable by subway, area of Beijing. I had no idea what to expect, but when we got there we saw some sweet English translation and I knew it'd be okay. I figured it would be like Fawn Doe Rosa (for those of you from SCF) but it was so much more. Well, not really, but it was pretty sweet. There were deer. Lots of them.



There were also Emu which make a noise like a drum. And a deer with antlers that looked like cancer. And a horse that tried to kill Eric. And ducks. And a sweet play ground. And reindeer. Then we took a sketch cab back to the subway station. Well, we tried to. He didn't know where it was. He wasn't a very good cab driver.

Okay, move back to the night before. I went out for a birthday party. Not mine, but a friend's. She turned 21 and it was a blast. About 15 of us went to dinner at a really nice restaurant. We took cabs there and I went with 3 people I've never met, two were from Scandinavia and they were crazy. Aparently when they're home all they do is drink with their family and go in Saunas. What a life! The restaurant was amazing. It had delicious burgers and drinks and was so good. We played drinking games there with wine and had a grand ol' time. Then we went to find some cheaper alcohol and dance. Laurel, the girl who planned all of this, did a great job, plus is an amazing drunk. It was a good night which led to an early morning of deer park.

Okay, now go forward to my birthday. Much lamer. I didn't want to drag people across the city and instead we had pizza brought to our dorm. It was good pizza. I also got coffee earlier that day, which was delicious, and bought a mug, which I love. It was a generally good day, but not the type of birthday one should have when they turn 21. So when I get back, I'll be looking to go out.

Another boring week of class...blah.

And now we are up to last weekend. This last weekend I volunteered as a camp counselor at an International Church inn Beijing and it was amazing. It wasn't as good as Whispering Pines (RIP) but it was still fun. My campers were from Korea, but all spoke English really well and were really well behaved compared to others there. Unfortunately that made camp a little more boring as all they wanted to do was play cards or listen to their iPods when they could have been out on the challenge course or exploring the grounds. We were at a sweet place, but they were lame. My favorite part was the worship. I didn't know middle schoolers could have so much faith and praise. One night we had glow sticks and kids were jumping and singing. It was amazing. Then we prayed one on one with different kids which was really moving. The kids were just so awesome. Another great part was that it was Office themed. The different groups made businesses. My team might have gotten last, but we made weapons out of meat, we were Dark Night Sausages. Our product was made by a group of kids we found out later weren't in our group and when they left all our energy was taken too...so that sucked. We tried as counselors, but we could only do so much. Camp was awesome. I may be working at camp again next summer, we will see.

So that bring us to today. This morning I had to go to a temple on the other side of town to do research for my paper. This would have been fine, but no one could go with me and I speak minimal Chinese. So I take the subway to the other side of town, no problem. I hail a cab, no problem. I tell him where I need to go, he starts driving, no problem. Wait, problem. I could just feel that we were going the wrong way. He pulls over and I'm like "No, this isn't right, that's not a temple." So i should him the address. I guess I mispronounced it. He starts yelling at me, and I say sorry in Chinese. Thankfully he keeps driving. We get there, he just laughs at me and is saying something I don't get in Chinese. Then i go to pay for the 15 kuai trip with a 100. I tell him I don't have any small bills (in Chinese, yeah, I'm awesome) and he yells at me some more. I just leave. Jerk face. I try to get in, some guy stops me. It takes me a minute to realize that I need to buy a ticket. I show the lady my student ID, but she makes me pay full price anyway. Jerk face II. I start taking pictures of prayers, the focus of my research, and I have no gloves. It's about 30 degrees F and my hands are just frozen. I take over 100 pictures of prayers I can't read, explore for evidence of other things I can include, then leave with my frozen hands. I get in a new cab, just show him the name of the subway station. We head in the right directions, so i think he understands. But no. Hes just heading toward the street. He passes where I'm pretty sure the station is. I get him to stop and walk two blocks to get to the station. Jerk Face III. I get back and go to Starbucks for some Christmas Blend and something to warm my hands. Then i go to a boring lecture and study Chinese. I played LIFE with Christian and Austin. And now I'm here. So there you go, my last three weeks of life. Thanks for reading. I leave for Xi'an on Friday and I'll have pictures for you Monday, hopefully.

Preview

I need to be honest with all of you: I got lazy these last few weeks. I didn't want to post some things until I had the pictures ready to upload. And that took two weeks. So here's a quick update. I went to the Olympic Park. We celebrated Halloween. I went to a deer park. I celebrated my friends 21st birthday. I celebrated my 21st birthday. I started playing WoW. So that's obviously too much for one post. So that's what you get to look forward to over the coming days, assuming I don't WoW it up too much.

Study Break?

I have just finished a marathon of studying. I had three midterms this week within 24 hours of each other. This meant I've been studying characters, why we speak the way we do, and how culture affects our brains and behavior nonstop since Saturday when I realized that I had all these tests. My brain is fried. But it's over, they went fine and now I can move on with life.

