Forgotten Photos

So now that I'm home and finally have a good internet connection, I've realized I forgot to put up some pictures. The oldest were the pictures from Yangshuo, the night we went to the water show. It's not much but I figure I had better put them online anyway. The second album is from the rice terraces. I can't belive I left that album out! I forgot to post the pictures from Thanksgiving and I also have the pictures from Tokyo to put up too, so here they all are, late but up nonetheless. I'm not quite ready to wrap up my blog yet, so keep checking back for the final post.

Yangshuo

Rice Terrace Fields

Holidays in Beijing

Tokyo

Sayonara Tokyo, Ni Hao China

I just realized I completely forgot to tell everyone what I actually did in Tokyo...so here is the low down. The day we arrived, we flew into Narita, which is about an hour from Tokyo. We took a really expensive cab to the hostel, not reading all the tour books nor taking any advice specifically saying, "Avoid taking cabs from Narita to Tokyo, they are very expensive." When we got to the hostel, some 20,000+ yen later, we unpacked and settled down. It took us longer than we had expected to arrive and our flight was delayed a little bit, so we were lucky enough to have good enough weather to walk around the neighborhood. Our hostel was located in Asakusa, one of the neighborhoods of Tokyo. Right down the block was Sensoji Temple, the largest temple in Tokyo. We looked around there for a while, but everything was closed, so instead we headed into a small restaurant and ate some food. We enjoyed a light snack of miso soup, delicious peanut broth noodles, and other Japanese food.

The next day, we woke up early and were out of the hostel around 9 am. That was one of the smartest things we did, because by noon we had already done tons of stuff. We began by walking through the Sensoji Temple Market, which was right by our hostel. We took a subway to Shinjuku where we went to the Sony building and saw all of the latest technology being created by Sony. It was really cool to check it out and to see what's out there. I'm pretty sure that the coolest thing there was a decent sized flat screen that was 9.9 mm thick. Thats about a 1 cm thick TV that plays crystal clear images without losing the quality of the picture. We walked around the area more and stumbled upon some pretty busy parts of the city. We stopped and ate some deliciously fresh sushi that was taken from the Tsukijishijo fish market. That market, besides being a mouthful to pronounce (no pun), is where the locals go to action off fish. Unfortunately, we never got to make it, but they have hundred kilogram tunas for sale that cost thousands of USD. The restaurants around the area are known for having the freshest sushi in the world. Anyway, our sushi was delicious and we got our first taste of the slurping habits of the Japanese. If you're really enjoying your meal, slurp your noodles up, the louder the better.

After lunch, we headed for Shibuya, the largest pedestrian crosswalk in the world. During the day, the amount of people didn't look that much different than a busy New York day, but when we went back that night, it was a swarm of people. There were so many, it was like being lost in a sea of people, when you looked up, all you saw were the black hair of Japanese for blocks. The Sibuya area has a lot to do, so we walked around and explored things to do. We eventually made it over to Harajuku where we browsed some of the punk rock shops and people watched. The girls in the Shibuya area were well dressed, fashionable and the such, but in Harajuku...they dress like little Bo Peep, gothic, punk rock, and all sorts of craziness. We didn't run into too many people that were really crazy, until we went back to Shibuya. One girl looked like she had cotton candy hair that was half white and half pink. It was pretty cool to see. After Harajuku, we went back to Shibuya, ate at a sushi bar where the track is constantly running and you pull sushi plates off as you wish. I've seen them in the US, but it was fun to eat at one in Japan.

The next day we woke up early once again and walked through the Sensoji Temple Market to buy some things. We headed to the electronics market in Akihabara afterwards and ate a quick meal. Tokyo is also home to the Mega Mac, which is an exclusive, four patty McDonalds burger that we only saw at one McDonalds in Tokyo. In Japan, the McDonalds salt and pepper their burgers. Overall, I think I like Chinese McDonalds better, but Hong Kong had the Big 'n' Tasty, which has been discontinued for years in the US. We didn't eat at the McDonald's for lunch, but John did eat the Mega Mac for dessert (it was delicious). Back to the electronics market, this is 6 floors of every possible electronic device you could ever wish. Toilets in Japan are an experience by itself. In the Sony building, we were first exposed to the Japanese toilet. They plug into the wall, first of all, which should give you a good head start in the direction I'm going. I'm talking about heated seats, high power deodorizers (that turn on or off), temperature adjustments, flush levels and power controls, and of course, a water cleaner and blow dryer. Kind of like a bidet, there are different sprayers that have different water pressures, but the best part was the blow dryer. The whole point of telling you this, was at the electronics market, they sold the same crazy toilets for your personal home. And you can even get one that detects you coming and lifts the lid for you. Most Japanese already have these toilets in their homes, but I think it is something that America seriously needs to take into consideration.

After Akihabara electronics we headed to Roppongi for dinner. We made reservations at a Teppanyaki restaurant and reserved the cook's table. We walked down to the Tokyo tower, which is like the Asian version of the Eiffle tower. I love architecture like that and skyscrapers, so I was pretty bummed when I saw the line to the observation deck winding around and around the lobby. I remembered waiting in line to get to the top of the Eiffle tower, and I knew we wouldn't have time to make it to the top. We took our pictures and headed back to the restaurant. Near our restaurant, there was a free observation deck, but that line was also too long, so we gave up looking for a view of the Tokyo night lights. Tokyo really doesn't have a skyline anyway, so I figure we didn't really miss out on much. The Teppanyaki dinner was delicious. I had a red snapper fillet drizzled in a tomato oil and pesto sauce, with roasted vegetables, miso soup, and a delicious drink. The cook prepared our food in front of us and we toasted to our last night in Tokyo.

After dinner, we walked down to one of my favorite experiences in Tokyo. The Absolut Ice Bar Tokyo. This bar was ridiculous. Chilled to a sub-freezing temperature of 23° F, you are only allowed to stay in for 45 minutes. The bar can only occupy 50 people at a time and later in the night you are only allowed in by reservation. The pricy entrance fee was worth it, plus it included a complementary drink. The glasses weren't really glasses, but actually ice cubes with cylindrical holes cut into them to pour the drink. They are imported from Sweden, where the original Ice Bar was founded. We drank among the ice sculptures and sat on reindeer skins to keep our bottoms from freezing on the ice chairs. There were two groups of Americans already in the bar when we arrived, so it was nice to have contact with the outside world. It really made me excited to head back to the USA.

The next day was an early wake up call. We had planned on going to the fish market, which opens at 5 am and closes at 8 am. We had a 10:30 am flight out of Narita, so we knew we had to hurry to the fish market. While we were planning our trip the the market, Devon stumbled across something that sounded like tons of fun. Every morning, the Japanese sumo wrestlers practice from 6 am until 9 am. Well, if we're getting up for the fish market, we might as well squeeze in the sumo practice too. We were already in Japan, so why not make the most of our last morning? The fish market was closed on Sunday so those plans fell through and we ended up getting to go to watch the sumo wrestlers practice. Big men in little clothing, what more can I say? It was really fun to watch, and I wish I would have known a little more about the technique and rules of sumo wrestling, but I think I got the jist of it.


Heading to the airport was a fiasco. As you can see by the subway map, trying to navigate the Tokyo subways isn't the easiest thing in the world (and you thought New York was confusing). We were constantly buying the wrong train tickets to begin with but with limited time we really didn't know what to do. We caught a local when we should have been on an express and then we transferred to another train and did whatever else we did...but somehow we ended up at the airport 30 minutes before take-off. Well, of course, running through the airport is my favorite thing to do. Just like missing my flight to Hawaii and going to the wrong train station in Paris, I have gotten quite well at missing transportation. Luckily, the Japanese check-in was very helpful and got us booked, through security, and on the flight back within the 30 minutes. We made it back OK and now I'm done with school. My last final was yesterday, I just have to write another paper by Thursday and prepare for my Chinese oral examination on Friday. I started packing my stuff and I said goodbye to the people who cut my hair. I gave Kefeng, the young guy who works at my favorite dumpling place, a Fordham banner that Devon had brought but never gave away. Well, that was a long post but I'll put up pictures sometime before I leave.

