The Elite 8

So Friday was another day full of training. We started off the day with a session on how to plan sessions/programs. This will come in handy when we begin to prepare the activities for the camp this week. After this, we ate at a Chinese restaurant for lunch. Coming from America and having studied in China, I know the difference between authentic Chinese food and fast-food take out. Jolin, from China, has never been outside China, so she doesn't really know what "Chinese food" is to the rest of the world. I'll never forget the look on her face when we went to this restaurant. It first started when we sat down, and there were no chopsticks on the table. In the rest of the world, a lot of people can't use chopsticks, but explaining this was easy, because Jolin understands other cultures are different than hers. Then when we were choosing our food, she was all content to order some fried rice. When she went to order her meal, she was a little shocked to find that you have to order your rice separately from your entree. And if that wasn't enough, the final straw was when she spoke in Chinese to the waitress and the waitress did not understand. After this, Jolin was so upset she couldn't contain it, "What kind of Chinese restaurant is this place!?" I couldn't help but laugh. It was a pretty crappy restaurant, even by American-Chinese standards. No fortune cookie or anything.

After lunch we had a session by Prague College. This was "Working with Students Part II." It was by the worst workshop we've had all week. We couldn't really figure out what the point of it was, but in the end we got some good advice about dealing with Czech students, so it wasn't a complete waste of time. We then moved on to our final session, "Team Dynamics" with Vieroslava (Vieros) for short. By this time we were so exhausted with training and sessions we were practically delusional. We've heard enough about the importance of teamwork, the importance of being a leader, blah blah blah, the only thing we wanted to do was enjoy a beer or go to bed. But, we stuck it out through the end and made the best of our session.

We ended up coming home for an hour before we headed out for another weekend on the town. Friday night was a "Welcome to Prague" party for Pierre, the French intern who arrived earlier in the week to work for Accenture. By the time we got to the other flat (not Ana and Jolin's) there were about 15 other interns. New Zealand, Croatia, Colombia, Argentina, Romania, Mexico, Russia, Tunisia, India, Sweden, France, Czech Republic, and a few other countries were all represented at the AIESEC party. This is exactly why I joined. We enjoyed a few drinks, brought from all around the world, and proceeded to go out for the night. The morning train home was quite a journey, highlighted by a late night/early morning stop to KFC.

We slept in, for the first time in ages, and woke up to Jenny making some delicious Czech food. Aysegul's boyfriend's brother lives in Prague, so she left in the afternoon to meet up with him. I updated my blog, added pictures, etc. and took a nice nap. I woke up just in time to get ready to go out for the night. We ate a quick dinner and took the last train into Prague. This time we went straight out and didn't stop at any apartments beforehand. I really enjoy going out in Prague. There are hundreds of places, each with a unique crowd and different atmosphere.

This morning (Sunday), I woke up at 10 AM to check the bus schedule to go pick up Harrison (Taiwanese) from the airport. I found the next bus to the airport left at 10:40 AM, so I didn't even get to shower before I had to leave. I caught the bus, just to find out that I had caught it in the wrong direction (who knew that there was one bus stop for both directions...) and I ended up getting kicked out in who-knows-where again. Luckily, I found some random wireless internet and was able to check the bus schedules. Good news was I only had to wait 30 minutes for the next bus, bad news was that Harrison was going to be waiting another hour for me at the airport. There was nothing I could do, so I got a coffee at the only place around and caught the next bus. When I got to the airport, I found Harrison right away. He had just called Jenny from a payphone wondering where I was. I took him back to his apartment and introduced him to Ana (Brazil) and Jolin (China)--they are his new flatmates.

When we arrived, the girls were just hanging out. They were supposed to do a cultural simulation this afternoon, but when I arrived, the other girls (Olessya, Ekta, and Aysegul) still hadn't left Roztoky and it was already 3 PM. Harrison was tired, so I decided to go grocery shopping with Ana and Jolin while he took a rest. We skyped the girls and told them to meet at Ana & Jolin's apartment so they could begin their cultural simulation. While they were doing that, I could do the makeup session with Harrison and Tete (Portuguese) to catch them up on all the information they missed the past week. Tete was on her way from the airport with Jenny by now.

