Some mini-adventures and major slackerdom

It seems hard to believe that there's only one week left in February, but here we are. I had a good weekend, kicking of with a rather busy Friday. After class, I went and had lunch in the cafeteria with Martina, then ran to get lunch for Carissa because she was busy getting homework for her 1:30 class done. Once I had dropped off her Muslim burger and gone back to the room, I called the bank because they had called me Thursday night. We were able to establish that an error had occurred in a transaction all the way back in January and that they wanted me to come in as soon as possible to correct it (they had given me too much money in the way of $50 U.S.). I told them that I would start walking over as soon as I hung up the phone because I needed to change over some more money anyway. I had to wait about an hour before I was all done with the bank, at which point I called Kathleen and we agreed to meet to go to a place I can't remember the name of.

We left at 2:30 and got to the district about forty-five minutes later. The area has a lot of paintings, caligraphy and supplies for said artistry. We ended up going into a gallery and looking around, although I got the impression right off that it was going to be expensive. We happened to talk to one of the employees, whose English name is Lily, and she confided that we probably shouldn't spend money in the store. She said they would mark up things for foreigners. After talking for quite some time, she asked if we could be friends and we exchanged phone numbers. If all goes well, Kathleen and I should be meeting her for lunch next Saturday. I'm very excited because she's my age, originally from the Shandong province and very keen to help Kathleen and I learn Chinese better.

Upon leaving the gallery, we went across the street and looked into a few smaller shops. In one of them I spotted some old posters of Mao and other revolutionary things. Kathleen immediately questioned their authenticity but I don't know why. The wear-and-tear plus the dates printed on the paper all scream that they were actually printed in the late 1960's. I ended up getting two that I really liked for 5 kuai a piece. I'm really excited about them, but I have to figure out a way to hang them up without hurting them. Tape is out of the question, but maybe I could use tacks? I may just wait until I get back to the states to hang them up anywhere.

We finished up browsing and decided to head over to Wangfujing to have McDonalds because Kathleen was craving it and to look around for a jacket for me (after I mentioned I might want to get a new one, Kathleen wouldn't let it drop). We hopped on the subway and then accidently got off at the Tien'anmen Square stop. We took a few minutes debating whether or not to just stay there and explore or to go back on the subway and get off at the right stop. Ultimately, we decided to take the subway, because both of us know the Wangfujing area better.

Once at dinner, I realized that I had a really bad sense of time....it was about 7:45 and I was supposed to be back by then preparing to talk to mom. McDonald's was pretty yummy anyway and since it was clear that there was no way I could get back in time to talk on-line, we proceeded to take our time and relax at dinner and then explore a little bit. One note of sadness in the day, while we were eating, I noticed a man who wasn't dressed very well and was kind of dirty. When another group of diners left, he quickly moved over to their table and began eating what they had left behind. I suddenly wished I hadn't finished all of my food. When we got up to leave, I mentioned him to Kathleen and she asked if we should buy him a sandwich. We agreed to not do that because we weren't sure whether or not that would embarass him and from my understanding, it's possible that embarassment would be considered a million times worse than even the worst kind of starvation. I still felt uncomfortable not doing anything, but since I didn't know what to do, we just left.

We looked in a few stores, but since I really wasn't looking for anything and was pretty sure I didn't want to buy anything I really didn't pay much attention to the things. After poking around in a bookstore, we decided to come back to UIBE. While returning, Kathleen got a call from Gary and we went to hang out with him, which involved a trip to the dvd store to buy some things to watch. We then watched a Korean movie whose English title was Tell Me Something. It was a pretty good thriller and I look forward to watching some more foreign films. I finally turned in around 2 a.m., very tired but very happy.

Saturday was pretty relaxed. I went to lunch with Kathleen and Gary, then came back to the room and did laundry, then worked on some homework for a little bit. Then Kathleen called me and I went shopping with her for an outfit for her to wear to the rave. I had decided not to go to the rave because it was 150 kuai for a ticket, plus transportation, plus an outfit but a large contingency from TBC did go. We managed to find some really good pieces to make a fun outfit and a few stores that seem to be very inexpensive. We then had dinner and came back so that Kathleen could get ready for the night. I read for a little bit then went to the lounge and ended up messing around on the computer for a few hours, not going to bed until 3 a.m.

As for today, I really haven't done to much. I went to lunch with Father Gene and a few other TBCers to discuss the Yunnan trip and what changes we would suggest for next year. Then I came back and did some more reading for class, fell asleep and now I'm doing this. Actually, I should probably get back to doing homework or call my tutor, since I keep putting that off. Later!

gotta love field trips

So, I didn't end up going to the flag raising. We decided to delay a week because so many other people have to go for a class and we kind of just want to not run into TBCers. However, Kathleen and I did go with Martina and her host student to the capital museum, which is about an hour away from campus by way of subway. It costs nothing, but you have to reserve tickets online ahead of time, otherwise you can't get in. It was a lot of fun to walk around and look at all of the artifacts. Plus, you could take pictures of pretty much everything; you just couldn't use a flash. I hope to go back because it's huge and we could only spend a few hours there because of a mandatory meeting at two. Upon returning to campus, I found out that my class was not really cancelled and that I had to basically run to class. Luckily, no one knew until we were all already late for class.

Then today my film class had a field trip to the museum of chinese cinema history. I really enjoyed this museum as well, although I dont necessarily get a whole lot out of it because there is much more in Chinese than there is in English to explain exhibits. Still, the costumes they had were pretty awesome and we did get to see about fifteen minutes of an imax show for free (the show is supposed to cost 50rmb). From visiting these two museums and from my classes, I'm finally beginning to understand just how omnipresent the government is, or at least seems to be. I'm not sure yet how to best express what I'm experiencing and witnessing. All I can say right now is it's unlike anything I've ever known and I'm glad that I chose to come here because it really is eye-opening. I think deciding to study abroad in China is one of my best choices so far.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I'm planning to go to the art market with Kathleen. And then on Saturday I'm supposed to be going to the dirt market with Adriane. I'm not a hundred percent sure about what either of these markets have, but I'm excited to explore. Next weekend is our Great Wall trip too. :)

It snowed again today and I remembered to take a picture of it this time. I think it's kind of unusual for it to snow three days in a row. Granted, it's not much more than an inch but precipitation here isn't exactly a common occurance, especially snow. Although I've been enjoying it, I hope it starts to warm up soon because it's bitter outside and walking to and from class always leaves me pretty much numb. I guess spring will be here soon enough. I should probably try to go to bed early tonight because I've been so tired lately. Later!

Nonevents and a few more photos

So, I'm including some more pictures at the end of this post. My weekend was uneventful, largely because I chose to do nothing but eat, read, sleep and do a little laundry. Socialization was kept rather low, but I think I really needed to be a recluse. I felt much refreshed when Monday rolled around. Of course, now I'm tired again. Haha. I had my rough day today, three classes with just about an hour and half break. Chinese was fantastic, as per usual, although I'm really going to need to study to be able to keep up. Cultural Revolution was good again and International Business was better than expected because we ended up watching a movie. I'm not exactly sure how the movie, which is about the rise of communism and the cultural revolution, ties back into international business, but it's really interesting and I'm sure he'll explain later.

Okay, so I don't really know how to format very well and the pictures are just going where they want. This one is of shopping buildings at Wanfujing.

