再见，中国！

Maybe it is a little unfair that I am writing this last post in America, but with all the stuff I had to bring home and the early flight from Shanghai Pudong to Seoul, I just didn't have the time to write! Technically, I could have posted yesterday, but alas I was sleeping, watching my bootleg season 2 of The Tudors, and eating wonderfully. // I was so sad to leave China, for the disappointment of having spent so little time there was hard to fathom. I was nervous upon landing in America; in fact, when boarding the Seoul-Atlanta flight, there were so many 外国人 (foreigners) on the flight that I must've had the same facial expression as Chinese had when seeing me! I just am not used to seeing so many white faces! // Friday was a special day in Shanghai- after our test, we had a banquet and "graduation". Then Richard and I went around the Bund area to see Pudong across the river, but also we just wanted to walk around and see as much of the nearby areas of Shanghai as possible before we left. After that, dinner with Lydia's dad, talk with mom, and packing- lots and lots of packing. // With that, there's not much else to say but: I'm home! And now that I'm here, I'm very happy. The past two and a half months in China were an overall absolute blast, and I hope to go back there in the next couple of years. Despite all the differences that were hard to adjust to, a part of me is, has been and will always be Chinese. // I knew of course, that I had been away for a long time, when I noticed gas prices have dropped to less than $2 per gallon; Obama was the president; the air is clear and clean; and I felt reunited with those I love and the memories that made my return so worthwhile. // With that, 再见，中国！我要在去！谢谢！

我们都是老悍妇

We are all dragons. Or at least I like to think so. The disappointment of leaving China on Saturday is beginning to set in, and my mood today, as a result, has been down and edgy. On the bright side, it was another beautiful day in Shanghai, and the past couple of days have been filled with adventure. // Our field trip to Shanghai Pudong on Tuesday was met with strange feelings- the place is so modern, so new, and seemingly so fake, that it felt entirely phony. I felt very peculiar driving through one of the living districts and seeing the segregated school communities (based on nationality). However, the buildings are big and all contain very cool, very interesting architectural motifs. Amongst our stops were: Pudong development headquarters; performance arts building; drive by Pearl Tower; and a brief outside view of the Pudong Museum of Science and Technology. The latter was so cool that a big group of us skipped Tai Chi class yesterday to visit it, and it was absolutely fucking cool. // The tickets were a mere 60 kuai, and frankly the Museum was cooler than any I've seen in the US. Although the Museum is clearly targeted to middle and high school students (obvious from exhibit information matter and the dozens of students in matching tracksuits we saw roaming around), some information was thorough and rather advanced. There were many separate exhibits, my favorites including: space, robots, insects, spiders, and the rain forest. The Museum is huge, and as Zach and Richard put it, "makes Epcot look sad." Anyway, the Museum was awesome and informative. A certain cute robot drew my picture from a photo I had taken, though somehow I lost this on my way back to my room. Maybe it slipped out of my bag once I had my hands full with bubble tea and rice cakes. I also had to practically yell at a man trying to sell me watches on the street in front of the Museum entrance! He just wouldn't listen to my polite refusals, and when I rose my voice, he said, "What? Don't want? I will love you much!" Strange. And incidentally this did not change my mind. // Later last night, David, Richard, and I witnessed a lot of old people dancing to really bad 90's pop in a little square. I wanted to participate, but my presence was already winning me awkward glances. There's one aspect of difference I am tired of- as Noah eloquently stated it: "In Tianjin, I felt like I was just something interesting to look at, but here in Shanghai, I feel like people keep trying to take advantage of me." This is, of course, an over-generalized statement, but it holds true. // I have been wanting to see a movie in theatres here, but I'm waiting for home to see Quantum of Solace (though it was out here earlier), so my choices are rather limited. Maybe I'll go later tonight before I review for our "final" tomorrow. // Tomorrow we will celebrate the end of the program with a mid-day banquet, so I plan to wear one of my qipaos (旗袍) in honor of the trip and all that I've gotten to experience and learn. I'm collecting pictures tonight from everyone, and likely I'll be obligated to give another speech (in Chinese, of course) tomorrow. I'm glad my class has had a serious teacher here in Shanghai- I feel prepared and have gotten to prove that I did, indeed, learn a lot in Tianjin. Tonight I plan to start packing up all of my souvenirs, which will surely be a bit of a sad yet exciting event. I think that once Saturday rolls around, I'll feel prepared to leave; until then, though, there's small disparity between wanting to stay and my eagerness to leave. No, I think I'm ready- I just can't believe it went by so fast. I knew it would. // But, being a dragon, it won't be hard to come back.

我对中国有深的感情；我已经想中国

I already miss China. Since Friday, however, a lot of neat things have happened. First of all, I finally racked up the nerve to get my hair cut here- and it was quite the success! In fact, it's the best cut I've ever had, and it only cost me 80 kuai. I went to this fancy salon inside the mall outside of Shanghai University's campus and received quite the treatment: a 20 minute shampooing/head massage; a 1 hour cut; free, unlimited hot tea; fashion magazines; and the Creative Director, who despite having to cut my unfamiliar (in comparison to Asian hair, obviously) hair, was very cool and quite charming. It was worth every yuan and frankly much more. Look look! I'll miss having this only a 10-15 minute walk away. Saturday was a very, very early day (7.30am-9.00pm). We took a field trip to Hangzhou (about 3 hours or so away) to mainly see some beautiful scenery (where the picture is from, in fact), pretty gardens, visit the China National Silk Museum, and visit a tea house. All of these destinations were very interesting, although the weather was terrible as I recall it. In fact, today was the first partly sunny day this part of Shanghai has seen in the past 5 or 6 days, and recently it has started getting pretty chilly. This has "allowed" me to spend yet more money on clothing items that were just too cool to deny myself. However, I have been rather frustrated at the fact that I cannot find any boots that fit- my feet are too big, and every time I run into a store frantically asking "有没有41号的？” ("Do you have size 41 in boots?"), I am met with apologies and sometimes laughter. Oh well- I need the space in my suitcase anyway, I guess. Anyway, the trip on Saturday endured stinky weather, but I absolutely loved the National Silk Museum. I have still been putting off seeing "Wushu" in the People's Square theatre until tomorrow night, since we have an essay due tomorrow and had an oral presentation on 《西游记》(Journey to the West) today. Yesterday (Sunday), Richard, David, and I went to the cultural market area for about four hours and managed to pick up some really neat trinkets, some souvenirs, etc. At night, the entire place is lit up by lights and is quite pretty. Today, we went to another tea house near campus and got to watch slightly interesting presentations on how to brew the main teas here in China (green, red, black, and yellow). The tea was so delicious. Our translator today had the most interesting accent- he claimed he has never traveled outside of China, yet when he spoke English, he spoke with an English accent! He must've had an English teacher while growing up, because the accent was uncanny and hilarious. Afterwards, I explored around the campus' outskirts and waited out until evening finishing up my paper. Dinner was spent with Richard, Trey, Lydia, and Zach at the very hip, very expensive "Blue Frog", but Richard was kind enough to buy me a veggie burger because I'm so damn stingy here. Then, bubble tea for dessert, which has also become an integral part of lunch and late breakfasts. I mean, I won't be getting the real stuff back home! And now it's starting to hit me- I'm leaving in five days. Five days. Should I be excited? Naturally I am, but I have grown attached here in many ways, and very much like the person I have become here. Of course I can bring this transformation home with me- but it is quite Daoist and little bit Confucian, and I'm not sure how that will fit with my American lifestyle. In any case, the return home is approaching fast, and I'm frantically trying to squeeze as much in now as possible. At least I'm well this week and have the energy to do so! Tomorrow, we take yet another field trip. We're going to Pudong, which is a big, very new portion of Shanghai that in fact has the airport from which I depart on Saturday morning. It is supposed to be quite cool; I've seen it, but only at night across the river from Bund Road, when it was rainy and foggy. I can't believe how quickly time has gone by. I knew this would happen- but at least I didn't let it pass by without doing things and seeing even more. I've seen quite a new world, and though I'm a little sad to leave, I will always live partly here. What a world- the life of variety. Poor against privileged (which is quite more evident here in Shanghai than in the northern regions in which we lived); differing dialects ranging across miles; dirty cities and breathtaking mountains...it all dwells here. I like to think of China as a patchwork throw.