Right when we had everything all figured out, Ana get's a call from Ekta, who was still at Jenny's house. They were all ready to leave, when they noticed one small problem. They were now locked inside the house. See, Jenny and I are the only one's with keys to Jenny's house. Jenny had left early Sunday morning, before me, but I didn't know. So when I left this morning, I locked the house and went on my way. Now the girls were stuck in the house. Poor Ekta...always getting locked into places. We went grocery shopping, and received a phone call from them a few minutes later saying they had figured out a way out. They still won't tell me how they did it. All they said was, "Regis, we are smart girls and we don't need you for everything." Fair enough. I still don't know how they did it.

When they finally arrived at the apartment, Jenny had dropped off Tete and I began to do the make up session with Harrison and Tete. Welcome to Prague--now straight to work!! The session ended up taking 3 hours (an hour longer than I had planned) because there was just so much material to cover. The girls worked on their simulation for a while in the apartment, but eventually had to leave to take pictures of a few statues and find a few things around Prague. When we finished, Pierre had made an apple crisp of some sort, so we had a bit of dessert and left to go watch the Brazil game in Old Town Square.

We met up with the girls at Old Town Square, but the weather was cloudy and cold and we decided to leave a bit early. Harrison and Tete were exhausted, Pierre has work tomorrow and I had to get home to finish the agenda for the upcoming week. We have a ton of work to do this week, so I had to plan when we're going to do what. We caught the train home and made it back, just in time for me to finish my work and get to bed before 2 AM. I'm really glad that the final two group leaders are in Prague. Now we can really form a cohesive group and make this camp the best. It'll be nice to see how having two new dynamic personalities in our group. I can't wait to see how it pans out. For now, there will be more to come, but I need to sleep. Tomorrow is a long day.

Meeting the Others

Since Saturday, a lot has been going on around over here. Saturday night, after the whole train fiasco, we ended up going out to Prague to meet some other international students here on their internships. When we arrived at their apartment they welcomed me to Prague and introduced themselves. Zrinka (Zizi) a girl from Croatia, Rusha an Indian girl from New Zealand, Tinzo a guy from Tunzania, a guy from Colombia, and a Brazilian guy. They are all really outgoing and had all been here for at least two months already. I think most of them plan to stay for more then 6 months. Prague, come to find out, typically hosts between 30-40 international exchanges a year. That's a lot for such a small city!

When it was time to go out it was already nearly 1 AM. Jenny and I had taken the last train into the city, an 11:30 PM, and since the trains do not run at night, planned to take the 4:41 AM home. That is just the way it works here. The first place we went to was a "music bar," 

or a club, that was kind of crowded but not too much. It was mostly filled with a bunch of random people from middle aged people who just wanted to dance, to some younger people there just for the drinks. The music playlist was a whole other story. A mix of 80s rock and Michael Jackson to Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody and random techno songs, overall it wasn't really good music to dance to. It was fun however to watch the unique dance moves of some select individuals, who grooved to their own tune or who simply just danced like they thought the world was ending. Those people were the most entertainment I got from the place because it was kind of awkward and pretty much like pulling teeth to force ourselves to make the best of it. After two hours of this, it was finally time to call it quits and we moved on. By now it was nearly 3 AM and in typical American fashion we stopped by a late night pizza place to grab a quick snack. I got a gyro, which was nice and fresh, and we moved on to the next place. We eventually found this place called "Hell," an underground club with smoke machines and gothic decorations. The DJ was really good even though I don't particularly like electronica. He played minimal techno, which means it has no words just beats mixed together, and I thought he was pretty good. This place was much better and nicer than the last place, but unfortunately there was one big problem. We were the only ones there. I mean there was one couple in a dark secluded corner and one guy dancing by himself--who would randomly shout when the music got really good and he couldn't contain his excitement (pretty funny)--and there were people along the bar, but mostly the place was empty. Bummer. We ended up making our own dance party until it was time to leave and Jenny and I caught our train and slept in.

When I woke up yesterday it was time for a busy day. Jenny left around 1 PM to pick up Ana Luisa, our Brazilian exchange who is going to camp with us. While she was gone I went to the store, bought eggs and bread, and worked on the schedule. When they returned from the airport, I was preparing to leave to pick up Ekta, our Indian exchange. I did have a chance to eat and talk with Ana before I left.  She is very bubbly and outgoing, she brought two bottles of cachaça (a Brazilian liquor that is made from sugarcane) per my request, which was very nice of her, and she also insists that I practice my Spanish with her. We did get to speak long enough for her to call me a "drama queen," at which I laughed and just shook my head. This is coming from a girl who just complained that there are no Victoria Secrets around so she couldn't buy her lotion for her dry skin... Great.