And back to what I was going to say...I was very surprised to walk out of my building this morning to find it snowing. I was shocked and excited and angry all at the same time. The only reason angry factors in is because I swear someone told me that it doesn't snow at all in Beijing. Whoever that was lied. Haha. Oh well, it was pretty, although kind of dingy. Apparently, it may snow tomorrow as well, which would be inconvenient. I'm tentatively planning to go to Tienanmen Square tomorrow morning for the flag raising at 7 a.m. with my friend Kathleen. Afterwards, we want to meet up with Martina and her host student to go to the Capital Museum. Snow would make it significantly colder. I hope we still go though, because my class has been cancelled tomorrow so I could actually go to bed early. It was cancelled because we have a meeting at two, so we'd still have a timeframe to adhere to but it would still work out pretty well. Here's hoping!! I think that's all for now, except photo explanations. Later!



The scorpions at the night market.....don't they look delicious? (In the upper left, you can also see the silk worms.)










Photo evidence that I actually ate scorpion. Taste's just like a french fry.










Next course: SILK WORMS!!!
(I really don't recommend these.)








And, last but not least, snake. I've secretly wanted to try it for a very long time now....ever since a trip to Texas and a post card about rattlesnake soup. :)

Some pictures for your enjoyment

Here are a couple of pics from my first few days in Beijing. They loaded backwards...but you get the idea.

This is at Tienamen Square. See Chairman Mao?

One of the pagodas near Tienamen.

My first meal in Beijing that wasn't provided by TBC. Beef noodles....it's one of my favorites. :-)

The resident goats and my first picture in Beijing. The reason these goats are on campus is because there are more females than males on campus and they help create balance. If there were more males than females, there would be rabbits, or so I've been told. I'll post more pictures soon, but right now they don't seem to want to load.

One week done...incredible

I've made it through my first week of classes. I can't believe it. And tomorrow will be the one month mark for my stay here in Beijing. I feel like I've been here for longer and at the same time not nearly as long. I'm looking forward to when classes resume for the main campus because right now the campus is pretty empty except for us TBCers. It's Friday night and I'm probably staying in because I'm so wiped out. It's only 9 p.m. and I feel like I could pass out now and sleep for days.

I finally had my last class yesterday, and I'm happy to say that I really really like four of my five classes. I'm very excited for this last one; it's discovering china through film and we started off by watching a film clip in class. The subtitles sucked, but it was very interesting. Plus we get to take a field trip to a history of film museum, hopefully next week. This might possibly be the best semester that I've ever had. :-)

I was such a little nerd today. After class and lunch, I went to the library and did homework for about two hours. Then I went on facebook using the library computer and was finally able to accept friend requests and easily navigate the pages. I was excited about that because that means I wont be suspending my account and that periodically, I'll actually be able to respond to people. The library closed at 5, so I got kicked out, came back to the dorm for a bit then went to dinner with Christina and Becky. We went to the green writing restaurant and I got an awesome dish of noodles. Then I came back and got my computer and came down here to talk to my mom. Now I'm typing this up, so I guess that about sums up my day. I think I'm going to try to figure out how to post some pics from China on here. Later.

Yay for the intellectuals

Today was very nice. I didn't have class until 1:30 p.m. My alarm went off at 9 but I didn't actually get up until 10, showered and did my laundry. I still have some left, but at least I got my jeans done and one of my hoodies and my fleece. Now I just have to wait for them to dry and either do another load or do the rest by hand. Then I read for a little bit and went to get lunch. I went to one of the food stands and got a Muslim burger and I got a Sprite from the convenience store a little ways down from the stand. I purposely went early so that I could have time to just dawdle if I wanted or to read some more. I ended up sitting on a bench near my class building and reading outside for a half hour. It was a little windy though, and by the end I was happy to head into the building for class.

I LOVE the book I'm reading right now. It's a history of China, but it's so interesting. I'm not even in modern times yet. I'm in the early A.D. era, right after the Han Dynasty. I wish that in America I had had more opportunities to study Eastern culture and history, but it seems that they skim over it for the most part. At least I'm getting to learn about it here. Today I had my history of Chinese religions class. I'm pretty excited about it. We're going to be covering a lot of material, from the religions that were born here to Western religions and their presence here. Plus, our professor has tentatively planned quite a few field trips to religious places in the area. I really hope that we get to do at least a few of them. The one down side to this class is probably the oral presentation that we all have to do. That in and of itself isn't necessarily terrible, but the killer detail is that he'd like each presentation to be about 30 minutes long. That's considerably longer than anything I've ever had in the way of a presentation. FUCK! I've got some time though. One pair has to go next week. I definitely don't envy them.

Tomorrow I have my last first class. It's 'Discovering China through Film' and I'm cautiously optimistic about it. So far, so good really. I don't think there's ever been a semester where I've liked more than one or two classes. I've already got that beat because I like Chinese, Cultural Revolution, and Chinese religions. China through Film would just be icing on the cake. I'm really excited to see how the rest of the semester develops. It's very different from classes at home. Four of my classes only meet 13 times the whole semester. Now that we've had the first class, only 12 more until finals. It's bizarre for me to think of it that way. Still, lots of exciting stuff to look forward to. A few of us are already tentatively planning a trip to the Great Wall in a few weekends. Actually, we're planning two; the first to the touristy area and then once it's nice weather out, the second to a more local area of the wall. This weekend I'll probably just stay in I think, and try and get a handle on homework.

Well, I think that's about it for this post. For anyone who's curious, I'll be back in the states in 97 days. Haha....yes I have a count down. But it's not because I'm anxious to get back. I mean, I do miss home, but I feel that being aware of how much time I have left here will help me spend that time more wisely. Anyway, I think I'm gonna go. Maybe read some more, or see if Becka ever gets her ass online. lol Later!

And now, getting into the daily grind

Today was kind of a long day, but I really enjoyed it. I had my back-to-back chinese classes from 8 until 12:20 p.m. I then went and grabbed lunch with some classmates over at the jiaozi baozi place. I wish I knew the real names of the places we ate, but for now I'll have to settle for the nicknames we use. I think tomorrow I'm trying the noodle place next to jiaozi baozi or maybe I'll go back to hole-in-the-wall. After quickly eating my plate of jiaozi (dumplings) I went back to the dorm to switch books for my afternoon classes.

I had a 1:30 p.m. class, China's Cultural Revolution. I'm really excited about it both for the content and the professor. Our professor is a French woman who lives, teaches and does research in Shanghai, but she flies out to Beijing once a week to come and teach this class and one other one for TBC. She's fantastic and very enthusiastic about the subject. The technology in the room didn't seem to want to work right, so she ended class early and I went over to the library. I found Connor and asked him what he would recommend to read if one is trying to brush up on Chinese history, since I have pretty much no foundation. He gave me a book almost immediately and suggested another one after I finish the first. I also found the literature section and picked up an autobiography about a man who lived through the revolution. I'm hoping to finish both these books by the end of the week.

The class that followed I can't say that I'm really all that excited for. It's international business, and I had high hopes for it, but I think it's going to be an epic fail. I, and half the class, nearly fell asleep several times. The professor speaks quietly and I'm not sure exactly what point he's trying to make half the time. I'll wait to pass absolute judgement until next week's class but I think this one is a dud. It's one redeeming quality is that he let us out early today and it seems that he tends to do that regularly. I can accept boring if I get out of it earlier than the three hours allotted to it.

