GOOD LUCK W&J XC at PACs.
RUN FAST
FLY LOW
DUBJAY
HOORAH
Friday, October 30, 2009
A Long Freaking Walk
Last night I met with one of my language partners. She said she needed to find a building where she will be taking some graduate school test. So we walked for a while into Shanghai. After a while, she said we were going to head back because she understood where to go. At about an hour and a half, I asked her if she knew where she was going. She looked around and said, "Yes of course.
2 hours later I looked up and decided we were going the wrong way. I knew this because up ahead was the Pearl Tower. For those of you who don't know, it is in the dead center of Shanghai. We had been going the wrong way for 2 hours. We bought a map, and spent a total of 5 hours on this walk. I was about ready to strangle her.
Shanghai is full of stray animals. On the way back, a small dog started following us. It followed us for 3 hours. It was actually really funny. I named it Gutsy, and it made it all the way to Fudan with us. At the gate, the police scared it away. I was almost disappointed that it didn't follow me back to the building and then live outside all the time. I have some pictures that I'll put up later.
Ultimately, it was the most annoying walk of my life. At least I spent most of it speaking Chinese, and got some good practice.
2 hours later I looked up and decided we were going the wrong way. I knew this because up ahead was the Pearl Tower. For those of you who don't know, it is in the dead center of Shanghai. We had been going the wrong way for 2 hours. We bought a map, and spent a total of 5 hours on this walk. I was about ready to strangle her.
Shanghai is full of stray animals. On the way back, a small dog started following us. It followed us for 3 hours. It was actually really funny. I named it Gutsy, and it made it all the way to Fudan with us. At the gate, the police scared it away. I was almost disappointed that it didn't follow me back to the building and then live outside all the time. I have some pictures that I'll put up later.
Ultimately, it was the most annoying walk of my life. At least I spent most of it speaking Chinese, and got some good practice.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
A Interesting Dinner
Today I ate dinner at the cafeteria with one of my language partners and her boyfriend. Just thought I'd give you some parts of the conversation I had.
I talked to him about the Chinese system of government. I knew most of the things that he told me, such as how the "voting" system works, how party members are selected, and how officials are put in office. What was different is how he explained it.
First, when I asked why people vote if the votes aren't used for anything, he answered "It is because it is tradition to vote. It may have at one time meant something, but now it is meaningless to vote."
Second, he described the difficulty to gain access into the Communist Party. He said that because it takes a few years and a lot of writing, people who are members (about 6 percent of China) get hired for jobs more easily and are considered more reliable and trustworthy business people.
He said that he would like to have a different system of official selection, but "Change is dangerous, and the American system is wrought with difficulties also."
Most Chinese refuse to say negative things to me about their government. This may be because they don't want to be labelled as trouble makers, or it could be because they are too proud to criticize themselves in front of a foreigner. Whatever the reason, I found this conversation fascinating because it is the first one that I've had with a local that shed a negative light on the government.
Worth noting, however, is that every time he made a negative comment about the Chinese government or the Communist Party, his girlfriend would hurridly say to him in Chinese "Don't tell him bad things!!"
I talked to him about the Chinese system of government. I knew most of the things that he told me, such as how the "voting" system works, how party members are selected, and how officials are put in office. What was different is how he explained it.
First, when I asked why people vote if the votes aren't used for anything, he answered "It is because it is tradition to vote. It may have at one time meant something, but now it is meaningless to vote."
Second, he described the difficulty to gain access into the Communist Party. He said that because it takes a few years and a lot of writing, people who are members (about 6 percent of China) get hired for jobs more easily and are considered more reliable and trustworthy business people.
He said that he would like to have a different system of official selection, but "Change is dangerous, and the American system is wrought with difficulties also."
Most Chinese refuse to say negative things to me about their government. This may be because they don't want to be labelled as trouble makers, or it could be because they are too proud to criticize themselves in front of a foreigner. Whatever the reason, I found this conversation fascinating because it is the first one that I've had with a local that shed a negative light on the government.
