So tomorrow we have our midterm. Which means that last night we watched Nip/Tuck and today I will be studying/sleeping/shopping. Those things not in the right order, by the way.
After tomorrow's midterm, we (18 of us) will be leaving to go to Qingdao, home of Qingdao beer. Olympic sailing also took place in Qingdao...but I'm going for the beer.
OK, Rewind:
At IES we have our 2 week long trip, then 2 long weekends as well. The first long weekend, they pay for our travel costs and plan our trips(that is this weekend). We had 5 places to choose from ranging from cool (Qingdao) to awful (everything else). So why didn't everyone sign up to go to Qingdao, you might ask?
Well - everyone wanted to go to Qingdao, and the intelligent way to go about choosing who would go would've been a lottery. But of course IES isn't that logical, so what they do instead is post 5 sign up sheets and have people literally run down the hall when classes let out, and sign their names. Think of it like running of the bulls, but in a more narrow hall and the bulls are your classmates.
Moral of the story: I run fast.
So I will be gone, from Thusrday evening to Monday morning, hopefully drinking lots and lots of beer.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
It's that time again: There's a Hare in My Dish! and other food pictures...
This is the best crab I have ever had. It was so good, infact, I called my mother to gloat about it. While I was eating it. It was retaliation for her in-depth email about her birthday meal, which included some insane number of courses, and mentions of foie gras. No lie though, this crab was probably on par with whatever she ate that night. However, they didn't have any crab crackers to open the legs with...try cracking crab with chopsticks. Just try.
This is chau'r - pieces of goat and fat on a skewer. I really, really dislike chau'r - much to the surprise of others. (Chua'r is one of the most popular foods for IES kids.) Why don't I like chau'r? Interesting fact about me: I dislike the taste of goat and sheep. And please, as much as I love fat, I try not to eat cooked gobs of it off a metal rod.
Who goes to China to eat donuts? Me. Actually - I didn't set out to find them - the donuts found me. And sadly, were mediocre.
Sausage! My favorite snack ever. The sausages are cooked, then schmeared with hot sauce. A better, more deadly snack will be hard to find.
Eel! (For Amberle - it's her favorite)
And then the namesake of the post: this is a picture of the bunny dish that I ordered. No, I did not order it on purpose. Moral of the story: While I like bunny meat, I don't like bunny feet.(hehehe)
The "Real" Beijing
So a couple of weeks ago, I took this picture:
Why yes, that is a baby sleeping in the trunk of a bicycle. Can I say trunk? Whatever; the cart like thing being pulled by the bike. Anyway, it was weird and kinda cute, so I took a photo of it. Now, this baby was being closely watched by his mother, who was selling fruit next to him, so it wasn't like child abuse or anything of the sort.
Flash forward to today:
Emily, Melissa, their Chinese roommates and I went to one of the shopping markets today. Before going to the market, Emily had to stop at the bank. En route, she turns around (I was talking to Emily's roommate) and says "Take that photo! It's like the one you took a couple of weeks ago!" I saw what she was talking about: it was a father sitting on the side of the road, cradling his child. Immediately, I recognized that he was begging for money, in an indirect way. Emily was skepitcal. We came close to them, and saw the sign in front of them, asking for money. We walked on to the bank.
Emily got her money out of the ATM, and we started to walk back, past the beggar and his son, to go to the bus stop. When we passed them, I gave the man 20 kuai. This immediately lead to a discussion between Emily, Melissa and I.
I never give money to homeless people in America. I donate my time to charities, and that's it. Why? Because I feel like in America we have the social systems in place for people to get help. In China, these systems (such as Welfare or homeless shelters) don't really exist. So, my feeling is, if the case seems legit (obvious handicap, parents+kids) I'll give them some money. I don't know why I do it - other than I feel bad.
By luck I was born to my parents; I could've been born to this man, sitting on the side of the street.
I guess I'm bringing this up because it just bugged me and made me sad. China has such a juxtaposition between the haves and haves-not. And by being a Westerner in China, I am even more attuned to how really wealthy I (being a member of my family) am. The BeiWai area doesn't have poor people in it, really. This was the first time I've seen a beggar here in about 2 months. But nonetheless, it was sad to see a man craddling his child, sitting on a sidewalk.