A Cultural Revolution

I'm back...well, from Tokyo at least. Devon, Jim, John and I got into Beijing Sunday night after almost missing our flight...I'll get to that later. What can I say? I really, really, really liked Tokyo. I am pretty sure I liked it more than Hong Kong, but then again, Hong Kong was an amazing city with great opportunities. Japanese culture is very different from Chinese culture. In fact, to be honest, I loved the Japanese lifestyle. Let me do a quick compare and contrast from what I've been experiencing here, and what I experienced in Japan. China is a very traditional country. For the most part, they have strictly controlled who comes in and out of their country, who they trade with, where they invest and who they invest in. This has had profound effects on Chinese culture. Because the government regulates so many parts of Chinese life (TV, radio, newspapers, businesses, post offices, health care, electricity, water, trade, transportation, etc.), the Chinese are limited in their exposure and expression of pop culture.

From what I've seen, there are limited TV shows that are broadcasted that aim directly at the Chinese youth. Comparatively, the youth in America are pulled in every direction when watching TV and have the option of watching any type of TV show with various subjects, whether they are considered good or bad, conservative or liberal. Futher, turning on the radio, the music streaming from the speakers ranges from urban hip-hop, R&B, oldies, rock, pop, and so on. The commercials alone, on any station, have enough force to influence American youth. I feel that in China, these influences are by far not as powerful or widespread. Chinese youth, although shifting more towards Western influences, are still considerably more conservative and traditional than American youth. Take for instance my previous blog post about the college life of a Chinese student.

Japan on the other hand, after having six years of allied occupation (I believe occupation began after WWII in 1945 and the allied nations included the US and Britian), was exposed to Western influences far before China. China, in fact, loosened its foreign trade policies in the late 1970s, while Japan was forced to open trade during occupation. Today, Japanese culture has evolved into a Western like culture while still retaining many of its old traditions and ideology. The youth of Japan have uncomparable freedom to choose their lifestyle compared to Chinese youth. They have J-pop, a plethora of Japanese pop artists that, much like the entertainers of Hollywood, influence fashion, music preferences, and other pop culture. Japanese youth are bombarded with name brands. Photos of their favorite celebrities are plastered on billboards and the radio is constantly playing the newest jams. Unlike the Chinese youth, many of which focus on school rather than keeping up to date with pop culture, Japanese youth are listening to music, watching TV, going to the movies, heading out to the clubs, buying the newest iPod, upgrading their cell phones, tracking current events, and making the most of their young years.

I'm not saying that I don't love Chinese culture. It has obviously interested me enough to keep me wanting to come back to see more, speak more, and learn more, but I can't help thinking to myself how much more fun the Japanese have. They have a culture that is as distinct as and is as much a part of their society as American culture. People don't know America until they come to America, just as the Japanese culture needs to be experienced first hand. They are much more than Anime cartoons and sushi, although they do have plenty of both, and they are still as traditional as the Chinese. They wear masks when they are sick, they are very polite and kind, and they bow as a sign of respect. I could go on about all the differences between Japan and China, but my main point is that I wish China could capture their culture, put it in a machine, and make it fresh, fun and accessible, so that the Chinese youth have something to harness and take off with. If China is about to enter into the 21st century, they need to get with the times, and the times call for big screen TVs, blaring music, and self-expression. The Chinese youth are inching towards this notion, little by little (and pushing the envelope of the government at the same time), but those that stand out in music, fashion, and ideology, are still few and far between. I'm sure within the next 10 years, China's pop culture will have sprouted, and with it will be a wide variety of options for the youth to take on.

The Fragrant Harbor of Hong Kong

There has been a lot going on over here on this side of the world. The final countdown has begun. I believe I have about 11 days left and I can already smell the Christmas dinner. Hong Kong was amazing. Our hostel was right downtown. Hong Kong is like New York, divided into neighborhoods, each with their own distinct vibe and feel. Causeway Bay, where our hostel was located, has the Times Square, bright lights, throngs of people, bright lights, restaurants and shopping. Although not one of the main bar streets, the night life in our area is still around. We began our first day in a small with with two double beds. Apparently, even though Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region ruled by the British for 99 years, the Chinese stuff still leaks through at times. Our room had been booked, but they promised a new room for the last three nights. Jim, John, and I walked around the city exploring what it had to offer. Victoria Park was not too far away and the streets were crowded with foreigners. There were families and business people, Indians and Chinese, Americans and Europeans. We all nearly got killed corssing the streets (remember 99 years of British rule), but we managad to survive after a few brushes with double decker buses. A walk along the waterfront aveneue took us by the car dealerships: Ferrari, Mazerati, Lambourgini, Lotus, Lexus, BMW, Aston Martin, Mercedes, and the rest. The wealth here is incredible. It's amazing what 99 years of Western influence can do to China. Hong Kong has no hacking, no spitting, no haze, and get this: no squatters! Walking down the roads, we felt like we were once again flung into a futuristic city. Some of the intersections downtown were raised roads with flyover exits and lightrail trains running down the center. The cars whizzed around us as the people weaved through the sidewalks. It was like being in a blender of Chinese and Western cultures, literally.

We went out to Wan Chai the first night and although expensive, we had a good time out. It was really night to see Christmas lights and the fact that everyone spoke English was a real convenience. In Hong Kong, the local Chinese speak Cantonese, not Mandarin, which means that even if I wanted to speak Chinese, I probably couldn't get around on my own. I couldn't even read the characters because they used traditional and not simplified characters.

The second day we got up, ate, moved rooms and headed to Victoria Peak. As an island, Hong Kong is built a lot like Honolulu, Hawaii. There isn't much room, and the mountains give little level ground to build on. The only solution to this is to build up. One of the best ways to view the city skyscrapers is to go to the top of Victoria's Peak, directly behind Central (the district). The tram takes you up and up and the scene was beautiful. Victoria Harbor (everything is Victoria, it's British), which separates Hong Kong island from Kowloon (on the mainland China, but still part of the Hong Kong territory). The water was beautiful, the weather was great and all was good. After the peak, we went down to the Mid-Levels to see the residential area. The Mid-Levels are comparible to the Upper "Sides" of Manhattan. The richest of the rich live here in Hong Kong. We rode the Mid-Level Central Escalators, which are the longest series of outdoor escalators in the world. Along the way, we saw some great places to live and a fantastic neighborhood to eat, drink, and relax.

We walked around Central for a bit before going back home to change for the night. We ate a decent dinner and went out to Lan Kuai Fong bar street. This district was great. Besides the fact that I felt young amid the late 20s/early 30s crowd; and felt a bit plain without a jacket (many of the patrons had probably headed out for some after work cocktails and were dressed in business clothes); I enjoyed myself throughly.

The next day, we headed across the Harbor to Kowloon to explore what the other side had to offer. This was the first time I saw a line outside of Gucci and there were more high-end stores than 7-11s (and Hong Kong has 7-11s like Manhattan has Starbucks). We ate a quick lunch and hopped on a river tour. The river tour took us around the Harbor. I was amazed by the skyline. Just like most of Asia, 10 years ago this skyline barely existed. When the boat returned, we went out for a nice dinner before heading to the waterfront to watch the nightly light show. The light show was one of my favorite things about Hong Kong. Unique to Hong Kong, this is the longest running permanent light show in the world. Laser beams, spotlights, and some 60 skyscrapers involved, the light show was mesmerizing and impressive. We headed back to Lan Kuai Fong to top the night off and call it a great day.

The final day was a day that we all got separated. Jim and John went to Macau to gamble, but John forgot his passport in the room. By the time he came to the room, I had already left to see the giant sitting buddha on a nearby island. John ended up spending the day exploring more of the city, Jim won $300 USD gambling in Macau, and I enjoyed the bronze Buddha. All the activities took all day, but we all had a great time none-the-less.

To top the night off, we went out to a fantastic Mexican restaurant. It was pretty much a fiesta in my stomach because not only have I not seen Mexican food since I came to China, but this was actually decently good Mexican too! We walked around Wan Chai after dinner and spent out last night at a low key bar nearby.

Upon returning to Beijing, we were greeted with the Siberian winds from the Arctic and a haze so bad you couldn't see across the street. Typical Beijing. Other than that, my head is exploding with all the homework I have to do. I leave once again on Thursday for Tokyo, and I'll still be counting down the days until Grandma's home cooking. I can't wait to show everyone the cool things I've picked up along my travels. Remember those days when I was blogging about the Olympics? Seems like another lifetime ago! Anyway, here are the pictures. See you soon.

Hong Kong by John

Hong Kong by Regis

Xiang Gang

I'm leaving for Hong Kong in a few hours, which means that my travels have come way to quickly. This past weekend was a blur. Trying to fit too many things in too short of time. There is so much to do in Beijing before I leave and I can now count the days in this city on both my hands! I will take many pictures, and probably won't post them until I'm back to fast internet and fast food, but at least I'll try and give you a brief description of my adventures. It will probably be sometime between my art history research paper, my marketing presentation, my Chinese tests (two the Monday I get back), or my finance homework. Have a great week, I sure will.

