I have no idea if that is spelled properly... it doesn't really matter to me right now. I'm in kind of a "whatever" mood. I don't know how I got here, or when it came on, but it's here. I've been doing things: work, a four day Thanksgiving Holiday, shopping, relaxing, counting days, but I don't want to Blog. Ever. I feel much better when I do-less antsy. So I make myself feel better by jotting down and out a quick blog like this, ad the one before it. And instead of telling you actually what I've been doing, I email myself a few brief notes and key words for each day during the week so I can remind myself of it to Blog later. Considering I still haven't written about some/all of my biggest adventures within the giant one that is China... I'm not sure if I'll get an actual blog update out anytime soon. I keep having the thought that I can do it at home... right, I KNOW I'm not going to have much time for that with my homecoming, birthday and x-mas coming up. Maybe I'll do some at work... then again, I don't know what this week will be like with it being my last week here!!!!!! Don't get me wrong, I really like China, but I just want to come home. BUT, at the same time, I'm REALLY nervous to come home. I know the reverse culture shock is going to be massive. Simply seeing the yard when dad flips the Skype camera around to show me the fresh snow, I feel out of place. Completely natural, I know, but I don't like the feeling of being home but being lost. I'm sure it happened when I got back from Italy, but that situation was was sooooo much different than the one I'm in now. It was also pretty bad when I graduated and didn't go straight into the work force because of this internship. Because I have a two layover in San Fransico, then stay in Chicago for a night, then go home for a couple days only to be whisked off to the Wisconsin Dells for a week of fun-filled, economy boosting activities, I'm hoping to get around the shock because I'll have so much to do.
I'm really looking forward to going home. It's driving me nuts that I have eight days left! Once work starts up again, in oh...1 hour, it will go much faster. Eight days is too far out to start packing, and just close enough that I have to start double checking things. Since I have work this week and mostly likely a couple of dinners after work some night, I need to think everything out in the few hours I'll be awake in the hotel. This weekend is going to be packed with an activity with the Latter Day Saints, a party at the Director's apt on Sat. night and church/whatever else on Sunday. Then, I'm going to try to battle jet lag early by staying up late and trying to sleep through Monday... don't know how well that will work, since I've only got pacing to do at that point, it will be worth a try.
Oh, and Anna changed her departure date so she could go interview for a couple of jobs she really wants, and start getting moved into their apt. She leaves tomorrow (Tuesday). I'm quite jealous! She's freaking out a little... Maybe I should start looking into some of the things she is. For example, will my luggage continue on to Chicago even if I have a two day layover?
Things to think about.
Okay, time to get ready for work. Out of here in eight, home in ten!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Hahahaha! I just need to get this out :)
I will write a more in depth blog shortly. Now that I have this window up I feel like I could write forever-which I can't/won't since I actually have something to do today... which I guess I technically did before but didn't really want to do, lol.
BUT, this week I only have three days of work. Why? Well, I'll tell you! Thursday is Thanksgiving so I've asked off and everyone has agreed and Friday is off already-although I was going to ask off for that as well-because everyone worked last Sat. in place of this Friday. I didn't work, but I maybe should have. I half way feel like a slacker, but not enough to justify giving up my weekend!
So, with that said, I have a day and a half left of work this week, and five days next week. I'm coming down the home stretch and the next two weeks are going to be SO incredibly full with work, parties, class, travelling, and other last minute things, I've basically finished in my mind. It's like senioritis aaaaallllllllll over again! However, while the rest of me is shutting down, packing up, and double checking flight schedules, I am thinking of everything I have been missing from abroad. Here's my much needed rant so I can stop pestering Genevieve with my crazy, "out of left field" thoughts of home.
Snow, clean air, soft laundry, humidity, soy milk, hummus, fresh fruits that can be eaten with the skin!, raw veggies, cream of wheat, Dynamite (the dog), Pago (my rabbit), my fish, cross country skiing, learning how to snowboard, egg-less ice cream b-day cake (*hint hint*), movie marathons, popcorn, understand the language, reading/seeing Twilight, cleaning, cooking, baking cookies, watching my cousins play b-ball, space to exercise, an actual gym!, shopping, driving, drivers who know-at least hypothetically-how to drive, overall independence, open spaces, a comfortable bed, a chiropractor, finding my physical therapy sheets for my knee, my big fluffy blanket!, spending a week in the Dells for my b-day, seeing Andrea and CA again, and last but not least, spending the holidays with all my friends and family!
Okay... I feel a little better after that "want dump". I'll have another long-winded blog up sometime in the near future! :)
Stay warm and safe! and if there's snow by you, go play in it!
BUT, this week I only have three days of work. Why? Well, I'll tell you! Thursday is Thanksgiving so I've asked off and everyone has agreed and Friday is off already-although I was going to ask off for that as well-because everyone worked last Sat. in place of this Friday. I didn't work, but I maybe should have. I half way feel like a slacker, but not enough to justify giving up my weekend!
So, with that said, I have a day and a half left of work this week, and five days next week. I'm coming down the home stretch and the next two weeks are going to be SO incredibly full with work, parties, class, travelling, and other last minute things, I've basically finished in my mind. It's like senioritis aaaaallllllllll over again! However, while the rest of me is shutting down, packing up, and double checking flight schedules, I am thinking of everything I have been missing from abroad. Here's my much needed rant so I can stop pestering Genevieve with my crazy, "out of left field" thoughts of home.
Snow, clean air, soft laundry, humidity, soy milk, hummus, fresh fruits that can be eaten with the skin!, raw veggies, cream of wheat, Dynamite (the dog), Pago (my rabbit), my fish, cross country skiing, learning how to snowboard, egg-less ice cream b-day cake (*hint hint*), movie marathons, popcorn, understand the language, reading/seeing Twilight, cleaning, cooking, baking cookies, watching my cousins play b-ball, space to exercise, an actual gym!, shopping, driving, drivers who know-at least hypothetically-how to drive, overall independence, open spaces, a comfortable bed, a chiropractor, finding my physical therapy sheets for my knee, my big fluffy blanket!, spending a week in the Dells for my b-day, seeing Andrea and CA again, and last but not least, spending the holidays with all my friends and family!
Okay... I feel a little better after that "want dump". I'll have another long-winded blog up sometime in the near future! :)
Stay warm and safe! and if there's snow by you, go play in it!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Sunday and more
I went to church again with Samuel and Anna, and this time Samuel and I were singing. We chose "Abide with me" because the theme was gratitude for Thanksgiving. I sang the first verse in Sop., Samuel in Tenor. then we switched, and switched back again. Not too difficult, but I managed to mess it up anyways. Thankfully, Samuel was ready, I got back on, and no big deal. Then I messed up again! Once again, Samuel brought his game and no big deal. Every time I messed up, Samuel covered and I corrected based off of him. At no point did we every sing the same part. It was great! Thanks Samuel!!!!! Anyways, everyone was so impressed that they asked us to sing again on the 7th of Dec. Hopefully I won't mess up the text this time so I'll be able to get the notes right. Maybe we can sing a Christmas Carol!
Oh, and there was a visiting speaker from the Beijing branch that continuously complimented me throughout the rest of church. Asked if I were taking lessons here? How was I keeping up? That was a nice little boost even if I didn't think I sang as well as I could have.
After church, we went over to the Jones' house for lunch and "the chat". Samuel wasn't feeling very well but he still managed to stay upright for through lunch. We had Sloppy Joe's and boiled potatoes and green beans. Since the bread had egg in it, I just put the BBQ on my potatoes. It was GREAT! Then, Mrs Jones made fresh oatmeal cookies, which had egg in it, but they smelled so good, and its been such a long time since I've had fresh baked cookies that i had a small one. Thankfully my reaction isn't bad and doesn't last long, plus I had taken allergy meds before church, so eating it wasn't too bad. It was at this point that Mr Jones starting talking to me about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints....while I was reacting to the egg, lol. Again, wasn't too bad but enough that I really just wanted to shut my eyes and take a nice long nap!
I'm not planning on becoming Mormon, but I figured the least I could do was hear them out for all their hospitality they've been giving me. On top of that, I'm actually starting to learn about religion, something I've never really done before.
Once we finished up, Mr Jones walked us to a cab and the three of us had a discussion about what I was just told, my initial reactions and whether or not I was actually going to pray (using Mr Jones' bible which he had lent me) to see if this was something I am "sincere" about. I still haven't prayed, nor do I think I will. Organized religion is good for responsible people who can thinking for themselves as well as with the church in mind, but to me, I'm not a big fan. Nothing against those who do, I just personally do not support everything it does to the radical religious people. That's why I don't mind talking with the folks here. Most of them are pretty down to earth and don't want to pressure me... too much. Anna and Samuel are really great though. They're just glad that I am interested in learning about the church and little bit about what they believe in. They've been absolutely no pressure, and that's been awesome.
So, I said I would take the time to learn more about the church. The Jones' are going to come to our hotel and then we are going out for Hot Pot near the hotel, since the Jones' have yet to try it. If there is time afterward, or this might be something Anna and I will attempt later on Saturday afternoon when the men of the church have a meeting, we might go to another market located between the Drum Tower and Ancient Culture street. I'm not sure we'll have time to go with the Jones', but maybe Mrs Jones would like to join Anna and me.
After we got home we all just crashed. It was about 3:00, maybe 3:30 when we got back and I didn't wake up until Anna called me at 6:00. Boy was I tired! None of us were at all hungry so we skipped dinner and watched Mama Mia instead. What a great movie! Samuel and I were laughing out loud at some of the ridiculousness of it, and watching Pierce Brosnan (spelling?) sing... how funny is that! You should watch it if you get a chance.
Then, time for bed. Darn that whole working thing!
Monday morning rolls around and I have to be ready to go by 9:00 a.m. instead of 9:15 'cause the driver needs to run an errand. By the time I receive this call I had already done my work out, which was Justin's hotel strengthening routine, and I was chatting, unpacking, I don't remember what, but the time change wasn't going to be an issue. I was downstairs at 9:00 and my driver didn't come until 9:10. No big deal. I enjoyed sitting outside. Blue sky, brisk air, a little chilly but nice all the same. We went to run the errand and between the extra driving time and the time to run the errand itself, I got to an hour and a half later. I got to sleep most of the time so I wasn't too upset with that. I was told it would only take and extra 20 mins verses the extra hour. Oh well.
Work went as usual. My new project was to look up ideas for possible new appliances-basically just giving me something to do until they can think of something else. And class, since I neither wanted to put something together, and because it had been a while since we had done something fun, I brought in movies. No prepping for class, little work to do and no meeting with the president because of a conflict kept my day uneventful.