I left for the airport by myself with just the numbers of the busses to guide me. Luckily I have a great sense of direction and I made to the airport without getting lost or missing my transfer. I greeted Ekta at the airport and bought her ticket for her and we began our journey back. We talked about many things, including life in India, her vegetarianism (she's never had meat in her life and not for religious purposes), life in Singapore and traveling.

Upon arriving at the house, Jenny had just left to pick up the other interns from the train station. The people we had hung out with the previous night were coming to say hi to the new interns. They brought with them a girl from Russia, Maria, and we went to the local pub in Jenny's town. The group was quite the mix. Ekta and Tinzo don't drink, Ekta just doesn't like it and Tinzo is Muslim. Ana, being a typical South American, was really excited to go out, but was happy to have a beer at the local pub instead.

The pub closed at 11 PM and on our way back we found Lin, our Chinese exchange, returning from the airport. We talked for a little while and I soon realize that I'm living with four international women. I'm just going to leave it at that. I fell asleep to them chit chatting about who knows what. I woke up this morning to see that they also invaded, but haven't yet taken over my sleeping space, but we will see how that goes. Today we are going to get the new interns settled into Prague, they need to buy train passes and get cell phones (which I refuse to buy for two weeks in Prague even though Jenny insists that I do so). I'll hopefully have a chance tonight to write again. Our exchange from Turkey comes in today so we'll have another addition to add to our group.

A day in AIESEC Prague

Today was day two in Prague and already I feel like I’ve been here for a whole month. I’ve learned so much, seen so much, and experienced so many new things that my brain can’t process it all. Today I took the train to Prague by myself to meet Jenny and Olga for lunch. I walked from the apartment to the train station, made it on time, and from Masarykovo Nádraži (Masarykovo station in Prague) to the university. Jenny’s university is very nice, it is the University of Economics in Prague and it has a small square outside with a statue of Winston Churchill. Walking into the University, Jenny introduced me to some fellow AIESECers who are members of AIESEC Prague. It was cool to see everyone speaking English and welcoming me to Prague, just the way I would greet someone when they come to New York on an internship. The university buildings are a little confusing because they added the new complex onto the old complex, and the floors don’t exactly line up. I almost died when we walked to the cafeteria and I saw a nice Sodexo sign smiling me in the face. I couldn’t help but laugh and think to myself, what great luck I have—that even after I graduate Sodexo finds me. For those of you who don’t know, Sodexo is the company that provides the cafeteria food at Fordham, prisons and to the president of the United States. The students warned me before we started, “It may look good, but it has no flavor.” Ironically, as much as I disdain Sodexo, I secretly love it and lo and behold, I actually liked the cafeteria food here too.

After lunch, it was time to work. Olga, Jenny and I went to the AIESEC club office and begin planning what to do for the Presentation Skills Workshop next Thursday. We came up with five basic elements that the students should walk away with:

• Preparing the presentation
• Goals of the presentation
• Body language and voice control
• Using visualizations
• Working with the audience

Each student will have to give five presentations and each time using more of the techniques that we teach them (which are much more detailed than I described, I just didn't want to bore anyone). I’m really excited about the work we did and it will be a good workshop for the students (sophomores in high school).

After this, we took a short break and Jenny and I went to pick up our Green Day tickets at the ticketpro dealer in Old Town. After, we ate dinner (at the cafeteria again), and made our way over to a lounge where AIESEC had planned a “Welcome to Prague” event for me. Going to the lounge, I walked in on a table of 12 AIESECers all sitting down talking and having drinks. Now I really know what it feels like to be a foreigner meeting a bunch of new people. Of course, we were the last people to arrive…which seems to be typical when meeting AIESEC interns. Even in New York, the foreigner is either waiting alone at the restaurant for the rest of us or they are the last one there after we’ve already ordered. I said hello, awkwardly, and sat down at the end of the table.  The table was far too long to hear what was going on at the other end, but I made good conversation with my fellow Czech AIESECers near me. They were very friendly and spoke good English and we talked about random topics. They couldn’t help talk in Czech every once in a while, so I kind of just sipped my drink and pretended to listen and, of course, I would laugh whenever a funny joke was told…haha.

