Countdown to China's 60th anniversary

If only I got a picture of this....the moments when one forgets the camera.
Amy and I were heading back to Beida campus from a very "girls day out" (Facials, hagen daaz ice cream ...need I say more?) and our cab routed by Tian'an men square. I have managed to avoid the so called traffic jams and 60th anniversary nationalism near the heart of the city, but yesterday it finally hit me. Tian'an men square is sealed off. Tall red pillars (56 of them) lined up, a giant screen tv...and security on every block. Amy and I were at Wangfujing pedestrian mall for the afternoon and you want to see intense security? The S.W.A.T team was out and about. In the cab we saw a S.W.A.T tank parked on the corner. It was quite the site.

60th anniversary in.....just a few days. Thursday everyone. mark your calendars!!!!
I know a few people who are apart of the mass displays and parade. I heard it's going to be intense. Don't know if it's like the Olympics. We shall see.

The Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang

So there are definitely beautiful areas in Henan. Zhenghzhou is not one of them, but Luoyang is. There's a fascinating history here. Shaolin is also a great place to understand where Zen Buddhism came from. Thank you India for your cultural wisdom.

The longmen grottoes are mountains that have been carved with so many Buddhas and Buddhist art from various dynasties. It's mainly Northern Wei and Tang dynasty. However there are distinctions. During the Wei dynasty artisians carved Buddha as athletic, muscular and a bit skinny. Then when the Tang dyansty rolled on by the culture shifted. Plump women were considered to be beautiful. Real women do have curves. So the Buddhas became fatter.

Also people believed that the more carvings=more blessings from beloved Buddha.

(Fat Buddha)




(Skinny)

Return to Beijing

Recovering from a cold *knock on wood. I think I got it while we were in Henan. Yes definitely got it in Zhengzhou as the rain kept pouring down making life absolutely miserable. To make matters worse Zhengzhou looks like an industrial depressed Soviet wasteland. Absolutely dirty.
Never going to Zhengzhou again. Reminds me a dirtier Beijing from yesteryear.

Getting off the train at the brutal hour of 6 am was a thrill. Cold, damp and from the site of Zhengzhou; poverty

We had to make passage through one area filled with homeless men sleeping on makeshift cardboard sleeping bags . Dirty, tattered suit jackets and pants, barefoot and one guy had his hands down his pants and...simply passed out. THEN heading up the stairs we nearly stepped into some mud. It wasn't mud. Stairs=human restroom.

"That's not mud" we pointed out

"OH SON OF A BITCH!" someone yelled.

Such a shocking contrast when you leave any mega city in China. Zhengzhou, although the provincial capital still looks like they're trying to catch up to Beijing. Zhengzhou is a quiet reminder that the glamour of a rising China has not really reached inwards. They strive to, but still lagging.
Shaolin temple: Even on a weekend it's still an amazing tourist trap.

We got escorted into the performance hall. Glad to have enetered in earl because moments later there were no seats and yet people kept coming in by the boat load.
The aisles were occupied, literally no room to squeeze in. FIre hazard. Fire hazard. That kept occupying my thoughts.

We were informed that there was an audience participation game during the performance. Skye's face lit up the news. So he was getting a bit anxious on the bus ride to Shaolin.


Before the performance we Skype get up on stage. i think he was trying to practice running up to the arena. (He was actually just trying to get a picture) An uproar of applause and cheering came out. He showed a few moves including the splits. People went crazy.
He made his appearence, won the audience game (imitating a Shaolin Monks animal style wushu) and after wards made all the local girls chase after him. He was swarmed y the press and local girls begging for autographs and photos. He's more famous than he shaolin monks. They also swarmed over anyone in our group who possessed white skin and blue eyes.



Journey back to Zhenghzhou: Hold the bladder

As the bus rolled closer into town. 2 hours to zhengzhou from Shaolin temple. I woke up with a pressure in my bladder. What is this feeling? I can hold it in. Were almost at the hotel. Endure, breathe....breathe. Wait why aren't we there? Okay I have to go like no one's business. Traffic??

TRAFFIC???? I can't do this. Frank Frank!!! (Frank came with me) I bolted out o the bus in the middle of Zhengzhou. At irst they woudln't let me off because there was a cop car and they were looking for a public restroom. LET ME OFF. I AM GOING TO EXPLODE. There was a God. The minute I tore out of the bus there was a public restroom on that street.