The class decided on Batman and Kung Fu Panda. For some reason LG's computer wouldn't read Batman so we watched Kung Fu Panda by default. Then, after I got the computer hooked up to the screen, the movie wasn't playing on the large screen, only on the computer screen. Strange. I don't know what was happening there, so we my two students (one of my students left after the movie wouldn't show on the large screen) myself and one additional person crowded around the computer screen. I told my students not to read too much into the subtitles since most of them were incorrect, but wow, were some of the funny! I would laugh out loud at some of the translations even if it wasn't a funny part of the film. If only my students had understood... I guess I wouldn't be needed then!
After the movie, it was back home and spaghetti time! Somehow Anna had read my mind and made spaghetti for dinner. I was pretty stoked! Oh, and Samuel, who had stayed home from work on Monday, was feeling better. I was still really tired, as were they, so we all just crashed after dinner.
Tuesday, I tired Windsor's "Fat Burning" routine. There was hardly enough room in my room to do all the moves to the proper extent so it wasn't the greatest workout. Afterward, since I felt like I had only warmed up I also did some Pilates for Abs. That, combined with being a little stiff from Justin's routine the day before seemed to do the trick.
I left the hotel at 9:15, trying to beat my driver downstairs who was already there-I found out this morning that he gets to the hotel about five after nine. Not going down that early!
Work, since I had exhausted more of the "new appliances" sites, was pretty dull. All three of our group supervisors left on business, so I spent a few hours of work showing my remaining co-workers my College life through Facebook. Granted, most of the pictures on Facebook are of parties, but they were just as interested in the pics of my study abroad and Choir tour to Spain as they were in the party pics. They were probably a little more comfortable looking at the non-party pics, but regardless, I don't think their view of me changed much... I hope, lol.
At 4:00 p.m. I went downstairs to the second floor and had an hour long conversation with the president about a number of things, mostly about providing the consumer something they only know they want on a subconscious level. He asked what I was working on now-collecting new ideas for products-and promptly told me that there was and entire center devoted to that and that I didn't need to do it. I told him it was something for me to do until someone could give something actually purposeful to work on. He just laughed at that. It was a pretty fun conversation overall.
Since I didn't need to prep any for class-we were going to watch a movie on MY computer so it would actually work-it didn't take me long to prep for class. I got everything set up and at 5:20, when people should have started rolling in, or at least been visible in the office, no one came. I quickly packed up, told the director I had no students and ran down to meet the bus. When I got there, the bus had already left. I called Samuel to make sure they were still in the complex, which they were, and told them to pick me up. I caught the bus at the gate and headed home with Samuel and one of his co-workers, the infamous Steve. Steve is the name Samuel gave him in part because he's hilarious! I wasn't sure what Steve was doing with us until Samuel told me that he had been accepted into BYU's Business School and that we were going to out celebrate. Woot! Dumpling time! Because we were going to the dumpling place, I offered to pay. The food there is very inexpensive and also goes a long way. On the bus ride home, Steve gave me a non-traditional Chinese name. Basically a couple of characters put together which seem to resemble my given name. Roughly translated my name means Blue (that's the last name) Happy Graceful.. or something like that. The characters look pretty cool so I might have a Calligrapher write them out for me before I leave.
We got to the hotel, I dropped off my stuff and we picked up Anna, then met up with Steve's girlfriend/fiancee Jessica on the way to get dumplings. Jessica is very sweet and like most Chinese women, quite reserved. We had a really nice dinner, good egg free dishes, and free entertainment watching the cooks stare at our table. Every time one of the cooks looked at our table he would also pretend to whistle, or something similar to that. Sleaze... No thank you. Anna told me when to look, when not to look, and I'm not sure what provoked the following action from me-maybe it was when all three cooks had nothing better to do than stand in the door way of the kitchen and stare at the back of my head-I did a hair flip... the obvious flirtatious flip used far too much in the in the States. Anna and I nearly died laughing! If we didn't stick out enough earlier, this definitely did! And Steve said I was "quiet as a mouse". Ha! He doesn't know me very well. Oh, and Jessica thought I was 20. Wow... I want to stay young but not that young!
After dinner we waddled home, both from eating too much and because the wind was so flippin' cold we had to waddle to keep most of our bodies covered from the wind! We parted ways with Steve and Jessica and I almost went to the store to pick up some milk. But, with the promise of a movie, a warm room and Swiss Miss hot cocoa, I decided that was one more thing to keep me from achieving comfort... so I didn't get any milk while I was out... meaning I'll probably have to go out tonight and get some... so I don't eat cereal and water for breakfast any more!
We got back home, watched Step Up, which has lots of GREAT dancing and an uplifting story of overcoming hardships and poverty, and after that, Anna and Samuel went back to their room to get ready for their early trip to Beijing for a conference today (Wednesday) and I chatted with mom and dad for a bit before going to bed. Oh, and I forgot to mention that when I get home, the family is going up to the Dells for a week to hang out at an indoor water park and go Skiing and Snowboarding. I'm going to try to Snowboard! Hahahaha! This could be painful!
As for today, I've basically been blogging all day. Dad told me to put more up, so here it is! :) I was asked a couple questions on what a 2x4 is, and what siding is... basically had to re-explain my "how to build a wall" report. And spoke with another co-worker about an up coming survey they would like me to prepare. I'm hoping this will be better than the last one!
It's almost 3:00 pm now, which means break time-a break at ten and three-plus an hour for lunch, which was veggies and a dry piece of pork, sadly I think this was the best lunch I've had here yet! Conversational English with the president at 4:00 p.m. and class at 5:30 p.m. I'm running out of ideas for class, which is good that I'm doing it now and not earlier, since I only have five more classes to prepare which includes tonight. I asked Vivian and she suggested doing class on my college experience. Facebook here I come! Again, I'm secretly hoping that no one shows up! Probably won't happen tonight, but I'll be excited if it does!
That's all for now. I'll try to get pictures up, but those darn western movies after dinner always seem to get in the way ;)
Stay warm! I know I'm trying to!
Oh, and there was a visiting speaker from the Beijing branch that continuously complimented me throughout the rest of church. Asked if I were taking lessons here? How was I keeping up? That was a nice little boost even if I didn't think I sang as well as I could have.
After church, we went over to the Jones' house for lunch and "the chat". Samuel wasn't feeling very well but he still managed to stay upright for through lunch. We had Sloppy Joe's and boiled potatoes and green beans. Since the bread had egg in it, I just put the BBQ on my potatoes. It was GREAT! Then, Mrs Jones made fresh oatmeal cookies, which had egg in it, but they smelled so good, and its been such a long time since I've had fresh baked cookies that i had a small one. Thankfully my reaction isn't bad and doesn't last long, plus I had taken allergy meds before church, so eating it wasn't too bad. It was at this point that Mr Jones starting talking to me about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints....while I was reacting to the egg, lol. Again, wasn't too bad but enough that I really just wanted to shut my eyes and take a nice long nap!
I'm not planning on becoming Mormon, but I figured the least I could do was hear them out for all their hospitality they've been giving me. On top of that, I'm actually starting to learn about religion, something I've never really done before.
Once we finished up, Mr Jones walked us to a cab and the three of us had a discussion about what I was just told, my initial reactions and whether or not I was actually going to pray (using Mr Jones' bible which he had lent me) to see if this was something I am "sincere" about. I still haven't prayed, nor do I think I will. Organized religion is good for responsible people who can thinking for themselves as well as with the church in mind, but to me, I'm not a big fan. Nothing against those who do, I just personally do not support everything it does to the radical religious people. That's why I don't mind talking with the folks here. Most of them are pretty down to earth and don't want to pressure me... too much. Anna and Samuel are really great though. They're just glad that I am interested in learning about the church and little bit about what they believe in. They've been absolutely no pressure, and that's been awesome.
So, I said I would take the time to learn more about the church. The Jones' are going to come to our hotel and then we are going out for Hot Pot near the hotel, since the Jones' have yet to try it. If there is time afterward, or this might be something Anna and I will attempt later on Saturday afternoon when the men of the church have a meeting, we might go to another market located between the Drum Tower and Ancient Culture street. I'm not sure we'll have time to go with the Jones', but maybe Mrs Jones would like to join Anna and me.
After we got home we all just crashed. It was about 3:00, maybe 3:30 when we got back and I didn't wake up until Anna called me at 6:00. Boy was I tired! None of us were at all hungry so we skipped dinner and watched Mama Mia instead. What a great movie! Samuel and I were laughing out loud at some of the ridiculousness of it, and watching Pierce Brosnan (spelling?) sing... how funny is that! You should watch it if you get a chance.
Then, time for bed. Darn that whole working thing!
Monday morning rolls around and I have to be ready to go by 9:00 a.m. instead of 9:15 'cause the driver needs to run an errand. By the time I receive this call I had already done my work out, which was Justin's hotel strengthening routine, and I was chatting, unpacking, I don't remember what, but the time change wasn't going to be an issue. I was downstairs at 9:00 and my driver didn't come until 9:10. No big deal. I enjoyed sitting outside. Blue sky, brisk air, a little chilly but nice all the same. We went to run the errand and between the extra driving time and the time to run the errand itself, I got to an hour and a half later. I got to sleep most of the time so I wasn't too upset with that. I was told it would only take and extra 20 mins verses the extra hour. Oh well.
Work went as usual. My new project was to look up ideas for possible new appliances-basically just giving me something to do until they can think of something else. And class, since I neither wanted to put something together, and because it had been a while since we had done something fun, I brought in movies. No prepping for class, little work to do and no meeting with the president because of a conflict kept my day uneventful.
The class decided on Batman and Kung Fu Panda. For some reason LG's computer wouldn't read Batman so we watched Kung Fu Panda by default. Then, after I got the computer hooked up to the screen, the movie wasn't playing on the large screen, only on the computer screen. Strange. I don't know what was happening there, so we my two students (one of my students left after the movie wouldn't show on the large screen) myself and one additional person crowded around the computer screen. I told my students not to read too much into the subtitles since most of them were incorrect, but wow, were some of the funny! I would laugh out loud at some of the translations even if it wasn't a funny part of the film. If only my students had understood... I guess I wouldn't be needed then!
After the movie, it was back home and spaghetti time! Somehow Anna had read my mind and made spaghetti for dinner. I was pretty stoked! Oh, and Samuel, who had stayed home from work on Monday, was feeling better. I was still really tired, as were they, so we all just crashed after dinner.