Afterwards Gina, Gary and I went to dinner at the restaurant down the street from Muslim burgers. I got a nice big bowl of spicy noodles for eight kuai. :) It was delicious! Then we walked around for a bit and headed back to campus. The weather today was fantastic. During the warmest part of the day I was happy with just a hoodie and this evening it cooled off, but it was almost too warm for a coat to be completely comfortable. I'm really looking forward to warm weather, and at this rate, I could be going to class in just a tee by early March!

Tomorrow's looking like it's going to be a good day. My first class is at 1:30 p.m. so my plan is to get up around 8:30 or 9 and get laundry done, do some more reading, go to lunch then go to class. I have history of religions and I'm cautiously optimistic. Rumors are that it's a good class and I hope they hold true. I'm excited to not have to get up for an 8 a.m. class and after talking to the professor today, that's the last time I'll have to do that. Granted, I will usually have class at 9:50 a.m. which isn't exactly late, but it most certainly isn't early. It'll be very nice. And now, I think I'll get back to my reading. Later!

First day of classes & I'm exhausted already

I had my first classes today. Actually I only had Chinese today, but because I want to switch from regular part two to intensive beginner, I got to sit through nearly four and a half hours of class. I get to do the same tomorrow. Lucky me. It's really not that bad, but it does make for a long morning. And I may have to do the same thing three days a week until I can officially make the change. Granted, that change will be in about two weeks, but in the mean time it could make things difficult. I really like my professor though, so I think I can handle it. We shall see. Tonight, after I finish up posting to my blogs and fighting with facebook, I need to study because in the class I'm trying to switch out of, we have a dictation. I'm only still trying in this class because I'm not one hundred percent sure I'll be able to switch and I don't want to fall behind more than I already am. I suppose only time will tell. For now, just cross your fingers for me.

After class, I went to lunch with some others to a little hole in the wall out of west gate. It was pretty good - 9 kuai for a nice plate of chicken chow mein. Then I came back to the dorm and discovered that the power was out, which made using the bathroom interesting because it has no windows. Then I read a chapter in my pleasure reading book and passed out for about two hours. It was a much-needed rest but I had only intended to sleep for one hour. That's what I get for failing to turn my alarm on. I'm hoping for a better night's sleep than last night. I don't know what got into me but I couldn't sleep very well. I didn't actually go to bed until almost two and then I felt like I only slept for a couple hours at a time until I woke up about fifteen minutes before my alarm went off at 7 a.m. It kind of really sucked and I'm really feeling it now. I hope I don't fall asleep studying! lol

Once I woke up, the power was still out so I went over to the library to get my card and use the wireless for a little bit to check e-mail, send a paper and mess around for a bit. All of this I did successfully, and even ran into Tiffany and made plans for dinner, then headed back to the dorm. Just as I was walking up the stairs, the power came back on, which made me very happy. I stopped by J.P.'s room and borrowed the green book to copy vocab for the dictation tomorrow and then went to copy it. After returning the book, I listened to music and played sudoku for a bit. At 6:30, I got a call from Tiffany saying she had almost forgot to call me and that she had already headed out to eat. She told me where they were headed and I caught up. It was nice and chill, just Casey, Meredith, Gary, Tiffany and me. I ended up splitting Kungpow chicken and a spicy eggplant dish with Mer and Casey. It was definitely more than enough for the three of us, which was great because splitting the price meant it was only about 8 kuai a piece. :) I love eating in China. Haha, we joke periodically that going back to the states is going to be painful because everything is going to seem SO expensive. That's a long way off though so I wont worry about it.

When I got back after dinner I grabbed my laptop and went to the downstairs lounge, where I can use an ethernet cable to connect to the network instead of just relying on the wireless, which doesn't seem to like my computer very much. It was exciting because it was the first time I was able to use Skype to talk to my mom. I don't think I ever gone so long without actually hearing her voice before. I just realized that right now and that seems very weird, but it's true and I think the same goes for my sister. Almost a whole month without actually speaking with them and hearing their voices. And I think that's really special. I hear some of the other TBCers talk about their parents and their siblings and I really am beginning to see just how unique our family's relationship is. It makes me very thankful for it.

Before I finish up here, just as a side note to everyone - I think I'm going to have to give up on facebook as a means of communication. I can see people's posts, read my inbox, see my requests but responding is pretty much impossible. Actually, accepting any requests at all is out of the question at this point. Occasionally I get lucky and can respond to a post....I think if answered one so far and I don't remember with my inbox. I'm seriously considering just suspending my account until I get to the states. I'll wait a few more days and see if something miraculously changes, but I doubt it. But, anyway, that means if you really need me to respond to something, PLEASE send via e-mail! Either mmwindspirit56@yahoo.com or mkmay@loyola.edu are working very well and I can get back to you in about 24 hours. Alright, thanks! I'll write again soon, and with a little luck I may be able to post some pics here. :)

My trip in Yunnan...unabridged

This is the Yunnan trip post. Warning: It will be long, as it is covering basically 15 days of my life. Thank God for the itinerary, because, naturally I barely wrote a word during the whole trip about the experience. I must do better in the future. I hope I’m able to express here how amazing this trip was. Here goes nothing.

Day 1

We leave TBC early – the buses pull out a few minutes past 5:30 a.m. for the airport. We arrive, check in and wait. Because there are ninety-six of us, we’re split into groups A and B. The segregation starts early. Although we are all going to Kunming, we are on separate flights and once in Kunming, separate buses. The flight is uneventful and the bus ride is a bit long, thanks to traffic, but otherwise fine. In each area we visit, we have a local tour guide for each of the two buses in group B. I like ours – he’s very attractive. His accent ruins it for me though. It’s cute in the way little kids are cute. When we arrive at the hotel, we must grab our luggage from a truck that was used specifically for the purpose of transporting it and then check in. I am rooming with Tiffany for the whole trip. She’s Chinese by heritage, American by birth and from what I can tell so far, she’s a good person to room with. Lucky us, we end up with a room on the seventh floor, which is the top floor of the hotel. We’re adventurous and decide to take the stairs up, luggage in tow. About two flights up, we realize that it was not our best idea. Thankfully, more than a few of the guys are feeling chivalrous and offer to carry our larger bags up for us. We immediately take them up on it.

After settling in, Tiffany and I meet up with a few of the others who are on our bus and venture out for lunch. A group of about nine of us end up stopping at a Korean restaurant. I get some type of vegetable sushi. We’re all very thankful for picture menus since most of us know very little if any Chinese. Before we know it, we’re very nearly running late for a mandatory lecture so we pay the bill and hurry back down the street to our hotel. The lecture, in my opinion, is terrible. It is largely pictures shown in a powerpoint with brief descriptions by Professor Yang Fuquan who is more than likely brilliant. However, it doesn’t matter much since his English is very poor. I feel bored and my mind wanders almost the entire time. I feel guilty because I think he had a lot to tell us but just couldn’t really get it across. The room the lecture is held in is downright freezing though, and I’m glad when it’s finally over.