感恩节快乐--Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, today has been a great Thanksgiving Day. Kind of. It definitely does not feel like the holiday season in China. I'm actually really excited to eat a great Thanksgiving meal at the Radisson Hotel in Beijing. However, I wasn't excited to wake up this morning at 7:30am to go to Chinese class. They couldn't even cut us any slack when it comes to the holidays. I told my teacher I was going to be missing next Thursday's class, and she told me I was going to fail. I think she was kidding? Actually, I couldn't have asked for a better Chinese teacher this semester. There are only four students in my class, two of them already know Chinese very well and can't take the intensive class because of credit restrictions, and the third person is about my level of Chinese. This means we can set the pace of the class, which is crucial when studying another language. I am very lucky to have her too, because from what it sounds like, some of the other teachers are very strict and not very flexibile. There have been a few times when I've gone a little less than prepared for class, but our teacher understands the fact that we are here to explore China, and not to stick our noses in our Chinese books. When you can walk outside and live your life in the language, the class should be used as a suppliment, not as a base. All in all, she's a great teacher, with a great sense of humor and a bubbly energetic enthusiasm that keeps me awake in the mornings. She isn't like my old Laoshi (老师-teacher) from Fordham, who I thank for giving me the foundations of my Chinese lanugage skills, but she is a new Laoshi who has taught me how to use what I've learned in everyday situations.

After Chinese, I was in the mood to be productive, so Brittany and I went to the gym. Then, I spent a good three hours with my Chinese tutor going over the past few lessons. It's about time to get ready for my feast, and of course, I have a great substitute family here with me in China. I can surely add myself in to John, Jim, or Devon's families for the time being.

In honor of the Thanksgiving spirit, I think I have a lot to be thankful for. I can't belive my semester abroad is already coming to a close. This time last year, coming to China was still a vague plan. Now that it has come to fruition, I must say, it's a lot better than I ever thought it would be. I've had a safe trip on top of that and I can't wait to get home and be with everyone again. Have a great day with your families. Stuff yourself like the turkey, and don't forget about those American's who don't have the chance to be home for the holidays.

Beijing: Scene 11, Acts 21-23

What a weekend! It was beyond busy and once again it's Sunday and I'm left with a pile of Chinese homework and not much time to do it. Further, I need to prepare myself for my upcoming weeks of travel. I'm organizing what needs to be shipped home, what I'm bringing with me on the plane, and what I'm leaving behind. Devon left Thursday for Hong Kong and she arrives back to Beijing shortly. Friday night was a blast.  The whole crew went out to eat and to see the acrobat show. We dressed up a little nicer than usual to give the night out a more mature ambiance. Lauren knew of a Japanese restaurant not too far from the theater and we all had a delicious meal for just under $10. It was a pretty fancy restaurant actually.

The show was amazing. Among the many acts, these were some of the noteworthy scenes. Three women wereso flexible she could twist into any shape and pretzel herself into a ball.  Jumping men flung themselves off a spring board, landing on top of tall platforms, raised chairs, and on the shoulders of 3 men standing on top of each other. There were girls riding bikes, but they didn't just ride them. They stood on the handle bars, had people stand on their shoulders, and they even finished with 12 girls on one bike! There was a hanging contraption that was lowered from the ceiling, it was horizontal with two circles on the ends. Inside the circles, they were not spheres, was a man. They began the act by spinning the contraption with them inside the circles. Then, they exited their circles and walked along the outside as the contraption was spinning. It was really crazy and I don't know if I can expain it any better but I thought they were going to fall off. Especially when they tried to do it blindfolded. There was also three guys who did gymnastic type things. They would hold each other in mid air using just their hands. They were incredibly strong and it was really cool. There was also a spinning plates act that was really spectacular and I think one or two more that I can't recall. I have a few pictures to post and I'll try and find more. Overall, the show was great, the dinner was fantastic, and our after party moved to Houhai bar district to finish the fun evening.

Saturday morning, I went to Temple of Heaven on a TBC sponsored trip. It was great. The temple was beautiful and here are some pictures. 

Temple of Heaven

After the Temple of Heaven, I returned home and relaxed. John's mother and brother arrivedin Beijing on Saturday. Jim's sisters come in today, as does Matt's girlfriend and Devon's family. I should be able to get a lot of work done with everyone busy showing their family around town. But, I have that wonderful procrastination problem, so I'm sure I'll end up eating dinner with everyone every night and not be doing what I'm supposed to. I had another tutoring session today with Doug. The lessons are going well but he really doesn't like to speak English. I'm going to have to call my aunt who teaches kindergarten to give me some pointers. Hope everyone is doing well. Can't wait to talk to everyone on Thursday (well, Friday for me).

Hello. My Name Is...

My Name is Regis. What's yours?

Salad? Rain? Echo? No, try again...

Dreamer? China? Krithy? No, not quite...

Dong Dong? Yo Yo? Maybe not...

Alta Vista? Definitely Not.

Those are just a few of the many interesting and (How do I say this?) unique, names our Chinese friends have introduced themselves as. There isn't much we can do to help them. In a country where people are named anything from Snow White (雪百）, Fog Between the Mountains (岚), Striding Over Mountains (迈岭), and other honorable names, it would probably be too much to expect regular English names from all 1.3 billion people. Ironically, in America, Native Americans often associate names with honorable characteristics. Swift Wolf, White Lily, Brown Bear, Shining Star, and other names are given to children for many reasons. A child's name could also hold with it the weight of parental aspirations. For example, in China, a female receiving a male name, (such as Brittany's name- Su Hai -苏海), the daughter is expected to be very successful in whatever she wishes to do, especially business or politics. A parent may name a child and, coincidentially, their personalities may match their given name. There are so many meanings that are associated with a person's name, that you can learn so much from a person having just heard their name. Jimmy, my roommate, is James L. III. His name has been passed on for generations. Other people, such as my friend Skippy, have names stemming from friendly nicknames. Skippy, who's real name is John, doesn't even go by John at home. In fact, Skippy goes by Charlie (Charles), which is his middle name.

A person's namesake is an integral part of a person. Not only does it identify and distinguish one person from the other, but your character and personality can influence the way a person thinks about a name. Everyone can always remember the name of their arch enemy and often times people tend to associate that name with a negative connotation. There are some names we love, some names we hate, some names that are just too weird, but the fact of the matter is, we all need one. The Chinese names, although unique, have a special meaning in my opinion. For many of these people, this is their first time giving themselves English names. This is a huge step forward in terms of cross-cultural integration and in terms of cultural discovery. I was lucky enough to be given my name from my Chinese professor in college, taking the burden of decision off my shoulders, but what would you do if you were suddenly asked to give yourself a name in another language? Where do you begin? And how would you describe yourself? When it comes to Chinese names, we can't sit back and just laugh at their naïvity. We can and we do, but really. What are they trying to say about themselves? Rain, Echo, Dreamer...and even Salad too, chose their name for a reason. Whatever reason that may be deserves our respect and reverence. I mean, for most of us, picking our name wasn't even our decision, so we're stuck with what we've got, but if worse comes to worse, they can always change their poorly choosen name to whatever they want. As for me, Zeng Li (曾力) will always be my name, what's yours?

Posting Paparazzi Pictures: Priceless

Alright. I might not have been clear enough when I told everyone about our fantastic night out to GT Banana to see DJ Armin van Buuren. The club had promotional photographers out and about taking pictures and now me and other TBC students are all over the website. Brittany and Devon are actually on the homepage for Clubzone.cn. They turned their picture into a clickable icon to go to the Top 10 photos of the week. If you click on the link, it will take you to the Top 10 Photos Page, and none other than yours truely has made it in the background of one of the pictures (for now, people are still voting whether it is worthy or not). Hilarious, yes. Famous, maybe not yet. This is definitely a huge deal for the ex-pat community and for the publicity of Beijing's nightlife. I wouldn't be surprised if we ended up in The Beijinger's next issue. If you want to see the pictures we took before we went out, I've made an album for everyone.

DJ Armin Van Buuren

I think it is hilarious that Devon and Brittany are on the link to the Top 10 pictures of the week. In all actuality, we are practically celebrities here in Beijing. I'm already expecting the students on campus will be asking us for autographs and I hope I don't have to get physical with anyone to keep the mobs away. Until that day comes, I'll keep on living the normal life.