Tuesday, I tired Windsor's "Fat Burning" routine. There was hardly enough room in my room to do all the moves to the proper extent so it wasn't the greatest workout. Afterward, since I felt like I had only warmed up I also did some Pilates for Abs. That, combined with being a little stiff from Justin's routine the day before seemed to do the trick.
I left the hotel at 9:15, trying to beat my driver downstairs who was already there-I found out this morning that he gets to the hotel about five after nine. Not going down that early!
Work, since I had exhausted more of the "new appliances" sites, was pretty dull. All three of our group supervisors left on business, so I spent a few hours of work showing my remaining co-workers my College life through Facebook. Granted, most of the pictures on Facebook are of parties, but they were just as interested in the pics of my study abroad and Choir tour to Spain as they were in the party pics. They were probably a little more comfortable looking at the non-party pics, but regardless, I don't think their view of me changed much... I hope, lol.
At 4:00 p.m. I went downstairs to the second floor and had an hour long conversation with the president about a number of things, mostly about providing the consumer something they only know they want on a subconscious level. He asked what I was working on now-collecting new ideas for products-and promptly told me that there was and entire center devoted to that and that I didn't need to do it. I told him it was something for me to do until someone could give something actually purposeful to work on. He just laughed at that. It was a pretty fun conversation overall.
Since I didn't need to prep any for class-we were going to watch a movie on MY computer so it would actually work-it didn't take me long to prep for class. I got everything set up and at 5:20, when people should have started rolling in, or at least been visible in the office, no one came. I quickly packed up, told the director I had no students and ran down to meet the bus. When I got there, the bus had already left. I called Samuel to make sure they were still in the complex, which they were, and told them to pick me up. I caught the bus at the gate and headed home with Samuel and one of his co-workers, the infamous Steve. Steve is the name Samuel gave him in part because he's hilarious! I wasn't sure what Steve was doing with us until Samuel told me that he had been accepted into BYU's Business School and that we were going to out celebrate. Woot! Dumpling time! Because we were going to the dumpling place, I offered to pay. The food there is very inexpensive and also goes a long way. On the bus ride home, Steve gave me a non-traditional Chinese name. Basically a couple of characters put together which seem to resemble my given name. Roughly translated my name means Blue (that's the last name) Happy Graceful.. or something like that. The characters look pretty cool so I might have a Calligrapher write them out for me before I leave.
We got to the hotel, I dropped off my stuff and we picked up Anna, then met up with Steve's girlfriend/fiancee Jessica on the way to get dumplings. Jessica is very sweet and like most Chinese women, quite reserved. We had a really nice dinner, good egg free dishes, and free entertainment watching the cooks stare at our table. Every time one of the cooks looked at our table he would also pretend to whistle, or something similar to that. Sleaze... No thank you. Anna told me when to look, when not to look, and I'm not sure what provoked the following action from me-maybe it was when all three cooks had nothing better to do than stand in the door way of the kitchen and stare at the back of my head-I did a hair flip... the obvious flirtatious flip used far too much in the in the States. Anna and I nearly died laughing! If we didn't stick out enough earlier, this definitely did! And Steve said I was "quiet as a mouse". Ha! He doesn't know me very well. Oh, and Jessica thought I was 20. Wow... I want to stay young but not that young!
After dinner we waddled home, both from eating too much and because the wind was so flippin' cold we had to waddle to keep most of our bodies covered from the wind! We parted ways with Steve and Jessica and I almost went to the store to pick up some milk. But, with the promise of a movie, a warm room and Swiss Miss hot cocoa, I decided that was one more thing to keep me from achieving comfort... so I didn't get any milk while I was out... meaning I'll probably have to go out tonight and get some... so I don't eat cereal and water for breakfast any more!
We got back home, watched Step Up, which has lots of GREAT dancing and an uplifting story of overcoming hardships and poverty, and after that, Anna and Samuel went back to their room to get ready for their early trip to Beijing for a conference today (Wednesday) and I chatted with mom and dad for a bit before going to bed. Oh, and I forgot to mention that when I get home, the family is going up to the Dells for a week to hang out at an indoor water park and go Skiing and Snowboarding. I'm going to try to Snowboard! Hahahaha! This could be painful!
As for today, I've basically been blogging all day. Dad told me to put more up, so here it is! :) I was asked a couple questions on what a 2x4 is, and what siding is... basically had to re-explain my "how to build a wall" report. And spoke with another co-worker about an up coming survey they would like me to prepare. I'm hoping this will be better than the last one!
It's almost 3:00 pm now, which means break time-a break at ten and three-plus an hour for lunch, which was veggies and a dry piece of pork, sadly I think this was the best lunch I've had here yet! Conversational English with the president at 4:00 p.m. and class at 5:30 p.m. I'm running out of ideas for class, which is good that I'm doing it now and not earlier, since I only have five more classes to prepare which includes tonight. I asked Vivian and she suggested doing class on my college experience. Facebook here I come! Again, I'm secretly hoping that no one shows up! Probably won't happen tonight, but I'll be excited if it does!
That's all for now. I'll try to get pictures up, but those darn western movies after dinner always seem to get in the way ;)
Stay warm! I know I'm trying to!
Under a week, so I'm getting better!
Last weekend, the 13th and 14th, as a pretty good weekend! I had planned to meet up with Vivian (Jin Lan) and her husband, along with Samuel and Anna to go check out the new James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace. However, Vivian texted and said she wouldn't be able to make it. I called Anna and Samuel to let them know the change of plans, and shortly after I got off the phone with Samuel, discussing a change in departure times, Anna called and said she really wasn't a big fan of Bond. Hmm... okay. What to do now? Since we have all this unexpected free time, and our stomachs were definitely telling us to eat, I suggested that we go get some Papa John's pizza, and maybe some Starbucks afterward if we were up for it (of course we would be!) Yay for a completely Western afternoon! So, we hopped on the subway and counted the three stops down to deliciousness :)
When we arrived there was a small wait, but it was only five mins or so. During that time we figured out what we wanted: Large Pepperoni and a Large Sausage and Mushroom (with an accidental ordering of extra cheese, which was totally fine with me!) We ordered as the waitress sat us, surprising her a little with how quickly we knew what we wanted, then we sipped on our 2 yuan waters which we purchased at a little store next to Papa Johns. Drinks here are ridiculously expensive in restaurants, so people usually bring their own.
When the pizza came, we all but devoured it. Since there were just enough pieces for left overs, as planned, and because we wanted to say room for Starbucks, got a box and made our way or for some chocolaty-caffeiny goodness!
I couldn't decide what I wanted so I spent a lot of time at the front pondering over drink options and staring at the coffee mugs and thermoses. At some point, I was standing in the aisle staring up at the board and somehow ended up in the middle of a guy's path. I thought I wasn't in any one's way, but I didn't know where Samuel and Anna were standing, just that they were behind me, so maybe as a collective we were in the way. I stepped forward, the little that I could, and the guy went past. It was only after he went by that I even realized that he said excuse me-something Chinese don't do-and that it was in English! Realizing this I looked up and sure enough, it was a white guy. Kinda small and since I only saw the back of his head and the fact he was going to make a phone call, I didn't think too much of him or the interaction.
Samuel came up and joined in me in my American thermo-gazing, and then we sat down to enjoy our drinks. They ordered hot chocolate because they don't drink caffeine, and I had the holiday special 'Toffee-nut Latte'. I think that's what it's called anyways. What ever Toffee name it has, I recommend it!
As we were talking, Samuel told me that the guy who had said "Excuse me", not only walked past me four times, but that he had given me the up-down/once-over/elevator, but also could have easily gotten around with out me needing to move. Wow, was I ever clueless! My back was to the counter, so I never noticed him walking by, nor did I have any idea that he was checking me out so intensely. Finally, as he got up to leave I knew he was boring a hole in my head with his gaze, but I refused to look. As he passed directly next to me, I turned quickly, as if I heard a sound, but still never acknowledged his look. Samuel and Anna got to watch as the guy and his friend left since they were facing the door. I didn't want to turn around, but they said that the Chinese guy who was with the English guy was just laughing. HAHAHA! Shut down and they knew it! Which is funny because I didn't even realize I was doing it. Oblivious! I'm so used to getting stared at that I don't even recognized it anymore. Mom suggested that I would have paid more attention if the guy were more my type, i.e. tall, dark and handsome with a stocky build. I've basically given up on finding anything like that here. Point well taken, mom.
After a good laugh about that, we headed over to a bath/body type store and picked up some lotion and Kleenex. Samuel had the sniffles and I've been going through lotion like nobody's business! After showering I need to apply three times and wrap myself in long sleeves and pj pants before it all evaporates again! Crazy dry here!
When we finished up there, we made our way up and across the street to a grocery store to pick up dinner for Sunday. This store is a little more expensive than the Chinese Vangard near the hotel, both for its location in Nanjing Lu (a Westernize shopping district) and for carrying Western goods. Even though it's more expensive, it isn't too bad all things considered. I picked up some strawberries, Spinach pasta, sauce, coconut milk mix, and I feel like there was something else was well, but I don't remember it. I should have picked up some soy milk while I was there, just to give myself a break from whole milk, and so I could eat the cereal mom and dad sent me, but I didn't. And now I'm out of milk so I had to eat my Honey Nut Cheerios with water today. Not the best tasting, but desperate times call for desperate measures! Anyways, back to Saturday.
After the store the high-tailed it back to the hotel. Anna and Samuel were meeting up with Ma Heem to take all their kids from church out bowling at 4:00 pm in the lobby. I also had other plans after lunch, so I hopped in a taxi and headed over to my co-workers house, Yang Li Jun (who goes by the name Kissy...) for dinner. Very seldom do westerners get invited over for dinner or any other house event because their living situation is usually not very good. So, this was a pretty big honor/accomplishment for me.
When I showed the driver the address, which had been written out for me in Chinese by my co-worker, he said something, but I had no idea what. He asked it then went on his way. As we got closer, he stopped multiple times to ask directions. Finally, he dropped me off at a corner and pointed to a set of buildings (all five of them), gesturing that I continue that way... or something. I was hoping he didn't drop me off in a really random, out of the way location that I wouldn't be able to connect with my co-worker. I called her to let her know that I was at that location and she said she would be right down to come and get me... however, she had no idea where I was. Thankfully, the driver had dropped me off near a China Bank location, which happened to be the one landmark she knew on her street. Don't know how she only recognizes that, but at the same time, trying to describe the other stores/surroundings is nearly impossible!