Worth noting, however, is that every time he made a negative comment about the Chinese government or the Communist Party, his girlfriend would hurridly say to him in Chinese "Don't tell him bad things!!"
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Written 10/24. Nearly Halfway.
It has been a while. I know. Not too much has been going on. Classes are fine. I’m surviving and all that.
I’ve been missing Cross Country especially badly lately. I can’t wait to be at full strength and competing again. Bah.
I’ve decided that my Chinese, though progressing, is progressing too slowly. Therefore, I took two initiatives. I am making flashcards of every vocabulary word in all three of my Chinese books and reviewing them daily. Second, I refuse to speak English to anyone who understands Chinese. Even if their knowledge is limited, like my roommate and the other Americans, I will only speak Chinese if they can get the gist. All of this has made my life much harder, but by God if I come back to the U.S. anything but proficient I will jump off a bridge. I made a playlist on ITunes of all the music without English in it (this means a lot of Star Wars soundtrack and Bluray haha). I bought some Chinese movies (and dubbed Disney movies) and I watch them. I don’t want to break my train of Chinese thought.
I was just thinking: if anyone wants any Chinese products or objects, let me know and I’ll pick it up for you.
I officially haven’t shaved in a month, and it looks like shit.
I have 2 language partners now. I meet with one twice a week and one once a week. So hopefully that should help my Chinese also.
Ben and I went to the Shanghai Museum today. He had to go see some ancient bronzes for his class, so I tagged along. Pretty cool stuff from China’s history. It is apparently the best museum of its kind in China. A lot of bronzes, sculptures, paintings, currencies, and art of various forms. It also included some old furniture from different dynasties. I would have taken pictures, but most of the stuff is online, and the pictures are much better there than I could take through the glass, so if you want to see it, look there.
Oh, I forgot: above I should have mentioned that I also labeled everything in the room with their Chinese names so I can start learning everything. This has been my best idea of them all. I am currently typing on my 电脑.
My bike is falling apart. Like most things in China, it is constructed poorly and cheaply. Every time I leave it for the day, it ends up knocked over and something else loose or askew. My back wheel wobbles around so badly that it wears away on the runner above it. If this thing lasts 2 months I will be amazed.
I’m becoming increasingly pissed off at every local. They do not understand organization AT ALL. If I get cut in line for something by some rude person again, who brushes against me dramatically as he goes by, I will probably punch somebody. Yesterday I came out of a class room and ran smack into some guy because he was on the wrong side of the hall. He wasn’t even fazed. Accidents like that happen all the time, but the people don’t figure out that if you follow a regulation or rule you might actually not have as many problems.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Street Rumble (though Richie still has me beat)
I would like to discuss where I’ve been getting dinner the most lately, and why last night I ate my chaomein and chaofan on the curb.
At many corners in China, you will find people with carts on the street corners. On these carts they have buckets of burning charcoal, a wok, and a wide array of meats and vegetables. At these street venders one can get fried rice, fried noodles, dumplings of many varieties, skewers of meat, and an assortment of other Chinese style foods. Although this sounds like an unreliable place to get clean meals, it is arguably as clean as any reasonably priced restaurant (at least in my experience). These vendors are not only convenient, but they are cheap. I get fried rice and fried noodles with beef and chicken for about 1 US Dollar. I can then take it back to my room and eat it while I get work done.
Anyway, Ben and I have gotten into the habit of going to the street vendors on our street. I always go to the same middle aged couple who makes my food with just the right amount of spices. Ben gets the same food from a couple on the sidewalk who makes it less spicy for him. Our respective venders have come to know our orders and when we want it, so they are very friendly to us, and we can have short Chinese conversations with them before leaving.