I have a lot of things planned this weeks. Tomorrow, Brittany, Matt, myself and some others are heading down to Tian**men Square to visit Mao's Tomb. This is a must see when visiting Beijing. Rumor has it the hours are always changing and haven't been constant since the opening of the tomb. There are always days when people arrive to find it closed when it should be open, and that is besides the fact that it is open Tuesday through Sunday 10am until 3:30pm or something ridiculous. No cell phones, no cameras, no water bottles, no backpacks, no purses, no anything inside unless it is the clothes on your back. We have to go in groups because half of the people have to wait outside with our stuff while the other half goes in. It's absolutely nuts and absolutely Chinese at the same time. After we visit the tomb, I have some more gifts to finish getting and then some serious loads of laundry to do.

Thursday, the plan is to head back to the tailor to get my suit made (thank you!) and I'm picking some other things up in the area. Friday, the plan is to head to an acrobat show at the Chaoyang Theater after a wonderful dinner. Devon leaves on Thursday to visit her family in Hong Kong and the whole crew comes to Beijing on Sunday. Everyone is really excited to meet them and, of course, I am too. Saturday, TBC is hosting a trip to see the Temple of Heaven, which I didn't get to see during the Olympics. I think that day I decided to scalp tickets to indoor volleyball. Anyway, I'm glad to be going this Saturday. The weather has taken a turn for the worst and I'm pretty sure I'm not going to see anything over 50°F for a long time. The pollution has let up for a few days, but with the winter, you never know what the air is going to be like. It's been really dry lately and our art teacher advised us to get a cheap humidifier to help with any congestion we may have. (Speaking of art, the paper was a success and I did well.) I hope I can actually get done what I have planned. I've gotten pretty adept at procrastination the past few weeks and it's getting crunch time before I begin travelling again. I'll keep you updated. Have a good one!

My Life's a Soundtrack, I'm Just Playing DJ

What a great week. I got all of the pictures up from Guilin, I've turned in a paper, passed a Chinese test and had a great weekend. First, Friday night DJ Armin van Buuren, ranked #1 by DJ Mag top 100 DJs, was at GT Banana here in Beijing. All of us at TBC prebought tickets and went all out for this. Personally, I had no idea what to expect from something like this and techno music really isn't my thing but everyone had the time of their life. After a stressful week, this was what all of us needed. Besides the fact that everyone dressed in neon-colors, multiple layers, hats, ridiculous sunglasses and even wigs (Devon & Brittany), the best part of the night was the fact that we didn't return home until nearly 4:30 am. Saturday was spent mostly sleeping and my ears are still ringing from the hours of loud music. (Really, they are.)

Saturday, after sleeping until 1 pm, I woke up, ate and went to get paid. Tutoring really does pay off! Then, I came back to the dorms, we went out to eat and went back to Wangfujing Street to the night market. This time, we made sure it wasn't closed and that we could eat some creepy crawlers. Just wait for some of the pictures. There were kidneys, hearts, livers, testicles, penis, crickets, cicadas, grubs, silk worms, and scorpions. I ate something from that list and to be frank, it wasn't all that bad. I actually had another just to try it again. When the night market was about to close we all got some fresh fruit on a stick and called it a night. I was exhausted from the night before and when I got home, I watched some Entourage and slept.

This morning, I woke up all too early to tutor but in the end I just reminded myself I get paid way too much to talk with a 10 year old about nothing. Today, we went over action verbs to try and get him to form complete sentences, but he wasn't having it really. We eventually got him to say all the verbs with a simple subject (always "I"), verb, and object. We're making a bit of progress I think?

This week, I also dropped serious kuai when I went Christmas shopping. Sean and I headed to some of the largest markets around Beijing, including the Silk Market, and came back with nearly everyone checked off of our Christmas lists. But the homework still continues without end. I have two weekends in December when I'm going to be away from Beijing and out exploring Asia. This means that I have to write one art paper by December and another by the last class. Chinese class is relentless, always new characters to be memorized and learned. Further, my Buddhism class has a 15 page paper due at the end of the semester. School is school. It won't do much to complain but the only problem is that now everyone is scrambling to see Beijing. Many students have procrastinated and a majority of them haven't been to Tian**men Square yet, let alone the Summer Palace, Llama Temple, Olympic Green or Beihai. There are plans unfolding all around me to take a trip to this place or that place, to see this market this weekend or that district this day. As for me, I only have to see the Temple of Heaven, but I might not get around to that. I also planned on going to an acrobat show, which I think we're planning soon.

I'll post pictures of the party Friday and the Wangfujing eatings later on this week. Stay warm. Thanksgiving is in 11 days!

Picture This! Again

River rafting, Mud caves and Dazhai Village School. Enjoy!

Yulong River Rafting

Mud Caves

Xiaozhai Village School

Picture This!

I hope everyone is happy. I've been procrastinating all weekend and look at the results. I finally got Brittany's pictures, which are spectacular by the way, and I've made all of my Guilin albums. I really owe a shout out to Jeff, Brittany, and Ryan for their contributions to the photo albums. Jeff and Ryan had their cameras during the river rafting (the album is created but my internet connection is too slow to upload it right now). Brittany has spectacular pictures of the karst, the village people (funny I know, but the Dazhai village is a different album yet to be posted) and many others. I think well should thank them. Further, I have been calling my trip the Guilin trip just because the TBC itinerary says Guilin Trip on the front. Actually, a majority of our trip took place outside of Guilin, in smaller towns. Yangshuo (阳朔) was the village we spent a majority of the time in. The village school was located in Dazhai, Guangxi Province, China (大寨，广西，中国). Anyway, most of that stuff is nominal, here are the pictures:

Guilin

Li River Cruise

Cooking Class

The Line is Busy, Please Hold

I'm alive. Barely. I have a Chinese test tomorrow, 65 new characters, some easy, most hard, all of them I'm still writing over and over to try and memorize. Tuesday, I have an Art History paper due, which needs 3 outside sources, I have two. I also have a Financial Management midterm on Tuesday, taught by a professor that barely speaks English and teaches slightly worse than he speaks English. Wednesday I have a Buddhism midterm, which is only 5 essay questions long, but still...

I had a tutoring lesson today and it was great. I met with Douglass (that's his name), at his home in the northern suburbs of Beijing. His family has not one, but two apartments in an enclosed neighborhood very close to the subway station. For the first lesson, we learned our seasons. He was a great time and we had a lot of fun drawing Halloween things, some which he thought were scary and some which he thought weren't scary. He really enjoyed learning about Easter and thought it was so funny that children would want to look for colored eggs! He didn't quite understand Thanksgiving, but I don't think I did a great job explaining the Pilgrims and Indians story. Overall, it was a great way to procrastinate and get paid at the same time.

The weather today is getting cold. I'm glad I have four long sleeve shirts, they are all being used too frequently, and before I know it, people will notice I only have four. The leaves are kind of changing, but mostly they just turn brown and fall off the trees. Just the other night, we all went out and saw James Bond's new movie. It was OK. I'm not a movie critic, nor do I really watch movies often, but none of us were really impressed by the new flick. I'm still waiting for Brittany's photos of Guilin, so please hold on a few more days. As soon as I'm done with the chaos of school I'll get around to making some spectacular albums. If only I didn't push everything off to the last minute...

To keep everyone a little interested, here's some photos of us around Beijing before we left for Guilin. This is just some of our bike ride when Sean broke his arm, the Forbidden City trip I took with my art class, and a few randoms.

Around Beijing II

Oh, and by the way. I'm going to Tokyo. Tickets are booked, everything is done, and I'm leaving the second weekend in December. And, I'm booking tickets to Hong Kong this week. We'll leave the first weekend of December. So, pretty much what I'm saying is that the adventures don't end until the last week of China. I can already predict that those pictures won't be posted until after I'm back in the US, but I'll do my best to get them up during finals week. Take care.

