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!