I crossed over to stand in front of the bank, as instructed, and waited for Li Jun to arrive. I like spending time with her, but her personality is a little immature for my taste. So, I figured the evening would be bearable but not something I would like to do all the time. When she arrived I was pretty relieved that we had actually met up. Since it was still early, we stopped and picked up some juice and headed to down the street to her University. Just as we arrived, she received a phone call from another of her friends that she invited for dinner. When he arrived we did a quick walk through of the university, which is fairly small but still a nice campus, then walked back to her place. Since she wasn't sure if we'd have enough chicken, which we didn't, we stopped and picked up a roast duck and some goose livers in their whole state. The duck however, in true Chinese fashion, was chopped up into little bits, bones and all.
When we arrived at her apartment, it was pretty dismal. Not awful, but it was only accentuated by the fact that the Chinese don't interior decorate. Everything was blue and the lighting enhanced the blueness with its dull halogen glow. And it was cold.
She started cooking everything up, multiple dishes from a single wok, and within 20 mins, her second friend arrived via confused/lost taxi driver. By now, most of the dishes had been cooked, and while Li Jun finished up, I chatted a bit with the new arrival (I'm forgetting her name).
We ate slightly awkwardly on Li Jun's bed and because I was still extremely full from lunch, ate only enough to make it look like I enjoyed the cooking. I ate a lot of sauteed broccoli, but other than that, dinner was only okay. I can't wait to get home and cook! Have everything I need right at my disposal! What an exciting thought!
After dinner I looked at multiple photo albums and waited out the time before heading over to the directors house for another party-like event. Prior to leaving however, Li Jun wanted some photos taken, most of which involved stuffed animals. I played along, but was glad to be out of that environment.
The director sent a driver, which was not mine usual but I had ridden with this guy before (he drives like a bat out of hell!). When we arrived at the director's complex I saw my driver and the Chinese group lead from the cooking and cleaning department (who goes by Leo) briefly before they took off. When I got upstairs, I was ushered over to the dinner table where they Koreans had saved me dinner, which consisted of whole crabs and muscles, and promptly made up some fresh stuff. And, as always, they asked what kind of alcoholic beverage I wanted: Hard liquor (wine as they call it) or beer. I noticed they were drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon, so accepted one of those, and preceded to sip on it slowly over the course of my time there. I was hardly half way through my crab when I had another beer set in front of me. Wow, I know I'm American, but I'm not going to drink like crazy. 'Specially not around you!
I could only muster one crab, but I did hit the Muscles pretty hard. After that I was offered a quick tour, where the director told me he had too much space and looking for a roommate (not really, but I think he just gets bored and lonely sometimes), then we settled in the living room with the other Koreans, a few remaining Chinese from their day-long leader's meeting and the two drivers to watch Tianjin volleyball play. Not sure who against or what the outcome was.
People slowly started to filter out and the last to be taken home were the Korean managers. This left me with the director. I was a little uncomfortable with the situation, but he kept a comfortable distance, so all was good. I was going to leave once the driver came back from dropping the others off, which was only going to be about five mins, but the director started talking and kept talking for almost an hour! It was a decent conversation, I just didn't have the energy to maintain a conversation about ancestry traits and differences at 10 p.m.
Thankfully, the driver buzzed so I could go home and go to bed! The directory still had a lot of fruit and snacks left over, so he made me up a bag, walked me to the car and I was home by 10:30!
That was my Saturday...
When we arrived there was a small wait, but it was only five mins or so. During that time we figured out what we wanted: Large Pepperoni and a Large Sausage and Mushroom (with an accidental ordering of extra cheese, which was totally fine with me!) We ordered as the waitress sat us, surprising her a little with how quickly we knew what we wanted, then we sipped on our 2 yuan waters which we purchased at a little store next to Papa Johns. Drinks here are ridiculously expensive in restaurants, so people usually bring their own.
When the pizza came, we all but devoured it. Since there were just enough pieces for left overs, as planned, and because we wanted to say room for Starbucks, got a box and made our way or for some chocolaty-caffeiny goodness!
I couldn't decide what I wanted so I spent a lot of time at the front pondering over drink options and staring at the coffee mugs and thermoses. At some point, I was standing in the aisle staring up at the board and somehow ended up in the middle of a guy's path. I thought I wasn't in any one's way, but I didn't know where Samuel and Anna were standing, just that they were behind me, so maybe as a collective we were in the way. I stepped forward, the little that I could, and the guy went past. It was only after he went by that I even realized that he said excuse me-something Chinese don't do-and that it was in English! Realizing this I looked up and sure enough, it was a white guy. Kinda small and since I only saw the back of his head and the fact he was going to make a phone call, I didn't think too much of him or the interaction.
Samuel came up and joined in me in my American thermo-gazing, and then we sat down to enjoy our drinks. They ordered hot chocolate because they don't drink caffeine, and I had the holiday special 'Toffee-nut Latte'. I think that's what it's called anyways. What ever Toffee name it has, I recommend it!
As we were talking, Samuel told me that the guy who had said "Excuse me", not only walked past me four times, but that he had given me the up-down/once-over/elevator, but also could have easily gotten around with out me needing to move. Wow, was I ever clueless! My back was to the counter, so I never noticed him walking by, nor did I have any idea that he was checking me out so intensely. Finally, as he got up to leave I knew he was boring a hole in my head with his gaze, but I refused to look. As he passed directly next to me, I turned quickly, as if I heard a sound, but still never acknowledged his look. Samuel and Anna got to watch as the guy and his friend left since they were facing the door. I didn't want to turn around, but they said that the Chinese guy who was with the English guy was just laughing. HAHAHA! Shut down and they knew it! Which is funny because I didn't even realize I was doing it. Oblivious! I'm so used to getting stared at that I don't even recognized it anymore. Mom suggested that I would have paid more attention if the guy were more my type, i.e. tall, dark and handsome with a stocky build. I've basically given up on finding anything like that here. Point well taken, mom.
After a good laugh about that, we headed over to a bath/body type store and picked up some lotion and Kleenex. Samuel had the sniffles and I've been going through lotion like nobody's business! After showering I need to apply three times and wrap myself in long sleeves and pj pants before it all evaporates again! Crazy dry here!
When we finished up there, we made our way up and across the street to a grocery store to pick up dinner for Sunday. This store is a little more expensive than the Chinese Vangard near the hotel, both for its location in Nanjing Lu (a Westernize shopping district) and for carrying Western goods. Even though it's more expensive, it isn't too bad all things considered. I picked up some strawberries, Spinach pasta, sauce, coconut milk mix, and I feel like there was something else was well, but I don't remember it. I should have picked up some soy milk while I was there, just to give myself a break from whole milk, and so I could eat the cereal mom and dad sent me, but I didn't. And now I'm out of milk so I had to eat my Honey Nut Cheerios with water today. Not the best tasting, but desperate times call for desperate measures! Anyways, back to Saturday.
After the store the high-tailed it back to the hotel. Anna and Samuel were meeting up with Ma Heem to take all their kids from church out bowling at 4:00 pm in the lobby. I also had other plans after lunch, so I hopped in a taxi and headed over to my co-workers house, Yang Li Jun (who goes by the name Kissy...) for dinner. Very seldom do westerners get invited over for dinner or any other house event because their living situation is usually not very good. So, this was a pretty big honor/accomplishment for me.
When I showed the driver the address, which had been written out for me in Chinese by my co-worker, he said something, but I had no idea what. He asked it then went on his way. As we got closer, he stopped multiple times to ask directions. Finally, he dropped me off at a corner and pointed to a set of buildings (all five of them), gesturing that I continue that way... or something. I was hoping he didn't drop me off in a really random, out of the way location that I wouldn't be able to connect with my co-worker. I called her to let her know that I was at that location and she said she would be right down to come and get me... however, she had no idea where I was. Thankfully, the driver had dropped me off near a China Bank location, which happened to be the one landmark she knew on her street. Don't know how she only recognizes that, but at the same time, trying to describe the other stores/surroundings is nearly impossible!
I crossed over to stand in front of the bank, as instructed, and waited for Li Jun to arrive. I like spending time with her, but her personality is a little immature for my taste. So, I figured the evening would be bearable but not something I would like to do all the time. When she arrived I was pretty relieved that we had actually met up. Since it was still early, we stopped and picked up some juice and headed to down the street to her University. Just as we arrived, she received a phone call from another of her friends that she invited for dinner. When he arrived we did a quick walk through of the university, which is fairly small but still a nice campus, then walked back to her place. Since she wasn't sure if we'd have enough chicken, which we didn't, we stopped and picked up a roast duck and some goose livers in their whole state. The duck however, in true Chinese fashion, was chopped up into little bits, bones and all.
When we arrived at her apartment, it was pretty dismal. Not awful, but it was only accentuated by the fact that the Chinese don't interior decorate. Everything was blue and the lighting enhanced the blueness with its dull halogen glow. And it was cold.
She started cooking everything up, multiple dishes from a single wok, and within 20 mins, her second friend arrived via confused/lost taxi driver. By now, most of the dishes had been cooked, and while Li Jun finished up, I chatted a bit with the new arrival (I'm forgetting her name).
We ate slightly awkwardly on Li Jun's bed and because I was still extremely full from lunch, ate only enough to make it look like I enjoyed the cooking. I ate a lot of sauteed broccoli, but other than that, dinner was only okay. I can't wait to get home and cook! Have everything I need right at my disposal! What an exciting thought!
After dinner I looked at multiple photo albums and waited out the time before heading over to the directors house for another party-like event. Prior to leaving however, Li Jun wanted some photos taken, most of which involved stuffed animals. I played along, but was glad to be out of that environment.
The director sent a driver, which was not mine usual but I had ridden with this guy before (he drives like a bat out of hell!). When we arrived at the director's complex I saw my driver and the Chinese group lead from the cooking and cleaning department (who goes by Leo) briefly before they took off. When I got upstairs, I was ushered over to the dinner table where they Koreans had saved me dinner, which consisted of whole crabs and muscles, and promptly made up some fresh stuff. And, as always, they asked what kind of alcoholic beverage I wanted: Hard liquor (wine as they call it) or beer. I noticed they were drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon, so accepted one of those, and preceded to sip on it slowly over the course of my time there. I was hardly half way through my crab when I had another beer set in front of me. Wow, I know I'm American, but I'm not going to drink like crazy. 'Specially not around you!
I could only muster one crab, but I did hit the Muscles pretty hard. After that I was offered a quick tour, where the director told me he had too much space and looking for a roommate (not really, but I think he just gets bored and lonely sometimes), then we settled in the living room with the other Koreans, a few remaining Chinese from their day-long leader's meeting and the two drivers to watch Tianjin volleyball play. Not sure who against or what the outcome was.