A Postcard in Words

Ok, so my last entry was long, but rushed. This is probably going to be another long one, just to throw that out there. Where did I leave off? After the fun river rafting down the Yulong (Green Dragon) River and the water show we went to bed to prepare for the mud cave diving. The next morning we woke up and ate another great breakfast. Our group walked down to the bike rental shop and got our bikes. They weren't the best quality, but a bike is a bike. We started off out of town and soon were biking our way through rice fields and beautiful mountains. The mountains, I've learned, are karst topography, or karst mountains. These weathered limestone formations are formed from fossilized prehistoric sea floor sediments, brought to the surface by geological upheavals. The exposed limestone is then eroded by rain causing the mountains to form. Underground water flows and subterranean rivers carve out long, interlinked caverns which have beautiful and interesting rock formations. The bike ride through the karst was amazing. The villages we passed through were small and isolated. The old people worked in the fields, the water buffalo grazed alongside the road and the fog began to fade away as the sun emerged. The bike ride was a decent length but we made it to the cave. This is where the fun began.



Having been to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, I knew what it's like to be in a cave. Being the US, touching formations is strictly prohibited. But in China...rules do not apply. Actually, the rule should be touch, explore, and climb! We began our decent to the mud cave by climbing in and out of stalagmites. We turned around corners, into smaller chambers, crouching through tunnels and emerging into larger rooms. Sometimes we descended by steep metal stairs into a lower chamber and other times we would use ropes to climb up steep inclines. The trail was dimly lit and the upper regions of the larger rooms disappeared in the darkness. We explored some rooms and walked around the caves before going the mud cave. There were two ways to enter the trail to the mud cave, we could turn back and retrace our steps, or we could get on our stomachs and army crawl through a crevice no taller than a half meter. Everyone joked about the crevice. It was a really tight squeeze for some, but mostly it was a mental obstacle. Most people freaked out when they got their body in and had to army crawl out. It wasn't longer then 8 feet but to some I'm sure it felt like a mile. When we arrived at the mud cave the water was cold, but before we knew it we were knee deep in murky mud. Everyone enjoyed themselves so much. Picking up oozing globs of mud and slathering it on my shoulders and head was something I haven't done since the preschool playground. I had a blast. Once the relaxation got boring we of course had to make things interesting. People were falling into the mud, pushing each other around, and slinging mud across the cave. At one point it was a free for all and everyone was defending their vision. Mud was flying in front of your face, blobs were hitting me in the ears and I could barely open my eyes. It was too much fun. On the way out, our mud began to dry and a huge drop of mud fell from my forehead and landed right in my eye. Lucky for me, someone forgot their water bottle at the mud cave so my friend poured it in my eye to wash out the mud. At the cave entrance there were a few ice cold showers to wash ourselves off in and everyone who wore white into the cave came out with camel colored swim suits.

The night of the mud caves was a night to remember. The other group was in town so everyone had a huge feast and went out to a local bar for pool, drinks, and some much needed catching up. It was a little too much fun for most of us because the next morning's 7 AM wake up call woke all of us up on the wrong side of the bed. We began the next day with hours and hours of driving. Not any driving. Mountain driving. The scenery was beautiful, but the rain began to pour and made the bus humid. The mountain driving was curvy and winding, up long narrow dirt roads. The potholes and giant rocks made me think that within no time we were going to be pushing the bus out of a muddy mess. This didn't help for people's hang overs and reluctant to say there were quite a few students wishing that they hadn't stayed out so late and drank so much. I wasn't in too bad of shape and I'm not just saying that to say that, I was just tired. When we finally got to our village, Xiaozhai, the rain had lulled to a drizzle. Because of the rain, the hike to the village school was optional. As much as I wanted to sleep, I knew this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I headed off for the hike.

This was a great scenic hike. Two hours up and over the rice terraces. The clouds covered the peaks of the lush green mountain peaks and the terraces were full of water that reflected the grey overcast sky. The Yao people are an ethnic group in Southwest China. They are mostly an agricultural community relying on hunting, fishing, and rice cultivation. They are especially skilled in embroidery, weaving, and dying. The women traditionally keep their hair long as a sign of beauty, and by long I mean to the floor. Besides the hair on their head, they also keep every strand that falls out. They comb their hair every morning to keep tidy. The rice terraces took the local Zhuang and Yao people over 650 years to complete and they were awesome. I wish the weather had been better but I can take what I get.

When we arrived at the school, I was a little bummed to find out that most of the children were sent home because of the rain. There were a few kids left to play with us and all of us had a blast playing basketball and soccer and giving them gifts. Jimmy had a great time and he really did well with the kids. They loved him the most because he picked them up and twirled them around. He even let the kids shoot hoops from his shoulders. We walked back to the village and relaxed. We were all really tired. I ate dinner and waited for the night time village party. Around 8 pm, the entire village gathered in the center of town and lit a bonfire. The kids were out in full force and I wasn't about to miss an opportunity to let my inner child run free. These kids were monkeys. Before I knew it, we were in a vicious tickle fight and I was being attacked on all sides. The laughing children were climbing up my side, hanging on my arms and jumping on my back. At one point in time I had at least five children on me. One on my right arm, two on my back, one hanging on my left leg and another in front of me. I wasn't about to lose this war though. I called in reinforcements and with some help (my other friends were being attacked too at the same time) we managed to turn the tables. It was easy to pick one up and tickle them so much that they were nearly squirming out of my hands. I had a blast. I gave one boy a red hat I had bought in town and he wore it all night long. When it came time to watch the talent show, he climbed on my back and together we watched the show. After the show, the children showed us their school room. I picked up my kid's Chinese textbook and couldn't even read it. He was only 10 years old, but he for sure knew a whole lot more Chinese than I did. I thought it was amazing.

When it was time to go to bed, we departed from the village center and retired to our guest house. Everyone was exhausted and the night was dead silent by 11 pm. The next morning I woke up early to the sound of rain pattering on the rooftops of nearby houses. The cool morning breeze had made its way into our non-heated guest house and the air was chilly. I knew I wasn't going to be able to make it up for the day hike, so I went back to bed in the comfort of the warm blankets. I was happy to hear that the day hike was cancelled and we were leaving early to go to the hot springs hotel. We spent the rest of the morning, and almost all afternoon weaseling out of the village. The roads were even more treacherous than the day before but we finally made it.

The hot springs were amazing. It was a perfect way to end our trip. After the past couple days of partying, hiking, and physical activity we were ready to relax. The hot springs were natural and beautiful. Tucked away in between to mountain slopes, the hot springs ranged in temperature from 30°C to 50°C. 50°C is over 100°F and I could barely dip my feet in the 45°C pool without feeling a burning sensation on the bottom of my feet. The 45°C pool was incredibly hot and made your skin red after you pulled it out, I couldn't imagine what a dip in the 50°C pool would do to you. We all hung out for a few hours in the 42°C pool and took a dip in the medicine bath, which had large natural tea bags floating in the water. After dinner, everyone lined up for massages. They had a large array of massages ranging from Traditional Chinese Massage, Thai Massages, Korean Massages, and even an special Ovary Massage for the ladies.

The next day was the same old same old. We got the airport, took a plane back to Beijing, and here I am. I finally got internet in my room, so I should be able to post more often and get things done faster, but no promises. I have to go to class now but I'll post more later and the pictures are coming up.

Guilin

Well, I am in Guilin. It is much more beautiful than any other place I have been to in China. Let me start from the beginning. We all started our weekend with a bang, going out and having a great celebration to begin our week long vacation. Without any worries of school work or errands, everyone had a blast. Waking up Sunday morning to pack wasn't the most logical thing to do, but I made sure that I was not forgetting anything. Except for my phone charger. So now, I have no phone and some pretty scarce internet in Guilin but I'm managing to get by. The 22 hour train ride was a great time. My friends and I successfully entertained ourselves for the entire ride and I would even go as far as to say that it went by quickly. When we arrived in Guilin, we had this weird notion that things were going to be warm and sunny, but that didn't start until yesterday. It was kind of cold, a little overcast, maybe foggy or misty, but in any case it was still beautiful. The mountains here are spectacular and we began our trip going straight from the train station to Lao Hill. We ascended the tallest peak, Lao Hill, on a "gondola" aka ski-lift. With shorts, t-shirt, flip-flops and backpack, I pretty much froze to death the entire ride up, the 45 minute summit rest, and on the way down. The view from on top of Lao Hill was awesome. The mist and the fog swallowed up the hilly mountains one by one until they faded into whiteness. The mountains were larger and more prominent the closer they were to Lao Hill, but beneath us we could see the farm lands and small buildings of the town beneath the looming giant mountains.