And no, for those who are curious, I didn't take that photo.
Why yes, that is a baby sleeping in the trunk of a bicycle. Can I say trunk? Whatever; the cart like thing being pulled by the bike. Anyway, it was weird and kinda cute, so I took a photo of it. Now, this baby was being closely watched by his mother, who was selling fruit next to him, so it wasn't like child abuse or anything of the sort.Flash forward to today:
Emily, Melissa, their Chinese roommates and I went to one of the shopping markets today. Before going to the market, Emily had to stop at the bank. En route, she turns around (I was talking to Emily's roommate) and says "Take that photo! It's like the one you took a couple of weeks ago!" I saw what she was talking about: it was a father sitting on the side of the road, cradling his child. Immediately, I recognized that he was begging for money, in an indirect way. Emily was skepitcal. We came close to them, and saw the sign in front of them, asking for money. We walked on to the bank.
Emily got her money out of the ATM, and we started to walk back, past the beggar and his son, to go to the bus stop. When we passed them, I gave the man 20 kuai. This immediately lead to a discussion between Emily, Melissa and I.
I never give money to homeless people in America. I donate my time to charities, and that's it. Why? Because I feel like in America we have the social systems in place for people to get help. In China, these systems (such as Welfare or homeless shelters) don't really exist. So, my feeling is, if the case seems legit (obvious handicap, parents+kids) I'll give them some money. I don't know why I do it - other than I feel bad.
By luck I was born to my parents; I could've been born to this man, sitting on the side of the street.
I guess I'm bringing this up because it just bugged me and made me sad. China has such a juxtaposition between the haves and haves-not. And by being a Westerner in China, I am even more attuned to how really wealthy I (being a member of my family) am. The BeiWai area doesn't have poor people in it, really. This was the first time I've seen a beggar here in about 2 months. But nonetheless, it was sad to see a man craddling his child, sitting on a sidewalk.
And no, for those who are curious, I didn't take that photo.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
W-A-T-E-R!
I had a Hellen Keller moment yesterday: someone spoke to me in Chinese, and I understood. Like, I really really understood. (This was like when Hellen Keller got that signing water meant actual water. Anyone get the reference? Anyone?)
Anyway, I finally have internet in my room, but in order to get the internet, I had to go to another building and talk to the tech people. And I did it! I totally understood what was going on! It was AMAZING.
Can I bust out my Chinese all the time now? No. But I am understanding more and more what is going around me.
Yesterday, my roommate was in the room (surprise!). While she was in the room, I was skyping with my friend, Sarah (if any of you have Skype, drop me a comment and I'll give you my username and we can chat!) and talking in Chinese.
Sarah: Whoa! You actually speak Chinese!!
Me: I hate you, do you know that?!
Anyway, I finally have internet in my room, but in order to get the internet, I had to go to another building and talk to the tech people. And I did it! I totally understood what was going on! It was AMAZING.
Can I bust out my Chinese all the time now? No. But I am understanding more and more what is going around me.
Yesterday, my roommate was in the room (surprise!). While she was in the room, I was skyping with my friend, Sarah (if any of you have Skype, drop me a comment and I'll give you my username and we can chat!) and talking in Chinese.
Sarah: Whoa! You actually speak Chinese!!
Me: I hate you, do you know that?!
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Public Transportation
Using a bus in China is a pain. A massive, massive pain. So why do I do it? It costs about 5 cents a way - and that's when I'm on an expensive bus. (Buses range from really cheap (think, no seats) to cheap (air conditioned double decker bus).
On Sunday, Emily and I were on a non-airconditioned double decker bus that was packed full. This is what it was like on the inside of the bus:
It was CRAZY. No - the bus didn't go sideways, FYI, that was just my camera being dumb. And Yes, I was basically sitting on the dashboard. (I can hear you start hyperventilating now, Mom.) What was not caught in the video was when we almost killed a bicyclist, and when we were tailgaiting a Smart Car-esque car.
This was not the same bus we took to the Summer Palace, by the way. That bus was nice, and EMPTY. This bus was enroute to Carrefour, among other destinations.