Overall, it was a good night. The drink specials ended at 8 PM so most of the group left around that time. Jenny had left to run a quick errand and wasn’t back until 9:30 PM, and by this time, I felt bad for the rest of the students who wanted to continue their night at a less expensive venue near their dorms while they waited with me for Jenny. I would have loved to join them, but I knew I couldn’t just leave to go to their dorms, which are 30 minutes away in the opposite direction, so we waited for Jenny and then parted ways. I’m pretty tired and it’s past my bed time (again), but today was a really eventful day. The heat has been unbearable, but I’m biting my tongue because it’s supposed to be 65°F and raining this weekend. Bummer. Anyway, I’m working on the Camp Agenda tomorrow and it should be a low key night aftewards. We’re just waiting for the other trainees to arrive before all the fun really begins. I miss everyone and my sister still hasn’t had her baby. I’m waiting for the e-mail! Take care and pictures to come tomorrow.

PS -- In the previous post I said I ate babufka for breakfast, it is spelled babuvka. 

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

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).

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!

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

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.

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.

My Third Chinese Adventure

I returned back to Beijing this afternoon after a great weekend in Qingdao. What a trip! Let's start with the overnight train that we had to go on. At first, we didn't mind that fact that the lights didn't turn off or the fact that the seats were really uncomfortable and practically leaned forward. We also didn't mind the fact that we were getting in at 7:20 am. But the fact that they sold at least 100+ standing tickets made the trip a little uncomfortble. If you can't quite get a mental picture going let me try and paint one for you. When we got on the train everyone was putting their belongings in the overhead holders so the isles were pretty crowded. Because this is China, people were already sitting in our seats which is fine because they moved when we asked them too. But the problem was, there wasn't anywhere to go. The isles were so packed that we figured out pretty quickly that these people were going to stand for the 8 hours to Qingdao. They were sitting on the ground, laying under our seats, squishing onto people's laps. There were people sitting on the bathroom sinks, underneath the sinks and on the floor inbetween the cars. If I had to go to the bathroom, it would have been like trying to play a game of tip-toe over peoples bodies. The conductor who checked tickets could barely snake through the hoards of people. The beverage cart never came. Sleeping was another story. Since someone was leaning on my seat, I had a great view of their backside and there were too many people to stretch out my legs. I put my head face down on the table and spent most of the night switching between that position and seat-sleeping.

When we got to Qingdao we had to buy our return tickets back. In China, you can't buy roundtrip tickets for trains, you have to buy a ticket from one destination to another. Our returning overnight train was sold out, but I'm sure that we could have gotten standing tickets (yea right). The only available tickets were early morning tickets and we tried to get everyone on the same train but ended up having to split into two trains. The rest of the day we spent napping at the hotel and eating until our friends arrived from Beijing. It was only Jim, Devon and I on the overnight train because everyone else has classes on Fridays. We met up with our Chinese friend Serena and her friends. They took us out to a pagoda on the water and afterwards we went out and had a great dinner. Tons of delicious seafood including clams, mussles, shrimp and even crab. We had a few vegetables and lots of beer. We learned all of the traditional Chinese drinking games and enjoyed challenging our Chinese friends to their own games. Most of the games involve one on one challenges like who can finish a bottle of beer faster.

We met up with our other friends at the hotel. Being in China, the hotel booked one of our reserved hotel rooms so we ended up having two rooms for 15 people. Apparently in China they dont mind how many people sleep per room. The front desk asked if we had 8 people in one room and when we said yes, the clerk wasn't even surprised. That night we all went out to a bar as a group and had a great time. The next morning we ate and headed straight to the beer festival. It was a cool festival, but not what we had expected. It wasn't as cheap as we had planned, but there were so many fun things to do. They had Hofbrauhaus from Germany (I've been to the original), they had Heineken and other imported beers and of course a huge tent for Tsingtao Beer (the beer was first owned by Germans thus the different spelling). They had tons of food and some interesting music but we had a blast. We made our own international feel by playing American drinking games. Of course, the Chinese crowded around us taking pictures, cheering us on and even joining in. The tripods and videocameras were out in full force and a Chinese newspaper took our picture for the front page. In the background of this picture, a guy is holding up his baby to get in the picture. Serena and her friends also met us there and they ended up having a great time. They really enjoyed us Americans. Around 5 o clock we headed toward the beach to continue our fun. We all took a dip in the sea and played soccer with a Chinese guy. The water wasn't the warmest but we had a great time.

We went back to the hotel to change and clean up. We went to dinner and celebrated Jeff's birthday. It was last Monday, but no one had time to celebrate because we had just returned from our Silk Road trip. We had a lot of toasts and some more seafood and finished the night by going out to a local club with our Chinese friends. Leaving Qingdao was a bummer. We all had such a great time and the weekend flew by. We were all loving the Northern California of China. I'll post some pictures when I can.