Today, I was Frodo.

Indeed, I bore the ring- that is, a container of the most disgusting tofu I've ever encountered in my life. At lunch, I decided to get my own vegetarian meal instead of sharing food with others (and granted, I am kind of sick again, so it was a kind gesture), and the move totally backfired. I can't explain how awful this tofu was. Zach suggested it smelled like rotting fish sitting on top of a pile of poop. My worst fears of its taste were met, for it tasted like it smelled; apparently, most Chinese really like this taste, and even have the same reaction to our lovely American cheeses. In any case, to save my disappointment, Fred, Alan, John, and I saved the tofu and played some pranks on some of the other kids. Ben has no idea that a piece is sitting behind his toilet; Grace doesn't know a piece is sitting in her clothes drawer; and Trey couldn't even reach the pieces on top of his door. Can't wait to hear about smelly rooms! Other than this incident, however, Shanghai is awesome! I've waited until now to post about it mainly because I wanted a lot to say, and also because I've felt kind of terrible until now to take the time and energy to write about things. My post-Tibet cold has turned into bad congestion but likely not fever! I think it's the air again, but it's worth enduring. Having internet in my single has been nice but spoiling, though I am very much enjoying the privacy away from crowds and mingling. But what's important are the events I have done since my arrival from Lhasa on Sunday, so I'll start from the beginning. Aside from exploring the perimeters of Shanghai University and going to class, I have been doing lots of subway-traveling and window shopping (things are a bit more expensive here, though I've splurged here and there). Our Monday night trip to Bund Road was fabulous, although rainy, and seeing the bigger parts of the city is always a blast. People's Square is also very, very big, and very, very expensive, but both times I've been I have managed to find little interesting things to mark the memory. People's Square has a big theatre at which I hope to go see "Wushu" this weekend. I considered going to Shanghai Zoo as well, but I've heard questionable information about the living conditions of the animals there. Poor little things. Tuesday afternoon was by far one of the more aggravating afternoons of the entire trip (since September). Again, the group thought we were going to Tongji University to learn about the development of Shanghai, but instead we sat in a classroom full of German students from Kassel Universität and were lectured for over an hour about Expo. As in, the world fair. It's coming to Shanghai in 2010, and after a while I finally realized what the heck it is! I'll admit without embarrassment that I had no idea what Expo was, considering America has stopped such activity since the 1920's. A certain German boy was being very arrogant and accusing our group of being typical, ignorant Americans! As a result I couldn't be nice to him. Anyway, after enduring this surprising event, we went to the People's Square area to see the exhibition on World Expo, which was kind of interesting, but even now I have no clue why we were there in the first place. On a brighter note, dinner afterwards was delicious, and at a shop a lady was so surprised that I was able to understand and communicate with her! This was another moment when I was on the hunt for a pair of boots; this is the one item I really want very badly, but alas my feet are too big, and I am having trouble finding a pair I like in my size for a reasonable price (women's shoes, and boots in particular, are especially pricey in Shanghai. And by "pricey", I mean American prices.). At least food is relatively cheap and great. And, in accordance with Tuesday night's/Wednesday morning's big event, Richard and I went to a "Japanese" restaurant in a tourist attractive area and overate in celebration of Obama's presidential victory. I must say, I'm quite pleased! I was fortunate to have my own announcer and updater during the event (thank you, Andrew). I think the meal ended up costing me 10 American dollars, which was quite the investment, but I believe it was for a good cause. This afternoon, for Zhao's Chinese Civilization class, we went to Shanghai Museum to browse bronzes, jades, calligraphy, painting, furniture, ceramics, and sculpture. This was such a fun trip, being an art historian! It was neat to see so many ancient, famous works inches away. As always, I took over a hundred pictures. The Museum is China's best museum, and I can surely understand why. There were even Western toilets and toilet paper and an automatic hand dryer in the bathrooms! Of course, just a reminder of home was nothing like stepping into one of the Starbuck's here- it was too scary to buy anything. The culture is quite different here in the southern part of China, in addition to the accent. I've had one street seller already mock me when I rebuffed his advances, and have encountered many circumstances where communicating is a little difficult due to pronunciation. In general, the people here are very nice, but I have not been here long enough to decide if it's "better" or more personally preferable to the northern areas (like Tianjin). I apologize for the lack of structure to this post, but it's late, and I must sleep a little before my quiz in the morning. I promise to write more frequently for the next...8 days. Oh my god it's almost over!