Afterward, we have free time for a few hours so a group of us decides to try and find the bird and flower market. We walk for nearly an hour and have no luck but we come across some other market and explore that instead. There is a precocious little boy who approaches us and asks, in Chinese, whether we are Chinese or American. This being one of the few things I can actually understand, I happily respond that we are American, to which he reacts by slapping his forehead and groaning. Sydney asks for a photo with him, which he agrees to grudgingly. The photo itself is very comical because of his expression. The rest of the time in the market, he finds us, yells, and then runs away. I think he’s very amused. On the way back from the market, we stop in a bakery to get some snacks, since it seems that no one is very hungry but we are not sure when we will have time again to eat. I get a danish and some bread with cheese on it. We then head back to the hotel to meet up with everyone else. At 6:30 p.m. we leave to see the Dynamic Yunnan Show, which is described as “a large scale song and dance performance featuring the dance traditions of different ethnic minority groups”.

We arrive and are seated with plenty of time to spare. It will be a two hour show so I decide to use the bathroom. Much to my dismay, all of the facilities are holes in the floor. I try to suck it up and use them anyway but cannot. I’m frustrated and embarrassed, but return to my seat because the show will be starting soon.

The show itself is amazing. The two hours fly by and I wish that I could watch more. The dancers are fantastic and the costumes are all so different and colorful. I am still happy when it is over though; I really need to pee. Once back at the hotel, I thank God for Western toilets. J Tiffany and I settle down early because instead of leaving at 5:30 a.m. the next morning, we are now leaving at 5:00 a.m. We talk about our first impressions of people and figure out our plans for the morning, although I shower the night before to make coordinating bathroom usage easier, then we go to sleep.

Day 2

We wake up bright and early. I’m glad that I was able to sleep straight through the night, even if it was only about five hours. We check out and get on the bus. Most fall asleep during the ride but I can’t. I just watch the scenery go by instead. We arrive at the airport, check luggage, go through security and then wait. Apparently, instead of being an hour earlier, our flight is forty minutes later than anticipated. We sit around and talk. Some people get food, but I don’t want to pay airport prices and we have been told we will be fed on the flight, even though it’s only an hour long. I decide to use the bathroom and take nearly a half hour doing so because it is the hole in the floor again and I am having serious mental block. I hate myself for it and can only hope that I will not be doing this the whole trip because I will either rupture my bladder or have an accident.

We board the plane, and I almost immediately fall asleep. I wake up when they announce that we are beginning our final descent. I wonder if I have missed breakfast, but discover later that no, in fact we were not served anything except a drink and some altitude sickness pills. We land in Zhongdian, which is approximately 9,900 feet above sea level. We deplane, pick up our luggage and board buses to go to Tendol-Gyalzur Orphanage. It is a short ride and very pretty too. We go into the orphanage and listen to one of the teachers talk about the place. She once was an orphan there. Fanna, our tour guide, expands on the teacher’s lecture for us and then we ask some questions. We find out that the orphans range in age from 4 to 23. Their parents have either died or abandoned them. The children then perform a few songs and dances for us. The dances are very good, especially the ones where the boys dance. The boys seem to get more exciting choreography than the girls and they do some incredible kicks. Then we are asked to perform. Nobody has anything ready but luckily Meredith has a song that she sings. It’s quite beautiful, but haunting and her voice is very good. Afterwards, we have about an hour or so to play with the orphans. I end up playing jump rope with some TBCers and about five of the orphan girls. It’s a lot of fun but I get winded very easily, as do the other TBCers. We decide to blame it on the altitude.

All too soon the announcement comes, we have to leave. We reluctantly board the buses and head off to the hotel for check-in. We arrive at the hotel and find out that not all of the rooms are ready so we leave our luggage in the hotel lobby under the watchful eye of the desk staff and head off to lunch. I feel exhausted and am having trouble catching my breath. I realize that I have not eaten all day. I tell Father Gene that I’m not feeling so great and he insists on making sure that I have a good meal at a place where I can sit down. We eat with Lara y Lara y Yamil. We all try Yak beef, which is delicious and Yak cheese, which is interesting. Overall, the meal is good although it takes longer than we had hoped, so we give Father Gene our money so we can explore for a few minutes while he pays the bill. We then hurry back to the buses which take us to the hotel. We check in, drop off luggage, reboard the buses and we are off to Dabao Temple.

I am unhappy when I see that we must climb steps up a rather steep hill, as I am still not breathing well. I take my time and a few others stick with me, which makes me feel better. Once we get up the hill I am glad I did it. The temple is simple but pretty in its simplicity. Some people make prayer flags, but I play with a rambunctious kitten instead. He’s dirty and scruffy but SO cute. I decide to head back down a bit early, just in case I need to take a break on the way. I end up walking with Father Gene and Sydney and a few other girls back towards the buses. We pass a very ornate house on the way. The man who owns the house notices us staring and invites us in to look around. We accept and go into the family room, which has very intricate wood carvings all over its walls. It is evident that the man is very proud of his house. He practically glows as we marvel over everything. He invites us several times to stay and eat with his family but we politely decline: we have a bus to catch. We leave and make it back to the bus in plenty of time. I immediately get on the bus but others hang around outside because it is so warm. There is a minor stampede of sheep that go by the buses and I’m glad that I’m inside the bus. Everyone gets on and we drive to the Hongpo village to have appetizers and dinner with local families.

Once at the village, we try yak butter tea. It’s not bad, but I don’t think I will go out of my way to have it again. Our hosts are very gracious to us and keep refilling anything that gets empty. My favorite thing ends up being a powder that one mixes with the yak butter tea. When mixed together, they taste like Cheerios. In between appetizers and the actual meal, Tiffany asks if any other females need to use the bathroom. A few of us do, so we are all led by one of the girls to a giant field, nature’s bathroom. I immediately regret saying I have to go. I go back to the house without having done anything. When the meal is over, another girl, Gabrielle, has to go and I volunteer to show her. I confide that I couldn’t go before and she tells me to try again because I obviously have to and I’ll feel better if I do. I try again, but a pig approaches me while my pants are down. I quickly pull them up and casually walk away. The pig follows. I tell Gabrielle and she tells me to try again, she’ll distract the pig. So I go off to a different area, and am finally able to relieve myself after much too much of a fuss. We arrive back to the house just in time to find seats and watch the village youth perform for us. A small group of us, myself included, sing a song for them and another small group shows an Indian dance. We then try a few of the traditional dances. I’m sure we look quite ridiculous. All too soon, it is time for us to leave. We walk down the road to where the buses are and I happen to look up and notice all of the stars. I don’t think I’ve seen so many in all of my life. It makes me feel happy. I see Orion’s belt and smile. It’s the one constellation that I can easily identify. We get on the buses and drive back to the hotel. Tiffany and I talk over the day, I shower and we go to bed. Tomorrow is not nearly as early a morning as today, but 7:00 a.m. is still pretty early.