People slowly started to filter out and the last to be taken home were the Korean managers. This left me with the director. I was a little uncomfortable with the situation, but he kept a comfortable distance, so all was good. I was going to leave once the driver came back from dropping the others off, which was only going to be about five mins, but the director started talking and kept talking for almost an hour! It was a decent conversation, I just didn't have the energy to maintain a conversation about ancestry traits and differences at 10 p.m.
Thankfully, the driver buzzed so I could go home and go to bed! The directory still had a lot of fruit and snacks left over, so he made me up a bag, walked me to the car and I was home by 10:30!
That was my Saturday...
Friday, November 14, 2008
A few pics...
Sorry! These are ALL messed up, but I wanted you to have something to see :)
Upper left: Needs to be rotated 90 degrees to the right, but this was one of the little streams we crossed while hiking in the mountains 4 hrs north of Beijing, on the Chinese tour during the National Holiday in Oct.
Upper Right: Breakfast before the hike. Ma Heem (left) and Jan (right). Both of these are friends of Samuel's and members of the Chinese branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Lower left: Anna and me at the top of the "99 Step Waterfall", also on the Chinese tour.
Lower right: Dinner at a Thai restaurant with past members who worked on the Dehumidifier project.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Beijing/Thursday contintued...
Okay, so the lesson didn't really happen. It was only a 10 min talk or so because he had an other meeting to attend to. We did however speak briefly about the lilies on his table and how they symbolize 100 years together... very popular at weddings. Then I told him how I have lilies tattooed to my back. Hahahahaha! 100 years together... both the tattoo and me, and mom and me, I guess, since that's part of what it symbolizes.
Okay, back to the market.
The first stop was a silk tie stand just off of the escalator. We probably should have moved in a little deeper, but since it was there, and it was time to shop, why not? Here in Tianjin, you can usually get a price of the item without any problem. At this first place, we couldn't get an answer. It was "how many do you want?" and "you pick out and I give you good price". Riiiiggghhttt... like I believe that. Anna and Samuel picked out 5 ties and asked for the price. 1350 yuan! Yeah right! There's no way anyone of us would spend that much. At this point, I tried entering the conversation between the very intense sales women and Anna and Samuel. She COMPLETELY blew me off. Not a good idea. If someone in the group doesn't like it, and there were ony three of us, chances are that you're not going to get the sale. Next time, try not to be so rude. Instead, I got to deal with the male vendor. "These ties are handmade. 100% Silk. Very good quality." "Yes, but if we can't afford them, we can't afford them. We had a friend get ties for 10 yuan a piece. We don't need anything extremely expensive and nice." The price just wouldn't come down to a reasonable, non-tourist level. We didn't say that we lived here, or had someone who spoke Chinese in our group. This women didn't deserve our business. We tried leaving and they blocked our path. Guess the tactic changed to bullying to get the sale, or maybe if we keep the tourists here long enough they will want to be rid of us and buy something to make us let them out of our tiny little cube of a shoppe.
As we made it passed them (the man wasn't as bad as the women in blocking our exit) the female vendor grabbed on to Anna's jacket and started pulling her back into the kiosk-like shoppe. Anna started freaking out. "Let go". The women continued to hang on. "Please, LET GO!" Still in a very calm voice, but this time it was more like "The Mom Voice" ( I thought it would be appropriate to capitalize it, since it holds a lot of power and all). We were finally free!
As we were walking away the price finally dropped to 200 yuan. 1350 to 200. Ridiculous! Anna said she might have paid 100 for them, but that women no longer deserved our business. We walked away and ended up walking perilously close to that stand again. So what did we do? Quickly turn the corner and duck into another booth. They treated us marginally better, but between the the two vendors, they had two different strategies, and two different offers for the same item. Finally we settled on the lower of the two prices, basically the guy quite throwing out numbers and let the girl do it. Anna walked away with a beautiful black with red embroidered Chinese characters table runner. Don't know what I would do with, but Anna realy liked it. And after that first experience, I'm glad she was able to get something without being grabbed.
We wandered the next isle and I stopped in to barter about something for Alex. I can't actually tell you what it is because he occasionally reads this and I can't ruin a Christmas present!
I was doing a decent job at bartering, by sticking to my price of 100 yuan, but the real kicker was when Anna came back and said she had purchased the exact same thing, just in a different color, in Hong Kong for 100 yuan. That sealed my deal. The vendor finally gave in and sold it at 100. You know you get a good deal when the vendor is upset with you. So far so good!
We moved on and were so overwhelmed by the situation with the first vendor, all of the "Hey girl! You want shoes, this, that or the other thing?" We saw a number of vendors pulling on Westerners clothing, and that coupled with knowing what we wanted, but also being able to get it cheaper and hassle free in Tianjin, plus wanting to do some hassle free browsing, which is impossible at this place, changed our mind about wanting to shop.
When Kyle and Charise had gone to the Silk Market, they made it sound soooo great. It is REALLY cool, but we weren't prepared to have to go in swinging. Kyle and Charise also enjoy flea markets and bargaining much more than the rest of us do... we walked around a little bit, happened to pass a silk worm thing, can't really describe it more than it looking like a thick halloween spiderweb, and decided to call it a day.
On the way to the subway station, we had to pass through the suitcase, shoe and purse section again. Since I needed a suitcase to take all my goodies home, and wanted something bigger than I had seen in Tianjin, I decided to stop at the vendor that call me "friend" instead of "girl" or "lady". I asked the price of a hard case, four wheel swiveling one, and it started at 850 yuan. WAY too much. I started at 75 then went 100 and kept it there. She was very upset because this suitcase was a very quality product, and 100 would be a different, smaller suitcase, a purse or even a wallet, but not this one. She went down to 300, but I wouldn't move. I started to leave and she blocked my path. Didn't touch me, but she did inhibit me from going anywhere for a bit. I kept telling her, I don't need quality, just a suitcase. Not quality. Finally, I said I was going to look at others and I needed to think about it. By this point I had no idea where Samuel and Anna went and wanted to catch up with them. As I was walking away she holds up her calculator and yells in my direction "150! That's my final offer. You won't find better quality or a better deal anywhere!" And she turned away and stormed off.
Thankfully, Samuel popped back from the aisle I had just looked down, and took me down to where Anna was waiting. Now, I had to decide if I really wanted this suitcase, and if we could get it back home.
After a minute and a brief discussion with the others to determine if we could get a suitcase on the subway, in a taxi, and on the bullet train-of which all were yes-I decided to buy it. The only problem now was that I couldn't just go back and buy it. Now I had to wait a few minutes to make it look like I had looked at other goods and other vendors. During this time, Anna had spied a purse she was interested in and she was debating on whether or not she should start bargaining. They finally decided to go for it and I started taking the long way back to the vendor and my soon to be new swively suitcase. To make sure I didn't stick around, or show her that I had more money on me, I had my 150 yuan ready (about $22). With money extended, it was now time to "save face". "You're right." I said when she spotted me walking up to her. "You have the best quality. I'll take it." At that point she got a bit of a smug and satisfied air about her-excellent! "face saved"- and quickly took the smaller suitcase out of the one I had just purchased. The new challenge would be getting it home.
By the time I returned, Samuel was still bargaining with the purse lady for Anna's purse. What an exchange that was! As usual, both participants started at the extremes. The price made its way down much more than it went up, but the funny thing was, Samuel's price went up, and then came back down again. At one point he offered her 111 yuan, which she turned down, only to sell at 100 yuan. Yes, she quickly realized her mistake of not taking the offer sooner, so she took it at 100 before it went any lower.
While this was going on, I was trying to get one of the two-tortoise moving elevators. Not and easy task! Both elevators had been called, and when the first one came there was no space for a suitcase, let alone the three of us! Shortly thereafter, the second one came and was completely empty. Sweet! We hopped in along side one other individual and began our journey homeward.
The subway was full, but not so bad that we weren't able to maneuver the suitcase. When we came topside, we hailed a cab-who preceded to take us a great distance out of our way, only to double back and make extra money-and got to the Beijing South Station. Because we all knew what the driver had done, and because it was my turn to pay, I broke a 100 yuan bill on a 26 yuan cab fare. That's a VERY mean thing to do to a cabby, but the driver didn't object. From the cash she (I think it was a she but she/he looked and sounded quite a bit like a man) was pulling from, I may have taken all of her smaller bills, Samuel offered to pay, but if a cabby wants to take me way out of the way for a drive that was literally down the same street we got picked up at, then they can do me a favor and break my bill. I felt a little bad, but not so much that would lose sleep over it.
The train ride home was uneventful as usual, although Samuel had to move my suitcase to a different part of the because it was too big to be stored overhead. Once we made it back to Tianjin, we successfully avoided the sketchy taxi drivers who try to pick up passengers at the exit gate rather than waiting in the taxi line. Last time I came back from Beijing I had taken one of these guys just so I could get home. At the time I was too worn out to care about paying more, but in retrospect, I won't be doing that again. Didn't pay much more than usual, but the route home was on the outer highways where there weren't many lights or traffic around. I'm not going to lie, I was visibly nervous for my life. I think, at least I hope, that's why he went tearing down the highway!
After successfully avoiding the creepy cabbies that instantly singled me out as the white, suitcase wielding tourist, we had to wait in the taxi line. This was completely new to me! Although we had no troubles on the subway or the train with the suitcase, it was the trunk of the taxi that almost was the problem. The driver had so many bottles of car maintenance things, and it's a decently sized suitcase, that we almost didn't fit it in. With a few minor adjustments, we were on our way!
Let me tell you, this was the smallest taxi I have ever been in! My knees were angled to keep from digging into the driver's back, and Anna played the "lets-move-our-knees-slightly-to-poke-them-into-Samuel's-back" game most of the way home.
Because it was still relatively early, maybe 5:30 p.m. even though it felt like 7:30ish, we decided to go down to the popcorn chicken place and grab some for dinner. Afterward we picked up dinner we stopped at the local fruit and veggie market and got some kiwis and bananas for the week, then headed home to enjoy dinner. I don't remember how much later I stayed up after that, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't much longer. Since I have taken to going to Church with Anna and Samuel on Sundays, I just wanted to get some sleep so I could possibly be productive afterward instead of my usual nap. But, that is for another day!... I hope : )
It is now 5:00 p.m. on Friday, Anna is making a surprise dinner (maybe tacos says Samuel) and I'm outta here!
Okay, back to the market.
