(no subject)
Hey everybody!
So if you don’t know already, I’m in China!
This place is CRAZY, I’m still in the process of adjustment, but I’m really enjoying my stay here. Heather has been showing me around the city. So far, I’ve been to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, but I have yet to see Mao’s body. I’ve bought tons of movies for a grand total of less than 20 dollars, including 4 seasons of Scrubs and the whole series of Six Feet Under. The food is really amazing, and the alcohol sucks. There is this drink called “Er Gou Tou”, it is about 56%, so one shot gets you incredibly messed up (Even you Owen, about 50 Ml is a bottle of Jack, no joke). There is a counterfit market about a block away from my school and they have everything you can think of, from electronics to clothes, to photoshopped posters of fruit. I bought a really nice jacket, Sony DJ headphones and speakers for about 300 Kuai (35 dollars, normally about 500 dollars).
After about a week in Beijing, I decided to go visit Nick in Huai’an. He lives in what is considered a small town, but has a bigger population than the state of Oregon. For a place with so many people, it was pretty boring, but it was good to see Nick again. On my first day there we went to this market and bought some toys. Toys here are WAY cooler than in the US. I bought a Street Sweeper that lights up and blasts techno music. Nick bought a camel with an Arab on top of it with an electric guitar blasting “Crazy Frog”. We spent about 5 bucks on both. Later we went to the Grand Canal. This used to be a sign of China’s greatness. It was built in the 6th century and renovated at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty (1368 A.D.). Unfortunately, the canal is now a shithole. It’s really disgusting, much like most water sources of China.
After a day of Huai’an, Nick and I traveled on bus to Nanjing, one of the 4 famous capitals of China. This place was amazing, and I am definitely going back when I get a chance. We went to see the old Ming walls, and then visited the mausoleum of Sun Yat-Sen, the father of Modern China. Most of my time spent researching China was devoted to this man, and it was amazing to see how much of an impression he left on China, although I think he would be incredibly pissed if he saw how this country turned out. Mao kinda fucked up, BIG time. If any of you come here, you will see, Mao fucked up. There is no dancing around it. With the Cultural Revolution and the Great Leap Forward combined he is responsible for over 130 million deaths. Sure, he did good, but I mean, Hitler industrialized an entire country, but we hate him more than Mao. I don’t get it. Sorry, Modern China just really pisses me off.
ANYWAY…..
It is amazing to see how little China cares about its history. After seeing Sun Yat-Sen, we went the Tomb of the first Ming Emperor, Zhu Yuanzheng. It was like a mini palace, but we wouldn’t know what it looked like, seeing as how it was dark outside. Nobody was even around to stop us. Hell, guys were riding their dirtbikes up and down Sun Yat-Sen’s Mausoleum, it was incredibly depressing. Later that night we went out to eat and I guess some guy wanted to practice his English, cause he looked at us and just yelled ‘3!’. That’s right, the number 3, we didn’t really know how to respond.
So that’s basically my stay so far, I’m back in Beijing and my Chinese is really improving. I have a Japanese roommate who doesn’t speak English, so our only way to communicate is Chinese, it’s working out great so far. I’ve posted some pictures. Here is the URL:
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/konsuelo_m
Some things to know:
-As the picture shows, people have a very optimistic view of AIDS
-People aren’t afraid to stop what they are doing and stare at you. It’s incredibly annoying, but they’re ok with it. One of the many cultural differences
-Chinese are above food touching their hands, but not peeing in the middle of the sidewalk.
So if you don’t know already, I’m in China!
This place is CRAZY, I’m still in the process of adjustment, but I’m really enjoying my stay here. Heather has been showing me around the city. So far, I’ve been to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, but I have yet to see Mao’s body. I’ve bought tons of movies for a grand total of less than 20 dollars, including 4 seasons of Scrubs and the whole series of Six Feet Under. The food is really amazing, and the alcohol sucks. There is this drink called “Er Gou Tou”, it is about 56%, so one shot gets you incredibly messed up (Even you Owen, about 50 Ml is a bottle of Jack, no joke). There is a counterfit market about a block away from my school and they have everything you can think of, from electronics to clothes, to photoshopped posters of fruit. I bought a really nice jacket, Sony DJ headphones and speakers for about 300 Kuai (35 dollars, normally about 500 dollars).
After about a week in Beijing, I decided to go visit Nick in Huai’an. He lives in what is considered a small town, but has a bigger population than the state of Oregon. For a place with so many people, it was pretty boring, but it was good to see Nick again. On my first day there we went to this market and bought some toys. Toys here are WAY cooler than in the US. I bought a Street Sweeper that lights up and blasts techno music. Nick bought a camel with an Arab on top of it with an electric guitar blasting “Crazy Frog”. We spent about 5 bucks on both. Later we went to the Grand Canal. This used to be a sign of China’s greatness. It was built in the 6th century and renovated at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty (1368 A.D.). Unfortunately, the canal is now a shithole. It’s really disgusting, much like most water sources of China.
After a day of Huai’an, Nick and I traveled on bus to Nanjing, one of the 4 famous capitals of China. This place was amazing, and I am definitely going back when I get a chance. We went to see the old Ming walls, and then visited the mausoleum of Sun Yat-Sen, the father of Modern China. Most of my time spent researching China was devoted to this man, and it was amazing to see how much of an impression he left on China, although I think he would be incredibly pissed if he saw how this country turned out. Mao kinda fucked up, BIG time. If any of you come here, you will see, Mao fucked up. There is no dancing around it. With the Cultural Revolution and the Great Leap Forward combined he is responsible for over 130 million deaths. Sure, he did good, but I mean, Hitler industrialized an entire country, but we hate him more than Mao. I don’t get it. Sorry, Modern China just really pisses me off.
ANYWAY…..
It is amazing to see how little China cares about its history. After seeing Sun Yat-Sen, we went the Tomb of the first Ming Emperor, Zhu Yuanzheng. It was like a mini palace, but we wouldn’t know what it looked like, seeing as how it was dark outside. Nobody was even around to stop us. Hell, guys were riding their dirtbikes up and down Sun Yat-Sen’s Mausoleum, it was incredibly depressing. Later that night we went out to eat and I guess some guy wanted to practice his English, cause he looked at us and just yelled ‘3!’. That’s right, the number 3, we didn’t really know how to respond.
So that’s basically my stay so far, I’m back in Beijing and my Chinese is really improving. I have a Japanese roommate who doesn’t speak English, so our only way to communicate is Chinese, it’s working out great so far. I’ve posted some pictures. Here is the URL:
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/konsuelo_m
Some things to know:
-As the picture shows, people have a very optimistic view of AIDS
-People aren’t afraid to stop what they are doing and stare at you. It’s incredibly annoying, but they’re ok with it. One of the many cultural differences
-Chinese are above food touching their hands, but not peeing in the middle of the sidewalk.