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.

Free Book

So the other day was Deb's B-Day. We went across town to celebrate. WE were going to taxi there, but it was rush hour so we took the subway. After briskly walking to the station and getting on board, we luckily got seats. There weren't too many left and I sat by this kinda weird and sketchy looking Asian guy with Christian by my side.

So we're chilling there not saying too much when Austin gets a phonoe call and speaks some Chinese. The guy sitting next to me hears this, thinks that all the people in our group speak Chinese and talks to me in Chinese. I explain that I'm kinda lame and cannot speak Chinese so he switches to English. Christian, this guy, and I have a forced, poorly communicated English conversation. His English was pretty good, but it wasn't going too well. Then he finds out that Christian speaks Japanese, so they switch languages and just go for it.

So here I am, sitting between the two, not really knowing what's going on, when Christian translates a little for me. Turns out he's a PKU grad and got his masters at the Yale of Japan. So he's pretty impressive. Then they start talking some more and he starts opening this paper package. I'm wondering what on Earth is going on/are we about to die. Turns out it was filled with books and he hands one to both of us. This guy's an author. He wrote a novel (sadly in Chinese so i can't read it). Yeah. So I ask Christian to explain a little more. This guy is not only an author, but speaks like 7 languages and is a big wig at some international company. Not only that, but he is currently producing a major Chinese movie. He's probably one of the most successful people I've met. And now I have a signed copy of his book, including his phone number and as invitation to hang out and learn more about his career.

I never knew that taking the subway would be so amazing.

My New Penguin

So China has given me freedom to own, wear, and do anything I want. They don't really judge me, they just think "Ta shi mei guo ren (He's American)" and let it go. As such, I decided I wanted a little penguin coin purse guy to hold all the stupid change I get so I can spend it. This is his story:

It starts this last weekend. I had a paper due and spent all my time doing that. I put my other classes on hold. I also have watched the first 10 episodes of Heros in the last three days. In other words, I haven't gotten the most sleep. More than everyone else, but less for me. Anyway, I turned in my paper, got out of class at 2:30, watched Heros til 4:30 then went on my quest knowing that I had to write two reading responses before 8 without having done the reading yet. Whatever.

So I walked to the subway station which is always a test. I almost got hit by a car and had to push my way through the throng of people. But I got there ok, got on the right subway, made my connections, and got to the right stop. I knew it was the right stop because Mariel had said so. But she didn't say which store. I looked around and crossed the street and looked around and entered the closest building and looked around then left and looked around and was about to give up when I saw it. It was awesome.

I went in, was greeted by a nice girl. Well, she was nice in that she didn't push me to buy anything. She still followed me around the store though. That's when I saw it, the perfect penguin. It was so nice. It's made out of "leather." I say "leather" because I don't know if it's real or not. It cost me $3, which is kinda expensive for china, but cheep for the US, so I thought it would be okay.

He is adorable. I'd post a pic, but I'm too lazy to walk across the hall, get my camera, take a pic, and load it. So you'll have to deal for now.

Then I got back, two hours after I started. I had 90 minutes to read five or six articles and write five hundred words on them. Not a problem. They were psych papers. Read the abstracts, made up some BS, moved on with life. Now I'm watching Heros...so good.

What have I been doing?

So I decided to check my blog for posts and such and realized that I haven't done anything for 10 days. So I looked back and realized that it's been the little things that has made these ten days fun. I'd go in chronological order, but I can't remember it like that. Time just smashes together here.

I had an American breakfast. French toast, eggs, real fresh squeezed with pulp and seeds orange juice (so good) and bacon. It was delicious. It was also expensive (60 RMB about $9 (cheep in the US, expensive in China)) But it had better have been good after all it took me to get there. Christian and I decided to walk there. We thought it was going to take about 15 minutes. It took about 40. And it was hot. And it was long. But we had a good talk about our families and lives and all that good stuff. So it was all worth it.