I usually get through these times through study breaks, be they set up by others or just me taking a break. We had our first Yale-PKU study break this last week. Trying to get the word out was a blast. We received an e-mail advertising the fact that on Wednesday the 5th we would be having a study break at 10:00. Here are the thoughts that followed.

Yale Students: Yes! Free Food

PKU Students: ???

I cannot count the number of times I heard Austin try to explain what a study break is. It was even more fun as he tried to convince some of them to come. The biggest issue was that they were too busy studying...which is kinda the point of a study break, but that's okay. It means more doughnuts for me. The next problem was that they couldn't go because it would be too long. Austin tried to explain that they could just come, get a doughnut, and return to their work, but I that didn't work at first either. But then the time came and the room was full. They may have had to sudy, but I think they finally understood the importance of free food. I'm excited for the next one.

And just so everyone knows, I've started to play Christmas music. Not loudly and when others are around, but it has started. After Thanksgiving it will be playing and playing loudly at all hours. Get excited China, I'm going to introduce you to Christmas music.

Coffee and Clippers

I have started to drink coffee. The best reason I can give after years of hating the stuff and refusing to drink it was hanging out with Danny and Ming Yee as they went to a coffee shop. I had gone with Danny before and gotten hot coffee, but I fell to peer pressure and got coffee when Ming Yee was there. It wasn't the best in the world, but I liked it and it kept me up for some four hours. Then I just kept getting it. And it snowballed into bad things. Like this last Saturday I wanted to get out of 42, the building I live in, so I decided to go to Starbucks. I realized I could get a Venti regular coffee for about $3 and that I'd then have a good reason to stay there for hours. So I did. But about 1/2 through it, it got cold because I was drinking it so slowly. My solution: buy a tall mocha and pour it in. So I did. I had a lot of caffine pulsing through my system when I was done. I was kinda twitchy after that and couldn't focus on my characters. I couldn't stand to sit still. I also didn't feel like moving as my stomach felt weird. So I was in a bad place. I was actually able to nap it off after a while, which was weird because I was so ready to go. But then I was tired the rest of the day. Stupid coffee. But for those of you that are reading this that drink coffee, I'd love to have a cup with you to tell you about my time here as long as you buy.

So that was this weekend. Today I decided to cut my hair again. It hasn't been very long since I cut it last, but it felt long to me. I took my clippers to the bathroom and went for it. But I was stupid and didn't fully charge my clippers first. So yeah. As I type this my head is about half shaved, and not well done at that. I could feel that it was going to die so I just tried to do it fast. I'm wearing a headband in a effort to hide it. That's working out well, but I really don't want to have to go to class, meet my tutor and go to training to work at a church camp all in a bandanna tomorrow. We'll see what happens. I hope to fix it before class, but I may be up late, so who knows.

Must learn psychology, but just don't wanna. It's a multiple choice test anyway. I'll just answer C and hope for the best.

Sketch Cab

For dinner tonight we went to TGI Fridays. It may have been Thursday, but we just couldn't wait. After waiting forever for Austin and Lea to get out of class, Austin, Christian, Danny, Deb, Lea and I left 42 and headed out to find a taxi. Well, two taxis as six of us wouldn't fit in one. That's what I thought, but as it turns out there are "Ghost Cabs" in Beijing. Basically what you do is find a guy, tell him where you need to go and how much you'll give him, then get in. Okay, fine, whatever. But then there is something that I will now dub the "Sketch Cab."

The Sketch Cab looks like a Ghost Cab, but is actually just two guys sitting in the white, windowless van near the other ghost cabs. We mistook it for one and asked them for a ride to TGIF. The guys was like (as translated by Austin and then put into more fun words by me), "Well, I'm not a Ghost Cab, but, I mean, why not? I'll take you guys. And you know what? I like the looks of you foreign kids so much I'll do it for free!" After a minute long debate of whether or not we were about to be murdered, we got in the Sketch Cab and headed off. The guy drove just like a taxi and I was sick by the time we reached the restaurant, but we got there in one piece and for free. He also said that he would give us rides whenever we needed and that he hangs out at the spot we found him a lot. Yeah, he's a creeper.

That aside, TGIF was amazing. I LOVE American food so much more now. We had buffalo wings and potato skins and burgers and salads and chicken tenders and it was all so delicious. Sure it cost like $18 per person, but it was so delicious. If it was a little cheaper and a lot closer, I would eat there every week. Too bad this is going to make all of the other food taste so much worse. (As much as I'm hating on Chinese food right now, I really do like it, I just prefer American)

And now I'm to watch 3 episodes of Heroes, but I'm so tired I may not make it.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

How to take over China

I figured out how to take over China. It really won't be that hard. I'm not sure why the Mongols weren't successful. Here is the solution: Toast.

