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.