"Make it happen" Frank applauded.

Taxi back. I definitely forgot about Henan accent. Oh and hey sketchy guy asking us "Hey..you American? Want a taxi?" GO AWAY

Heading to Henan for the weekend!

My three hour politics class can go bugger off! I tell you! I refuse to write a 12 page, single spaced essay. Why why why why???? I simply refuse. I'm sorry. I can learn about Chinese communism in my sleep. I also want to maintain some amount of normalcy in my stay here. I can't just stay in my room all day studying until my eyes bleed. Ick.

Remember Susan the purpose of this journey is to blank out English and concentrate on Chinese. So why take an elective that is spoken in English? Gonna have to drop that class from the schedule.

I'm really suprised that I woke up in time for my 8 am class today. Last night the lot ventured out to Houhai all dolled up to go bar hopping.

Anyways...
I just spent a little bit of the afternoon signing up for my elective classes. I have chosen two and from the looks of the course descriptions they look quite fun. The first is 高级汉字 "Adv Chinese characters" and Adv Newspaper readings. Finally I won't be illiterate. I hope this isn't going to wreck my social life! 6 hours of classes from M-W. WHOOO!!!

BY the way for the past four hours the 5th floor has been enduring the annoying noise of construction workers drilling a hole in the wall. So why has the driling been at it for hours? We found out the workers won't sharpen the drill bit so then they drill longer and they get paid more (by the hour) Fuck this! Plus its seven workers staring at one person drilling a bloody hole.

I can't deal with this i've got to pack. 7 hour train ride to Henan and guess who has to wake up a 6:00 Am to get kicked off the train? Me.

Catch you later

Wine+ Little Britain

Hey everyone
so I will throw all the adventures of post-Shanghai and Beijing really soon
hopefully by tomorrow.

I just wanted to mention the possibility that I'm out of shape again or I suck at running or the pollution is killing me lungs.

This morning I decided to start getting back into routine of running again. Laced up my running shoes, stretched, and headed for Nameless lake. After 5 minutes my side ached and I was breathless. Was I not breathing right again? Did I not pace myself? Maybe it's because i haven't ran in a while. Okay keep going. *Another 10 minutes pass* I'm drowning. Why can't I catch my breath? Why can't I endure a mile's worth of running? Are my lungs collapsing? Have I smoked too many cigarettes lately? Is..is this sweat? I'm already sweating like a pig. This is ridiculous.

*5 minutes later.
Maybe I shouldn't run on the campus roads. I just inhaled cancer.

I'll give it another go tomorrow. If that fails. I'm running on a treadmill or going to the swimming pool. Note: These places have separate membership fees. Another inconvenience

Another note: I along with several others who have "F" visas must enter and leave the country every 90 days or we are all kicked out of the country. So how many times can I go to Hong Kong? Let's do the math. Thank you bureaucracy.

Thank god for pirated movies or legit 2$ DVD's. Upon the discovery that my room mate Sarah also indulges in the humor of "Summer Height's High" and "Flight of the Conchords", I suggested to give "Little Britain" a try for Sarah. First timer I should add. So bottle of Great Wall red wine and little Britain is our idea of mellowing out after another day of school. Yes I know it's only the second day of class, but it's tiring.
Did I mention I died running?

Oh Houhai has amazing Indian food just fyi. A group of us decided it was time to take a break from Chinese food and savor some chicken curry, lamb korma, and garlic naan bread.

First day of school! First day of school! (not that exciting Nemo)

First day of school has officially begun for the entire campus. My first class ended right when lunch began. Let me tell you that the traffic at Beida campus is a nightmare all over again. Sea of people!
To make life even more painful you've got cyclists attempting to make through the swarm of sheep. I'm going to try and find the gy soon. I think my body is screaming from the Beijing pollution.

Amy's birthday was celebrated with Haagen daaz ice cream cake and some karaoke! People say "KTV" now, I guess it's more politically correct. Delicious ice cream, but sadly we had leftovers? Why the long face? Beida enjoys depriving us of a luxury. Is a fridge tha so card to concieve? Peiyi and i went to pick up the cakes by taxi. It's a 20 minute walk, but by car it's 5 minutes to get to Zhongguancun. Our cabbie was not happy when he found out our journey was only 1-2 miles. Forgive me for not walking to Zhongguancun and THEN to the FX hotel (where Amy was enjoying birthday festivities), but ice cream cakes melt and I just wanted to save a little time.