When we were done looking from on top, we took the toboggan ride down and headed back to the hotel. We were all starving. Taking a 22 hour train, there isn't much to eat besides instant noodles and fruit. No one had eaten lunch, we were all a little confused by the cold weather, and the hotel was on the opposite side of the river away from the bar street and restaurants. When we got to the hotel, I had to register for classes, shower and then meet everyone for dinner. Not having a phone, a few of us were separated from the group that had left for dinner. The cab driver dropped us off at a main avenue, but we couldn't find out where our friend had gone to dinner. It felt like hours searching for our friend's restaurant and I was fuming with frustration being lost and hungry. Trying to find people in China is a very difficult task. All of the restaurants have flashing colored neon lights, the signs are in Chinese (obviously) and every street looks very familiar. When we finally found the restaurant, it felt like an hour had gone by. We arrived to empty plates and not so good food. I have to say, I was pretty irritated. I knew that the food was going to be eaten and generally speaking no one likes being lost and hungry. We ordered a few more dishes and I scrounged off the remaining plates. Once I had a little food in me, the night went on and we had a great time exploring Guilin. This town was equally beautiful at night as it was during the day. The rocky mountain hills were lit up and lush. There were a few streams running through the city that reflected the mountains and street lights and the ambiance was just right. We had a pretty late night out meeting locals and bar hopping but we all made it home safe, sound and ready to start another day.



Yesterday, we woke up early to take a bus ride to Yangshuo. Yanghuo is a smaller town just outside of Guilin. It is spectacular. When we arrived, we checked into our hotel and ate lunch. This town has some major pros and cons. First off, it is a tourist town. Tons of westerners, western food, beautiful scenery, warm weather, accommodations close to the main part of town, and so much more. But the same things that make me love this town, make me strongly dislike it. First and foremost, there are too many westerners. This means that everything is touristy and unauthentic. The food is slow, service is mediocre, and the people just aren't as nice. Besides these things Yangshuo is a great town. We left lunch and headed off for an hour and a half Li River cruise. This was amazing. In groups of four, we headed down the Li River weaving along and around the majestic mountains. The mountains are shaped exactly how the pictures look. They are even more lush and green than the pictures and look like melted wax dried after years of dripping and running. The river is fairly rapid but you can still see the reflection of the mountains in the waves. The sun had begun to set and the light streaked through the rolling hills filling the river valley with rays of light. Passing in and out, in between and around the mountains was overwhelming. This was the rawest and most purely Chinese thing I have seen. I wish I could have taken everyone on this cruise. It is here, in the south of China, that I have seen the typical Chinese farmer, bent over in the fields, rice hat to shield the blinding sun and water buffalo grazing in the background. The people rely on nature for everything and you can tell by their culture they are still awed by the surrounding landscape. The people fish with large nets and it is here that they have specially trained river birds to catch for them. By tying string around the birds throat, they release the birds to catch fish from the river and being unable to swallow, the birds return to the boat to give the fisherman their meal. It is a spectacular relationship between bird and fisherman.

The river cruise ended and we headed back to the hotel for dinner. We ate at a noodle bar and got ready for the "Impression Liu Sanjie" night show. This show was 100% not what we expected and for a hefty Y200 price tag, I can't help but say I was a little disappointed. But, before I give you the wrong impression let me explain what I expected and what it turned out to be. Directed by Zhang Yimou, the famous director of the 2008 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony (the one I accidentally fell asleep to in the sweltering heat), the show depicts the life of the Guangxi people. Guangxi is the province that Guilin and Yangshuo are located in. The production has a natural mountain background and has over 600 local fishermen and women working together with ethnic minority people. Even though I was expecting shooting fountains, flashy light shows and yea, a few fireworks, I wasn't shocked that the entire production was in Chinese making it hard to understand. Lucky for me, I was sitting next to John, our TBC leader and he translated a few key parts for me. There was a love story, a depiction of a typical day as a fisherman, a night scene depicting the stars and moon, and a few other things I can't recall. It was a good show, not what I was expecting but that was OK.

Today, we woke up early to get American breakfast and with the slow service, I didn't have enough time to eat at the restaurant. It wasn't an issue because today was my cooking and river rafting excursion. We arrived at the cooking lessons shortly after 9 am and I was surprised to walk into our tour guide's house. And what do you know? Our tour guide, Richard, was also the master chef who would teach us how to make dumplings, kung pao chicken, spicy sauce (lajiu), fried noodles, and beer battered fish (a local delicacy). Free food. Master Chef Teacher. What more needs to be said? We were stuffed. After making dumplings, steaming them, frying some and eating all of them I was ready to start my day. It got better. The spicy sauce, no joke, is definitely going to be made for everyone at home to try. I'll do whatever I have to do to get the ingredients, but something this good can't be left here in China. The fried noodles were fried noodles, but the over all experience of cutting the peppers, bamboo, ginger, garlic, and everything else was a blast. Not to mention, this guy had a penthouse on the sixth floor overlooking fields and more mountains. The kung pao chicken was my favorite to cook. Adding in spices and throwing in vegetables, it was not only a lot of fun to make, but especially delicious to devour. When we finished eating and cooking we made our way to the Dragon River rafting.

For this experience, everyone came prepared for fun in the sun with our swimsuits and all. It was a blast. The best part about the whole trip was that on the way down to the boats they were selling water guns. Two people. One raft. It was war before we got on board. Jim and I got on a boat together and we were off. Within five minutes, my water hose cracked and leaked and within the first half hour Jim's was broken in half. It was hilarious to ride down the river shooting the other boats, avoiding getting hit in the face and just having a great time. Balancing on the boats was hard, but we coordinated with our drivers to sneak attack people from behind. The Dragon River has about 8 or 9 small waterfalls that added a little excitement to the trip while we were not squirting water at eachother. The waterfalls were more like mini plunges but no one's boat flipped over. At one point along the trip, it was full fledged pirating and pillaging. Boris, my friend from Fairfield University, is a member of the swim team. He started the piracy by jumping off his boat and pushing people off their boat. When this happend, it was all of themselves. Jim got in and took over a neighboring boat. While he was gone, I was attacked from three sides and had to abandon ship, jumping off and heading toward a third boat. On Jim's conquered vessel, he took their weapons and tried to reclaim our original boat, but somehow everyone ended up on eachother's boats. By this time, we had given our raft drivers quite a show and they told us to sit down for one of the waterfalls. We were soaked and the water was pretty murky but we were living the good life. A few of us got mouthfuls of river water, but hopefully none of us get sick. No one really knows what things live in those waters but our boats got this mysterious foam on them and there were some dead fish floating along with us.

The boat ride was great. The Dragon River was so still that the reflection of the mountains was perfect. Like I said, I can't even explain how beautiful this scenery is and my pictures can't even do it justice. Hopefully I'll be able to write soon and tell you about the mud diving we're going to do tomorrow.

Southward Bound: Another Chinese Adventure

I'm about to go on another Chinese adventure. This one is to the southern province of Guangxi. After our 22 hour train ride, we'll arrive in Guilin Monday afternoon. From then on it's all fun and games. This time our school didn't even bother trying to put any museums or educational façades on the itinerary. Which is a great thing. This means it's a vacation, a break, and a time to relax from our kind of stressful lives at school. From Day 1, we're going to be visiting Yao Hill, decending by toboggan (like the time we went to the Great Wall at Mutanyu). The next night, we're staying with a local village school, where we will not only get to visit the Xiaozhai village school but we will be seeing the infamous Rice Terraced Fields. This is besides the fact that when we return from the village stay, we'll be returning to a five-star western hot-springs hotel. We then take a bus to Yangshuo, where we have two days to really have a blast. There are three options, of which we choose two activities. The first is a hiking/kayaking excursion, the second is a biking/cave mud diving experience, and the last is a cooking/rafting activity. I think I am leaning towards the biking/cave mud diving (we hear it is amazing) and the cooking/rafting. I honestly can't wait to go. There is supposedly an awesome water show that we have to see. If you thought the Silk Road trips are beautiful, check out what is in store for me when I go to Guilin.

Well, now that I'm leaving in a few hours, I need to pack. I should be packing light since the weather down there is about 80°F and the sun is shining every day. I also have some random pictures from my trip to Tian--men when Sean broke his arm and the Forbidden City when I went to some different parts. Also, last night we had a great night out. I got my eight custom tailored shirts back from the tailor and I'm pleased with all of them. We all went out to an Italian restaurant, had some wine, and then went down to Wangfujing. Unfortunately, Wangfujing closes around 10:30pm so we weren't able to try some weird things, but we're going to go sometime soon after we get back to try scorpions, bugs, and other critters.