Day 3

We get up, pack up and head down to breakfast. I’m not used to the way breakfast is had here. There isn’t anything really that I would call breakfast food. Still, they have some tasty rolls and hot juice. That is another thing that I’m not used to at all. Every beverage is hot or room temperature. It is really quite a challenge to find a cold drink. I hand in our room key to Linda for check out and we again get on the buses and head off to Songtsam Monastery. The monastery is huge! And there are lots of steps involved in getting to it. Apparently the surrounding village has been basically absorbed by the monastery as it expanded. Now only monks live there. When all of the monks are in residence, they number over 700. At the time that we visit, there are only about 100. It is the Chinese New Year and the monks are allowed to go home to celebrate with their families. It is interesting to learn that the monks do not have to stay at the monastery as long as they have a reason for leaving, the most common example being that a monk’s family is struggling and needs his help to increase income. As we exit the village, we see that some locals have set up souvenir stands. I am amused by the fact that there is a yak you can ride for a fee, like the pony rides they have at carnivals and such. A few people buy prayer flags from the stands. Then we’re off again, this time to Tiger Leaping Gorge.

When we arrive, we are given just about an hour and a half to “explore”. There is a path to follow and the group I walk with takes its time, taking pictures and whatnot. We later learn that this may have not been the best idea because we only have a little time at the very end of the path, which is the best part really. Plus we have to hustle back, although everyone ends up running over the time limit. Once back at the buses, we drive to Lijiang, a three hour bus ride. It’s actually nearly a half hour shorter than that, thanks to our wonderful bus driver and his mad skills. Now if only he would lay off the horn a little bit, I would appreciate him a whole lot more.

We arrive, check in and go to put our stuff down in the room. I marvel at our door. Tiffany’s and my room is the first door up a flight of stairs, so there is a ledge to get into the room. It’s priceless and I’m sure that either Tiff or I or perhaps both of us will fall. We gather, unintentionally, in a rather large group to go to dinner. The ten of us squeeze into a hole-in-the-wall establishment that has fantastic jaozi and baozi and apparently really great noodles. Then we head out to find a bar. We find a bar street and then have that wonderful moment of debate over which one to actually go to. We finally all agree to go to a place that had bongos as their live music. It is a good choice. We all purchase a beer for 15 kuai, and when the bottles actually arrive, they are much larger than we expect. On top of that, we receive four bottles for free because we are “laowai”, foreigners. We then head out to another bar which is more club-like in atmosphere. We take one look at the prices and almost consider leaving again, but we talk to the waitress and she agrees to give us a discount. We dance and drink a little and have lots of fun. I take a lot of candid pictures and a few of them end up coming out very good and the rest…well the rest are in the true spirit of candidness. We go to a third place, just to dance and end up meeting a few other TBCers. We walk back around 10 p.m. which feels early for a lot of us, but we are all pretty tired and tomorrow is another early morning.

Day 4

We wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast and head out to hear a lecture by Guo Dalie on Dongba, the native language of the Naxi people. The lecture itself is more interesting than I anticipate and Dalie reminds me of my grandpa. I feel a little bit homesick because of this. Everything he says must be translated because he doesn’t speak any English. Dongba is a pictographic language and everyone agrees it looks pretty cool. After the lecture we get to make t-shirts with slogans written in Dongba. We can have whatever we’d like, within reason. We can write it in English, our guides will translate it into Chinese and then Guo Dalie will translate it into Dongba for us. I choose the phrase “live the life you love and love the life you live” which turns out to be a challenge to translate. The guides take a good fifteen minutes debating the best way to translate it into Chinese. Luckily, once in Chinese, Guo Dalie has no trouble changing it to be in Dongba. However, when I am painting it onto my t-shirt, I am not paying enough attention and transfer the images wrong. I like the shirt anyway though. When time is up, we go out into the courtyard and take a group picture with Guo Dalie, his wife and our t-shirts. Then we head back to the hotel.

Once back at the hotel, we are allowed some time for lunch. After lunch there are two optional activities, Naxi paper-making or a bike ride/hike to a temple. I decide to do the biking/hiking option. It is fun but a lot of work. My bike is in a very low gear and I have no idea how to change it. Finally half-way through the ride I show it to James, our guide, and he fixes it for me, making me wish that I had told him sooner. The hike is more intense than I expected as it is all uphill on a rather steep grade. But getting to the top makes it so worth it. Every temple we visit is always so still. It’s good for me because it allows me some quiet time which I desperately need when I am constantly around people during this trip. The bike ride back is mildly torturous because I am already beginning to get sore but it is much shorter. We arrive back at the hotel and are told that there will be a scavenger hunt in about ten minutes. I come back down in the allotted time, take one look at the list of things to find for the hunt and promptly decide to drop out. I wander around with a few other rebels who don’t want to participate and then come back to the hotel. I write for a little bit. The first, and last, I have written on the whole trip. I then crawl into bed and pass out for an hour or so. I wake up at 7 p.m. and am very hungry. I am tempted to just stay in bed but I don’t know where my roommate is and am concerned that she wants or needs to get back into the room.

I finally get myself up and head out the door. I come across some returners in the lobby and talk to them for a while. Tiffany turns up and I mention that I have yet to eat. She insists that she will come with me although she has already eaten. Mike, a returner, and Rich also decide to come along because they are hungry again. We find a place not too far away and order what turns out to be a soup of sorts where all of the ingredients are added right in front of us. It’s really good and only 10 kuai. Mike receives a call from a fellow returner and we head over to the bars. Tiffany considers heading home, but we convince her to come out with us. We go to a smaller bar than the night before where basically all of the returners and a few other individuals have congregated. At the bar Tiffany asks about my tattoos and I begin to show her, but naturally everyone is curious so I basically end up showing the entire bar my tattoos. Everyone is impressed and Matt, another TBCer, asks if I would consider getting another one because he’d like to get another one while in China and wants a tattoo buddy. I also draw the attention of our waiter who has a few tats of his own. All of his are hand-drawn. I’m pretty sure he did them himself. After another beer or two, we’re ready to head to a bar with dancing. We head over to another bar and are befriended by a few very drunk Asian tourists. One of them buys Dan a drink and tries to buy Yamil a drink. When Yamil refuses to accept he proceeds to offer everyone at the table a cigarette. Eventually he is pulled aside by the police. He returns to say good-bye and then exits the bar. I notice him staring back into the bar at us for quite a few minutes, but he eventually moves along. We turn to playing a dice game until the bar closes at midnight. We go back to the hotel and turn in for the night.

Day 5

We get up, pack up, have breakfast and check out. We have a three hour bus ride to lunch. When we arrive in the area, there isn’t much that appeals to me. Some others are on the same wave length as I am and we head over to the convenience store to purchase some snacks. I buy tomato flavored potato chips, cookies that look like knock-off Oreos and something gelatinous that touts itself as green apple flavor. The potato chips I open as soon as we get back on the bus. I like them and am glad that I didn’t pick the potato flavored potato chips because they are disgusting. I also really enjoy the green apple jellos. I save the knock-offs for later. We then are off to the Shibaoshan Grottoes.

There is a winding path of stairs to get to the grottoes and it takes about a half hour for all of us to walk there. The grottoes are interesting, but I’m not really in the mood to read which makes the experience less-than-meaningful for me because there are signs explaining the significance of every carving. I look at them quickly and am ready to go long before the majority is ready to leave. This works out to my advantage because I can take my time on the way back. Once done with the grottoes, we have the option of riding the buses or hiking down a trail to get to our next hotels. I decide that it would be better to ride the bus – my ankles have both been very swollen pretty much since the beginning of the trip. I get on the bus and decide to try my knock-off Oreos. I am very disappointed. It isn’t that they are bad; it is just that they are nothing like Oreos and that was what I was really craving.