We were this close to a huge fight igniting in the axi. He wanted to make more money and scolded us because "we didn't understand the concept (of earning money)". Cabbies want to drive long distances=more money. Clearly understandable, but don't blow up in the customer's face. That's one thing to be keenley aware of in Beijing. People are terribly frank here.

2nd thing to be aware of: Difference in customer service. (US vs. PRC)
Man! Are employees rude here. Were so accustomed to performing at our job with patience and helping others. Otherwise incompetence and attitude will get our ass fired. No one cares here. I just get scorned and scolded when I can't find something at the undergound 'mini mart' in Wumei (on campus). It's similar to a waterdowned version of the American WalMart but underground! (oh and they have walmart here too..*gag).
"excuse me, do you guys sell dish soap?"

"I don't know!"

"oh geeze..okay..."

*minutes later

"sorry, do you guys carry sponges?"

"I don't know...we don't sell them!"

"isn't it your JOB to know? How long have you been working here?"

"不知道！Don't know!!"

wow...can you say "I hate my job?"

I don't know why her attitude trampled on my face, but I almost blew up. I really wanted to begin a Chinese public argument with her. However I am better than that. I am a civilized person. I'm a college student, I should know how to be civil. There's a common generalization that educated people are well rounded people, cultured 有文化 （have culture). Be that as it may people can still act like a total douchebag.

I wasn't going to take any of her attitude.

"IF YOU DON'T KNOW THEN WHY THE HELL ARE YOU WORKING HERE? DO YOU WANT YOUR JOB?"

I found the dish soap and the sponges. They were in the grocery aisle. Thanks bitch.

Last Friday before school begins

I totally forgot to mention that I met my tutor on Wednesday. Her name is Chun Ting 春婷 and is an archeology major. She's really sweet. We walked around and she helped with handling the massive campus. Peking uni is huge. Your feet after a walk around. It's like a city within the city of Beijing. We visited Nameless games, the gyms, getting familiar with other facilities, and enjoyed the fantastic clear blue day.

Well Amy and I witnessed and hour taxi ride just to get a relaxing massage and facial at Beauty Farm. Beijing Uni is the north part of town and Beauty Farm is in the south. It is also an hour by subway. When we got back we heard about a school dance for International Students, but Pei yi was misinformed. Turned out it was just an extravaganza show. After that misinformation Amy decided to stay in, but I was in for a crazy night.

Last night was a failed attempt by many to go out. Sarah concluded that there had to be a night to celebrate her escape from 30 hr quarantine and "officially celebrate" her arrival in Beijing.

So after switching into a purple flower top we headed out but quickly went back into Shaoyuan when we saw Lisa, 'Drea, and Pei Yi. I switched into an LBD after enthuastic feedback from Sarah and Pei Yi. We tried piling into one taxi. Failed

Two taxis to Wudaoko! Thank you Amy for directions to Propoganda. It was just round the corner from the bookstore. Llisa nearly tripped by a pile of bikes. Close save. Damn did she look sexy! Natural long wavy hair. We all looked gorgeous.

Down to the dance floor and pratically everyone from CIEE was tearing up the dance floor. It was packed, but with barely anyone (the locals) dancing. I've noticed the tendency for local boys to just squeeze onto the dance floor, stare, bob the head or just pushing through. Felt like a mosh pit. We've also noticed the difference b/t the personaliy among western Asian girls and local Asian girls. It's mostly with confidence or have actual confidence. We danced, we enjoyed the music and hey blast to the past when Destiny's Child "Independent Woman" began playing. We gave the local boys a run for thier money.

Placement results ....dun dun

A flood of foreigners waiting in line in front of the Russian building. Were all scrambling to find out results tacked on a board. A lot of us (*cough including me) were confused by the chart, but finally managed to retrieve our textbooks and either stress or feel relieved by the results.




I'm none the least relieved and satisfied with my results. I'm placed into Adv I classes for Reading and spoken Chinese. Now I'm qualified to take the 'cool electives' (that is, to my interest). Score! Maybe the evaluators liked my little essay at the end. The final part was to describe what was happening in the comic.