Here are some of the Jiayuguan Fort and the Hanging Wall.

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Here are some pictures of Xi'an and Muslim street.

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Here are some pictures of the Terracotta Warriors.

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My Second Chinese Adventure

Well, the Silk Market was good. I got some new shoes for Y100 which is about $15. I didn't want to buy anything else but I somehow managed to get some t-shirts for Y30-40. I also got a hat. You will see pictures. After the Silk Market, we went to Wangfujing to get some stuff too. I never found a cheap place for shorts so I ended up going to the mall. The malls here have American prices and I went to Nike and picked up some overpriced shorts. Now I have them so I'm happy. We ended up eating at the Duck Dinner again. Did I mention that at the last dinner we ate turtle? And the girls ordered a special "woman's soup" that had frog ovaries in it. It is supposed to make girls more beautiful. I took pictures, but this time at dinner we stuck to more traditional dishes. After eating we headed out to one of the bar districts. While we were out at Sanlitun, we ran into some people from West Africa. They spoke spanish (surprisingly) and one of the guys was an ambassador's son. They invited us to another club, China Doll, with them and we headed over. I think we got in VIP or something because we took a different entrance into the club. This club also has 6 floors. It was a ton of fun but we were missing a few people from our group so we decided to leave.

Meeting all of these people from around the world is pretty cool. You can meet them anywhere, just ask. That night was probably the beginning of my second adventure. Yesterday I woke up and knew that I had to send my dad my broken laptop keyboard. I didn't have a clue where a UPS store was and I tried to look it up on UPS.com. Well, they have 5-6 locations in the Beijing area, I just didn't know which one was closest to me. Looking up a map of Beijing is another thing. If you can even find a decent one, its either going to be in Chinese or it will be incomplete. Most of the smaller areas with small streets are unlabeled. It took me about 45 minutes to find the first location, and I didn't really feel like trying to look up all of the locations so this was going to be the one I'd use. I took the subway there, and when I got out of the subway I was a little disoriented. I had a general idea where to go, but back to the map thing, I wasn't quite sure exactly where to go. I knew I had to walk west of the subway line, which I did, but after walking for a while I knew I should have passed it by now. I turned around to look at the buildlings. Everyone who doesn't know, I like looking at buildings and taking pictures of skyscrapers. A majority of my time in NYC, I orient myself based on skyscrapers and can get my friends and I around the city pretty well. Even in a part of town we've never been too. I turned around and saw the building I was supposed to be at. When I arrived at the UPS store, they spoke enough English to understand what I wanted to do. The only problem was this was a UPS Express store. I didn't want to burn a huge hole in my wallet, but I guess I really didn't have a choice.

The lady working at UPS didn't know how to package my keyboard. I told her it was already broken, it just couldn't break in half. They didn't believe me when I told them a few wraps of bubble wrap would make it sturdy enough, so they tried to put it in a box. It didn't fit in any smaller boxes, so they had to bubble wrap it like I said. Once the package was ready, I started to fill out the paperwork. Apparently, everyone in China needs to have a passport in order to ship things overseas. Well, I don't carry my passport in my pocket so I had to go get it. I caught a cab back to the apartment, got my wallet and took a cab back. I get back to UPS and fill out more paperwork and got it paid. But of course they don't take credit card at UPS China, and I didn't have Y288 in cash. Back out again to try and find an ATM. I took out more Yuan and walked back to the store. Paid and left. Finally. It was a short first part of my adventure but overall really a fiasco. Total time to ship a package in China: 2 hours and 45 minutes. Normally, I wouldn't even bother with this process, but I had to get the shipping done. And now I know where at least one UPS store is.

I was taking some phenonmenal pictures of downtown Beijing and the central business district, until my camera battery died. The cab driver even slowed down when we passed the twisted doughnut building and pointed to it and did camera motions, but I had to point to mine and try and use my 3 yr old vocabulary to explain that the battery died. He got the message I think, and I got a few good ones in before it died. I'll have more time to take others too.

When I got back to the apartment it was already 3:30 in the afternoon. I made some instant noodles for the apartment and took a break. Jimmy and I had basketball semi-finals that night so I had to rest up for the big game. We went all out. When I woke up from my snooze, I was all ready to take a shower and get my face painted. Thats right, stars and stripes on my face, bright red t-shirt, white Nike basketball shorts, and an American flag cape. It was glorious. I looked like Captain American. The only thing was, I didn't want a bunch of white dots on my face for the stars, so I asked Rachel to just do one big star and people would get the point. Yea yea, all of you may know that the flag of Liberia only has one big star, but I didn't know. Although the Liberian flag was on my face, I was decked out in other American apparel. I'm pretty sure people knew I was rooting for America and not Liberia.