On Each Block Stand Chinese soldiers with AK-47s

Thursday (10/30) was mostly spent in the van driving (8 hour trip total). We left bright and early to see Yam Drak Tso Lake, stopping first to view and take pictures of Brahmaputra River. The latter is really pretty, but does not compare to Yam Drak Tso Lake. The Lake surrounds an island of mountains, and when the weather is sunny and bright, it's easy to see its crisp turquoise hue (and the reflection of the towering mountains). It is no surprise, then, that it has the nickname "The Turquoise Lake". I didn't think that after Tuesday, I would see more scenery that I would deem the most beautiful, but Yam Drak Tso Lake ties with the snowy Himalayas. I stole some rocks from the "shoreline" to bring home, which are all different and interesting. The scenery in Tibet is almost too beautiful to fathom; when a day was over, I would look through and edit the pictures I had taken, and could hardly believe I had actually been there. Being present felt unworldly yet natural. It's hard to explain-just believe me, Tibet is gorgeous. Of course, I cannot forget our second stop on our last day in Tibet, which was Kharola Glacier, which soared at an altitude of 5560m. This was the first glacier I had ever seen, and it was so neat. The families living around the area were hard to watch; their poor lifestyles and shivering (and some sick) children were difficult things to accept, especially when I was walking around with a camera, nice jacket, new shoes, new bag, and a wallet holding a few 100 kuai bills. It just blows my mind that such people are and have been able to survive just hard conditions. They have more courage than I. Between the two sites was lunch, and we ate in the town where the 5th Dalai Lama's mother was born. I believe it stands at about 4000m. The meal was delicious, and we met some French tourists who looked unbelievably French. The evening was spent buying last minute souvenirs, eating a quick dinner, and trying my best to use the internet, which was quite unsuccessful. I let my aggravation escalate, then eventually calmed down, so that I could enjoy my last night (possibly ever) in Tibet. For the 51 hour train ride to Shanghai, I bought lots of fruit, and had a lovely conversation with the seller about my having an American boyfriend, not having a Chinese boyfriend, and that 他可能是我的 (he maybe could be my Chinese boyfriend). His wife sat to the side, just laughing and laughing. It made me realize how many wonderful people here I had spoken to, and that hopefully, even if just through buying their goods, I had helped them out.

Peeing In A Holy Hole

Wednesday (10/29) was more laid back; we toured Potala Palace and NorbulingKa (the Dalai Lama's Summer Palace), followed by more Tibetan food and shopping. Potala Palace was a bit expensive to tour, but it is HUGE and absolutely stupefying. We only toured a little of it since most of it was not publicly open, but we got to see parts of both its Red and White palaces. The inside was just beautiful. Amongst the neat things we got to see were: the 5th-13th Dalai Lamas' tombs, which are giant golden stupas. The 5th Dalai Lama's was by far the largest, and is in fact the biggest golden stupa in the entire world! Interestingly, the 5th Dalai Lama's tomb is the only one to contain his actual bodily remains; the 6th-13th Dalai Lamas were all cremated, so their ashes sit in mandorla-shaped crevices atop the stupas. In addition, the 5th Dalai Lama's tomb has a very, very precious white stone (even more so than the others) that is believed to have been removed from an elephant's brain-how this is possible, I am not sure. We saw many study rooms, bed rooms, libraries, holy bathrooms, etc. and many, many, many precious relics. A statue of Tsongkapa and four mandalas were also a huge highlights for me. I just love the smell of incense and the yak butter candle tubs. I am so lucky to have gotten to see it! After lunch, we headed to NorbulinKa, a trip which happened to fall on the sunniest, warmest (as in 40 degrees) part of the day. Though we didn't see much of the inside of the buildings, we got to see the woody and lake areas. There is not much to say about it except it is beautiful, and in my opinion it is the prettiest of the Summer Palaces we have toured on this trip. I saw some ducks, a strange deer, and again more interesting relics, architecture, and artwork. The architecture differed from all other palaces, monasteries, nunneries, or temples that we have seen in that there was a clear fusion of Western motifs with that of Tibetan, including some radios and stereos that we gifts of Russian and Indian leaders, respectively. Other room set-ups included Western style beds and mirrors. One story I recall vividly from NorbulingKa is Doorjee's explanation of the Tibetan creation story-that basically Tibetans believe that they are descendants of monkeys, and eventually humans came about from a meditative monkey that wed, after time, a deity. The rest of the story involves details about their six children that I can't quite recall. I spent the evening buying some trinkets, which was fun and difficult, because bargaining is not the easiest thing to do. However, I consider myself to have been successful, and I got to practice speaking more. One lady complimented me on how nice I am. While everyone I meet is wonderful and sweet, the prices are higher than expected (especially for food and touring tickets), so I've spent more money in Tibet already than I ever imagined. But, what the hell-when will I ever be back here? And, no, peeing in the Potala WC's ("bathrooms" dating from 17th century) is not fun. It's disgusting, but at least I can say I did it.

西藏: Sun, Snow, Scenery

Today, we ventured into the middle of the Himalayas, and the scenery was so breathtaking I nearly cried. I've never seen a landscape so stunning and powerful; it made me feel powerless. A 2.5 hour van ride to Drigung Thel Monastery was the first part of the morning, though we did take some rests to have snowball fights, take pictures, etc. Drigung Thel Monastery sits on a mountainside, so we had to take at least a 20 minute hike to get there. Due to the altitude, this is actually really, really difficult, but to make the pain go by faster, I walked briskly, so was the first one of the group to reach the Monastery. Not knowing where to wait for everyone else, I explored some and met some of the people working there. Three young girls were super excited to see a 外国人 (waiguoren - foreigner), and loved having their picture taken and afterwards looking in awe at my camera. I chatted with some men there, then decided I needed to check on others' whereabouts. Of course, for the next 45 minutes or so, I couldn't find anyone and ended up wandering around the Monastery grounds. While it was a little aggravating, I did get to see much, much more of the place and its surroundings. Finally finding the group, we went into some of the chapels and learned about them. Not haven eaten breakfast (I slept in) or had much water to drink, around 2 pm I almost fainted (others, too), so we decided it would be best to head to lunch. I was surprised we survived the drive down the mountain from Drigung Thel Monastery-our driver is wonderful and hilarious, but absolutely insane! I was scared the whole time, because we had already skidded once; the van doesn't have tires for snowy/icy roads; it brought back bad memories of a car accident (quite involving a mountain). Anyway, we made it to the restaurant, which was conveniently located at our second and last destination: Drigung Terdrom Nunnery. At this point, I was very exhausted from the day, and my feet were so damn cold I was kind of crying, but nonetheless the Nunnery was spectacular. The nuns were also interested in our cameras, and we had the luxury of seeing them pray and chant. It was a really beautiful ceremony. When I was leaving the chapel, some of the nuns playfully held me back. There were two hot springs there-male and female-but we didn't go in them. Afterwards, we took another route back to the hotel, during which time I painfully warmed my feet back up and slept a little. The evening was spent napping, buying more winter gear, and having a delicious but pricey dinner, which consisted of corn soup, banana lassi (again, of course), 1/2 yak burger, and some Tibetan fried potato cakes. Oh, and also a Lhasa beer. Other highlights of the day include coming in close contact with a yak, which I could have petted but was too afraid; making friends with a furry black and white cat at dinner; being loving with two dogs at lunch (it bothers me how unfriendly towards dogs some people here can be); and seeing homes amongst the Himalayas and the lifestyle families live there. Truly, as far as my experience goes, Tibet is the most beautiful place in the world.