A little boy discovers a snake crawling up next to his father who is completely out in snooze land. He grabs the spit that has a chicken on it slowly roasting and proceeds to chase the snake away. A the same time he smacks his Dad on the head and the chicken flies off the spit. He succeeds in chasing he snake away. His Dad is livid when he notices the absence of his roasted chicken and begins to spank the kid. A bold question mark hovers above the punished kid. "What did I do?" as if he were saying.

Luckilly I remembered transitional words and I even pulled out an idiom to conclude the paper
"Don't jump to conclusions". Major brownie points?

Trip to Ikea: no longer an Ikea virgin.

There's Susan entering her VERY FIRST IKEA. OH boy!!! Big event! Big excitement!


Acrobatic show: Real parrots? Holy crap!
Theme: The human spirit's desire to fly. Men flying in the air, landing in chairs 50 meters in the air. Girls balancing little chandeliers on their feet as they do splits and twists. OH and they even balance it on their teeth! now they're balancing chandeliers on hands and feet as the table beneath them rotates.
Descending from the heavens, two hamster wheels on both ends of metal beams, men catching flips as the mechanism spins faster and faster. Now they're juggling pins ooh now they're jumping rope! The audience gasps as though the trapeze artists teases us by pretending to lose his balanced. Tease.

I forgot to mention Amy and I bought "magnum" chocolate ice cream bars. Quite the experience.

Placement test/Sarah's return from quarantine

Placement test. 2 hours of non-stop fun!. The previous night many decided to cram. I withdrew from the festivities. It's just an evaluation not the GRE. Some people were freaking out last night and today.
After wards another round of orientation. This time with a more stressed tone. The head of International education at Beida is a young man in his mid-20's 30's. His presentation have off to us a sense of anxiety, to fear this country, as if we were threatened. He reminded us to essentially "behave ourselves" or else there will be "unnecessary troubles" for us due to the 60th anniversary of the PRC. Don't patronize us. We are students here buddy.

After a CIEE photograph and getting creeped out by sketchy starting at our group we were whisked away to a banquet hosted by Beida. Apparenlty there's international culture week and a speech contest. USA represent. Oh god what culture can we bring to the table? Capitalism?

BY the afternon I was informed Sarah returend from the hospital and when I unlocked my door there she was. Clarissa hugged her close. (Note: Clarissa and Sarah go to Georgetown. We have a lot of G-town and CU kids here)

So how was quarantine? The day before she freaked "They're gonna throw me in a shack aren't they??"

"no no Sarah, they wouldn't do that." I reassured her. Heh. Little did I know what she would have to experience. Get this. You are essentially locked up in a hospital, but it resembles something like a prison. Next time anyone gets sick, we'll just go to United Family.

Here's a bit of Sarah's story.

"

Let the stories begin.