The first stop was a silk tie stand just off of the escalator. We probably should have moved in a little deeper, but since it was there, and it was time to shop, why not? Here in Tianjin, you can usually get a price of the item without any problem. At this first place, we couldn't get an answer. It was "how many do you want?" and "you pick out and I give you good price". Riiiiggghhttt... like I believe that. Anna and Samuel picked out 5 ties and asked for the price. 1350 yuan! Yeah right! There's no way anyone of us would spend that much. At this point, I tried entering the conversation between the very intense sales women and Anna and Samuel. She COMPLETELY blew me off. Not a good idea. If someone in the group doesn't like it, and there were ony three of us, chances are that you're not going to get the sale. Next time, try not to be so rude. Instead, I got to deal with the male vendor. "These ties are handmade. 100% Silk. Very good quality." "Yes, but if we can't afford them, we can't afford them. We had a friend get ties for 10 yuan a piece. We don't need anything extremely expensive and nice." The price just wouldn't come down to a reasonable, non-tourist level. We didn't say that we lived here, or had someone who spoke Chinese in our group. This women didn't deserve our business. We tried leaving and they blocked our path. Guess the tactic changed to bullying to get the sale, or maybe if we keep the tourists here long enough they will want to be rid of us and buy something to make us let them out of our tiny little cube of a shoppe.
As we made it passed them (the man wasn't as bad as the women in blocking our exit) the female vendor grabbed on to Anna's jacket and started pulling her back into the kiosk-like shoppe. Anna started freaking out. "Let go". The women continued to hang on. "Please, LET GO!" Still in a very calm voice, but this time it was more like "The Mom Voice" ( I thought it would be appropriate to capitalize it, since it holds a lot of power and all). We were finally free!
As we were walking away the price finally dropped to 200 yuan. 1350 to 200. Ridiculous! Anna said she might have paid 100 for them, but that women no longer deserved our business. We walked away and ended up walking perilously close to that stand again. So what did we do? Quickly turn the corner and duck into another booth. They treated us marginally better, but between the the two vendors, they had two different strategies, and two different offers for the same item. Finally we settled on the lower of the two prices, basically the guy quite throwing out numbers and let the girl do it. Anna walked away with a beautiful black with red embroidered Chinese characters table runner. Don't know what I would do with, but Anna realy liked it. And after that first experience, I'm glad she was able to get something without being grabbed.
We wandered the next isle and I stopped in to barter about something for Alex. I can't actually tell you what it is because he occasionally reads this and I can't ruin a Christmas present!
I was doing a decent job at bartering, by sticking to my price of 100 yuan, but the real kicker was when Anna came back and said she had purchased the exact same thing, just in a different color, in Hong Kong for 100 yuan. That sealed my deal. The vendor finally gave in and sold it at 100. You know you get a good deal when the vendor is upset with you. So far so good!
We moved on and were so overwhelmed by the situation with the first vendor, all of the "Hey girl! You want shoes, this, that or the other thing?" We saw a number of vendors pulling on Westerners clothing, and that coupled with knowing what we wanted, but also being able to get it cheaper and hassle free in Tianjin, plus wanting to do some hassle free browsing, which is impossible at this place, changed our mind about wanting to shop.
When Kyle and Charise had gone to the Silk Market, they made it sound soooo great. It is REALLY cool, but we weren't prepared to have to go in swinging. Kyle and Charise also enjoy flea markets and bargaining much more than the rest of us do... we walked around a little bit, happened to pass a silk worm thing, can't really describe it more than it looking like a thick halloween spiderweb, and decided to call it a day.
On the way to the subway station, we had to pass through the suitcase, shoe and purse section again. Since I needed a suitcase to take all my goodies home, and wanted something bigger than I had seen in Tianjin, I decided to stop at the vendor that call me "friend" instead of "girl" or "lady". I asked the price of a hard case, four wheel swiveling one, and it started at 850 yuan. WAY too much. I started at 75 then went 100 and kept it there. She was very upset because this suitcase was a very quality product, and 100 would be a different, smaller suitcase, a purse or even a wallet, but not this one. She went down to 300, but I wouldn't move. I started to leave and she blocked my path. Didn't touch me, but she did inhibit me from going anywhere for a bit. I kept telling her, I don't need quality, just a suitcase. Not quality. Finally, I said I was going to look at others and I needed to think about it. By this point I had no idea where Samuel and Anna went and wanted to catch up with them. As I was walking away she holds up her calculator and yells in my direction "150! That's my final offer. You won't find better quality or a better deal anywhere!" And she turned away and stormed off.
Thankfully, Samuel popped back from the aisle I had just looked down, and took me down to where Anna was waiting. Now, I had to decide if I really wanted this suitcase, and if we could get it back home.
After a minute and a brief discussion with the others to determine if we could get a suitcase on the subway, in a taxi, and on the bullet train-of which all were yes-I decided to buy it. The only problem now was that I couldn't just go back and buy it. Now I had to wait a few minutes to make it look like I had looked at other goods and other vendors. During this time, Anna had spied a purse she was interested in and she was debating on whether or not she should start bargaining. They finally decided to go for it and I started taking the long way back to the vendor and my soon to be new swively suitcase. To make sure I didn't stick around, or show her that I had more money on me, I had my 150 yuan ready (about $22). With money extended, it was now time to "save face". "You're right." I said when she spotted me walking up to her. "You have the best quality. I'll take it." At that point she got a bit of a smug and satisfied air about her-excellent! "face saved"- and quickly took the smaller suitcase out of the one I had just purchased. The new challenge would be getting it home.
By the time I returned, Samuel was still bargaining with the purse lady for Anna's purse. What an exchange that was! As usual, both participants started at the extremes. The price made its way down much more than it went up, but the funny thing was, Samuel's price went up, and then came back down again. At one point he offered her 111 yuan, which she turned down, only to sell at 100 yuan. Yes, she quickly realized her mistake of not taking the offer sooner, so she took it at 100 before it went any lower.
While this was going on, I was trying to get one of the two-tortoise moving elevators. Not and easy task! Both elevators had been called, and when the first one came there was no space for a suitcase, let alone the three of us! Shortly thereafter, the second one came and was completely empty. Sweet! We hopped in along side one other individual and began our journey homeward.
The subway was full, but not so bad that we weren't able to maneuver the suitcase. When we came topside, we hailed a cab-who preceded to take us a great distance out of our way, only to double back and make extra money-and got to the Beijing South Station. Because we all knew what the driver had done, and because it was my turn to pay, I broke a 100 yuan bill on a 26 yuan cab fare. That's a VERY mean thing to do to a cabby, but the driver didn't object. From the cash she (I think it was a she but she/he looked and sounded quite a bit like a man) was pulling from, I may have taken all of her smaller bills, Samuel offered to pay, but if a cabby wants to take me way out of the way for a drive that was literally down the same street we got picked up at, then they can do me a favor and break my bill. I felt a little bad, but not so much that would lose sleep over it.
The train ride home was uneventful as usual, although Samuel had to move my suitcase to a different part of the because it was too big to be stored overhead. Once we made it back to Tianjin, we successfully avoided the sketchy taxi drivers who try to pick up passengers at the exit gate rather than waiting in the taxi line. Last time I came back from Beijing I had taken one of these guys just so I could get home. At the time I was too worn out to care about paying more, but in retrospect, I won't be doing that again. Didn't pay much more than usual, but the route home was on the outer highways where there weren't many lights or traffic around. I'm not going to lie, I was visibly nervous for my life. I think, at least I hope, that's why he went tearing down the highway!
After successfully avoiding the creepy cabbies that instantly singled me out as the white, suitcase wielding tourist, we had to wait in the taxi line. This was completely new to me! Although we had no troubles on the subway or the train with the suitcase, it was the trunk of the taxi that almost was the problem. The driver had so many bottles of car maintenance things, and it's a decently sized suitcase, that we almost didn't fit it in. With a few minor adjustments, we were on our way!
Let me tell you, this was the smallest taxi I have ever been in! My knees were angled to keep from digging into the driver's back, and Anna played the "lets-move-our-knees-slightly-to-poke-them-into-Samuel's-back" game most of the way home.
Because it was still relatively early, maybe 5:30 p.m. even though it felt like 7:30ish, we decided to go down to the popcorn chicken place and grab some for dinner. Afterward we picked up dinner we stopped at the local fruit and veggie market and got some kiwis and bananas for the week, then headed home to enjoy dinner. I don't remember how much later I stayed up after that, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't much longer. Since I have taken to going to Church with Anna and Samuel on Sundays, I just wanted to get some sleep so I could possibly be productive afterward instead of my usual nap. But, that is for another day!... I hope : )
It is now 5:00 p.m. on Friday, Anna is making a surprise dinner (maybe tacos says Samuel) and I'm outta here!
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Hodge Podge
I'm so far behind I don't even know where to begin. I guess I'll just start with today.
It's only 10:20 am here, so a short bit, but it will get the juices flowin'.
I woke today at 6:00 a.m. and spoke briefly with mom and Genvieve. Anna called and asked if I wanted to go to breakfast with her since Samuel didn't have enough time to eat and catch the bus this morning. I was planning on going straight into Yoga after Skyping, but figured I should eat a small portion of the usual: rice, tofu, and some combination of veggies, before exercising. I took down a bowl with me and saved some for after my session, so I wouldn't eat too much.
After breakfast, went back upstairs and did today's Yoga lesson at yogatoday.com. If you're into Yoga, it's a really great site. Usually takes an hour, which sometimes works, sometimes doesn't with the schedule, but I had just enough time to do the full session today: Yoga for weight loss.
Wow. I was DRIPPING! Absolutely melting while I did this one. Probably a little more advanced than I am, but it was worth every bead of sweat and semi-cramping muscle, lol.
Afterward, I did a quick rinse off and an even faster packing, changing, prepping because I had left myself only 10 mins to get ready... oops. So, I threw my Tupperware into my backpack and hurried out to the car. I think my driver wants to leave around 9:15 instead of 9:20, because he was in the parking lot at 9:10.... I tried to be out of my room by 9:10, but it didn't quite work. SO, I arrived at 9:17 still early, but 2 mins later than I wanted to be.
Drive to work was relatively easy and clear, and the gate automatically opened up for us when we pulled in. Sweet! I knew it was going to be a good day!
Since I arrive around break time, I get my computer up and going (which I had to restart/shut down 4-5 times just to get the internet to work...still not completely working) and ate the rest of my breakfast. Yum... room temp rice, bean sprouts, broccoli and tofu. Not the best meal in the world, but I feel much better now.