So last night, we went at our regular time to get dinner (about 9 pm). This is when the street vendors arrive out of nowhere, and are instantly set up to cook. However, upon arrival, a new street vendor with an especially oversized cart had parked in the spot of Ben’s couple. We looked at each other like “OHHH shit is going to hit the fan tonight”
The regular vendors arrived, and instantly Ben’s couple, we’ll call them Couple 1, begin asking the 4 young guys with the new cart (New Cart Hooligans) to move out of their spot of business. The New Cart Hooligans respond by yelling about how there is enough space on the street for everyone and they should just move over. This is unreasonable, because the police prohibit the vendors from completely blocking off the sidewalk. Couple 1 responds with this statement.
Meanwhile, I am getting my food from Couple 2. In the middle of cooking my noodles, Couple 1 and the New Cart Hooligans begin shouting and getting in each other’s faces. The wife from Couple 2 turns around and gets into the fight. This disturbs the process of the cooking of my noodles, so my guy forgets to put in the spice. I finally get my food and retreat to the corner. Ben and I have decided to buy something from Couple 1 because they deserve it- they were losing business during the altercation. However, before we could do so, I was treated to a show while I eat my food on the sidewalk.
The New Cart Hooligans insisted not to move. Couple 1 insisted that they did. The woman from the couple got shoved by a young Cart Hooligan. The man from the couple yelled in response and shoved back. The argument continued at high levels and such speeds that I could not even begin to pick up what was said anymore. It lasted long enough for me to finish my dinner and be amazed while the security guards, who weren’t even 2 feet away, did nothing to settle the issue.
What surprised me the most, though, was that the New Cart Hooligans were about my age. They absolutely refused to budge a few inches for the middle aged elders who work there every night. They pushed and shoved them. They pointed their fingers in their faces. Hilariously, it seemed like the regulars to the street vendors didn’t buy anything from the new cart. The loyally waited for Couple 1, or bought from other regulars. Ultimately, Couple 1 did business in an illegal way by cutting of the passage to the sidewalk. Fortunately, China doesn’t really care about traffic laws so wandering in the street is common practice.
Ben ordered his food, though the usual friendly banter was conspicuously absent from the clearly upset couple. We left the street at about 10:15.
Those vendors stay out there until about 1:30. I wonder if anything changed when business died down. At any rate, I’m excited to see if they New Cart is still there tonight.
Oh by the way, that creepy girl that is obsessed with me has totally entered the mild stalker category. I’d go into detail, but she might be watching...
...just kidding. Maybe.
At many corners in China, you will find people with carts on the street corners. On these carts they have buckets of burning charcoal, a wok, and a wide array of meats and vegetables. At these street venders one can get fried rice, fried noodles, dumplings of many varieties, skewers of meat, and an assortment of other Chinese style foods. Although this sounds like an unreliable place to get clean meals, it is arguably as clean as any reasonably priced restaurant (at least in my experience). These vendors are not only convenient, but they are cheap. I get fried rice and fried noodles with beef and chicken for about 1 US Dollar. I can then take it back to my room and eat it while I get work done.
Anyway, Ben and I have gotten into the habit of going to the street vendors on our street. I always go to the same middle aged couple who makes my food with just the right amount of spices. Ben gets the same food from a couple on the sidewalk who makes it less spicy for him. Our respective venders have come to know our orders and when we want it, so they are very friendly to us, and we can have short Chinese conversations with them before leaving.
So last night, we went at our regular time to get dinner (about 9 pm). This is when the street vendors arrive out of nowhere, and are instantly set up to cook. However, upon arrival, a new street vendor with an especially oversized cart had parked in the spot of Ben’s couple. We looked at each other like “OHHH shit is going to hit the fan tonight”
The regular vendors arrived, and instantly Ben’s couple, we’ll call them Couple 1, begin asking the 4 young guys with the new cart (New Cart Hooligans) to move out of their spot of business. The New Cart Hooligans respond by yelling about how there is enough space on the street for everyone and they should just move over. This is unreasonable, because the police prohibit the vendors from completely blocking off the sidewalk. Couple 1 responds with this statement.