Oh, and to completely change the subject. I had a field trip for Buddhism class on Saturday morning. It was about an hour and a half away, in the mountains just outside of Beijing. This retreat is a privately owned mountain resort for Buddhists. They can rent out the cabins and practice meditation in the quite natural environment. It was a great experience. Our class meditates for about 20 minutes every time class meets, but this time we learned different techniques and we were able to sit on actual Buddhist meditation cushions. It was really great. We practiced walking meditation and simple breathing focused meditation. It was a relaxing start to a very busy day.

After my Buddhism class, the bus was late coming back to school. I had a Marketing midterm test to take at 1:30pm and we didn't even arrive at school until nearly 2pm. Not to worry, my professor is extremely understanding for these kind of situations and I had a legitimate excuse. Since many of the students in my Buddhism class are also in my Marketing class, about half of us were late for the midterm. We had to grab a quick bite to eat too, which further delayed our arrival. The midterm went just fine, not too difficult. But I had to rush through it in order to make my 4 o'clock appointment.

I have begun tutoring with the English program Learn First as many of you know. I met with another student for the initial interview and I'm in for a treat. This family has lived in the US (Minneapolis, MN) for over 20 years. They just recently moved back to China with their two children, American by birth, and are looking for a tutor to speak with their 6 year old son. I've worked with my aunt as a kindergarten teacher aid before and I worked at PS/MS 20 in a first grade ESL classroom last year. It's a great experience and I can't wait to start when I get back from my trip.

Also, since I'm always wondering about news over in the US, here's a bit of news that is going on over here. Apparently, there was a police beating in southern China where one person was killed. The story goes that some policemen were off duty in plain clothes at a bar having a few drinks. While they were driving home, they hit a car full of college students. I am pretty sure that they hit the college students because the driver got out and began to yell at the policemen. He too had been out that night. Pretty soon, the angry college student became confrontational with the policemen and a fight ensued. The policemen had a video tape recording in their car, but somehow after the fight begins the tape is cut short. You never see the student being beaten to death because a policeman had turned the camera off. This is where the controversy comes in. First of all, the policemen. Although they were off duty and have the privilege to go out drinking, the fact that they hit another car and then severely beat the student to death and injured his friends is completely inappropriate for an authoritative figure. Also, there are some questioning the students and whether or not they were using illegal substances that may have caused the deceased one to die because of a heart attack. From the tape, it seems as though the student started the quarrel, but it is not sure what happened after since the tape was cut off. This is a huge deal right now and all the policemen are in jail. Whoever is convicted of the assault will definitely receive capital punishment. I need to go pack now, so wish me luck and I'll try and post while I'm away but don't expect much. Happy Halloween!

Made in China

I've been in China for two months now, but I haven't been doing much shopping for Chinese goods so far. It's getting down to crunch time and I have 7 weeks to get a ton of stuff before I head home. So far, I've gotten a few cool things for myself, nothing big. I've got a big Christmas gift for someone, and a few small gifts for a few of you too. The longer I'm out here however, I find my list of things to buy growing ever larger. I still have a lot to get myself, such as a suit, a business trench, some custom tailored shirts, and other stuff. Today, I finally purchased my first big item. A custom tailored, cashmere, peacoat. It fits like a glove and I'm pretty sure I've never been this excited about a piece of clothing. What can I say? It looks sharp. I guess that means not all things made in China are that bad after all. In between all the classes and having fun, I'm getting a little stressed out. My number one goal is to not leave China without a suitcase full of awesome stuff and the way it’s looking that suitcase is empty.

Recently, I put an ad on TheBeijinger.com advertising myself to tutor English. Well, what do you know, English tutors are in huge demand out here. I got instant replies from multiple people but the one that caught my interest was one specific program. I went in for an interview last Friday and I began tutoring on Sunday. So far I've tutored twice and I love it. Besides the fact that I have to say I'm 27 years old, pretend I've already graduated, conceal the fact that I'm currently in school here, and avoid talking about my personal life, the job is well-paying, close to school, and very entertaining. I get paid phenomenally well and get to speak my native tongue. The people I'm tutoring are extraordinary business people too.

The first woman I tutored was crazy. She wanted help with her confidential PowerPoint presentation that she had to present this Thursday. First of all, she is presenting to some retired board of directors from Pricewaterhouse Coopers. Second, her company is being audited by Ernst & Young. Last, I was talking to her, helping her speak, and learning about their transition to comply with Sox 404 tax regulations. Absolutely absurd, if you ask me. I'm 20 years old. I'm green and inexperienced in the world of business, teaching English and pronunciation to this well experienced business woman.

The second woman I taught was leaving to Singapore the very next day. During the middle of our tutoring session she has a very important phone call. She apologized for having to take it. Turns out, she said it was her distributor. Her company is working on a huge deal with Airbus because they provide the painters air filtration masks. The distributer called her and told her that they needed a price quote for their air filters. I understood the need for the interruption and we continued our lesson. Then, again, the phone rang and this time we absolutely had to take a break. She was asking me if I knew the exchange rate from Germany to RMB and of course I didn't know! Turns out, her company has multiple divisions around the world. They supply masks to distributors and her division just built a factory in Tianjin, not too far from Beijing. (Remember, Jimmy and I went to the soccer game there) From what she told me, her distributor told her that Airbus wanted to purchase the masks from the German side. The only problem is, that the masks are produced in China. Therefore, they should be a Chinese export. If Airbus purchases the masks from the German office, they avoid paying the 17% tax on the masks but in doing so, they are giving Germany millions of dollars in exports to count toward the German GDP. My student was very upset, saying to me, "I don't care about the money or the commission. I just want what is right for my company and for everyone. Those products belong to us [China] and that is why I don't want them to buy them from Germany." It was so crazy. She doesn't care about losing the commission on this deal, but she wants the money to contribute to the Chinese GDP, as it should. It was a very very nat-onalist-c ideology. I think it is amazing. I don't know what to make of it, but it is very interesting. I can't wait until the next time I tutor. Who do you think I'll run into next? Other than the "would-be-legal-if-I-was-in-the-US" issues, I have high expectations for this program.

This week is a big week for travel too. Devon, Jim and I received our visas and now we’re working on booking a trip to Tokyo. I don't think I'll be able to go to both Hong Kong and Tokyo, but we are for sure going to Tokyo. I also went back to the Forbidden City with my art class today. The second time around was great. My art teacher explained a lot of things and took us to some quieter parts of the Forbidden City. We saw some foreign diplomats being escorted by a ring of plain-clothes police. Also, I must have been looking very American today because believe it or not, I was asked to take a picture with someone and this time I didn't have an American flag on my back to give myself away. I felt pretty cool.

In other news, Jimmy was talking with a ex-TBC student at Fordham who was in China last semester. He's continuing his Chinese language studies in New York and Fordham is paying for his classes since they don’t offer any more than the four semesters I've already taken. Jim and I are jumping on that deal as soon as possible. Both of us really want to continue to learn Chinese, so wish us luck when we approach our dean about it.

I think that is all folks. Check back later.

Step on a Crack, Break Your Mother's Back

Well, the past few days haven't been too exciting. Wednesday this week was wonderful weather so Sean, Jim, Ryan, Jeff, and John and I decided to take a bike ride around the city. We rode through some hutongs, passed by the Llama Temple and made our way down to Tian--men Square. It was good to get off campus for once. We all feel like we haven't explored Beijing enough. I'm one of the lucky students to have seen a lot of tourist attractions already. Most students don't have time between classes and socializing to wander around Beijing. While at Tian--men Square, Sean was trying to get into the bike lane after accidentally biking on the pedestrian walkway. I don't know the full story because I didn't see it, but one small fall turned into a pretty bad situation. He fell trying to jump the fence between the lanes and somehow landed wrong on the ground. He was in a lot of pain and he knew immediately that he had broken his arm. Well, being at Tian--men, on bikes, not at school, with no idea what to do, we spent the next 20 minutes contacting our friends at school to try and get the numbers of administrators who could then direct us what to do. After getting in touch with the right people, we spent a lot of phone tag trying to get the cab driver to know where to go. Sean was pretty much out of it and as you can imagine, waiting another 20 minutes to translate to the driver where to go wasn't the most comfortable of times. When we finally found out where to go and how to get Sean there, we also had to brainstorm what to do with two extra bikes. Jim decided to go with Sean to the hospital, Jim's phone had no minutes, my phone had no minutes, Sean's phone ended up with us after the cab left to the hospital because we were calling people still, and basically all was in chaos. The good thing is, we're all quick-minded individuals and we decided to just leave the bikes on a bike rack instead of trying to wheel them home somehow. But of course, Tian--men district is all government buildings and high profile living areas. Finding a bike rack here is like trying to find a place to sit on that overcrowded night train to Qingdao.