Right after I last finished writing, the assistant program director came to get me and bring me to the school hospital. I got there at 9 am; it is now 9 pm and I have been here ever since and won’t leave for at least another twelve hours. FML indeed. The hospital is just a tiny building with a few rooms. Of course the doctors all freaked out thinking I had H1N1 so they did blood tests, which apparently take 24 hours for the results to come back. They can’t allow anyone who’s suspected of swine flu to leave the premises so they stuck me in a room and I’ve been quarantined all day and have to stay the night. Doesn’t sound that bad? Let me describe it to you. I am in a tiny room with a white cot that looks like it’s from an insane asylum in a horror movie, or one of those you see in WWI documentaries. I’m pretty sure they haven’t manufactured these since the Spanish influenza outbreak of 1917. Anyway, the sheets, blanket, pillowcases, are all absolutely filthy. We’re talking visible dirt, dust, and hairs (not mine), and I found a spider crawling on the bed. There are lots of dead cockroaches strewn on the floor, which looks like it hasn’t been mopped since the Qin dynasty. I have to wear a mask all the time and if anyone wants to take throat samples or whatever they have to put on a full quarantine/haz mat suit, which makes them look like an astronaut. No one is allowed to come see me. The walls are bare, white, and peeling. Have I mentioned I haven’t left this hell hole in 12 hours? You really start to feel like you’re going crazy. All I can do is pace. I thought I was fairly good about going with the flow (the flow of going), but I got pretty damn depressed in that cell. There are even bars on the window to keep from escaping. The only time I’m permitted to leave is to use the “bathroom,” aka a hole in the ground. There aren’t any railings or anything to support yourself so my thighs die every single time. It’s not the squatting that’s hard, it’s getting up after you’re done. I try to avoid it as much as possible but I’m getting better at balance and aim. Also, there’s not a drop of soap to be found in this place, and the two sinks are rusty and have dead bugs in them. Jesus Christ. Thank god our dorm rooms have “Western-style” bathrooms. I literally begged the nurses every chance I got to let me go back to my room, but they wouldn’t let me. Luckily CIEE made Sam, the girl who came with me to the hospital, stay with me all day and she’s staying the night too. She could tell I was getting depressed so she even brought her friend in to play the Chinese flute for me. I feel bad because obviously being here sucks for her, but she’s been a good sport. She constantly makes jokes like, oh we’re gonna die in here haha! Or, these are the names of the last victims in this room. I laugh nervously every time. She’s a little older than me and speaks English which is fabulous. None of the doctors or nurses speak a word of English, by the way. Sam (her real name is Jia) acted as my translator, although I’ve been doing better than I thought with my Chinese. I even heard one of the doctors say, “Yeah, she speaks good Chinese.” Obviously that’s not true, but it made me happy. The program director came by awhile ago and at least brought me clean sheets, so I don’t have to sleep in filth. The doors to the building are wide open still so I don’t know if they don’t close or what. About an hour ago a man came in and said he had a headache. I should mention that they left me completely alone in the hospital; there are no nurses or doctors after 5 pm and I’m the only patient. No guards or anything. Well, I told the man this in my broken Chinese and thought he’d go away, but he just kind of stood there so I had the brilliant idea to give him some Motrin from my bag. He said he couldn’t take it without water so I brought him one of my bottles. I’m a regular Flornece Fucking Nightingale. Anyway, as soon as I’d given him the pills, he asked for my phone number. Smooth, buddy. I told him, in all honesty, that I didn’t have a cell phone yet, so he immediately suggested he give me his number. Great. He wrote down both his Chinese and English name. Please guess what his English name was. You get one try. I know Elise has figured it out by now. It was George. He tried to stick around but I was like Hope your head feels better bye! Sam came back soon after that and as I was telling her about it, who should waltz in but George again, holding half of a watermelon. Sam took charge of the situation and was like, who the hell are you and why do you have a watermelon? He said he was a teacher, but we didn’t really believe him. The watermelon was a present for me. Finally he left, hopefully once and for all. Sam tested the watermelon to make sure it wasn’t poisoned (another one of her jokes), and she’s still alive so that’s good. She also said that George could probably chop us into pieces if he wanted to. Haha? I threw his number away, but if anyone wants it I’m sure he would be thrilled. It occurs to me now that I should have pretended not to speak Chinese, and then when he spoke English pretended to only speak Spanish. That will be my new tactic.

All right, I can’t hold out any longer. I’m off to the squat-hole. That will be especially fun at 3 am."

Swine flu+ Orientation fun

"Susan...Susan.."

I quickly woke up from my sleep. I glanced at my alarm clock. Phew it's not late. I looked at Sarah who uttered my name.

"I think I have swine flu." Oh crap.
I rose to my feet. She said she had all the symptoms. Even more crap. Okay let's not panic here. We went through all the precautionary steps before calling CIEE. Meds were taken, I gave her some vapor rub for the sore throat. Liu Laoshi told us on the phone not to panic, to let Sarah miss orientation and that someone will take her to the hospital. This is NOT the way any of us want to start the program.

When we entered the FX hotel we climbed the stairs and breathed in the smell of dried paint. Incredible aroma. We were greeted with a warm embrace as our group got herded into orientation. There I finally met Tedi Tsuruda (I'm not kidding you, but she looks like Peri's sister Ashley). Sadly I found out a majority of people are only here for a semester. *cries
I'm so thrilled with the people in my group. They're all really sweet, care free, and have kept a good..no fantastic sense of humor. (At least for the people I've met....)

There are many classmates here who have different ambtions for their stay in Beijing. Some are here to tackle Chinese with constant studying, others are more balanced, and some are here to just have fun.

Welcome to CIEE: Please stick this thermometer in your mouth so we know you don't have swine flu.

Tian Lao Shi 老师 guided us through orienaiton. She went through everything so calmly in such a melodic, mellow sweet voice. The moment she came into the room she smiled with her eyes. Her voice was reassruing, it calmed our existing anxieties. I just hope Sarah is alright.