On the way to the game, we met other Americans from Texas who had moved to China and were now working there. The guys were 27 years old and one was a lawyer in Hong Kong and the other worked in Beijing. One guy said his parents worked for Haier (a Chinese GE), and he had lived in Tokyo for most of his life. They only spent a few years in the states but they spoke perfect English. It was good to meet up with them and hear their stories and we exchanged contact info. So now when we go to Hong Kong we have someone to show us around. Arriving at the stadium was insanity. We were swarmed with people wanting to take pictures of our American group. Me and Jimmy had our faces painted, three of us had American flags on our shouders and all the girls were in either red or white. Everyone wanted tickets. Our tickets, in the 3rd tier, were fetching for about Y4000. That would be a nice chunk of change to have, but I'm pretty sure the memories are worth far more. When we got to our seats, naturally someone was already sitting in them, so we moved down a bit. Well, the only place to move was down because we were in the very last row in the highest section. It was so high up I thought I was going to hit my head on the air ducts or something. (Not really). We watched the Spain and Lithuania game first. It was a good game. I didn't think that Spain was going to win. They have Paul and Mark Gasol, but Lithuania has a huge team. Lithuania had better offense and although their defense was decent, Spain had a hard time breaking through. It was a close game, but every time Spain would score, Lithuania would come back with a matching point. Eventually, Spain worked their magic and pulled ahead. Lithuania couldn't catch up so they play for the bronze on Sunday. Then the real fun began.

When the first game was over, we all went down to the first section to try and bum tickets off of people leaving early. Jim was lucky enough to have a Lithuanian hand him his ticket...which was a behind the basket floor seat. Incredible. Of course, we passed the ticket back and got everyone through to the floor section, but security was too tight to get us any further. We spent the rest of the game standing on the railing watching the US and Argentina game. It was awesome. Not only did I get to see Kobe, LeBron, Carmelo, Dwight Howard, Dwayne Wade, and all the other all stars, I could actually see them from a great spot. We were standing next to some big shot guys. They wouldn't tell us what they did, but one lived in Miami and the other in Milwaukee. Of course the US team beat Argentina, 101 to 81 and the whole stadium erupted for America. Within 10 minutes we had a crowd of people lined up to take pictures with us. People were bringing their kids with us, we got a USA chant going and a Meiguo Jiayou chant too. We were interviewed by a German radio station and I got to speak for about 3 minutes about my opinion of this years national team. It was awesome.

Of course, no Chinese adventure would end probably without something typical happening to me. With all of the hub bub and excitement going on, I would love to snap a few pictures of the moments. I was handing my camera to a Chinese lady and somehow it slipped through both of our fingers and fell on the floor. Naturally, the camera was on and now there is a lens error. The camera turns on but the focus is off and it doesn't retract into the camera fully. I'm getting pretty sick of all my broken electronics and I didn't feel like going out to celebrate the US victory. When we left the stadium, it took my friend and I about 40 minutes to try and catch a cab, but eventually we did. We got back to the apartment, and I washed off my face paint. I woke up early this morning to write about my adventure but now I have to go to the same electronics store I bought my keyboard from and ask for a camera. Who knows, maybe they can fix the broken one (which my parents bought for me just about a week before I came over here). Who knows. Hope all is well in America. I'm going to Track & Field finals tonight at the Bird's Nest.

Orphanage and Downtown

US Basketball Game

Summertime Cookout at the Summer Palace

Last time I wrote, I was able to post a few extra pictures of random things from around town. We went out to a place near the Worker's Stadium (an Olympic event) and had a really fun time. Most of the Chinese are really excited when foreigners enter their shops or clubs because they know most likely we'll be spending money there. For this reason alone, they treat you like royalty. At the club we went to, a few of the girls were approached by the manager and shown a special VIP room and given cards to received half-off drinks M-Th. Also, after showing the girls the room, the manager came over to our table and asked us to come back. I think it is easy to get used to this part of China.