Meanwhile, I am getting my food from Couple 2. In the middle of cooking my noodles, Couple 1 and the New Cart Hooligans begin shouting and getting in each other’s faces. The wife from Couple 2 turns around and gets into the fight. This disturbs the process of the cooking of my noodles, so my guy forgets to put in the spice. I finally get my food and retreat to the corner. Ben and I have decided to buy something from Couple 1 because they deserve it- they were losing business during the altercation. However, before we could do so, I was treated to a show while I eat my food on the sidewalk.
The New Cart Hooligans insisted not to move. Couple 1 insisted that they did. The woman from the couple got shoved by a young Cart Hooligan. The man from the couple yelled in response and shoved back. The argument continued at high levels and such speeds that I could not even begin to pick up what was said anymore. It lasted long enough for me to finish my dinner and be amazed while the security guards, who weren’t even 2 feet away, did nothing to settle the issue.
What surprised me the most, though, was that the New Cart Hooligans were about my age. They absolutely refused to budge a few inches for the middle aged elders who work there every night. They pushed and shoved them. They pointed their fingers in their faces. Hilariously, it seemed like the regulars to the street vendors didn’t buy anything from the new cart. The loyally waited for Couple 1, or bought from other regulars. Ultimately, Couple 1 did business in an illegal way by cutting of the passage to the sidewalk. Fortunately, China doesn’t really care about traffic laws so wandering in the street is common practice.
Ben ordered his food, though the usual friendly banter was conspicuously absent from the clearly upset couple. We left the street at about 10:15.
Those vendors stay out there until about 1:30. I wonder if anything changed when business died down. At any rate, I’m excited to see if they New Cart is still there tonight.
Oh by the way, that creepy girl that is obsessed with me has totally entered the mild stalker category. I’d go into detail, but she might be watching...
...just kidding. Maybe.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
It’s Communism’s Birthday! (And No Ones Invited)
Extremely eventful week. Ultimately, it can’t be summed up in a blog entry. If you want thorough details, or if you have specific questions: we will have to hang out and talk about it. However, I am well aware that most of you (whoever is reading this) will not put forth that kind of effort. Therefore, I will enumerate the events that stick out the most powerfully from the trip.
Ben and I booked our trip with an agency that gets students discount airfare. We bought plane tickets to Beijing and a hotel reservation for 4 nights. We bought plane tickets to Xi’An and a hotel reservation for 2 nights. The agency informed us that train tickets back could not be purchased in Shanghai. They must be purchased in Xi’An, so we planned to buy train tickets when we arrived there.
October 1st is National Day. In the airport we watched (with many Chinese people) military displays and parades through Tiananmen Square. It was very communist and involved thousands of people.
We arrived in Beijing late in the afternoon. Our taxi driver had no idea where our hotel was (it was about 1 mile away from Tiananmen) so we went back and forth on the same road with the meter off for about an hour. In the process, he pulled a U-Turn in the middle of the road (a common Chinese practice involving a total disregard for any form of traffic regulations) and rear-ended some other car. He did minimal damage to the guys car, and after a bunch of bickering, he paid the guy 100 RMB (about 17 bucks) and it settled the problem.
Ben and I attempted to make it to Tiananmen for the gigantic performance (of an Olympic Opening Ceremony scale) to celebrate China’s 60th anniversary of existence. We were met with road barriers, hundreds of PRC cops and military personnel, and empty streets. Apparently, the celebration was “invitation only” and the people of Beijing were required to stay in their homes and watch the festivities on TV. Some people (like us) wandered the streets trying to get a glimpse of some fireworks, but failed. Basically, the party that the media showed internationally, that seems like it was for the people of China, was actually for the benefit of the TV cameras and the international audience. China doesn’t care about its people, it only cares about looking good. They wouldn’t want the lowly civilians to celebrate “their” government.
Apparently, the PRC made it rain on September 30th so that the haze of Beijing would be gone for National Day and the TV broadcast. Don’t believe anything China ever puts on TV. It was nice for us though, because it made the few days that we were there really clean and nice.
The next day, we toured Tiananmen. All of the floats from the parade were on display. There were huge crowds but it was fun to be there.