And yes, I'm blogging at work. I (think) I've finished that darn Regional Climate report-which after I had finished it the first time became the Regional Climate and Economic/Population Report-and I have a repeat lesson for class tonight on the overactive nature of today's kids and families, so I have nothing to do. I'm a little hesitant to ask for more right now, lol. I probably by this afternoon so I don't spend I'll my time blogging... although that would be good for all of us.
Let me give you an in depth run down of my week so far.
Last weekend, Nov. 8-9, Anna, Samuel and made the trek to go see the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and the Silk Market. We rolled out of the hotel around 8:30 am and took the bullet train to the Beijing South station. We called a cab and asked him to take us to the nearest subway station, about 2 Km away. Somewhere in the conversation he asked Samuel where we were going...Tiananmen Square. So, instead of dropping us off at any number of the subway stations we passed, he took us PART of the way to Tiananment Square and dropped us at a station maybe 3-4 blocks away. We weren't entirely sure of where we were, nor did we want to walk since Beijing blocks are MASSIVE and the weather was quite chilly, so we got on the subway 20 yuan down, as opposed the 10 we would have paid otherwise. I love Samuel, but he's always so good natured... sometimes too much, lol. "Well, at least he took us to a Station." "Yeah, but after taking us for a ride..." (Anna's response)
We got on the subway, which I hadn't taken the other time I was in Beijing, and made it to Tiananmen Square.
The exit we took brought us above ground facing the Forbidden City with Tiananmen Square at our back. Because there is a major road dividing the two, we decided to do the Forbidden City first. We followed the crowd, herded across a decorative mote, where soldiers shouted at any one who stopped to try and take a photo of Mao. Once we were inside there was a bit more room to navigate. The first section offered a gift shoppe and a few other stands, the second section offered the something similar, but in this section we were greeted by an eager Chinese man (maybe 25 or so), who I thought was either trying to practice his English or get hired as a tour guide. He quickly realized our trepidation and told us he was an art student who had an art show up one of the nearby shoppes/rooms. Samuel didn't want to go, but Anna and I thought it might be fun to go see all the wall hangings and whatever else they were selling. Rebecca Ganster and I had done the very same thing when we were in Beijing about a month ago. (Side thought: wow... it's been a month since I first went to Beijing.)
I knew that the main point of these students was to sell art, and some how hope to make a connection in a Western Country, but we all knew we weren't going to purchase anything, so what was the harm in looking...
There were some BEAUTIFUL pieces for sale, but they all were FAR too expensive, and as usual, the salesmen far too pushy. Interestingly enough, the only people in the rented shoppe were students and tourists. Makes sense. Once we told them that we had no intention of buying, they quickly dropped us and let us leave.
We made our way to the end of the third section-I think it was number three-and purchased tickets to enter the Forbidden City at 40 yuan a piece. As we made our way into the main arena, we marvelled at how large this place is. We were only allowed in the center area, but it was still HUGE! Lots of open space with the original (I'm assuming) stone in all the court yards. We decided to take the path less travelled by and enter the next area through one of the side gates. Slightly smaller but still just as cool!
Each area unfolded something new, but each area also looked the same. We pushed and shoved our way to the back of the pack and tried to get some pictures of various thrones. However, so many Chinese were throwing themselves into the throng, that most of the Westerns were overwhelmed and quickly found their way out of the mass, the three of us included. We stepped off to the side again and spent most of our time looking at all the stuff surrounding us, rather than the "main attraction".
We took some pictures of the marble staircase, the giant bronze (I think) lanterns, Crane and Dragon-Tortoise combination thing, and moved on to the next section. Most of the sections had all been re-painted for the Olympics, so everything looked really nice. Everything looked the same, and probably would have looked better in sunlight than the cloudy weather we were experiencing, but still really cool!
The last section we decided to attempt had yet another throne, with more pushing and shoving, but it also had a giant Jade slab at the base of the throne building. A beautiful Dragon encircling a Chinese city. Samuel said it symbolized the Emperor projecting his people. And with a city like this, it wouldn't have been difficult to protect!
We decided that it was time for lunch, warmth, and not so many pushy people, so we turned around and made our way back to the entrance. We weren't in a particular hurry, so we posed for a few pics here and there and did a little bit of people watching. As we were taking photos, I had a man ask if he could take a picture with me. It isn't the first time it's happened here, but it was definitely unexpected. Sometimes I forget I'm so different from the Chinese. A weird thing to say considering I/we still get stared at everywhere we go. It usually doesn't happen as much when I'm wearing my sunglasses, but I didn't need them that day. Low and behold, lots of stares and even a picture. I'm such a celeb! (Okay not really... just big, blue eyes)
We asked the man if he would take a picture of the three of us, and he agreed. He actually took a really great picture! Not saying anything about Chinese taking photos, just about photo taking in general. I'm glad he stopped us!
Once we got back to the first area just inside the "ticket area" Samuel went to use the restroom. Not really and important fact, but he did discover that the Emperor's robe exhibit, which we originally thought was an additional ticket, turned out to be free! We thought it would be a really neat exhibit to attend so we headed up the steps and made our way to the gallery.
All of the lights were dimmed and flash was not permitted to keep the fabric and colors safe from fading. Being a pro of sneaking pictures in museums sans flash, I snuck a couple of photos of my favorite robes. Really incredible that anyone could fashion anything of this calibre.
After we came to the end of the exhibit, we headed out, Anna decided that Tiananmen Square did not look all that exciting, so we made our way to over to the Silk market to track down Subway, the restaurant.
Turns out the subway stop exits to the 3rd floor (shoes and bags). We took the escalator up to the 4th floor and headed to the information booth at the back of the building. We passed a pizza place, and an Irish sandwich place, and a cafe, but no Subway. By now we were all starving because of all the Western-style foods being churned out. We found the where the info booth should have been, but couldn't find it. There were two options and neither looked correct. So, we checked the info board to locate the food court, and decided to give that a go. Down to the basement 2nd floor and after wiggling down a twisting hallway, we came to the food court. We were hit with a blast of Asian spices from all the Hot Pot options. "Where is Subway!" Needless to say, Hot Pot-which consists of a boiling pot of broth and spices, and any number of ingredients: thinly sliced meats, fish balls, prawns, veggies, tofu-was not what we were hankering for.
Back up to the information desk area...we decided to ask one of the other attendants if they knew where Subway was. Turns out we were one attendant shy of the actual information desk, the only thing denoting it was a small plaque at on the counter. Samuel asked the women where Subway was and she pointed around the corner and down the stairs to the subway, as in the train, "no, no, no... a restaurant" No idea. Okay... try three. Anna suggested we go outside and peek around the corner. No Subway. Then, out of the corner of my eye as we turn away defeated, I saw it! Not quite like seeing McDonald's since they have the golden arches, but I'll take Subway's yellow text as the light from heaven, and the taxi's blaring horns as an angelic chorus!
We managed to beat the rush and were very excited to dig in. Right as we were about to take the only indoor table in this little hole-in-the-wall Subway, a different group of foreigners took it. Anna and Samuel went outside and I finished paying. Before I joined the others outside, I noticed one of the men who had beat us to our table trying to order. Let me tell you, if you haven't had Subway before, you have NO idea how to order properly. Even though they stole my table and we had to eat in the cold, I went over and helped the man with the first couple steps. After that, we was on his own!
Now the subway in China is similar to the US, but it just isn't the same. Every "Western" restaurant here has its own Asian flavor to it... literally. Don't know how they manage it, but the basic ingredients just don't taste the same. Nonetheless, we weren't hungry anymore.
While we were enjoying our sandwiches we did a little people watching. First, there was a beggar women of sorts who watched our table like a hawk. We all originally thought she wanted food, but she was actually watching-and waiting-for Samuel and Anna's water bottles. Any recyclable good gets dug out of the trash as a means of income. The second interaction we watched was between a Western, older male and a petite little Asian women. A prime example of what Aisan women think of Western men: Sugar Daddies. I acknowledged this, then listened to his attempt to strike up a conversation. He had recently had his palm. The reader declared him to be a wealthy man, apparently to his surprise, but I concluded it was because his hands were smooth and he hadn't done a days worth of hard labor in his life. Can't really talk, and probably a little harsh, but judging from the size of his belly, his recent comment, and the petite Asian with him, I'd say the reader wasn't too far off. Right on cue, his Asian Escort took his palm and begin to study it. HAHAHAHA! She just scored herself another outfit to go with the four or five (upscale) bags she was toting on her wrist. Not a bad find for her I'd say...
We finished up eating and made a bee line for the market. Anna wanted to get some Chinese decorated silk ties, I wanted to get one last item for Alex, and maybe a suitcase if the price was right. I'd seen some very large ones get rolled by on the way in, so I figured I'd take a gander.
I have never seen so much merchandise in one place at one time. This used to be an outdoor market, but it become so popular, nearly 60,000 visitors on the weekends, that they turned it into a massive indoor market. Let the bargaining begin!
Sorry to break stride. Most of this all happened last Saturday, 'cept for the blip about my morning, but I now need to go converse with the President. He's just looking for a little conversation with a native speaker, simply to practice. However, his English is quite good as it is... Glad to help though!
So, brief run down of the day. No new assignments after completing the Regional Climate/Economic/Population report. Chatted with mom briefly, a little Facebook, lunch, read about snowboarding-which I'm going to try and learn when I get home-touched up my overactive kids and families slide show for class tonight, received a MASSIVE gift set for attending the basketball tournament with Samuel (the guy next to Samuel told him he was pretty important around LG and he would get us some LG soap and stuff... guess he meant it!) and LOTS AND LOTS of blogging. Enjoy and hopefully more later, since I don't think I'll have work tomorrow either. Plus my hand as starting to tingle... oops!
It's only 10:20 am here, so a short bit, but it will get the juices flowin'.
I woke today at 6:00 a.m. and spoke briefly with mom and Genvieve. Anna called and asked if I wanted to go to breakfast with her since Samuel didn't have enough time to eat and catch the bus this morning. I was planning on going straight into Yoga after Skyping, but figured I should eat a small portion of the usual: rice, tofu, and some combination of veggies, before exercising. I took down a bowl with me and saved some for after my session, so I wouldn't eat too much.
After breakfast, went back upstairs and did today's Yoga lesson at yogatoday.com. If you're into Yoga, it's a really great site. Usually takes an hour, which sometimes works, sometimes doesn't with the schedule, but I had just enough time to do the full session today: Yoga for weight loss.
Wow. I was DRIPPING! Absolutely melting while I did this one. Probably a little more advanced than I am, but it was worth every bead of sweat and semi-cramping muscle, lol.