The next morning we got up bright and early to go to the Summer Palace. The only people from my apartment who went were Rachel, Jimmy and myself. We met up with Devon at the group meeting spot. Devon hadn't gone out with us the previous night, so she was pretty well rested. The rest of us had to deal with the 8 o'clock wake up call. Heading to the Summer Palace, which was a place where the empress vacationed, isn't too bad. It used to be considered a very remote place outside of Beijing, but just like any other city, the far suburbs eventually get swallowed by the urban sprawl. We took the subway from one end to the other and got off. When we heard we still had a bus ride to go, we asked our leader if we could grab a bite to eat and take a cab and meet them later on. She said this was fine and this gave us a chance to eat and rest before we walked around all day. We were all glad to separate from the group. They usually go at a slower pace and everyone knows its much easier to do things like this when your not in a large tourist group. Don't worry, our leader isn't a tour guide, so we didn't even miss any cool facts. We ate at a noodle place, and it was more difficult than usual to order food because we were in a very non-tourist part of Beijing. Eventually we got our noodle bowls and ate and caught a cab to the Palace.

The Summer Palace is awesome. It sits right on lake and has many different places to walk around and enjoy the weather. The views are spectactular and it is amazing to think that the ancient Chinese rulers used to walk around the same place, enjoying the same scenery. They lake was full of paddle boats, so we decided to rent one out. Another thing I really love about this country is the exchange rate. It allows for us to do all of the things and not really have to worry about money. The boats were really cheap and we went off wandering around the lake. It was sunny and pedaling around make it really hot. We went to the other side of the lake and looked at all the grass and trees. There were bridges and people with their families and it looked like a great place to have a Summertime BBQ. We returned the boat after an hour and a half and walked over the the Tower of Buddhist Incense. this is one of the tallest points at the Summer Palace. To get there we had to walk through one of the longest covered walkways in the world. It has thousands of hand painted pictures on the ceiling and goes on forever.

When we get to the Buddhist tower, we had to walk up a few long flights of stairs before we got to the top. The views were amazing. You could see the outskirts of Beijing and all of the boats on the lake. Inside the Tower of Buddhist Incense was a bronze casted gold guilded 1000 armed Buddah. It was awesome even though we couldn't take pictures. Inside, a few people were praying. We walked a little further up to a smaller building with a golden Buddah statue. That was really cool. Again, no pictures, but it was big.

We poked around at the top for a bit. Stopped to rest on some rocks and look out at the view. We headed down and took a rickshaw back to the subway stop. That was a fun ride back. A rickshaw is a two seat carriage pulled by a bikeman. Our man was older but he did pretty good. It was a nice relaxing ride, except for the time we went through an intersection and the other time we went one way on the highway. I was glad that Jimmy and Rachel were in front of Devon and I because they were the ones that were getting honked at. Some of the oncoming traffic were flashing their lights at us too. We made it safely to the next exit ramp and even though we were still going the wrong way, there was far less traffic. We got to the subway, took it back to our apartments, and decided to look around a new mall they just built by us. We were all exhausted. We had been walking around all day outside. We hadn't eaten since the noodle place and we just wanted to relax. The mall was really nice. It wasn' crowded at all and a lot of the stores were American priced. We ate again and went back. I just relaxed at home and crashed.

The game plan for today is to get another massage with the roommates, going to see Gymnastics finals today and when I get back we're having a huge going away party for all of the 14 day volunteers. Oh-- and speaking of volunteering, I'm going to the orphanage soon.

Media links: Video of Me, Rachel, and Kelly on Wangfujing Catapult!

Summer Palace

A Weekend Around

The past few days have been a whole lot of fun. Saturday we decided to go out to lunch after our meeting. Of course we think it is a great idea to take the subway to a random stop, get off and find a restaurant. Well that may sound like a great idea, we should have remembered the some stops are in business areas and some are in shopping districts. Well, naturally, we choose one of the stations that is in the middle of an industrial park. We get out of the subway to look aroudn and see nothing. A small landfill dump and a nearby factory were pretty much the only things besides some office buildings. I asked a girl if she knew of any good places to eat nearby and she was able to point us to a street that she said "had a lot of restaurants." When you are hot, sweaty, and hungry, the last thing you want to do is walk aimlessly trying to find a place to eat. Especially a place that doesn't have some weird food. After walking for a while we found a restaurant. They took us to the basement where we had a private room. We sat a huge round table, ordered 5 dishes and feasted. It was one of those delicious authentic Chinese meals. We had bak choi and musrooms in delicious sauce, bak choi and meat stuff w/ another delicious sauce, a peanut-something spicey dish (not my favorite), some sweet red bean squishy things, and some cooked bamboo w/ delicious sauce (again). All that may sound good but the best part was the fish we got. I took pictures of it. I think a few people were apprehensive about being served a whole fish w/ the head and tail and everything, but I assured them. 1. We aren't going to find a place that doesn't serve the head and tail. 2. It will be delicious. And it was. After we were fat and happy for $4 a person we walked back to the subway stop. On the way, Jimmy bought a sweet bike that folds in half for storage. I think it was around $30-40 USD.