We spent the afternoon in the Forbidden City- the place where the Ming Emperors lived. It was a huge facility. My camera died part way through, so Ben has half of the pictures.
On the way out, we were halted in the street by the most enormous crowd I’ve ever seen. The PRC decided that it was going to close ChangAn Jie (Long Peace Street) for about a half hour for seriously NO REASON. We know it was meaningless because we asked a policeman. Anyway, it created a huge stop in pedestrian traffic, the sidewalk was overflowing, and people shoved against us and each other like sardines in a can. An hour later we were able to get moving (slowly) down the street and back to the hotel.
The hotel was ok, but everything cost something. The towels cost 5 RMB, and were hand towels- not bath towels. Nothing like the thrill of expectation one gets by wondering if the towel will be saturated in water prior to drying your entire body. The bathroom was a hall bathroom. There was a toilet, but it had no water. The shower was just a nozzle in the middle of the room. It sucked. Luckily, we spent most of our time out of the hotel.
We saw on cable a dubbed version of “Cars.” China decided to edit out two subplots: the car being friends with the pickup truck, and the car falling in love with the other car. It made no sense, and I wonder if China is against multiple plot lines for kid’s movies. Based on the TV shows on every other channel, they are definitely against good acting.
On the 3rd we took a guided tour to the Underground Palace tomb of the Wanli Emperor and the Great Wall. The Underground Palace was completely replicated except for the underground location. It was interesting to me though because I read a book this summer all about that Emperor and how the tomb was the only place he ever went that was outside of the Forbidden City.
The Great Wall was amazing. The day was awesome and we got a lot of good pictures. I posted some of them.
We decided we were going to ignore the danger signs and the restricted area signs. From these higher portions, we got some of the best pictures. Turns out the only reason it was restricted was because there was no side. One could easily fall to their death. It was worth the risk.
Sleppers- I wore the Batman shirt. Batman has officially been on the Great Wall.
Dave Chen knows that the scariest ride in existence is the ski lift from Kennywood to the parking lot. That same kind of lift takes everyone up to the portion of the Wall that I visited. I almost crapped my pants.
Awesomely, there is a way better way to get back down. There is a freaking Toboggan ride to get from the top of the mountain to the bottom! It was sweet as hell, and I have videos of it on my camera.
On the way there and back, the tour guide took us to some expensive places. The guides get commission if we buy stuff. Unfortunately, I don’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars to spend, so I bought nothing at these places. But I did see some amazing silk products at the silk factory. Among them included silk boxers with Batman on it. I also saw some jade sculptures that were crazy cool. One item is 3 times the price of my house. It is a jade wall. So I can trade everything I have for a jade lean-to to live under. Cool.
The next day we visited the Olympic Park in Beijing. It was the coolest thing ever! Check out the pictures. I have a million more too.
The track in the Bird’s Nest was restricted. This pissed me off so bad I almost found a brick in my pants. I wanted to do a time trial there soooo bad. Ben and I decided “Screw that, I’m going on the track. Take my picture while I do it.” I jumped the fence on the back stretch, hopped around a bit, pretended to line up on the 200 line, and then retreated back to the fence just as the guard came to remove me from the track. Then Ben and I made our way to the other side of the track and Ben did the same thing. Subsequently, we ran up to the upper deck so that they couldn’t find us.
After a lot of pictures in the Nest, we moved on to the slightly less impressive Water Cube. It was a lot more relaxed, and, unlike the track, we had no desire to get in the pool, so we just chilled there for a little bit.
That afternoon we headed down to the Temple of Heaven. This was a very nice place, and the pictures show that, but we were so sick of sight seeing that we stayed there only briefly. Chinese architecture gets fairly redundant after several days of examining it and taking pictures.
The next morning we flew to Xi’An. Xi’An is the dirtiest, haziest, most disgusting place I’ve ever been. We tried to find stores to get cookies for breakfast, but couldn’t really, because they only have drug stores, liquor stores, and cigarette stores. It sucks. Hard.