The bus heads off to meet the hiking group at the bottom of the trail. When we are reunited, I am very happy that I decided to go on the bus. Apparently there isn’t much of a trail left in parts and it was somewhat hazardous coming down. After some careful navigation of ditches, we are off to our next destination, Shaxi and the guesthouses. I end up in guest house c. It is very pretty but very rustic. The bathroom is along a little path through a few courtyards and there are no towels or heat. Every bed has an electric blanket, but the outlets in the room I’m in do not work so that is a detail that is of little use to me. After checking in we head off to meet Yuang Huiming who gives us a brief tour of Shaxi and some interesting facts about the Tea and Horse Caravan Trail. I am angry through most of this time because more than a few people seem to think that it’s okay to talk through his discussion. We then are released to have dinner in our guest houses and do whatever else afterwards until bed.

Dinner is quite good and we engage in small group reflections about the trip so far. After dinner a few of us go out to a bar while others gather alcohol and plan an impromptu gathering at guesthouse b. Most of my evening is spent at the bar, a very relaxing conversation among seven or eight of us. Eventually though enough people have received phone calls badgering them as to their whereabouts that we head over to guesthouse b. It is very nearly a madhouse. The majority has been drinking heavily and as I am standing with Lara listening to Dylan and a few other boys teach her dirty words, we witness the beginning of the first hook-up of the trip, and the semester. Two returners begin to make out in front of everyone. Naturally, there are applause and catcalls because it is so obvious, but they continue on anyway.

Those of us that are more sober bore quickly of the loud, crowded atmosphere and a small party sets out for guesthouse a. I, in all of my gracefulness, fall down the stairs while exiting. I am angry at this and am not comforted by the “Don’t worry, I’m drunk too” that accompanies the extended hand to help me up. I have only had two beers the whole night and am not even buzzed. Once at guesthouse a, we end up talking until nearly midnight, at which point, one of the guesthouse staff members asks us to please head to bed. Lara and I walk back and realize that our guesthouse has shut its doors for the night. Not wanting to wake the staff, we call Tiffany using Lara’s phone. Luckily she answers and is able to come open the door for us. We use the bathroom and then settle down for the night. It takes me a while to fall asleep because my left shin hurts badly and, without the electric blanket, I am not at a comfortable temperature for nearly a half hour. Regardless, I have really enjoyed the night and go to bed happy.

Day 6

We wake up and Michaela helps me wash my hair. Then it is time for breakfast. We have bread, orange jam and fried eggs. I am very excited and happy about this. I have two pieces of bread with the jam on them and one egg. It is the most western style breakfast I’ve had to date and I am thrilled. After breakfast, we’re off to the buses, which take us to Jianchuan Old Town where we get to try our hands at wood carving. Some are better than others. I don’t do too badly, but I am jealous of a few who do really well. We are allowed to keep the carvings and we can purchase one done by a craftsman for about 100 kuai. We are given about an hour for lunch and during that hour I also buy a pair of shoes for 40 kuai. I am positive that they are too small for me, but I know they are handmade and I think one of my friends from home would really like them. Plus, they’ll probably fit her. I stop with Matt and Colleen for jaozi and a coke. Then we go in search of a bathroom for me. It takes asking a few people directions, but eventually I smell it out and am excited to use it with no trouble at all. We then go back to the buses for a three hour ride to Dali. I believe it ends up taking less time than that, thanks again to our crazy bus driver.

We check in and are left free to explore. I take a nap and Tiffany showers, and then the two of us venture out for dinner. We find a nice little hole in the wall that serves noodles. I get spicy and she gets plain. They are by far the best noodles I have had. I think the secret is that they have mint leaves in them. It makes them just different enough that it’s delicious. After dinner we stop at a convenience store and buy some ice cream. We then look around while eating our after-dinner treats. We return back to the hotel and are almost immediately invited back out to a bar. We set out and find ourselves at Café de Jack. It is relaxed and fun. I watch a few TBCers play checkers and chess while I sip my vodka. Then Yamil takes control of the music and we dance. It is a great place and we all have fun. Eventually it is time to turn in and we head back to the hotel. Tiffany and I have one of our now-famous bed time talks and then I promptly fall asleep.

Day 7

We wake up and get breakfast. Then some of us board the bus and head off to Zhoucheng market and Benzhu Temple while others take a bike ride to Shuanglang village. The bus ride doesn’t take long and we actually pass the bikers, who left nearly an hour before us. We pass quickly through the market, which appears to largely be a giant supermarket, with fresh fish, fruits and other foods. We arrive at the temple and explore. This temple is different from most of the other temples that we have visited for two reasons; one is that it has a mixture of religions all together. There are statues of Buddha but also of Confucius and a few others. The other reason is that we are allowed to take pictures of the statues. This has not been allowed anywhere else before.

After exiting the temple, we are approached by some local Bai women who want us to follow them home. We decide there is probably no harm in it, especially since all of us that went are going to go. When we arrive at their home, we see immediately why they wanted us to follow them. They make the tie-dye that the area is famous for. Their upper room is full of colorful piles that reach at least up to my waist, in some cases much taller. Most of us end up buying something, me included. I get a purple table cloth for 20 kuai. Then we have to hurry to meet with the buses which take us to Xizhou village for lunch.

Once at the village, most of us decide to try the local “pizza”. I like it but it is definitely not pizza. Then Adrianne, Gina and I explore a little and look in some of the shows. Adrianne decides to get a few scarves as gifts and Gina considers a wall hanging, but it is too expensive. We again see the bikers; they are stopping at the same village for lunch. They want to know if they can take the bus back because they are tired. They didn’t realize how challenging the ride would be. Our bus driver says no because he cannot fit all of the bikes onto the bus. We board the bus and wave good-bye.

Once back at the hotel, we reunite with group a and head out to a lecture given by Professor Zhang Xilu at the Wumiao Temple. The lecture is hard to pay attention to, especially because so many others are talking. There is a performance afterwards that, while entertaining, is not so because of the talent. I’m relieved when it is all over and we head back to the hotel for a little free time and then dinner. I’m a bit disappointed by the dinner, but it is edible so I really can’t complain.

After dinner, there is much plan-making, as it is New Year’s. I end up tagging along with Cameron and find myself the only girl over in Pete’s apartment. I’m offered a beer, which I accept and then we play a card game. After a little time, the girls arrive and I feel severely underdressed. It becomes very crowded and I quickly duck out when the opportunity presents itself. I run into Tiffany and Carissa and stand with them as we watch some of the boys set off fireworks, which scares me shitless because they seem to be doing so in a very reckless manner. After some yelling and protesting, we head out to the bars, wherever they may be. I end up losing Tiffany, but as we walk past Café de Jack, I see people from group b and unceremoniously leave the group I am with to join them. I make a good choice. About twenty minutes later, everyone from TBC ends up at the café. I get one drink, sit back and watch the antics of everyone else. It’s a fun night, complete with dancing, flirting, fireworks and drama. I head in for the night around one or two and find that Tiffany has already returned. We talk and then fall asleep to the sound of more firecrackers going off.