"Your going to eat with Chinese, speak with Chinese, and sleep with Chinese." Tian Lao Shi said. The room erupted with laughter. I think she missed that. And also I think misunderstood what she just uttered from her mouth. She meant to dream in Chinese. At least that's what we hope.

Complete utter silence as Tian Lao shi mentioned the serious consequences regarding drug use. The penalty is death. So....don't even think about lighting some green during your stay here essentially. Crack is also bad. Meth too.

I'm really looking foward to the coming semester. The sights and adventures our group will see is making me really pumped up.

1st trip: Henan. The Shaolin Temple. We saw the picture in the presentation and the entire room broke out in squeals of adoration. It was a photo of two little monks, maybe 5-6 years of age maybe 7 yrs of age crouched down in a field of grass stroking a little white rabbit. . How cute is that??

Trip #2: Nanjing. Even more excitement surging through my veins. TO make this even better we are travelling by train. My heart is fluttering. Hmmm satisfied.

We were also informed of the incentives of only speaking Mandarin only during our stay. Today they threw a scavenger hunt on us. We were to answer these questions THREE! Kidding. We had to go to Wudaoko (college hangout) to answer 6 questions.
The prize: Chinese writing system book. My eyes were fixated on that wonderful book. I was set on winning. The girls behind me were also out to win and whipped out schemes and shortcuts. Dont' cheat! The would do anything! What is this? The Amazing Race? I was a little woried abotu the competitions and their thougsh of cheating to win. I will have none of that :)

I saw that group of ABC's tear out from lunch. "Well there goes the book" I thought to myself. OUr group turned into two groups and split two cabs to Wudaoko to seek the truths to our puzzling questions. We took our time, some people got their mobile phones, and answered the six trivia questions and hailed a taxi ride back to Shaoyuan #2. I expected defeat, but to our teachers suprise we were first.

"Back so soon? You guys are fast!"

"what?? Were first? But but.... those guys tore out of the restaurant!" (Lisa, 'Drea and I were baffled)
"well...not if you can't answer the questions" our teacher grinned.

After explaining that we were representing two groups the prizes (a hat, caribeaner and book) were passed out. Tian lao shi just came into the office and our teachers explained how quick we were. She looked very please with our 'motivation to learn'.
"Now go and learn Chinese" she grinned.

We heard the third group crowd (the girls) crowd in the hallway. "Did we get it?? Hats? Anything else??"
I waved the book in the air. Sweet victory. IN YOUR FACE ;)

Report to campus: Traffic Nightmare

Sweet Jesus of all that is holy. The card (THANK YOU Uncle Ru) to Peking University was one clusterfuck. Traffics in the morning are feast for the eyes. It's CLEARLY a red light for us, but hey there are no rules apparently or no one has morlas in their being so then people simply keep going as...the green light flashes for the drivers across from us. So you have buses, cars, and several semis, a cement truck all stuck in this traffic explosion. Oh factor in bikers, pedestrians and scooterists just flashing by. Uncle Ru had about three cigarettes during the 2-3 hours in traffic. I never realized how vast Beijing was until I got stuck in traffic.
We live in the south and Peking Uni is in the northest part of the city. The outskirts basically. Damn it power shut down. (the lights just went out as I was writing this down in my journal)

Slowly we crept up into Shao Yuan after a flash of the passport at he campus west gate. There is still mass confusion on campus with international students swaring the center. Neither of us had a clue as to where to go. I got herded into the third building, but Ru realized that this wasn't the right place for registartion. Well he was right. I was surrounded by half the population of South Korea. Namely from Seoul.

If you think the Chinese government is corrupt, campus beauracracy is outrageous. Here's a trip. Speak in Chinese and nothing will get done
Speak in English and you save 15 mintes of the time you just wasted by speaking in Mandarin. Moral of the story: English is a good skill.

I unlocked room 505 to discover a generic hotel set up. Towerls and bathrooms neatly set with tea cups side by side. The maid comes in at 9am. So I sorta have privacy. Wow the floor is a gross infestation. Slowly i Unpakced and hor by the hour my group began to enter the hallway with jetlagged faces. Since we had the whole day to do absolutley nothing. THere was a party in the hall. Amy came by since laundry services are expensive @ FX (Fururama Xpress Hotel). A trip to Carrefour came to play. Never shopping there again. It's another sea of people.