Also in Wudoako, I went to get haircuts. Not my haircut as I do my own, but Danny, Ming-Yee, and Lea's hair. They got their hair washed and scalp massages and it was good for them. They don't realize that Christian and I got delicious raisins and water for free. I also learned Chinese. I spent 20 minutes plus in a salon studying Chinese while eating raisins and having this guy try to get my to have a massage. Only in China.

I've been running a lot here. I love to run on the track even though it gives me the cough of death. I love it because running outside is so much better than inside. I'm also a fan because I feel really fast because I lap everyone. Keep in mind I'm only running 8 minute mile splits, so it's not like I'm sprinting, it's just that Chinese people go to work out in jeans and jog slower than turtles stampeding through peanut butter. Unfortunately, I did do a sprint workout because I was finally able to (can't really do one on a treadmill) and hurt my legs. So my showing off to China sidelined my running for 2 days.

Sidenote: working out in China is weird as all Chinese men are obsessed with their abs and at the gym you will constantly see them checking out there abs, which aren't that good, in the middle of the gym.

To counteract the running, I do things like walk to McDonald's at 12:30 AM to buy ham bao baos with Chirstian and Mobai. Nothing tastes better than burgers and fries after midnight.

We also had a mixer with Stanford. It was good. Danny and I decided to meet up with them at a restaurant. But we didn't have their numbers or know where the restaurant was. We walked for 40 minutes or an hour or something like that before Danny called a person who wasn't with them and got a number for one of the girls that was there. I called her, awkwardly explained how I got her number, then we got to the restaurant. It was pretty fun and they're kinda fun people. Hopefully we will get a chance to hang out after I finish this paper.

Oh this paper. Can't wait to finish it.

Dad, I just want to let you know that Christian and I have decided that you are, in fact, a pirate from Riben (aka Arrgh - bun (aka Japan)). I think you know why.

So that's what I've been doing for ten days. At least, that's what I remember.

Classes

So as you may know I also have to take classes here. Here are my thoughts. Chinese is the most ridiculous language ever. Tones are dumb. Characters are dumb. The language is just dumb. The reason Chinese has tones is because they were too lazy to finish there words and dropped of the last letters. And characters are just dumb. They're not helpful. They make reading impossible.

One of my professors doesn't understand how China works. Moreover, doesn't understand that Yale students aren't here to do work. I hate reading responses and he makes us do them for both of his classes. Then he decides that the Yalies can do more work. So instead of writing a paragraph he makes us write a page for every class period. While that's not horrible, it's dumb and pointless. Furthermore, he wrote the book for his one class, makes us read it and write our page, then his lecture is the reading. And his wife is so nice. She doesn't make anyone do anything. ARRAGH!

And VH is VH. whatevs.

But I do have to say that I'm only in class 10 hours a week with one hour of tutoring with the cutest Chinese girl ever.

Random thought:
Chinese bathrooms suck. They smell like farms. And the floor is always wet, but I'm not sure what it is (probably pee). They also use squat toilets...ugh. Thankfully yale got us some real toilets as well.

Qin Huang Dao

I'm going to break from my random thoughts and tell you instead about something I actually did. For the last three days I was in Qin Huang Dao, the home of my roommate. It was pretty swell. Let me tell you why.

First, I was their guest of honor. I was actually told that I was the greatest guest they had ever had. As such, they treated me to the best of everything. For lunch on the first day we ate a Qin Huang Dao delicacy, I don't know what it's called, crab, two types of fish, spring rolls, beef, pork, and so much more. It was so good. Plus we had all the beer I could drink. If my glass was less than half full, someone around the table would fill it again. This happened quite often as I was toasted about five times during the meal and there were a dozen or more other toasts as well.



We then went to our hotel to drop off our things. Worst part of the trip actually. I've never seen a worse hotel room. There was garbage everywhere, the beds were a mess, the bathroom had toothpaste and other objects everywhere. It was really bad. Thankfully, it got cleaned up before we returned that night.