Day 8

I am awakened by firecrackers. I’m so sick of them. We get up, shower and pack up. We eat breakfast and then check out. We take the buses to the airport and must bid James and Jerry, our guides of the past week, good-bye. I wish we could take them with us because they have been fantastic. We check in and go through the security check point. The flight is a short one and we arrive at Jinghong around 10:30 in the morning. We meet our new staff and peel off a few layers. It is nice and warm here in Jinghong. We get on our new buses and head off to our hotel and check in.

We have a couple of optional activities, but I’m not really feeling up to it so I just stay around the hotel and explore with a few others. It’s difficult to find anything open because it is New Year’s. After a long search, Michaela, Gina and I find a Thai restaurant for lunch. It’s my first experience with Thai food, and I like it. I am later told that it is good, but not the best that is out there. I look forward to trying “better” Thai places. We head back to the hotel and end up hanging out in the lobby for nearly all afternoon. We make plans to go back to the Thai place for dinner and part ways. I relax in the room for a while, then go back downstairs and finish off a short story. I’m not very happy with it at present but at least it’s completed and I can decide to edit it or toss it later on.

Dinner time rolls around and we head out, all twelve of us. Apparently an equally large party has already left for the same place about a half hour before us. We arrive and it is packed. A few of us break off in search of something else and the remaining eight wait for a table. It turns out to be a poor choice the second time around. They have been so busy that they are out of a few of their staple dishes. One of us has to order three times over because everything he wants they are out of.

After dinner some people get “ice cream” and others, myself included, head over to a bar. Some buy drinks, but I choose not to. It’s much too expensive and I am happy with just chatting with everyone. We all marvel at the weather. It is evening and everyone is comfortable in tees and jeans. Most decide to call it an early night and we head back to the hotel. I am roaming around a bit and find myself in J.P. and Connor’s room, listening to J.P., Connor, Tom and a few others talk. They have decided, arbitrarily from what I can tell, to speak in southern accents. When I speak in mine, I am highly praised and am even asked if I have ever lived in the south. This makes me smile. It gets to be about midnight and I decide to go back to my room. It is then that I realize that I gave Tiffany the room key. I knock and ring the doorbell, but no one answers. I have to go to the lobby and tell the concierge that I’m locked out. They let me in, no problem and Tiffany is in the room. She apologizes for not having heard me and I tell her not to worry about it. A floor or two up from us there is karaoke and it is quite loud. We chat a bit, as is our custom and go to bed.

Day 9

We wake up and pack up. Both of us make sure to shower this morning because we are doing our village stay tonight. We drag our stuff downstairs and check out, then quickly grab breakfast. We leave our big luggage and take only our overnight things on the bus. We then have only a fifteen minute ride to “rafting”. Really, we are being ferried down a river for two hours to Ganlanba. It is cold and the water is frigid. Still, we are armed with bowls to splash each other with. And, naturally, we end up doing so. I am very glad that I packed a change of clothes in the overnight backpack for just this reason. We take a break about half-way through to use the bathroom and stretch. I really have to go, but do not feel comfortable, as there are some other people across the river and I am unsure that I could find a spot where they cannot see me. It’s only an hour more, so I decide to hold it.

We reach our destination and the buses. We are separated into a girls’ bus and a boys’ bus. We change quickly and walk into town for lunch. Before we all split up for lunch, I ask where the restroom is and those of us who have to go are led to a school’s facilities. It is the first time I have seen the trench style bathroom – a long trench separated by partitions for privacy. I am amused by it, but others are slightly appalled. We coordinate so that three girls go at a time and there is no risk of anyone being exposed because we wait for all to be done before moving. I then head off with Tiff, Michaela and Adrianne who want to buy skirts. We browse, but have trouble bartering and I give up because I am really hungry. I run into Lara, Lara and Allie and have lunch with them. We head back to the buses and leave to go to Mannuanle Village for our overnight.

Once in Mannuanle, we are split into groups of four or five to stay with different families. I end up with Tiff, Anshul, Lauren and Lindsay. Our hosts is very kind to us and when we enter their home, they offer us tamarind, banana, rice with peanuts in it and watermelon. It is all delicious. I feel very incompetent since everyone else I’m with can speak at least a little Chinese but I cannot. It works out anyway though because they don’t seem to mind my asking what was said. We ask if we can take a nap and we lay down for about an hour. It feels good to nap and even though our bed is on the floor, it is by far the softest bed I have been in since arriving in Beijing.

When we wake up, we find that the household is outside in the yard visiting with their neighbors. We sit with them for a while and talk. One of the women visiting has a baby boy and I can barely believe he is hers! She’s my age and very, very slim. I can’t imagine having a family at this point in my life. I guess it just goes to show the differences between our cultures. We ask to explore and two of the girls from our household, cousins, show us around. We visit the local temple and walk a little ways out into the banana trees. Then we swing by the house to grab water and go over to the basketball court to watch the showdown between the TBC boys and the town team. It ends up being a very good game, as we make a nearly impossible comeback and end up winning the game, 100 to 96.

We go back to our respective host families for dinner. Our family dresses us up in the traditional dress of the Dai people. I am very impressed that they would do this for us, especially since they have to borrow from friends to find something that will fit all of us. Then we sit down to dinner. It’s absolutely fantastic. We all agree that hands down, it is the best meal any of us have had in China. We thank our hosts over and over again because it is so good. We then ask if they are going to the performance tonight. At first they say no, but then we clarify what we are asking (originally we ask if they are going to dance, which they are not) and they agree. We bring stools and head back over to the basketball courts.

When we arrive, we receive a lot of attention. We are one of only two groups whose hosts dressed them up. We settle in for the performance which is very good and then we are treated to fireworks and a light show afterwards. It is a lot of fun and I’m sorry to see the evening end. We get back to our house, undress and return our clothes and then get ready for bed. Before falling asleep, we have some “girl talk” and dish about crushes/hook-ups and other gossipy topics. We finally settle down and fall asleep.

I end up waking up in the middle of the night. It is pitch black and I have no flashlight, but I really need to use the bathroom, which is outside on the porch. I am lucky enough to find the door without bumping into anything but it takes a few minutes to find the latch to let myself out. Once outside, I have no problem seeing because of all of the stars. I manage to make it back to bed safely and fall quickly back to sleep.

Day 10

In the morning, Anshul wakes me and we start getting ready for the day. Unfortunately, Tiff is sick and has been for a few hours now. We let her rest a little longer while we have breakfast. Breakfast is, again, delicious. We are given noodles and bread with jam. We then grab the rest of our things as well as Tiff’s things and walk out to the buses. We say good-bye to our hosts and ask permission to hug them, which they grant us. We then board the buses. My bus is the “sick” bus. Apparently Tiff is not the only one who feels ill. There are actually about seven who need to go back to the hotel.

After dropping off our ill, we are brought to Nannuo Mountain for a hike and picnic lunch. I am resentful during most of the hike because we are told it will be easy but it is not and, in fact, in parts it is very treacherous. I am afraid half of the time that I will twist my ankle badly, which is not really an option because it is already swollen and somewhat painful. We eventually stop for lunch, which is yummy and I am glad for the rest. The last leg of the hike, after lunch, is the shortest, but it is also the most treacherous and I struggle to not cry in frustration. Finally, we are done! I’ve never been so happy to see the buses.

