second update from china
September 22nd, 2006
Hey everyone!
Another two weeks have gone by and sooooo quickly at
that. I’ll just to do a brief recap of the most
important events and show you the loverly photos that
go along.
--> First, two weekends ago, I was supposed to go,
with my newfound companion Lily, to visit some temples
(as a history homework assignment) and to attend a Pop
music concert in the evening, but fate, with the help
of my immune system, decided that I better spend the
weekend in bed with a fever…so that’s what I got to do
(plus a bit of English homework). But, the next day
was ok, because I got to go out later in the day with
Lily and her host sister in hopes of finding a place
to go roller-skating, but apparently places like that
are closing down for the 2008 Olympics- don’t ask my
why, ‘cause I don’t see the logic in that. We went to
a market instead, which sold everything from wigs, to
lingerie, to giant wall clocks. We got our nails done,
for the price of 10 yuan (about $1.20) and tried on
some wigs until we were kicked out.
-->Second, we got out school uniforms. Sky blue track
suits. As soon as we get the right shoes and some
fancy Chinese pendant, we can all look like
rappers…but it’s very entertaining, because every once
and a while, the boys will pull their pants up very
high and play badminton with the Chinese kids.
--> Thirdly, this past Friday, we took our first field
trip to the GREAT WALL O’ CHINA. It is about 1500
miles long and built in the Qin Dynasty. We only hiked
a portion, but it was a pretty onerous four-hour hike,
we hiked past 15 watch towers (I don’t know the exact
distance) up and down rocky steps…it was more of a
‘scaling’ of the Great Wall than a ‘hike’, but
definitely not a ‘stroll’. Anyhow, the scenery was
amazing, with a giant haze in every direction, but
simply graceful rolling hills with a never ending
serpent of stone making its way to every watch tower
and down steep hillsides enveloped in drying
shrubberies…. Anyways, it was a marvelous and
extremely strenuous journey with a fabulous reward of
a somewhat unfulfilling dinner and a three our
bus-ride home sitting on broken seats.
--> Fourthly, yesterday, which was Saturday, I woke up
and successfully hobbled out of bed ‘cause my calves
were extremely sore, but nothing else though (thank
God, ‘cause my lower legs were being a pain in the
butt.) I spent the latter part of the day out
exploring a rather touristy area of Beijing with my
chum Lily and a couple other chums.
Here are some lists:
Things I like about my Chinese life:
- my own room and a comfortable bunk-bed (because lily
has to sleep under a tent on her wooden bed)
- having a washing machine in my bathroom
- a full clean bathroom (because lily has a bucket for
a sink)
- having a refrigerator (because lily’s family has a
cold compartment for a fridge)
- a good selection of healthy food (because the
cafeteria food at school is not identifiable)
Things I don’t like about my Chinese life:
- being stared at (‘cause I’m not full Asian, but I’m
lucky that I’m at least short)
- having to throw my toilet paper in the rubbish bin
next to the toilet
- not being allowed to say “thank you” after we out to
lunch or dinner (because the just don’t do that here,
my sister tells me)
- not being allowed to take the elevator at school
instead of walking up six flights of stairs to get to
our lockers and classrooms
- not being able to bless anyone after they sneeze
(because they don’t have the “bless you” equivalent
here)
- almost being run over by a biker often-ly
Things I am excited to be able to do:
- being able to take the bus and a taxi from school to
my apartment
- knowing how to get to my apartment
- eat like a Chinese person (i.e. slurp, chew loudly,
and use my mad chopstick skills in any situation)
Things I can’t decide if I am used to or not:
- my mother handing me an ice cream bar 20 minutes
before we eat dinner
Well my friends, that’s all I have to say. feel free
to write back, but I must warn you that I may not
respond because I am extremely (because believe it or
not, I am getting about as much homework as I get at
MA; I timed my history reading today: 4 hours about
cultural "Chineseness"- yes that’s a real word)
Peace love and peas,
~gabi
Hey everyone!
