back again + world expo
haha sorry, i've been gone awhile from livejournal. i actually went to visit my family in shanghai (that's where most of them are living nowadays) and when i came back i just didn't, well, come back. haha. but anyway, i'm back now. :)
my family seems fine, even though visiting with everyone always seems a little stressful. (trying to keep everyone "happy" or relatively so is actually a pretty hard job.) we went to the world expo together, with my mom in a wheelchair for her broken leg (she can start walking again after today hopefully). i never really realized how much we take our legs for granted. there are so many steps and unpaved ground in china that it's difficult to get around (not like in america where pretty much every place is mandated by law to be wheelchair friendly). not to mention the slight culture shock of many people in china being very *pushy*. all in all, the buildings that all the countries made were amazing. the exhibits themselves were sometimes too... boring i'm afraid. they tried to be *too* positive and ended up not making it interesting. but i guess i'm not a good judge; we skipped some of the more famous/big ones (i.e. germany, usa, switzerland, india) because the lines were WAY TOO LONG and the sun was killing us. not to mention, with my mom in a wheelchair, although we were granted head-of-the-line passes for some, it was difficult to maneuver.
my suggestion? if you want to go the world expo in the summer months, you should probably buy one of those passes for the nighttime entries (like after 5pm or something). they sometimes hold parties at the exhibits (we got a flyer to go clubbing in one of the countries' buildings), some of the buildings look prettier (u.k. lights up apparently), and the sun won't bother you as much. if you DO go in during the day, bring one of those portable little chairs to sit on while you're in line. also, don't bring any water/liquids. it's like airport security, you can't go in with anything over a few ounces. you *can* bring food though, so if you don't feel like sampling the food courts, go ahead and bring a picnic or whatever. also, be wary of a slight culture shock. as i said before, many people are very pushy. they don't care if you're just bending down to pick something up that you dropped, they WILL cut and shove their way into any space they can find. wheelchairs can hit the backs of your legs if you're standing near them (i had a few bad scrapes from an old lady who didn't really care about hurting people). and hygiene is... questionable sometimes. i saw a child and middle-aged man peeing (or worse, but i didn't care to examine closer) into a flower pot about 10 feet away from a bathroom with no line. it was uh... quite disturbing to me to say the least. oh, did i mention there was a food court right across the street from that? yeaaah...
but i digress. i'm back now, and hopefully my fanfiction muse will be up and running again. :D
(oh and btw, update on sharks: they got swept while i left the country! 4-0 by the chicago blackhawks. the stanley cup finals are on now, chicago blackhawks vs. philadelphia flyers, chicago's leading 3-2. good luck to them. and next year for the sharks!)
my family seems fine, even though visiting with everyone always seems a little stressful. (trying to keep everyone "happy" or relatively so is actually a pretty hard job.) we went to the world expo together, with my mom in a wheelchair for her broken leg (she can start walking again after today hopefully). i never really realized how much we take our legs for granted. there are so many steps and unpaved ground in china that it's difficult to get around (not like in america where pretty much every place is mandated by law to be wheelchair friendly). not to mention the slight culture shock of many people in china being very *pushy*. all in all, the buildings that all the countries made were amazing. the exhibits themselves were sometimes too... boring i'm afraid. they tried to be *too* positive and ended up not making it interesting. but i guess i'm not a good judge; we skipped some of the more famous/big ones (i.e. germany, usa, switzerland, india) because the lines were WAY TOO LONG and the sun was killing us. not to mention, with my mom in a wheelchair, although we were granted head-of-the-line passes for some, it was difficult to maneuver.
my suggestion? if you want to go the world expo in the summer months, you should probably buy one of those passes for the nighttime entries (like after 5pm or something). they sometimes hold parties at the exhibits (we got a flyer to go clubbing in one of the countries' buildings), some of the buildings look prettier (u.k. lights up apparently), and the sun won't bother you as much. if you DO go in during the day, bring one of those portable little chairs to sit on while you're in line. also, don't bring any water/liquids. it's like airport security, you can't go in with anything over a few ounces. you *can* bring food though, so if you don't feel like sampling the food courts, go ahead and bring a picnic or whatever. also, be wary of a slight culture shock. as i said before, many people are very pushy. they don't care if you're just bending down to pick something up that you dropped, they WILL cut and shove their way into any space they can find. wheelchairs can hit the backs of your legs if you're standing near them (i had a few bad scrapes from an old lady who didn't really care about hurting people). and hygiene is... questionable sometimes. i saw a child and middle-aged man peeing (or worse, but i didn't care to examine closer) into a flower pot about 10 feet away from a bathroom with no line. it was uh... quite disturbing to me to say the least. oh, did i mention there was a food court right across the street from that? yeaaah...
but i digress. i'm back now, and hopefully my fanfiction muse will be up and running again. :D
(oh and btw, update on sharks: they got swept while i left the country! 4-0 by the chicago blackhawks. the stanley cup finals are on now, chicago blackhawks vs. philadelphia flyers, chicago's leading 3-2. good luck to them. and next year for the sharks!)