Michael Trey & 8 Pax Arrive in Tibet

Our first day in Tibet was very, very cold, but also very, very wonderful. I enjoyed a big, American style breakfast buffet for only 30 kuai, and then went with our group and tour guide (name pronounced in Tibetan "Bee-or-szee") to Lhasa Jokhang Temple, or the most renowned Buddhist temple in the whole world. Inside has 78 total smaller chapels on three floors , some of which we entered, but unfortunately we didn't get to enter the main, popular temple for which the Temple is known. The architecture was amazing and interesting-108 snow lions flanked the perimeter of each floor. Since it was a rainy day, not as many local people were there praying, but still it was remarkable to see each dedicated person praying for the couple of hours we were there. I learned some neat information about Tibetan Buddhism, its sects, and when and how the Temple is used. There were lots of shops around, but finding a more reliable one caused me to spend 630 kuai on one purchase! Afterwards, we went to lunch and had some fabulous Tibetan food. Naturally, I ate a little bit of yak meat, which I must say was pretty tasty! The momo was also notably good, as well as the hot masala tea. Everyone else liked the butter tea, but I wasn't much of a fan. It's hard to describe the dishes; some resembled Indian food, others nothing I've had before. Then, after checking on poor Richard, who's fallen ill with a bit of a case of altitude sickness, we went to Sera Je Monastery, which flanks a huge mountain. We didn't have much time to explore, but we did get a glimpse of the interior main hall. Again, I was overwhelmed. We did, though, see plenty of the exterior, including some dogs, prayer wheels, and homes. Upon our arrival to Yak Hotel, our current home for the next few days, I went out to buy some waterproof hiking boots for only a little over 20 US dollars. Then was dinner; I had Vegetarian Chow Mien (I know, but really it was delicious) and a Banana Lassi, which had a surprising sour taste, and then I remembered that the drink was likely made with yak milk, so I soon grew to like it very much! After dinner, a few of us walked about 15 minutes to the Potala-that's right, it's a mere walk from our hotel! It was freezing, but we met some Chengdu province friends, took lots of pictures, and then went to get a local beer at a bar before heading for bed. As I'm writing this, it's snowing outside! I feel bad about not having the time nor internet to get pictures posted from the trip, but I promise promise promise that you will all see them soon.

Where did this post go?

On October 24, we said goodbye to Tianjin. My first train ride ever was a quick one on Friday from Tianjin to Beijing; from Beijing, we went to Xining (about a 24 hour ride), and then from Xining to Lhasa (another 24 hour+ ride). The long train rides are completely worth it-the scenery was breathtaking. Thankfully we were on hard sleepers (although still, even with those, you can only sleep so well). I'm glad I had my movies and my books. The last week or so in Tianjin was pretty much occupied with last minute souvenir shopping and work. Aside from two finals in our language and civilization courses combined, we had a final paper due in the latter course (中国文明课), the subject of which was to discuss our experience thus far of the presence (or lack thereof) of Daoism and Confucianism in modern China. About 1/3 of our final product was to be in Chinese; so, to make the assignment a little more bearable, I decided to write a short story. Titled “极小子的逃跑," or "Little One's Flight," the story is about a little dragon named-can you guess?-Little One, who grows up to learn the six principles of Confucianism (中，孝，礼，义，廉，耻) through experiences. He grows up to be a hero amongst all dragons and eventually earns a new name, "老子," or Laozi, the founder of Daoism and also a former student of Confucius, who called Laozi "The Dragon". Anyway, it is a cute story, and I think Zhao liked it. On the Saturday of our last weekend in Tianjin, Richard and I went to the city's local natural history museum, which was a balanced combination of humorous and interesting. My two favorite sections were the dinosaur skeleton section and the insect hall. The former exhibit had a mammoth roaming with the dinosaurs, and due to a supposed laziness, the teradactyls were not flying, rather on the floor! The insect hall was full of amazing moths, beetles, butterflies, and other strange insects from China, Brazil, Ghana, etc. I got some great pictures and also gifts-let's just say that two-headed dinosaurs and Godzilla were amongst the museum's gift selection. On our final day of Beijing opera class, we dressed up in the art's traditional costumes and makeup, which I of course loved. It brought me back to my younger, dancing days. My character, as it turned out, was the most beautiful of the Tang Dynasty's top four beauties. In fact, I was the Emporer's most prized concubine. Her story is very interesting, and I must say I was overwhelmingly flattered. The last night in Tianjin, we had our banquet with our teachers and program directors. It was a sweet ceremony, and being vice president of the group, I was obligated to give a little speech in Chinese. We received our diplomas, praise, and thanks, and at dinner we shared drinks and stories. Since Nankai University's alma mater is to the tune of "O Tenenbaum" (yeah, funny), and I am the only student on the program who knows the German lyrics, everyone made me stand up and sing it! It was sad to leave and say goodbye to our teachers; I really have grown to love them, Tianjin, and Nankai. It made it easier to not see them the next morning, and instead to say goodbye to our friends at Xinansun (the marketplace) and get my last cromlet, likely, that I'll ever have again. It's hard to imagine that I'll be home in three weeks.

苏三起解 sū sān qǐjiè

In our Beijing Opera (北京京剧）class, we are learning and memorizing a portion of a piece that tells of a famous Ming Dynasty love story. The story is about a beautiful woman named Su San (苏三) who despite coming from a poor family and later sold into prostitution, had a kind heart. She met and fell in love with a client, Wang Jinglong, and helped him attend a prestigious medical university by selling jewelry. They were soulmates, but once accepted to the university, he left for a long time, and she heard from him little. In the meantime, poor Su San was sold to a married businessman as his concubine; this man's first wife tried to feed Su San poisoned noodles, but instead murdered her husband when he accidently ate them! However, this wife sent Su San to trial and later to prison for the death of her husband. After some time, Su San was sent to Tai Yuan for a retrial, where she discovered her beloved Wang Jinglong was an officer. With the help of kind people, they fell back in love and lived happily ever after. 苏三唱 （西流水：） 苏三离了洪同县，将身来在大街前。 sū sān lí le hóng tóng xiàn, jiāng shēn lái zài dà jiē qián. 未曾开言我心好惨，过往的君子听我言。 wèi céng kāi yán wǒ xīn hǎo cǎn, guò wǎng de jūn zǐ tīng wǒ yán. 那一位去往南京转，与我那三郎把信传。 nà yí wèi qù wǒng nán jīng zhuǎn, yǔ wǒ nà sān láng bǎ xìn chuán. 就说苏三把命断，来生变犬马我当报还。 jiù shuō sū sān bǎ mìng duàn, lái shēng biàn quǎn mǎ wǒ dāng bào huán.