For dinner we ate at Mobai's house where his dad made homemade noodles and his mom made many delicious dishes. Plus we had wine, and while I hate wine, it was the thought that counts. They just kept giving me food and wine. It's hard to say no as well because then they think you hate them and their food even though you're just full and don't want anymore wine.

The next day was amazing and my favorite day of the trip. The Great Wall. So much fun and quite the work out. It started at the section that went into the ocean. There I bought a hat mad out of leaves, made new friends with Chinese people wearing the same hat, and had a very joyous time. Then we hit up another section of the wall where I watched people get carried around in stretcher-like contraptions to music, corn drying on top of a roof, and ate lunch at a place with garbage bags for table cloths(that way they didn't need to clean the tables, just take off a garbage bag and put on another.) The third part was the best. This is the steep part where we had to climb forever up steep slopes, steeper stairs, and ladders to get to the top of the hill. I loved it. It was like a free workout. I don't know how soldiers would have gotten around on the wall though. They must've been in great shape.





That night we went to a movie. Before we went in the lady selling snacks asked where I was from (Wo shi meiguo) and told me I was cute (that was translated by Mobai). Thus I took a picture with her. The movie was called "Painted Skin" and was about a deamon that ate hearts. I thought it would be so bad that it actually seemed good. It was nice that it had captions, but I'm pretty sure I would've understood most of it anyway.



I also had quite the night after that. First I did my homework. Not for my classes but for Mobai's cousin. She's studying English and thought I spoke it very well when we met earlier (thank goodness for I don't know what I'd do if she thought I sounded bad.) Thus she asked if I would record myself reading some of her textbook so she'd have a native speaker to listen to. I did and it was awesome except for the fact that I can't read and changed some of the words. I hope that doesn't confuse her too much. Then I took a shower in the weirdest shower ever. It was pretty much an indent in the bathroom with a curtain and no drain. The drain was in the middle of the bathroom. Worst design ever.

The next day we hit up the beach, got lunch, then got on the train. I slept most of the way back, but that's because of how early I had to get up everyday. I got up earlier while on vacation than I did for any of my classes since high school.




Well, now I'm back in Beijing, I have so much work to do, I don't want to do it, so instead I'm going to go out tonight. I don't have class til Tuesday anyway, so it'll be fine.

Why is Susan everywhere?

As you may or may not know my best Asain friend is Sifan (aka Susan) Liu. And no matter where I am on campus, if I'm walking behind an Asain girl or see one from afar 9 out of 10 times I'll think it's Susan and about 2 out of 10 times I'll be right. So before I left we joked about how I'd be seeing her everywhere. It hasn't entirely been that way, but I've had some close calls.

One day I got up kinda early and was looking for breakfast. I was starving, only had a few hours of sleep, and not really focusing on the job at hand. This was my first run in with a "Susan" who I then remembered was halfway around the world and couldn't possibly be in Beijing.

Later I was walking back from class when I thought I saw Yea, one of the Chinese students in the program. It was actually a good thing I couldn't remember her name at the time because it wasn't her, it wasn't her at all.

There have also been times where I'm wondering where all the Chinese people went. On Saturday I sawso many white people I didn't know what to do. I usually only here English from our group, but it was everywhere Saturday morning. I would have introduced myself to some, but, again, I was starving and on a mission.

Church is the only other place that I really feel Asain-less. It's probably because they're not allowed. The church I've been going to is for expats and people with foreign passports. There are Asains there, but they're Asain in a "I actually grew up in San Diego" sort of way.

As I'm getting used to this place I see Susan less, which is good and bad. On the plus side, when I need to see the real Susan there's always Facebook.

Chinese people

So like Chinese food, I have various thoughts on the people here. While this may be due to my relationship with the various people, I still want to write about it. So here's my thoughts about these crazy Chinese.