Afterward, I did a quick rinse off and an even faster packing, changing, prepping because I had left myself only 10 mins to get ready... oops. So, I threw my Tupperware into my backpack and hurried out to the car. I think my driver wants to leave around 9:15 instead of 9:20, because he was in the parking lot at 9:10.... I tried to be out of my room by 9:10, but it didn't quite work. SO, I arrived at 9:17 still early, but 2 mins later than I wanted to be.
Drive to work was relatively easy and clear, and the gate automatically opened up for us when we pulled in. Sweet! I knew it was going to be a good day!
Since I arrive around break time, I get my computer up and going (which I had to restart/shut down 4-5 times just to get the internet to work...still not completely working) and ate the rest of my breakfast. Yum... room temp rice, bean sprouts, broccoli and tofu. Not the best meal in the world, but I feel much better now.
And yes, I'm blogging at work. I (think) I've finished that darn Regional Climate report-which after I had finished it the first time became the Regional Climate and Economic/Population Report-and I have a repeat lesson for class tonight on the overactive nature of today's kids and families, so I have nothing to do. I'm a little hesitant to ask for more right now, lol. I probably by this afternoon so I don't spend I'll my time blogging... although that would be good for all of us.
Let me give you an in depth run down of my week so far.
Last weekend, Nov. 8-9, Anna, Samuel and made the trek to go see the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and the Silk Market. We rolled out of the hotel around 8:30 am and took the bullet train to the Beijing South station. We called a cab and asked him to take us to the nearest subway station, about 2 Km away. Somewhere in the conversation he asked Samuel where we were going...Tiananmen Square. So, instead of dropping us off at any number of the subway stations we passed, he took us PART of the way to Tiananment Square and dropped us at a station maybe 3-4 blocks away. We weren't entirely sure of where we were, nor did we want to walk since Beijing blocks are MASSIVE and the weather was quite chilly, so we got on the subway 20 yuan down, as opposed the 10 we would have paid otherwise. I love Samuel, but he's always so good natured... sometimes too much, lol. "Well, at least he took us to a Station." "Yeah, but after taking us for a ride..." (Anna's response)
We got on the subway, which I hadn't taken the other time I was in Beijing, and made it to Tiananmen Square.
The exit we took brought us above ground facing the Forbidden City with Tiananmen Square at our back. Because there is a major road dividing the two, we decided to do the Forbidden City first. We followed the crowd, herded across a decorative mote, where soldiers shouted at any one who stopped to try and take a photo of Mao. Once we were inside there was a bit more room to navigate. The first section offered a gift shoppe and a few other stands, the second section offered the something similar, but in this section we were greeted by an eager Chinese man (maybe 25 or so), who I thought was either trying to practice his English or get hired as a tour guide. He quickly realized our trepidation and told us he was an art student who had an art show up one of the nearby shoppes/rooms. Samuel didn't want to go, but Anna and I thought it might be fun to go see all the wall hangings and whatever else they were selling. Rebecca Ganster and I had done the very same thing when we were in Beijing about a month ago. (Side thought: wow... it's been a month since I first went to Beijing.)
I knew that the main point of these students was to sell art, and some how hope to make a connection in a Western Country, but we all knew we weren't going to purchase anything, so what was the harm in looking...
There were some BEAUTIFUL pieces for sale, but they all were FAR too expensive, and as usual, the salesmen far too pushy. Interestingly enough, the only people in the rented shoppe were students and tourists. Makes sense. Once we told them that we had no intention of buying, they quickly dropped us and let us leave.
We made our way to the end of the third section-I think it was number three-and purchased tickets to enter the Forbidden City at 40 yuan a piece. As we made our way into the main arena, we marvelled at how large this place is. We were only allowed in the center area, but it was still HUGE! Lots of open space with the original (I'm assuming) stone in all the court yards. We decided to take the path less travelled by and enter the next area through one of the side gates. Slightly smaller but still just as cool!
Each area unfolded something new, but each area also looked the same. We pushed and shoved our way to the back of the pack and tried to get some pictures of various thrones. However, so many Chinese were throwing themselves into the throng, that most of the Westerns were overwhelmed and quickly found their way out of the mass, the three of us included. We stepped off to the side again and spent most of our time looking at all the stuff surrounding us, rather than the "main attraction".
We took some pictures of the marble staircase, the giant bronze (I think) lanterns, Crane and Dragon-Tortoise combination thing, and moved on to the next section. Most of the sections had all been re-painted for the Olympics, so everything looked really nice. Everything looked the same, and probably would have looked better in sunlight than the cloudy weather we were experiencing, but still really cool!
The last section we decided to attempt had yet another throne, with more pushing and shoving, but it also had a giant Jade slab at the base of the throne building. A beautiful Dragon encircling a Chinese city. Samuel said it symbolized the Emperor projecting his people. And with a city like this, it wouldn't have been difficult to protect!
We decided that it was time for lunch, warmth, and not so many pushy people, so we turned around and made our way back to the entrance. We weren't in a particular hurry, so we posed for a few pics here and there and did a little bit of people watching. As we were taking photos, I had a man ask if he could take a picture with me. It isn't the first time it's happened here, but it was definitely unexpected. Sometimes I forget I'm so different from the Chinese. A weird thing to say considering I/we still get stared at everywhere we go. It usually doesn't happen as much when I'm wearing my sunglasses, but I didn't need them that day. Low and behold, lots of stares and even a picture. I'm such a celeb! (Okay not really... just big, blue eyes)
We asked the man if he would take a picture of the three of us, and he agreed. He actually took a really great picture! Not saying anything about Chinese taking photos, just about photo taking in general. I'm glad he stopped us!
Once we got back to the first area just inside the "ticket area" Samuel went to use the restroom. Not really and important fact, but he did discover that the Emperor's robe exhibit, which we originally thought was an additional ticket, turned out to be free! We thought it would be a really neat exhibit to attend so we headed up the steps and made our way to the gallery.
All of the lights were dimmed and flash was not permitted to keep the fabric and colors safe from fading. Being a pro of sneaking pictures in museums sans flash, I snuck a couple of photos of my favorite robes. Really incredible that anyone could fashion anything of this calibre.
After we came to the end of the exhibit, we headed out, Anna decided that Tiananmen Square did not look all that exciting, so we made our way to over to the Silk market to track down Subway, the restaurant.
Turns out the subway stop exits to the 3rd floor (shoes and bags). We took the escalator up to the 4th floor and headed to the information booth at the back of the building. We passed a pizza place, and an Irish sandwich place, and a cafe, but no Subway. By now we were all starving because of all the Western-style foods being churned out. We found the where the info booth should have been, but couldn't find it. There were two options and neither looked correct. So, we checked the info board to locate the food court, and decided to give that a go. Down to the basement 2nd floor and after wiggling down a twisting hallway, we came to the food court. We were hit with a blast of Asian spices from all the Hot Pot options. "Where is Subway!" Needless to say, Hot Pot-which consists of a boiling pot of broth and spices, and any number of ingredients: thinly sliced meats, fish balls, prawns, veggies, tofu-was not what we were hankering for.
Back up to the information desk area...we decided to ask one of the other attendants if they knew where Subway was. Turns out we were one attendant shy of the actual information desk, the only thing denoting it was a small plaque at on the counter. Samuel asked the women where Subway was and she pointed around the corner and down the stairs to the subway, as in the train, "no, no, no... a restaurant" No idea. Okay... try three. Anna suggested we go outside and peek around the corner. No Subway. Then, out of the corner of my eye as we turn away defeated, I saw it! Not quite like seeing McDonald's since they have the golden arches, but I'll take Subway's yellow text as the light from heaven, and the taxi's blaring horns as an angelic chorus!
We managed to beat the rush and were very excited to dig in. Right as we were about to take the only indoor table in this little hole-in-the-wall Subway, a different group of foreigners took it. Anna and Samuel went outside and I finished paying. Before I joined the others outside, I noticed one of the men who had beat us to our table trying to order. Let me tell you, if you haven't had Subway before, you have NO idea how to order properly. Even though they stole my table and we had to eat in the cold, I went over and helped the man with the first couple steps. After that, we was on his own!
Now the subway in China is similar to the US, but it just isn't the same. Every "Western" restaurant here has its own Asian flavor to it... literally. Don't know how they manage it, but the basic ingredients just don't taste the same. Nonetheless, we weren't hungry anymore.
While we were enjoying our sandwiches we did a little people watching. First, there was a beggar women of sorts who watched our table like a hawk. We all originally thought she wanted food, but she was actually watching-and waiting-for Samuel and Anna's water bottles. Any recyclable good gets dug out of the trash as a means of income. The second interaction we watched was between a Western, older male and a petite little Asian women. A prime example of what Aisan women think of Western men: Sugar Daddies. I acknowledged this, then listened to his attempt to strike up a conversation. He had recently had his palm. The reader declared him to be a wealthy man, apparently to his surprise, but I concluded it was because his hands were smooth and he hadn't done a days worth of hard labor in his life. Can't really talk, and probably a little harsh, but judging from the size of his belly, his recent comment, and the petite Asian with him, I'd say the reader wasn't too far off. Right on cue, his Asian Escort took his palm and begin to study it. HAHAHAHA! She just scored herself another outfit to go with the four or five (upscale) bags she was toting on her wrist. Not a bad find for her I'd say...
We finished up eating and made a bee line for the market. Anna wanted to get some Chinese decorated silk ties, I wanted to get one last item for Alex, and maybe a suitcase if the price was right. I'd seen some very large ones get rolled by on the way in, so I figured I'd take a gander.
I have never seen so much merchandise in one place at one time. This used to be an outdoor market, but it become so popular, nearly 60,000 visitors on the weekends, that they turned it into a massive indoor market. Let the bargaining begin!
Sorry to break stride. Most of this all happened last Saturday, 'cept for the blip about my morning, but I now need to go converse with the President. He's just looking for a little conversation with a native speaker, simply to practice. However, his English is quite good as it is... Glad to help though!
So, brief run down of the day. No new assignments after completing the Regional Climate/Economic/Population report. Chatted with mom briefly, a little Facebook, lunch, read about snowboarding-which I'm going to try and learn when I get home-touched up my overactive kids and families slide show for class tonight, received a MASSIVE gift set for attending the basketball tournament with Samuel (the guy next to Samuel told him he was pretty important around LG and he would get us some LG soap and stuff... guess he meant it!) and LOTS AND LOTS of blogging. Enjoy and hopefully more later, since I don't think I'll have work tomorrow either. Plus my hand as starting to tingle... oops!
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