Carrefour was fine (Emily got to see live prawns swimming in a kiddie pool, which amused her to no end). This was my favorite part:
I don't know if you can tell, but each piece of sushi is individually wrapped. You can pick the pieces that you want, then pay for it that way. AND I didn't even get food poisoning. Score!
On Sunday, Emily and I were on a non-airconditioned double decker bus that was packed full. This is what it was like on the inside of the bus:
It was CRAZY. No - the bus didn't go sideways, FYI, that was just my camera being dumb. And Yes, I was basically sitting on the dashboard. (I can hear you start hyperventilating now, Mom.) What was not caught in the video was when we almost killed a bicyclist, and when we were tailgaiting a Smart Car-esque car.
This was not the same bus we took to the Summer Palace, by the way. That bus was nice, and EMPTY. This bus was enroute to Carrefour, among other destinations.
Carrefour was fine (Emily got to see live prawns swimming in a kiddie pool, which amused her to no end). This was my favorite part:
I don't know if you can tell, but each piece of sushi is individually wrapped. You can pick the pieces that you want, then pay for it that way. AND I didn't even get food poisoning. Score!
Monday, October 13, 2008
I Miss All of You...but Right Now, I Miss Caty the Most
(Caty - move to China. NOW. love, your former roommate)
(to everyone else - Caty is my former roommate from MHC.)
So life with my new roommate is going not as expected...let's leave it at that.
Other news:
The DVD player that I bought 2 weeks ago crapped out. D'oh. And, because I never got a receipt, I couldn't return it. Shit. So yesterday, we went back to the Electronics Market, and I bought a newer, better one, that I can infact return.
Funny (in retrospect) story:
I went to both Walmart and Carrefour to look for new portable DVD players. Walmart had a portable DVD player for 300 RMB, substantially cheaper than others that I have seen - in a market or elsewhere. I wanted to purchase that portable DVD players.
This conversation was in Chinese, obviously.
"I want that one, the 300 RMB one"
"Oh, I am sorry miss, that is all sold out"
"OK...I want the 600 RMB one."
"Oh...that one is all sold out too."
WHAT THE HELL????
Why put DVD players in your display case that are either all sold out, or are all broken???
WHAT THE HEEEELLLL???
The same thing took place at Carrefour, too.
Ugh.
Other, Other News:
We now have internet in our rooms. Scratch that - OTHER people have internet in their rooms. Mine still doesn't work. Le sigh.
Other, Other, Other News:
I am offically going to be in Paris next semester. I know, no big surprise...but still nice to get confirmation.
(to everyone else - Caty is my former roommate from MHC.)
So life with my new roommate is going not as expected...let's leave it at that.
Other news:
The DVD player that I bought 2 weeks ago crapped out. D'oh. And, because I never got a receipt, I couldn't return it. Shit. So yesterday, we went back to the Electronics Market, and I bought a newer, better one, that I can infact return.
Funny (in retrospect) story:
I went to both Walmart and Carrefour to look for new portable DVD players. Walmart had a portable DVD player for 300 RMB, substantially cheaper than others that I have seen - in a market or elsewhere. I wanted to purchase that portable DVD players.
This conversation was in Chinese, obviously.
"I want that one, the 300 RMB one"
"Oh, I am sorry miss, that is all sold out"
"OK...I want the 600 RMB one."
"Oh...that one is all sold out too."
WHAT THE HELL????
Why put DVD players in your display case that are either all sold out, or are all broken???
WHAT THE HEEEELLLL???
The same thing took place at Carrefour, too.
Ugh.
Other, Other News:
We now have internet in our rooms. Scratch that - OTHER people have internet in their rooms. Mine still doesn't work. Le sigh.
Other, Other, Other News:
I am offically going to be in Paris next semester. I know, no big surprise...but still nice to get confirmation.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
The Summer Palace: In Pictures and Film
Pictures from this weekend's trip to the Summer Palace. As in, Emily and I hopped on the bus (it cost about 4 cents to get there. Really.) and spent the morning there. I can't say anything witty about the Summer Palace that hasn't been said before...so enjoy the photos!
...Oh, how somethings never change....
...Oh, how somethings never change....
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