As the day went by CIEE students arrived to Shaoyuan. Still no sign of my new roomate. I was anxious to meet...Sarah Stern. She seems nice from the passport photo. All our headshots are pinned to the CIEE office bulliten board. I hope I won't get pyscho Kristen part II. Kristen was my roomate from frosh year. Was I scared of her? yes yes I was.

Diner came around. Hot Pot across the street with 20 ppl. I coudln't stand the sight of us. IT felt like a big target painted on our ass from our behavior. Plates were broken, excess amounts of food was orderd, but hey I got acquainted with some girls. Lisa for example, is my Korean sista. Homegirl rules. Get this she also goes to Knox College. Just like LIz. Many discussions/anectdotes were spilled during hot pot.
"it helped open our pores..feel that,, but this isn't date food." said Lisa.

An hour later Lisa mentioned how spicy her lips felt from the soup broth.

"MMM this IS good date food actually." she cracks me up.

Dinner ended. Back to room 505. Still no sign of Sarah. Maybe I wished ill will when I joked w/Lisa "I don't mind having a roomate JK JK"
FINALLY
around 10 pm the hallway was greeted by more newcomers. I was thrilled and hugged Sarah. She began unpacking a bit, but was a little under the weather from the jet lag and flying in an icebox. Orientation demain!

Sucked back into America

Rehearsal for China's 60th anniversary is still going underway. Hooray for communism. Sucks for the kids who attend the rehearsal. Hey ...like my cousin!
Well after succesfully charging my phone with RMB I finally met Zhang Yang; 29 yr old who was a former co worker of my Aunt Dong Dong 东东。 IT was a little difficult locating me in Xiluoyuan 西罗园。

"Hey are you wearing a green hoody?" (on the phone)
I raise my hand in the air.
"hahhahah I see you, one second"

The fact that he brought a friend made it feel like a third wheel date. First of all this is not a date. Wierd.

I'm also not sure why CCTV: Music channel is broadcasting the Grammy's, but i feel sucked back into the vortex of America. The JOnas Brothers. I'll have to blame them. IT's been a month since seeing thier damn faces. Okay I should sleep. Tommorow is the big day!

Last day of summer

Sooo.....80's night was an absolute blast. We got a whiff of the roudy American foriegners, the return of seeing actual obesity, and hey about getting an ash tray kicked onto our feet by crazy drunk Americans who just got on our table. Major party foul. Did I mention we were abducted to the 2nd floor by a group of Chinese party animals? The solo female of the pack was quite friendly. Initially we feared theft so we danced taking turns until a lovely cheeky British lady (with a short hiked up skirt) clucked out, "Go have fun, everyone from the embassy is here tonight. I'll watch 'em." She gave me a smooch at the end of the night.

Propositioned by a Nigerian man on the dance floor. Did freak after the he uttered his proposal. I tried rejecting the offers, but got sucked in. He has a girlfriend and isn't that an issue? Not for him. Guys who try to pick up girls at the club are perverts.

I woke up with a sore throat. After washing off last nights insanity I limped for a taxi back to Chongwenmen awaiting further instructions from Uncle Ru. Hmm phone call later.
"Korean BBQ you say?" No one will argue with that. :-D

Afternoon hair appointment you say? I will definitely go with 阿姨 （Auntie) and let a group of very feminine...emo esque cute hair stylists work wonders with my hair. 4 hours of washing and chemically straightening the once poofy thick and coarse hair! I now look as he said, "a 可爱（cute) little lady"

I thank you for your vision to make me "look cuter". I look like the pyscho Japanese girl from Kill BIll. Kawai desu ka?

Dinner was a riot. We popped into a Shanghai themed restaurant and had some little dragon dumplings. YUM! The sad yet hilarious story comes from an 8 year old boy sitting across from us. The little offspring was retelling accounts of Daddy's alocholism in public.

"Dad...Dad, stop drinking (telling his Mom...Aunt?) please stop...ahh geeze its so annoying you know?"

80's Night in Sanlitun

You wanna see a vast flood of Chinese people? Well sit at a cafe across the street from the Worker's Stadium after a home game and it speaks for itself. Amy and I are looking out towards the football manacs as they come swarming out blowing on horns and whistles. Cars repond to the festive melody and the police force are on stanby with their array of lights dazzling the cool Beijign evening.

10:30 Pm: Just saw to S.W.A.T cars pass by just now. I'm guessing something is happenign down the street. For now avoid going North?