If you want to make Chinese people happy, just speak to them in Chinese. It can be as simple as Ni Hao or Wo jiao Jeremy. They'll go nuts. This works best if you look foreign, but I've been told by a few people here that I look Asian, whatevs. They might start speaking in Chinese to you, but you can just give them a confused look and they'll understand. Some will then try to teach you some Chinese while others will still be excited that you said something. Best example of this was my trip to KFC (which is huge in China, btw). When I got to the counter, I said Ni Hao, the cashier got excited. Then I asked for a menu in English. She smile, jumped, yelled "Menu!" and ran off and got one. Between my minimal Chinese and her not much better English plus some sign language, I got my food, paid and left. She was smiling the whole time.

Some people though, try to take advantage of this, especially venders. They like to rip you off because you can't read the prices or understand them or argue about the price with them. You just got to be firm. But they're really pushy. If you even look at something in their store, they'll expect you to buy something. You can't browse or they'll start talking to you and telling you how good this is or how great that is. It's kinda annoying.

They're also really pushy in general. Trying to get food, walking down the street, riding on the subway, it's bad. Sometimes on the subway you're so packed you can pick your feet up of the ground and not move. Or when trying to get food at lunch they'll just push you out of the way. Part of this is because everyone and their mom only has 30 minutes to eat lunch in really poorly designed dining halls. It's a challenge to get the food and a bigger challenge not to drop it once you do.

The people I live with, though, are always eager to help. They correct my Chinese, show me where to eat, help me find classrooms, and give directions to cab drivers. They make life so much easier and I feel like I can only give a little bit back through English. Maybe we'll be more helpful when they need to understand the English books.

So that's my impression of the Chinese people. They're always on the go and you need to get out of their way. I would compare it to NYC. Which makes since as Beijing is a big city. So maybe we're not that different. Except for the fact that no one would get excited if a foreigner spoke English, it's expected.

Food

So China can't make up it's mind on whether it wants me to be fat or not. Here's why.

I hate chopsticks. I mean, I can use them sometimes, but not most of the time. Thus I can't eat. Therefore China wants me to be skinny.

BUT, then it goes out and fries all of it's food giving it this nice greasy layer. Therefore, it wants me to be fat.

But the food that isn't fried or falls off of my chopsticks has a 50/50 chance of being a vegetable. And those are good for you. Thus they want me to be skinny.

Lastly, the air is so polluted I can't run outside. I rarely did anyway, but now I have an excuse.

So when I come back with an extra 50 pounds, it's not my fault. Blame China.

Guilin

Being in Guilin taught me some key things about China. First, it's still developing. Guilin is a fairly nice sized city, but still really needs some work to bring it up to par. Second, everything is cheap and I can get a lot of fake things. For example, my fake Oakley sunglasses, Foaklies if you will, cost me about $8. Asking price was over $100 when this interaction started. I also started the trip with about $70, and I haven't had to get more money yet. Third, I learned that they are no driving rules, just suggestions. People just do whatever they want when driving. Crossing the street is like playing frogger. It's not like Yale where the cars will stop. It's more like Toad's turnpike where everyone just hits you, you spin out, then keep going. But now I'm back in Beijing. Classes start Thursday. Vacation's almost over.

I'm in China!

Hey y'all. I'm here. Good times. I'm not quite so jet lagged anymore, so life is good. This is pretty much to let you know I'm alive and kicking. I'm catching a flight to southern China at 6:30 AM, so I'm not really up to doing a real post, so live with it. I'll be gone for 5 days. In six days I may or may not post it up for you with some pics. It might be a few days after that too. Anyway. I'm awesome, done some sweet things, and still alive.

Goodbye New Haven

I'm sitting in New Haven, waiting for Helen to wreak her havoc. If this hurricane interrupts my travels, I will destroy her. It rainy and dreary and hot and muggy and I can't wait to leave and be in China where it'll be hot and smoky. Whatever. I'm trying to finish packing, but I'd rather set up a blog, watch the sound of music and eat. I'll be honest, I won't do the best job keeping this up, so don't hate me. I'll post some pictures on here, some on facebook (if I have a good internet connection) and I'm planning on getting a flicker account at some point. Once I set that up I'll let you know. Just don't be pushy. Remember, I am taking a full course schedule and learning Chinese, so I'll do this as I get a chance.