Another two weeks have gone by and sooooo quickly at
that. I’ll just to do a brief recap of the most
important events and show you the loverly photos that
go along.
--> First, two weekends ago, I was supposed to go,
with my newfound companion Lily, to visit some temples
(as a history homework assignment) and to attend a Pop
music concert in the evening, but fate, with the help
of my immune system, decided that I better spend the
weekend in bed with a fever…so that’s what I got to do
(plus a bit of English homework). But, the next day
was ok, because I got to go out later in the day with
Lily and her host sister in hopes of finding a place
to go roller-skating, but apparently places like that
are closing down for the 2008 Olympics- don’t ask my
why, ‘cause I don’t see the logic in that. We went to
a market instead, which sold everything from wigs, to
lingerie, to giant wall clocks. We got our nails done,
for the price of 10 yuan (about $1.20) and tried on
some wigs until we were kicked out.
-->Second, we got out school uniforms. Sky blue track
suits. As soon as we get the right shoes and some
fancy Chinese pendant, we can all look like
rappers…but it’s very entertaining, because every once
and a while, the boys will pull their pants up very
high and play badminton with the Chinese kids.
--> Thirdly, this past Friday, we took our first field
trip to the GREAT WALL O’ CHINA. It is about 1500
miles long and built in the Qin Dynasty. We only hiked
a portion, but it was a pretty onerous four-hour hike,
we hiked past 15 watch towers (I don’t know the exact
distance) up and down rocky steps…it was more of a
‘scaling’ of the Great Wall than a ‘hike’, but
definitely not a ‘stroll’. Anyhow, the scenery was
amazing, with a giant haze in every direction, but
simply graceful rolling hills with a never ending
serpent of stone making its way to every watch tower
and down steep hillsides enveloped in drying
shrubberies…. Anyways, it was a marvelous and
extremely strenuous journey with a fabulous reward of
a somewhat unfulfilling dinner and a three our
bus-ride home sitting on broken seats.
--> Fourthly, yesterday, which was Saturday, I woke up
and successfully hobbled out of bed ‘cause my calves
were extremely sore, but nothing else though (thank
God, ‘cause my lower legs were being a pain in the
butt.) I spent the latter part of the day out
exploring a rather touristy area of Beijing with my
chum Lily and a couple other chums.
Here are some lists:
Things I like about my Chinese life:
- my own room and a comfortable bunk-bed (because lily
has to sleep under a tent on her wooden bed)
- having a washing machine in my bathroom
- a full clean bathroom (because lily has a bucket for
a sink)
- having a refrigerator (because lily’s family has a
cold compartment for a fridge)
- a good selection of healthy food (because the
cafeteria food at school is not identifiable)
Things I don’t like about my Chinese life:
- being stared at (‘cause I’m not full Asian, but I’m
lucky that I’m at least short)
- having to throw my toilet paper in the rubbish bin
next to the toilet
- not being allowed to say “thank you” after we out to
lunch or dinner (because the just don’t do that here,
my sister tells me)
- not being allowed to take the elevator at school
instead of walking up six flights of stairs to get to
our lockers and classrooms
- not being able to bless anyone after they sneeze
(because they don’t have the “bless you” equivalent
here)
- almost being run over by a biker often-ly
Things I am excited to be able to do:
- being able to take the bus and a taxi from school to
my apartment
- knowing how to get to my apartment
- eat like a Chinese person (i.e. slurp, chew loudly,
and use my mad chopstick skills in any situation)
Things I can’t decide if I am used to or not:
- my mother handing me an ice cream bar 20 minutes
before we eat dinner
Well my friends, that’s all I have to say. feel free
to write back, but I must warn you that I may not
respond because I am extremely (because believe it or
not, I am getting about as much homework as I get at
MA; I timed my history reading today: 4 hours about
cultural "Chineseness"- yes that’s a real word)
Peace love and peas,
~gabi