Officially Lost in Beijing

Without a clue, you turn left, you turn right ..am I in the north part of the city? The south? ....not good.
the city of Beijing is well...huge! Where to start the adventure?
The image of the city's past is not a whisper in one's ear. You can still wander around and get lost in the back alleys of the old Beijing "Hutongs" (the courtyard houses). The family laundry hangs to drip dry, the old ladies sit outside on their little stools laughing away as they shoo away the constant bother of pesty mosquitoes. Peddlers screaming what they sell. the old gents slowly walking with a birdcage or three in their hand as they head to the park. They nod w/ a smile as an old friend passes by. Children running frantically.
Aside from the modern facade of a post-Olympic city, Beijing still has intact a wide spectrum of humble folks spanning from different generations.

I am fucking lost.

I'm glad Amy got here earlier. Otherwise I'd be really indecisive as to where to go. Now with her I can have some motivation to get out of the apartment. Beijing is another place where you'd get the feeling of "where do I begin?" Luckily we decided to visit one of the most expensive shopping districts in Beijing aka "Guomao" 国贸。 As the levels get higher the prices tend to sky rocket. If you don't feel like going back to the US, Beijing has everything to satisfy your western needs. (For those who enjoy the yuppie lifestyle). The CCTV building aka "Underpants" can be found right by Guomao. Next door to underpants was housed the Mandarin hotel, which was burnt to a crisp when their CCTV neighbors decided to light a factory of fireworks for New Year's last year. Good thinking guys.



Wrapping for the night Amy and I (through luck and wit) found the DIY (do it yourself) Hot Pot restaurant.

One of the most scrumptious Hot Pot meals. I burnt my tongue due to impatience and desire to slurp down more of my delicious Thai chicken curry soup base. Yum!

Back to Beijing

Perhaps I was wrong and Dad was probably right. Shanghai is much cleaner? A walk around the streets of Beijing and the lungs feel torched. Did I really breathe better in Shanghai? Maybe that oxygen mask is a must need here. I'm amazed by the contrast. I don't think the burning sensation in my lungs is anything short of suffering.

Report to orientation is in 5 days at Beida and I'm still a bit nervous with what to expect. I'm none the less very excited to meet everyone from my group. I wonder who my room mate is...we shall see.
In the coming days the entire nation will celebrate its 60th year as communist China. On October 1st will erupt big festivities. Rehearsals have gone underway, little kids up to college kids participate in mass formations of routines (like in the Olympics). My cousin has fallen to this suffering. Sucks for you dude. The entertainment industry especially has been working non stop preparing for the 60th anniversary.

A new film will be released on Sept 3rd called "TIAN AN MEN": the story of how National Day (Oct 1st) came to be at Tian'an men square. Apparently it took a month for the organizers to fix up the square for Chairman Mao. The CCTV 6: Movie channel is doing an upclose featurette with the cast & crew of "Tian an Men". Everyone icnlduing the hosts of the show are sharing their personal reflections on how Tian an Men was apart of their upbringing (and always in their hearts). Touching.

I can't help but iew this 'upclose' program knowing that this is in a sense brainwashing the public. Then again we are all programmed into brainwashing. Though, this film is to provide an opportuunity for the younger generation to understanding a moment history that maybe was never understood.

National Day/(holiday) is going to be a pandemonium. I will avoid going near Tian'an men square if possible. It might be impossible to see the parades and commotion.

Today started at an unholy hour. For me at least. I boarded a 6:20 am bus with my Third Great Aunt (that's right 3rd Great Aunt, we will discuss the family tree later) to visit her temple (Buddhist). The burning incense, cycled "a mi tuo fuo", chanting, prayers --interuppted by ..wait a minute..screaming? *Large smack.

More screaming. Someone just killed a catepillar....something squishy. A shriek. Women.

"I KILLED IT!!! OMG IT WAS A BIG ONE!! *bug twitching on the ground"

Your a Buddhist aren't you? Hence my confusion.

I finally met up with Amy. Luckily my cabbie knew where the hotel was. with the help of her insiders guide to Beijing we managed to track down a cheap candy bar mobile, explored some parts of the city and ate some delicous 包子“baozi" at "狗不里“ gou bu li " at Wangfujing. That's when my lungs started dying. Fun times.

*Things to look for : Koko Black cafe (in Europe..?) and 鸡毛信 （old Chinese film) Maybe Dad saw it when he was little? Peter would probably enjoy this film.