You think I may be kidding, but I think it would work. Let's give every person in China a toaster with a loaf of bread and just wait to see what happens. I get my evidence from the Chinese students I'm living with. In our common room we have a toaster. It just sat that unloved for the longest time. Then I decided that I could use it for breakfast. And then it began. The Chinese students saw what this amazing machine could do and they went nuts. Our floor constantly smells of something burning or being cooked. We go through at least a loaf a day as they can't get enough of its golden deliciousness.

At the same time, however, we've taught them how to defeat us: chwanr. It's pretty much meat on a stick. But it is seasoned and delicious and can be delivered at 1 AM, thus it is glorious. If they came over and offered Americans a lifetime supply, which wouldn't cast too much as its between 1-4 RMB per stick depending on the type of meat (5 to 50 cents), they would easily be granted access to anything they wanted in America. And we could all get fat on delicious roasted lamb and chicken. Mmmmm, chwanr.

Great Wall

My favorite place in China has easily been the Great Wall. I've been twice now and both times were amazing. You can read Qin Huang Dao to learn about the first time, but this is about the second glorious time I saw that marvelous structure that kept out the Mongols (or at least tried to).

So the trip took place on Friday and we left at about 11:30. I say about because there was no way we'd leave on time. Danny and I wanted to get back into the habit of going to the gym, so we hit that up at 9:30 thinking "We'll be there for an hour, that gives us an hour to shower and eat." Good in theory, but not in practice. We got back to 42 at about 10:50, showered, then met up with people to get lunch. But first Danny wanted to drop off some clothes at the laundry. This took forever because they wanted to overcharge him. Jerks. Once we got that figured out we went to have dumplings (well, Danny went to get his camera). Ming-Yee ate all of the dumplins so there were none for the rest of us and we had to improvise food from else where. Not really that big of a deal, but I wanted dumplings. Then we went to get some pop for the trip (3 hour bus ride each way). Again, Danny prevented us from being on time by having no money on his card. Eventually we got to the bus around 11:40. We weren't last though. Once everyone was there (about 11:45) we took off.

We had a "guide" with us. I saw "guide" because he taught me nothing on the way there and I didn't even see him at the Wall. So yeah. Ningping wanted us to listen to his little speech about the Wall, but I honestly could have cared less, was mad tired, and went to sleep. Next thing I know, we're there.

The Wall is an interesting sight. You have high expectations, but are let down a little at first. Then you start climbing and it just gets better and better. We were supposed to take a cable car to the top, but they had no power. I was actually pretty thankful for this as it meant we would get to walk more, but felt bad for Deb because she couldn't get to the top. Thankfully, she had a good day anyway. The walk was amazing. The view was so much nicer than at the other place and no one was there and it wasn't too hot and it was just great. People were taking SO many pictures. We stopped for a group photo and it took about half an hour because of all the cameras. I may be exaggerating a little, but c'mon people. We all have digital cameras and you can e-mail them to people. We just needed a couple good copies. But whatever.



The thing I like most about the wall is that it's just like a giant playground. You run around, taking silly photos, climbing impossible steps, darting ahead just to fall back with the group later. It's so much fun. And at the same time you know that it was all hand made, which is amazing, and that it's uber old, except the parts that have been renovated. I just love it.



As you may or may not know I'm trying to exercise more over here and part of that includes a push up regiment. Our goal is to be able to bust out 100 at one time before we go back to the states. Friday was a push up day. So where better to do them than the Wall? It was actually one of my better workouts. We'd do a set, walk a little during our break, then do another. We tried to do them in interesting flat spaces to keep it entertaining. Christian joined for some too, but that always makes it harder because he'll say something funny and I'll start laughing and not be able to continue. Still, it was great.

When we finally got back down to the base we whipped out Danny's frisbee. We tried to be cautious but it somehow got on the other side of a walled in area. Christian, being the one who threw it, scaled the wall to retrieve it. It was pretty awesome of him. Unfortunately, as his hands are molting, he cut them up a little, but he's okay and Danny has his frisbee.

Dinner was good. We had so much food, including a corn soup which was just mashed up corn with water. It was pretty much grits, only grits might taste better. We also had locally grown vegetables and a bunch of other amazing foods. About ten minutes into the meal the power went out. No big deal. The servers told us that it happens and just to wait til it came back on. As they supply there own power most of the time, that didn't take too long. To end the meal Ningping had us sing a Great Wall song. The lyrics were in characters and I could only read a few words. Still, it was a good time.

After dinner we got back on the bus, I went back to sleep, and woke up back in Beijing. I probably won't go to the Wall again on this trip, which is kinda sad, but that's why we have pictures and memories. And besides, there's no KTV on the Wall, so I wouldn't be able to survive.