We paid a taxi driver a large amount of money to take us to the Terracotta Warriors for the day. We saw how they were made, taken around the overpriced souvenir shop, and then we got to tour the pits in which the warriors were found. There are hundreds and hundreds of these warriors (built for the first emperor of the Qin- of “Hero” fame). A pretty good day.
Oh, and remember how we were going to buy train tickets to Shanghai? Well turns out you have to buy overnight train tickets 10 days in advance. So with China’s system, in our situation it is physically impossible to get tickets back home. We bought expensive plane tickets and left early in the morning the next day. Xi’An sucks.
One never really gets used to having Chinese people take pictures of you and stare at you for being white. It’s really bizarre.
Sorry that I made this so long. Believe it or not, I am still leaving a lot out. This is just a shell of what happened. It was a really fun trip, and I saw a lot. I’m excited to chill now, though. I still have a lot of Chinese to learn.
Ben and I booked our trip with an agency that gets students discount airfare. We bought plane tickets to Beijing and a hotel reservation for 4 nights. We bought plane tickets to Xi’An and a hotel reservation for 2 nights. The agency informed us that train tickets back could not be purchased in Shanghai. They must be purchased in Xi’An, so we planned to buy train tickets when we arrived there.
October 1st is National Day. In the airport we watched (with many Chinese people) military displays and parades through Tiananmen Square. It was very communist and involved thousands of people.
We arrived in Beijing late in the afternoon. Our taxi driver had no idea where our hotel was (it was about 1 mile away from Tiananmen) so we went back and forth on the same road with the meter off for about an hour. In the process, he pulled a U-Turn in the middle of the road (a common Chinese practice involving a total disregard for any form of traffic regulations) and rear-ended some other car. He did minimal damage to the guys car, and after a bunch of bickering, he paid the guy 100 RMB (about 17 bucks) and it settled the problem.
Ben and I attempted to make it to Tiananmen for the gigantic performance (of an Olympic Opening Ceremony scale) to celebrate China’s 60th anniversary of existence. We were met with road barriers, hundreds of PRC cops and military personnel, and empty streets. Apparently, the celebration was “invitation only” and the people of Beijing were required to stay in their homes and watch the festivities on TV. Some people (like us) wandered the streets trying to get a glimpse of some fireworks, but failed. Basically, the party that the media showed internationally, that seems like it was for the people of China, was actually for the benefit of the TV cameras and the international audience. China doesn’t care about its people, it only cares about looking good. They wouldn’t want the lowly civilians to celebrate “their” government.
Apparently, the PRC made it rain on September 30th so that the haze of Beijing would be gone for National Day and the TV broadcast. Don’t believe anything China ever puts on TV. It was nice for us though, because it made the few days that we were there really clean and nice.
The next day, we toured Tiananmen. All of the floats from the parade were on display. There were huge crowds but it was fun to be there.
We spent the afternoon in the Forbidden City- the place where the Ming Emperors lived. It was a huge facility. My camera died part way through, so Ben has half of the pictures.
On the way out, we were halted in the street by the most enormous crowd I’ve ever seen. The PRC decided that it was going to close ChangAn Jie (Long Peace Street) for about a half hour for seriously NO REASON. We know it was meaningless because we asked a policeman. Anyway, it created a huge stop in pedestrian traffic, the sidewalk was overflowing, and people shoved against us and each other like sardines in a can. An hour later we were able to get moving (slowly) down the street and back to the hotel.
The hotel was ok, but everything cost something. The towels cost 5 RMB, and were hand towels- not bath towels. Nothing like the thrill of expectation one gets by wondering if the towel will be saturated in water prior to drying your entire body. The bathroom was a hall bathroom. There was a toilet, but it had no water. The shower was just a nozzle in the middle of the room. It sucked. Luckily, we spent most of our time out of the hotel.
We saw on cable a dubbed version of “Cars.” China decided to edit out two subplots: the car being friends with the pickup truck, and the car falling in love with the other car. It made no sense, and I wonder if China is against multiple plot lines for kid’s movies. Based on the TV shows on every other channel, they are definitely against good acting.