Saturday night we went out again to the bar district. I was pretty tired from the whole week so we didn't have too much fun. It was good to just have a low key night. When we woke up on Sunday we had to have a meet at 11 am to go to our assignment. I was paired up with Jim and Bill, two of my roommates, and we thought we were going to the orphanage. Apparently the orphanage doesn't take volunteers on Sunday's so instead we were doing a survey for the International Olympic Committed (IOC). We had to go out to a tourist attraction, (ie Silk Market, T--nanmen Square, etc.) and find English speaking people to see if they knew anything about the IOC. The way it was presented to us was very laid back. If you get hungry, eat, if you want to shop around, shop around. We got the jist and headed over to the Silk Market. Jimmy hadn't been yet. After this trip, I'm pretty sure I'm putting myself on Silk Market intervention. I'm not going to let myself go there because you can't leave without buying stuff. I magically ended up with a button down for Y100 and a wallet for Y40. Total purchase: $20. Also, walking back to the subway I went into a Chinese CD/DVD store. Picked up a few Chinese hip hop CDs. Tracy, a Chinese roommate of mine, said that she doesn't think they are authentic but it doesn't really matter because it comes in a pretty official looking case and everything. Overall, I'm glad I got to go back to the area and get some stuff. This doesn't even count the stuff that I decided I had to purchase before the end of the trip. I'm glad I didn't bring any winter clothes because there are really nice sweaters and coats for really cheap.



Like usual, walking down the isles was intense. People love bargaining and I like practicing my Chinese so I got prices down easily. It is funny to see their reactions when I speak a little Mandarin. Most likely they ask if I'm part Chinese. They must not think American's are cool because if they have to guess a western country they choose Canada or England. I had a lady argue with me that "surely you must have some Chinese!" to which I responded and then she pointed to her eyes, touched her index to her thumb, and pointed at my eyes. ha-ha. I had forgotten the Chinese word for Mexico until now. I always say my dad is "Mo xi ge" which means Mexican and my mom is "Fa guo" or French. I don't even think my mom is French but its one of the only countries I know how to say and I don't want to spend another 10 minutes explaining I don't know my countries.



After coming back from the market, everyone took a much needed nap. Our roommates Kelly and Rachel went to go see gymnastics. The orphans get to attend the games with us, so they had a little girl and boy. Everyone enjoyed it. When we woke up, we got a quick bite to eat and realized it was our roommate's birthday. We decided to go out. Somehow a huge plastic bottle of "bai jiu" ended up in our freezer...which is a Chinese liquor. I don't know what it is, but I'll just say a little goes a long way.

Today, which is Monday, I had volunteer duty again. Jimmy, Giro, Bill, Devon, Andrew, and myself met at 11 am to get our assignment. Since I had survey duty before, I didn't have to do that again. Instead, I got to go to Wang Fu Jing Shopping district to work at an internet cafe for something. Well, when we got to the district we all wanted to go to the official Olympic flagship store. It is the biggest in Beijing. I got some refridgerator magnets and a t-shirt for myself and my dad. The line was so long that the group must have moved on while I was in there and there is no way I could find them. So I decided to give myself the day off and take a look around. I went to the Adidas store and got another shirt (Y180) and I found a local type store that had nice shirts with Chinese writing. I got a really cool one with "xiong" on it. I think it has something to do with gymnastics maybe because there is an upside person kinda drawn on it. Well, it wasn't that exciting. I got bored really fast and went to find a place to eat. I found this back alley with tons of food and got a dish that was called "nu mian" nu is beef and mian is noodle. It was kind of like Vietnamese pho. Hopefully I don't get sick from it, but it kinda looked safe enough. Sorta. I really want to try these Chinese candied fruits. They are dunked in a sugar glaze or something. Once I'm more established I'll have plenty of time.

I just got back to the apartment and no one is home. That's probably why this post is so long and it actually makes sense. I'm waiting to go to a "Traditional Chinese Dinner" tonight with CCI. That will be a story for next time.