"I want to be so old that I have to be scooped into a dustpan." - Zach

Well, it's been quite some time since I last posted, but I only now have enough events about which to tell. I spent this past week sick, being attacked on multiple fronts, and spent the night before our exam enduring a fever and chills. That said, last week was spent either in class, doing homework, eating, buying groceries, or napping. Thanks to antibiotics, I'm pretty much recovered, but I still have congested lungs as a result of pollution and second-hand smoking. The weekend before last, the entire group followed Zhao laoshi to a nice restaurant, where we experienced the splendors of the traditional 火锅 dish (huoguo - "hot pot"). The meat was lamb, and the little bit that I ate was very tasty. Of course, tofu pieces and vegetables were also included. It was overall a delicious dinner! Following dinner was the usual trip to Scarlet, and I went shopping the next day with enough success to keep me browsing for hours. My feet are a little big in comparison to the average Chinese woman, so I eventually gave up on that errand and returned to campus. Then, I got really sick, but there's nothing to that except the fact, and it isn't at all interesting, so I'll skip ahead to this past weekend. Friday was very laid back- all of the classes watched "活着" (huozhe - to live), which is an amazing movie once banned in the early 90's for its subject matter; I suggest everyone should see it. Following "class" was Nankai University's Olympics, or really big Field Day. John/Steve/Shi Lifu put his big American flag (which before this event was hanging on his wall) on his shower curtain rod, and waved it proudly as we approached the field to meet our opponents. I wouldn't say people were intimidated, but I do think our group of mostly non-athletic nerds surprised most. In most of the events, we placed either first or second (either overall or in specific heats), and I in particular participated in the jump-roping, basketball dribble, tug-of-war, soccer (which was really just penalty shots, so I didn't help much), and baton relay competitions. The latter was a lot of fun- the runners were me, John, Fred, and Trey, and we placed second overall! Our prize was a fantastic little Chinese phrase book each, in addition to having our picture taken repeatedly. Saturday wasn't as much fun- I felt dizzy because of the Cipro, but was quite productive; I wrote and mailed many, many postcards (which was a slightly embarrassing experience, given I had to glue every single stamp onto the cards), and finished homework so I could spend Sunday buying things. I had some great finds at our favourite bootleg DVD shop, including: Wall-E; The Tudors, Season 2; Queer as Folk, Seasons 1-5; The Piano; The Fifth Element; Death Race; Blue Velvet; Final Destination 1-3; and three Chinese movies. Again, this all cost me around $15 altogether. Richard accompanied me to a cultural shopping district in the afternoon, which was in a really neat area of Tianjin about a 20 minute taxi ride away from Nankai's campus. I spent a lot of money- a lot. I bought some souvenirs, of course, and other things for myself, including an old doughnut shaped jewelry box and two qipaos (旗袍). With some encouragement from Richard, I finally took a whack at bargaining: a certain item I bought (which I can't talk about, because it's someone's special gift) was priced over 300 kuai, so I suggested 175 kuai. The women running the store laughed at me for about three minutes and then proposed 180 kuai as the final price. As in, I got about a 50% discount. I was dumbfounded that it actually worked! It was also fun getting to speak with a lot of different salespersons and what-not, and explaining that no, I am not Richard's wife, and yes, we're looking for Mao uniforms! I kind of promised some people that I'd be back next weekend...which isn't a lie, because I loved the variety of neat trinkets! And that about wraps up the past week. I'm (finally) getting used to the culture and am really enjoying myself! I am also used to the teaching style, so am now enjoying class much more. We have two weeks and one weekend left here in Tianjin, so there's a lot of activities to squeeze in!

不太胖！

I finally realized that I have only spent about $300 since I arrived in China, and so on Wednesday I decided to go shopping. What a fantastic experience this was. Granted, I didn't go to a fancy mall or anything, but I did manage to find several strange, interesting items for only about $45 total. Overall, the experience was mistake-free, but one saleslady made the night even more enjoyable. There was a very cool blue jacket I had my eye on that I eventually decided to try on. When I pointed to it and asked, "我可以式一式吗?" ("Could I try this on?") she seemed very confused and asked, "准的吗?" ("Really (are you serious?)"). When I said yes, she seemed very disapproving but let me try it on anyway. Admittedly, my broad shoulders and long arms caused the jacket to fit on the small side, but she pointed to me with it on and exclaimed, "啊！不太胖!" ("Oh! Not too fat!"). I gave this look and replied, "对，我知道!" ("Correct, I know this!") and preceded to try on other things. She then tried to sell me a skirt once we found a little sweater that looked great, and I pointed to it, laughed, and said, "不！这件太小!" ("No! THAT is too small!"). She liked this (and it's true- most Chinese women are not only obsessed with being thin, but are so). So, more shopping is on my weekend agenda, including a trip to the nearby natural history museum. Yesterday was the big Dragonboat race, and it turned out to be a really, really big event. I mean, this was an international tournament! An Italian group had traveled from a Venice university to be there; and, honestly, they were really, really good. However, they were also really, really big. Even the women; frankly, I was confused at first when I noticed some members had female adornments. It was the funniest sight. I'm telling you- these Italians were all pretty unattractive. Their bulky muscles just didn't balance well with their overall figures and physiques. It was my luck that one of the blonde boys with a really big honker started winking and waving at me. I, of course, could only laugh in response (and from afar), because here I was, needing a shower and wearing track pants and a t-shirt. Maybe they like their women that way. Overall, we raced kind of poorly, but considering we practiced only 2-3 times, I'll give us all a big pat on the back. The first race, we came in 4th (out of five); the second race, we came in 3rd (out of three); and the third race, we came in 5th (out of six). Think what you will- it was still an awesome experience. Other good and exciting news: Professor Zhao was on national television last night (CCTV 9) and made "Carleton University" very proud. He spoke about the rise of China this year, especially, and basically what it needed to do as a nation to improve its international relationships in this modern world. Brendan has apparently made a little Chinese girlfriend already, which is interesting considering he speaks little Chinese, and she speaks no English. I imagine there must be a lot of hand gestures (bǐhua: 比划) used when they communicate. There is a man around everyday at the market who sells bootlegged DVD's, PC games, etc., and he is just one of the nicest and enthusiastic people I've come across. He complimented me the other day on my glasses and it so excited to have "American friends". So, for about 36 kuai (or, about $5) I bought: Porco Rosso, Apocalypto, Hook, Fight Club, Wall-E, and Trainspotting. He even lets you preview discs before you even consider buying them. In other words, he's the nicest pirate out there! There's a TGIF's across the road (which is an obstacle to get to, considering the dangerous nature of crossing streets here), and my friends and I finally went there last night. I got the Fried Mac & Cheese appetizer, and I have to say, haven not eaten any cheese in about a month, I was disappointed. I remember it tasting a lot better than that.