On the 3rd we took a guided tour to the Underground Palace tomb of the Wanli Emperor and the Great Wall. The Underground Palace was completely replicated except for the underground location. It was interesting to me though because I read a book this summer all about that Emperor and how the tomb was the only place he ever went that was outside of the Forbidden City.
The Great Wall was amazing. The day was awesome and we got a lot of good pictures. I posted some of them.
We decided we were going to ignore the danger signs and the restricted area signs. From these higher portions, we got some of the best pictures. Turns out the only reason it was restricted was because there was no side. One could easily fall to their death. It was worth the risk.
Sleppers- I wore the Batman shirt. Batman has officially been on the Great Wall.
Dave Chen knows that the scariest ride in existence is the ski lift from Kennywood to the parking lot. That same kind of lift takes everyone up to the portion of the Wall that I visited. I almost crapped my pants.
Awesomely, there is a way better way to get back down. There is a freaking Toboggan ride to get from the top of the mountain to the bottom! It was sweet as hell, and I have videos of it on my camera.
On the way there and back, the tour guide took us to some expensive places. The guides get commission if we buy stuff. Unfortunately, I don’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars to spend, so I bought nothing at these places. But I did see some amazing silk products at the silk factory. Among them included silk boxers with Batman on it. I also saw some jade sculptures that were crazy cool. One item is 3 times the price of my house. It is a jade wall. So I can trade everything I have for a jade lean-to to live under. Cool.
The next day we visited the Olympic Park in Beijing. It was the coolest thing ever! Check out the pictures. I have a million more too.
The track in the Bird’s Nest was restricted. This pissed me off so bad I almost found a brick in my pants. I wanted to do a time trial there soooo bad. Ben and I decided “Screw that, I’m going on the track. Take my picture while I do it.” I jumped the fence on the back stretch, hopped around a bit, pretended to line up on the 200 line, and then retreated back to the fence just as the guard came to remove me from the track. Then Ben and I made our way to the other side of the track and Ben did the same thing. Subsequently, we ran up to the upper deck so that they couldn’t find us.
After a lot of pictures in the Nest, we moved on to the slightly less impressive Water Cube. It was a lot more relaxed, and, unlike the track, we had no desire to get in the pool, so we just chilled there for a little bit.
That afternoon we headed down to the Temple of Heaven. This was a very nice place, and the pictures show that, but we were so sick of sight seeing that we stayed there only briefly. Chinese architecture gets fairly redundant after several days of examining it and taking pictures.
The next morning we flew to Xi’An. Xi’An is the dirtiest, haziest, most disgusting place I’ve ever been. We tried to find stores to get cookies for breakfast, but couldn’t really, because they only have drug stores, liquor stores, and cigarette stores. It sucks. Hard.
We paid a taxi driver a large amount of money to take us to the Terracotta Warriors for the day. We saw how they were made, taken around the overpriced souvenir shop, and then we got to tour the pits in which the warriors were found. There are hundreds and hundreds of these warriors (built for the first emperor of the Qin- of “Hero” fame). A pretty good day.
Oh, and remember how we were going to buy train tickets to Shanghai? Well turns out you have to buy overnight train tickets 10 days in advance. So with China’s system, in our situation it is physically impossible to get tickets back home. We bought expensive plane tickets and left early in the morning the next day. Xi’An sucks.
One never really gets used to having Chinese people take pictures of you and stare at you for being white. It’s really bizarre.
Sorry that I made this so long. Believe it or not, I am still leaving a lot out. This is just a shell of what happened. It was a really fun trip, and I saw a lot. I’m excited to chill now, though. I still have a lot of Chinese to learn.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
National Holiday Pictures
http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2490349013/a=107468652_107468652/
pictures from my trip are posted. i only posted the best ones. i took over 600.
i'll update everyone with the trip soon. there is a lot to write.
pictures from my trip are posted. i only posted the best ones. i took over 600.
i'll update everyone with the trip soon. there is a lot to write.
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