When we found a bike rack we dropped the bikes off and made for home. John and I had class at 7:30 so we definitely needed to get back soon. And of course the map was with Jimmy and Sean on the way to the hospital. We eventually mazed our way back to school and I made it to class on time. Sean on the other hand, made it to the hospital to find out he fractured his forearm. He's in a cast indefinitely but he's doing all right. No worries. Speaking of bad circumstances, my roommate Jimmy had a rough night the other evening. After watching a movie, we all went to bed. Jimmy had to make a quick call to his sister, so I had fallen asleep by the time things got interesting. Apparently, Jim got a serious case of the 24 hour bug, it wasn't shigella (haha)but it was enough to keep him up vomiting and sick all night long. If anyone knows me and my phobia, I'm really glad I was asleep. I do vaguely remember waking up in the middle of the night and mumbling, "What's going on over there?" before falling back to sleep after realizing what was going on. He's doing a lot better now, just taking it easy and not eating anything adventurous. I'm sad to say however, the cause of this sudden illness was some Mexican food. (Although, in defense of the Mexican food, one of our amigos ate the same thing and he somehow ended up OK.) I think the true lesson to learn is you'll never know when Montezuma will take his revenge, even as far east as China.

Today, I went to check out my coat that I was getting made. It was a little big (the same with Devon's) but it's really nice. Warmer than I expected and softer too, this coat is well worth the kuai. Other than that, I've spent my day trying to find outside sources for my art history research paper. It's about the development of ancient Chinese city walls. Fascinating stuff, really... Enjoy your weekend everyone. Oh, and if you didn't infer, I bought a bike for Y180.

Put on Your Painter's Smock

The other day I went down to Beijing's 798 Art District. This area is a very famous art district which has photography, sculptures, paintings, modern art, Maoist art, Cultural R-volution art, and a bunch of other cool stuff. Devon, Ryan, Jeff, some other friends and I went and I have to go back sometime soon. It was so cool. We only walked through a small part but the sun began to set as we wandered around through the various galleries. There were too many pieces I really liked but here are some of my favorites.

«Catcher»

This gallery has a distinct art symbolizing the last few pages of Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger. One of my favorite classics, the artist has taken a photograph of a cornfield and transposed it to symbolize the ending scene of Catcher in the Rye. In his first picture, I think it's extraordinary how he placed innocent children - all laughing, smiling and quintessentially Chinese - in a cornfield. Looking at the expression on their faces, the ones near the front are peering over the edge of the cliff and the other children are playing blissfully unaware. To complete the set, in the second picture, the artist has placed another picture of a cornfield opposite to this one, but instead of children, there are scarecrows in the field. Catcher in the Rye has a dominate theme dealing with the loss of childhood innocence, so looking at the first photograph made me feel a bit of sadness knowing what it represented. The second photo seeded many thoughts. I am still wondering why he chose to put scarecrows in the field instead of children. Maybe the scarecrows are supposed to frighten the children away from the edge of the cliff?

Anyway, besides the numerous Mao paraphernalia at 798, I often see Mao art on the streets or in markets. I have picked up a few pr-paganda posters in my travels throughout China. Prop-ganda posters, real or knocked-off, are typical in Chinese art. They were used during the period of Mao's rule to promote the ideology of Com-unism and propagate social-sm to the people. I have five of them, and all five are hanging on my wall. Each are different and have different sayings. My favorite is shown below:

In this poster, you can see the people holding their red books, Mao's book of sayings, all with smiles and happiness in their eyes. The phrase above them says something along the lines of: With book in hand we will defeat...something...and resist...something else... to go out and ... something. It's pretty interesting to analyze the posters from both an art perspective and from a social perspective. First and foremost, the people in the pictures are most likely laborers, commoners, or poorer peasants. The fact that they are holding their books in hand is ironic considering the fact that they possibly do not know how to read. The posters are fun to look at and provide good material to ponder how the Chinese read them and took them to heart. In the end, all I know is that these posters are deeply rooted in Chinese culture and are small memoirs of a critical time in Chinese history.

Back at 798, there were some interesting sculptures of animal-human things. My art history teacher calls them zoomorphic figures, but I don't really like using the technical terms. The sculptures were pretty cool and Devon got a picture of me with one. In other galleries, there were oil paintings with so much paint smeared on the canvas that it literally added another dimension to the painting. When 798 became too dark and cold, Devon and I headed over to Sanlitun bar district (bar district by night, awesome ex-pat district by day) to meet Brittany's father for dinner. Dinner was amazing. I really liked talking with Brittany's dad too. This guy is amazing. Working for a Korean technology company, he has spent most of his life working in Seoul, Korea and other Asian cities. Typically, he visits Asia for 6-8 months out of the year and has done so for the past 20 years. I'm not sure I love the idea of travelling that much, but it was a great conversation to have over some delicious (and much needed) Italian food.

Hope everyone is doing great. Word on the street says that it is getting pretty cold in Denver and I'm sure everyone is getting bombarded with Halloween candy at every store and in every office. I miss having a super-sized bowl of candy to snack on while I watch TV, do homework, or bum around the house. Someone needs to carve a pumpkin for me and let me know what costumes everyone is wearing this year.

One last thing. Here is some more food for thought as well. We discussed this picture in art class and it was confiscated by authorities for three reasons:

1. The colors are too dull.
2. The Bird's Nest is not represented appropriately.
3. The language is sensitive.

Currently, this picture, titled "Bird's Nest in the style of cubism," is being detained by the customs and security authorities of China and will be sent back to New York City soon. The artist, Zhang Hongtu, is furious that his art was not allowed to be entered into the Beijing exhibit and as you can imagine he has spoken out against this injustice. You should read the Wall Street Journal article online here. In class we discussed why the government listed only these three reasons and why the third reason is last (wouldn't you think that would be the first reason). Also, the 8s on top represent the 8/8/08 opening ceremony and the number is auspicious anyway. The characters on the bottom are the Olympic slogan "One World, One Dream" and the characters on top just say "Olympic Torch." I'm looking for pictures of the Catcher exhibit and I'll put them online when I can find them.

Making Plans

Well, this morning I woke up a little bit sick. I don't really know if I'm sick yet, but the head is pretty congested and I'm pretty sore. The gym that we all signed up for is phenomenal. Brand new equipment, tons of top of the line treadmills and machines, and a good amount of free weights. I especially love it because, not being a very big guy myself, the Chinese are typically smaller than I am. So this basically means that I can walk around the gym feeling a little confident that I'm not curling 5 lbs or benching the bar alone. I have been going to the gym nearly every day and I had to take yesterday easy. I'm still pretty sore today so it makes me think I might be getting sick.

How is life in the US? From what I'm hearing, the stocks are in shambles, the financial crises has taken a turn for the worst, the presidential debates are heating up and people are running around like Chicken Little screaming the sky is falling! I can't help but say that I feel totally disconnected from my country right now. The slowing economy never really showed while I was in the States, but now I feel like everyone is feeling it. Jimmy is pretty up to date on things but I personally haven't had time to really sit down and get the big picture. I'm pretty sure that my plans are definitely going to have to change in response to what is happening. I am currently a Finance major, about to graduate in a year and a half and when all is said and done, I'm most likely not going to have an easy time finding a career. I do have a possible lead with an accounting firm, but if that falls through I'll be swimming up a terrible stream. I've been considering my options and right now, China isn't looking too bad in terms of business opportunities. I've already been thinking about coming out here next summer with said accounting firm but now I'm seriously weighing my options. I can either stay in New York City this summer, try and find a financial job, try and make money in one of the most expensive cities, and try and make do. Or...I can try and come out here with my accounting firm, if that doesn't work, come to China working for another financial or accounting firm, or come to China to tutor English. Either way, it seems more logical to spend a summer abroad than stay in the US. Especially because I'm an international business major. We'll see what happens.

I've already started my weekend because I don't have classes on Friday so I plan on taking it easy this weekend. Catching up on sleep, enjoying the decently warm days of Autumn and doing homework are in the forecast. I've bought a badminton racket and I have gotten to play with some of my friends. We can't really play as well as the Chinese but it's at least time outdoors.

Of course, I can't keep everyone waiting forever for the pictures of my National Holiday trip, so here they are:

Shanghai

Hangzhou

Suzhou