Bananas, Boats, and Bunniculas

This morning, I asked Duncan, "How do you feel about China today?" He responded with, "I miss pancakes." I find this to be the perfect answer to that question I often find myself (and others) asking. Since I last wrote, a lot and little has happened. I completed my first week of authentic Chinese class, which has been one of the toughest adjustments so far. We have about 3.5 hours of class Monday through Friday per day, followed by the fun classes, which include Tai Chi, calligraphy and painting, Wushu, Beijing jingju, and Chinese civilization. The language class is a bit more tougher than I expected- apparently, some students from the previous Tianjin seminar brought this issue up, and so the current group is getting actual challenging language courses. It is a bit of a struggle, going from 8:30am-12:15pm doing nothing but learning tons of grammar and coming across many, many characters I'm expected to know but have never come across. Thankfully, we have three 10-15 minute breaks to recoup. The teachers take a completely different approach than any other language teachers I've had in the past- they think that by simply repeating a grammatical structure over and over, you understand it. We don't get English explanations for anything, and many times the examples provided to us on handouts use phrases or many characters that I never learned. Also, one of my teachers doesn't like for me or anyone else to take notes in class. (Also, the teachers speak little to no English.) Granted, while most of this is good for me- I don't want my hand held through it, and I want to be challenged- I do wish they would just let me know what characters they expect me to not only know but to write, since many come up on quizzes! Yikes. One week down- four more to go. Thursday evening was a blast. I went to Nankai's gym to get a month membership, and I discovered many strange things about the place. First of all, I went to pee before my workout, and I walked into the bathroom to discover two naked Chinese women showering. Sure, I thought, whatever. Then after ten minutes on the treadmill- without a TV to watch- the room's hot temperature started to make me sweat even more than I do running outside on a hot, southern day. Once sick of this, I lifted weights, but found it hard to adjust the settings because nothing made sense. The translations, though, on the machines were of course funny. The trip's legendary hero and hottie is Shi Lifu (John), who is this massive (in comparison to the Chinese people) Carleton football player, but also the most fluent of us all. As a result, he makes the most foreign friends and all love him to death. Anyway, he was in the gym, lifting weights and running shirtless, and all the despising Chinese men in there were staring and glaring at him. It was truly a hilarious sight, and I could hardly contain myself. It was also a little strange to be the only female in the weight section. They don't, though, have light enough free weights for weaklings like myself. It has been really interesting to see how much people- women especially- are obsessed with being skinny and losing weight. I have had many run-ins where someone has commented on the fact that I am so 漂亮 (pretty) and slim. It is surprising for them, in general, to meet Americans that are this way, and most of us on the program are. Also, on sunny days, women and some men cover themselves with umbrellas or visors and long clothing to keep from getting sun. They all want to be as fair skinned as possible. Friday, after class, we had about an hour's worth of Wushu class, followed by (for most of us) about three hours of Dragonboat practice. I am so unbelievably sore; it truly is terrible. In fact, I think the pain is a cause of my being sick this weekend. Yes- I have finally fallen a bit ill. I am thinking it is a combination of excessive exercise (without the normal diet I am used to when doing such activities); cold weather (which has been very surprising) combined with frequent rain; lack of sleep (from bugs and rooming with someone); and possibly having eaten something that has upset my stomach. Who knows. But I've lost a weekend to sleeping, re-watching a 5 dollar collection of Mad Men (Season 1), studying, and watching hilarious Chinese movies about vampires that hop around like bunnies and can only see you when they smell your breath! So, I woke up yesterday morning sick around 6am, and then had to get up around 8am for what I thought was a tour of a fascinating architectural part of Tianjin. Though we were told to NOT BE LATE, we didn't leave until 8:40am, and then we were handed Chinese and Nankai University flags upon loading the bus. We were driven to the Opening Ceremony of some celebration of this aforementioned area, and while I enjoyed getting to see the Ceremony and the performances (though the ones from Germany, Brazil, Sri Lanka, and a local sports college were laughably terrible in comparison to the Chinese ancient drumming one), I didn't like being photographed over and over for being a white American girl. They also kept telling us to wave the flags. As it turns out, our group was blocked by police officers so other local Chinese people couldn't stand with us. In a sense, I feel like we were being used as propaganda. What I find most disappointing is that the program coordinator lied to us- and no one bothered to tell us for what we were really waking up at 8am on a Saturday. After the Ceremony, we just went back to campus; that's it! No architecture! I at least got a cool little rainbow-flower-pinweel of some sort out of it. I was too sick to care at the time, but I'm thinking about letting Zhao know what happened, because I'm pretty sure he doesn't. I went to bed relatively early last night and have had a relaxed day, and the main breakfast item will become a cromlet. They are so, so, so delicious, and completely worth waking up an extra 30-45 minutes earlier for. This coming weekend, I hope to go shopping and visit the local natural history museum. The post office line is always ridiculously long, so if you're still waiting on the postcards- be patient! I'm still getting bitten left and right; I can't drink anymore bubble tea because of the milk crisis; I can't get used to the spitting; and I'm a little homesick, but all-in-all, it's still neat to be here. I can already tell that my hearing, writing, and listening abilities will have drastically improved by the end of the trip. I still have to work on my speaking, but that'll come with practice. Plus, I found out that I can safely eat bananas and oranges- or any fruit with peels you don't eat. The Dragonboat race is on Wednesday!

I'm everyone's xiǎojiě

So, in Chinese 101, you learn that "xiǎojiě" means "Ms.", or "Miss". Turns out, it also means "whore". This has become a joke amongst the group, of course, and so I've become a xiǎojiě in class according to my teachers (they, of course, mean "Miss" 凯琳 when addressing me). Of course, I've learned some other words to use in my defense: qíba and wǒngba. Since our exam, I've done a few activities, including signing up for a Dragonboat race with some other Carleton kids. We've practiced a couple of times, and I just found out today that we get free, awesome track suit-like uniforms. I hope we win, though I know we won't, since our main competition is a group of ripped, attractive, and serious Chinese men. I went to a club on Saturday night, which reminded me of the Japanese club from Collateral, if you replace all the blue lights with red ones. It was extremely Asian and just a lot of fun. Many of the people we met there were so excited to welcome us to China- well, to welcome us to a fun, awesome Chinese club. I also saw about an hour's worth of a Beijing opera, here in Tianjin, and I hope that on a weekend, I'll get to go see one all the way through. The costumes were very beautiful and extravagant, and although I couldn't really follow the story, the songs were interesting and funny in parts. On the down side of things, I discovered yesterday that my Wachovia debit card doesn't work in this area at the ATM's, so I'm currently living on 50 kuai and without a way to withdraw money at least until the weekend. Hopefully, I got rid of my bed bugs today when I got the hotel to change my sheets. I am pretty fed up with having new bites every morning! Well, Trey and Fred are bugging me to hurry up and get dinner and study for our quiz tomorrow, so I'll write about the Chinese teaching style sometime this week.

The Food Is Starting To Taste Better

Today was our placement exam, and thankfully I placed in the first intermediate class, i.e. I'm exactly where I should be. We had SURPRISE class today, which was simple review and introductions. I feel like the next 5 weeks in class will be just fine. Monday, I start classes, which include Hanyu Kouyu (Chinese language), Chinese civiilzation, calligraphy, and Tai Chi. Already I'm starting to feel much more comfortable speaking with people in the street and in restaurants. Yesterday, I met my language partner, who was very sweet and had much in common with me. I forgot to mention earlier that while in Chengde, we visited another Summer Palace that had a family of deer living there. I fed them, of course, and the male would bow for food when you told it, "Xie Xie!". It was the cutest thing. We also climbed Sledge Hammer Peak and Frog Crag, and on the top of the former, I was incising my Chinese name into the rock (I assumed it was okay, since there were tons there) when a man pushed his ID into my face and kind of threatened me. Many people were trying to get us thrown off. Amongst the cool things I have seen have been really ugly dogs and kids wearing badass jersey suits as school uniforms. I kind of want both of these things. Tianjin's market place near Nankai University has some pretty good food and cheap shops. Last night was wonderful, because as I was reviewing for my exam, everyone from the group came into my room with a piaoliang de danggao (pretty cake) and sang "Zhu ni shengri kuaile!" ("Happy Birthday!") to me. It was such a surprise. Richard then had the audacity to shove cake icing into my face. Whatever. Tonight we are planning to celebrate in style, though I'm not really sure what that entails. I'm glad that the group, overall, contains people I actually like a lot. Today is raining, so hopefully the air will be cleaned out a little bit. I've been told twice already by two different Chinese ladies that I look like two different characters from Gossip Girl. Trey says it's because I am a pretty white girl. I think it's the blue eyes- there aren't a lot of those around here. Weekend news coming on Monday. Zaijian! Maybe I'll figure out how to type in characters on these computers soon. LOVE

Transitions

WOW a lot has happened in the past week. I spent my last night in Chengde hiking up the mountain outside our hotel to see the huge Buddhist stone carvings. The temples we visited were absolutely beautiful, with remarkable architectural features and atmospheres. We saw one of the biggest Buddha statues- it was charmingly overwhelming. More and more, I see myself gravitating towards the religion. I couldn't take a picture of it, obviously, but it's not the kind of sight you can easily forget. Before reaching Inner Mongolia, we stayed at a really bad hotel, that was very cold at night and smelled awful. It smelled like something had died in our bathroom, the toilet was leaking, and things about the room were broken. However, the hotel runners were doing their best, and I just couldn't complain. It was certainly an experience. Plus, it was only for one night, so who cares? We also got to meet an amazing artist whose silk embroideries are marvelous. I might buy one, which sell for about 500 kuai for a large. Still, that's less than 100 meiyuan (US dollars)! However, I CAN complain about the weishengjian (bathroom) I used before we passed the border into Inner Mongolia. It was so disgusting. No doors, just concrete slabs with holes cut in them, trash and waste surrounding me. The woods would be more sanitary! At this stop, though, I did buy an interesting necklace. Inner Mongolia was absolutely stunning. Unfortunately, we were only there for two days. The first day, I went horseback riding for only 110 kuai, and got to see the beautiful, extended landscape. I had a little confrontation with the horse's owner, however. It was really shocking. I paid 120 kuai, but was not given the 10 kuai back in change, so I inquired around about it. Given, 10 kuai is nothing to me (a little over one meiyuan), so I didn't want to make a big deal about it, but I thought the principle of taking advantage of a foreigner was not right. I eventually said, "Mei guanxi", to just let it go, but the owner appeared near our yurts and really raised hell. She yelled at me for minutes about some hidden service fee, that no one else apparently had to pay. Thankfully, with some help, she just gave me the change and left, pissed off. I felt awful because it was over so little money, which is a lot to them. Also, I just don't know enough Chinese to communicate with someone about such issues. She was aggravated with me, and the whole thing almost made me cry. However, I honestly think it was a good experience to have. We hiked a lot in Inner Mongolia and chatted for hours with the local shop manager, who was so sweet. I gave him two American books for his children, one about cool Camaro cars and another about dinosaurs. What Chinese kid wouldn't love those? He was different from other people we met, because he really cared about welcoming us to China and demonstrating how good the people here can be. The local people did allow us to throw a bonfire, karaoke, dance, baijiu, and roast party, though! The yurts were much nicer than I expected (still a "po-ho", as we have termed most toilets here) and very cool to live in, but it was so cold at night! I'm glad snuggling exists. So, yesterday we endured an 8-9 hour bis ride to finally end up here, in Tianjin. We said goodbye to our fantastic tour guide and bus driver, and today we toured Nankai University. It is a great place, with a 1 kuai per hour computer lab and huge gym. It is going to be nice to settle in a little bit after all the traveling we did this past week. Unfortunately, we have a placement exam tomorrow morning, which had I known about, I would have prepared for earlier than yesterday and this afternoon. Oh well. Tianjin has some smog which will take some getting used to, but I really like it here and will certainly dive into the culture. There are a lot of great little shops around. It will make posting a lot more convenient and also frequent. The biggest culture shock other than the aforementioned ones is that Chinese men walk (or sit) around with their shirts rolled up; these are not all attractive men, either. In fact, it's the more unattractive ones that do this. Thankfully, I have a real, Western toilet in my dorm room, so I am done for now with dealing with anymore po-hos. So, my 21st birthday is today, and I celebrated today with getting a big Tsingtao beer around noon, when it was official in the US (12am). I had looked forward to spending it in Inner Mongolia, but here is pretty neat, too. Zhao laoshi grew up here, and it is interesting to see where he is from. I think the next five weeks or so will be really exciting and fun. We meet our language partners in three hours, and I still need to review and maybe go for a quick jog. So far, I really miss cereal, milk, blueberries, bananas, crunchy peanut butter, wireless internet, free toilet paper, real orange juice, and Coke Zero. Unfortunately, to get my soft drink fix, I'll have to settle with Pepsi products (YUCK), Smart Apple (too much green apple flavour), or regular Coke. Disgusting. It's a stinky situation, but there could definitely be worst things. I'll just have to stick with lots of tea. I'll post some pictures once I can either get my computer hooked up to the internet, or I can get the pictures onto a computer that has access. It's all just a transition.

Meeting Mao

Yesterday, I came face to face with Chairman Mao. It was a really creepy experience. He was in a quiet, dimly lit room, surrounded by tall, glass walls, while his glass coffin occupied the middle of the room. He looked a little waxy, but the sight still shook me in my boots. The Forbidden Palace is HUGE. I knew this before, but my god, I mean it's big. We walked up the the concubine's rooms, which was near the man-made hill. The architecture there is absolutely stupefying, although I prefer the undone nature of the old paintwork. It represents the neglect of the Palace throughout the years. Speaking of concubines, I found it interesting that the Emperor had about 30,000 beauties (aged between 14-40), which he selected from official families or others (if they were beautiful enough). Again, Cixi is an amazing character in Chinese history; the lady was a hard core bitch. To avoid another disappointing dinner, Trey, Fred, and I went to a Beijing supermarket and stocked up on American-like snacks (e.g. PB&J, Oreo's) for dinner. Altogether, the stuff cost only 150 yuan, or about 20-25 US dollars! I still can't get over how generally cheap goods are. The only meal so far I have really enjoyed was the arranged one we had tonight in Chengde. It's just...greasy, oily, and fatty. So, I was famished by tonight. Today we left early for the Great Wall (Chang Cheng) and hiked for about 2.5 hours. The steps vary in height and intensity. The scene was absolutely beautiful. A very pushy woman kept following me, trying to sell me a book on the Wall. While I enjoyed getting to practice what little Chinese I know, it was both sad and aggravating. Eventually, I had to pull, "Bu yao!". Another woman followed us to our bus and kept trying to get our attention through the bus window. It was pitiful. I am such an easy target for local people, for I am about as far from Chinese as someone can get. We were all so tired today (with the heat and the climbing and the past two days of non-stop walking), but we went to a minority college in Chengde after the Great Wall to meet some students there. We spent a little time conversing in both Chinese and English, which was fun. I've just forgotten so many vocabulary words, that I makes real communication a little rough. The aforementioned dinner was delicious (the sweet corn and cucumber dish, oddly enough), but there are still "po-ho" (the toilets I described earlier) all around. I am so blessed to have a western toilet in my hotel room. Right now, we're staying in a four star Chengde hotel, which has it's own karaoke room, bar, and an elevator! (I have rightfully treated myself to all three of these features.) Still, however, wireless internet is really hard to come by, which leaves me at the mercy of rare ethernet cables and others' computers. I guess I just assumed that China would have better and more convenient internet access. On a lighter note, I saw two cute cats today (one, a long-haired black cat, the other, a tabby) and a strange creature that looked like a tiny hummingbird, but had antennae. Also, big sunflowers. I mean big. I have so many beautiful photos to share, but again, I'll have to wait until we get to Tianjin in about a week or so. Chengde is so beautiful; tomorrow, I think we tour the mountainside and the pagodas and Buddha temples around. Hopefully, tomorrow I'll get to experience the city of Chengde, for the hotel is atop a hill and a good motorbike drive away from the liveliness and colorful building night lights. The motorbikes are so bad ass, and I wish I could at least rent one for a day! It's late now, so it's bedtime since we have yet another 7:30-8:30am morning. Here's a fun Chinese language fact of the day: wong(3)ba(3) means "internet bar", while wong(3)ba(4) means "son-of-a-bitch". You see- pronunciation is SO SO VERY OMG important!

Discovery

So, I'm in Beijing, currently posting from an internet bar within the city. Tsinghua University's hotel does not have internet access, which is troubling but gives me the opportunity to experience this smoky, "Adults Only" niche. The hotel, where we'll be for the next few nights, is an interesting place. There's no air conditioner or elevator (and I'm on the fourth floor), but it does have a fantastic shower. The provided hair dryer looks like a vacuum cleaner appendage, but at least the room has a real toilet and complimentary toilet paper. That's right- average bathrooms here contain sink-in-the-floor toilets and a waste basket, which means you have to carry around your own tissue. Was I supposed to know about this? It definitely makes not-so-fun activities interesting. The flight to Seoul was long, but very nice. Korean Air is a hip airline, employing attractive, nurturing, and young people to take care of you. They know exactly when you will be hungry or thirsty, and take such good care of you. Their processed food is actually pretty tasty, too. However, getting here took a long time, and I arrived cranky and sleep deprived to a dark, rainy Beijing. Thus, I didn't appreciate much last night. Today, however, the group went to lovely places and learned fascinating facts. We started out with a tour of Tsinghua University, which is the most prestigious in all of China. We strolled the campus and walked along its outskirts to see the life that the campus has. Today was also Teacher Appreciation Day. Cute. Next was lunch, which for me consisted of greens, mifan (steamed rice), cha (tea), and bread. I'm not yet at the hunger stage where I'll eat tons of grease and some meat. Everyone ordered a dish, and we shared everything on a rotating table top. There was a basket of pumpkin fries at lunch, which were delicious but so greasy that by the end of lunch, a grease puddle had collected on the table under the basket. Disgusting. (And it was getting bigger). Normally they don't give you napkins, either, so once again, I'm glad I brought portable, multi-usage tissue. We endured a long, but informative lecture about Confucius in front of his statue near Tsinhua's campus. Zhao laoshi is so deeply intrigued by his influence on ancient and modern-day China; it is very sweet to see him sharing this all with us. He is trying to convince us that we need to pay attention because we will be having a test later on, that this trip is not solely for travel, but I don't buy it. We went to the Summer Palace and saw some marvelous architecture! It was astounding, and the story of Cixi was also new and interesting. I took so many pictures that'll be available once I can get my computer hooked up to an internet source. Anyway, during our tour, a creepy local man kept following our group and taking pictures of me and other female peers. To escape, I stuck close to big, tall Richard. I browsed an antique shop within the Palace and then rode a bus through the crowded streets of Beijing to this very internet bar. Next, I'm going to get dinner and shop around the city. To me, the biggest safety threat right now is not being mugged, rather being struck by a car and possibly being really injured. Here, drivers- not pedestrians- have the right of way, so if you're in the road, you're basically just a speed bump. People won't slow down for you most of the time. There are lots of people on bikes that just share the road, which is so damn crowded in the early evening it's ridiculous. Yes- there are a lot of people here. And there is so much culture to see and experience. Time for dinner!