We return to the hotel and I shower then rest. There is a temple visit in the afternoon, but after the stress of the hike, I decide that it won’t be a good idea for me. I just relax and do some Sudoku. I end up falling asleep for a while and wake up pretty disoriented. I decide to wander and run into Yamil, who invites me to dinner. We end up going to MeiMei’s Café, a western style restaurant. It’s a little bit expensive, but I don’t want to go back to the Thai place for a third meal so it suits me just fine. After dinner I get a green apple slushy, which is very tasty. Some people decide to go out, but I am still tired and go back to the hotel. I read for a bit and then turn in early.

Day 11

We wake up, pack up, check out of the hotel and grab breakfast. We then have a very long bus ride to lunch in Yuanjiang. Most people sleep, but I am not tired so I read and listen to music. Eventually though, the roads become so bumpy that my CD player keeps skipping so I have to give up the music. At this point I am beginning to think that maybe it would be a good idea to invest in an MP3 player. We stop for lunch nearly an hour earlier than anticipated, thank you awesome bus drivers. All too quickly, we have to get back on the buses and we have another long ride ahead of us. This time, I sit closer to the front and end up playing hearts with Father Gene, Caitlin and Megan. It’s a fun game and keeps us entertained for the first hour or so of the trip.

I eventually go back to my seat and try to sleep. It’s difficult because the roads are bumpy and winding. This is probably the hundredth time on this trip that I have been so thankful that I am not prone to motion sickness. We finally reach our next hotel in Jianshui City around 5:30 p.m. After all of the travel, I’m glad to be there. We settle in and then head out to dinner. Lara, Lara, Yamil, Casey and I find a small restaurant and eat there. The food is pretty good and inexpensive, but the staff is relatively unresponsive to Yamil, who is the only one among us who speaks any Chinese. We stop by the hotel to drop off some things and then go out to find a bar. We end up in a large group, as is our habit and get a case or two and just talk most of the night away. Actually, I mostly listen.

At midnight it is Tom’s and Lara’s birthday. We sing to Tom, who is present and Lara calls Lara to wish her a happy birthday before she goes to sleep. I end up talking to Tom for a little bit and I really enjoy it. He’s a funny kid, but at the same time he has a lot of interesting things to say. I hope we get to talk more. En masse, we go back to the hotel for the night. Tiffany and I have another chat and she tells me about a situation that makes me very angry at the other party involved. It seems to me that he is being overprotective and a bit unfair. After I calm down a bit, we go to bed.

Day 12

I sleep in for the first time this entire trip. I don’t get up until nearly 9 a.m. I go out and take a small stroll down the streets, coming across a small park leading up to the Confucius Temple. I watch a dance class that is going on in part of the park and then walk over to a convenience store where I pick up a snack. I then walk back to the hotel and go up to my room where I eat my snack and do some more Sudoku. At eleven it is time to check out and we put our things on the bus, then go to grab lunch. The group I am with is not that hungry, me included so we split some jaozi and sit in the sun until it is time to go. We board the buses and drive to Tuanshan Village for our second and final overnight stay.

When we first arrive, we are greeted by singing and a dragon. Each person is given a small shot of bai jiu, a type of alcohol. The shot is customary because it kills any of the bad germs that may not have been killed in the food by the heat of cooking it. We are again split into small groups. This time I am with Lara and Lara. We are shown to our home and we are shocked. I knew that this place would be dirty, but I was not expecting how dirty. Lara is downright appalled and I am at a loss for words. On top of all this, none of us speak Chinese so trying to understand what our host mother is telling us proves to be beyond us. We then are led back to the common area for dinner. We are shown upstairs, where they keep models of the traditional costumes and their components. It takes three years to make one because it is hand-sewn and there is a lot of intricate embroidery that goes into it.

The others arrive and we sit down to dinner. Some of the dishes are very good, others we don’t even touch. Lara and Tom are presented with half of a watermelon each in honor of their birthdays. We sing to them and applaud. Lara jokes about using the knife she is given to cut the watermelon to “accidentally” cut herself and get out of doing this home stay. After dinner we gather outside and wait for the performance that the villagers are going to do. The performance is a lot of fun, although the village children that sit with us are pains. Eventually I start to get a bit bored and the cold is really starting to set in, so I am glad when we are invited to come up on stage and dance as a closing. I opt not to because I am not feeling well, but I gather with the group and huddle for warmth until it is time to head back to the home.

Once we get back to the house, I find out that there are two separate rooms. Lara and Lara stay downstairs and I go to the room we were originally shown. Upon a second inspection, it’s not as bad as I first thought it was. True, it is definitely not what I’m used to, but it is what they have to offer me and I shouldn’t begrudge them that. Plus, they’ve given me an electric blanket and that is worth its weight in gold. I sleep soundly and comfortably through the night.

Day 13

I awake to Lara knocking on my door to let me know we need to pack up and leave. I change back into my jeans and pack everything in about five minutes. I go downstairs and am greeted by our host mother. She speaks to me and pantomimes washing her face. I nod and she pours out a bowl of hot water for me and even gives me soap and a washcloth to use. The hot water feels good and I am very thankful. When I’m done she gives me lotion to keep my face from drying out and gives me fruit and a knife to cut it with. She also offers me tea, but I don’t have time to drink it. Lara and Lara are ready and we need to get back to the common area for breakfast.

We get back and I happen to find one of the guides and ask him to tell our host mother that I am very appreciative of her hospitality and that I enjoyed staying in her home. I put my stuff down and hurry to use the bathroom before breakfast starts. After breakfast we have the option of a hike, an embroidery lesson or playing with the locals. I choose the last option and actually end up watching another basketball game because I don’t feel like playing. When the hikers return, one of the guides asks if we’d like to see the village from the rooftops. I and a few others decide to go up. I am very glad that I did. The view is pretty spectacular, plus we learn that a lot of village life goes on up on the roofs. For the most part, they are all connected and serve as a relatively easy way to get from one house to the other.

We return to the common area and say our good-byes, then it’s back to the buses. This time we are going back to Kunming City. It seems impossible, but our trip is pretty much at an end. We stop for lunch in Tonghai, and before you know it, we are checking into the hotel we first stopped at almost two weeks ago. We check in and I am excited to be on the second floor. The last time, as you may recall, we were on floor seven. We settle in, and then go in search of dinner. As is customary, we are in much too large of a group and I am cranky. Thankfully, we decide to split up and I end up with Tiffany, John and Gina in a nice little place with good food. It turns out to be very reasonable too, about 11 kuai a piece. We go back to the hotel for a bit and then everyone heads out to the bars.

Naturally, we all end up at the same bar. This one is called “I am living O”. The prices aren’t bad, but I buy nothing because I have already bought two beers at a convenience store for nearly a third of the price. We talk and play a dice game and enjoy the live music. Unfortunately, a TBCer decides to take over the music and is not nearly as good as he claims. I am tired anyway so Mike and I decide to leave and walk back to the hotel. We talk and I enjoy his company. We say goodnight and I go back to my room and get ready for bed. While doing so, I overhear people in the hallway. It is Meredith and Yamil. They are talking and I decide to eavesdrop for a bit because I am bored. I am not surprised by what they say and soon avert my attention back to getting ready for bed. I try to wait up for Tiffany to get back but am much too tired and fall asleep.

Day 14

We wake up and have breakfast with group a. They arrived last night at 1. It is exciting and weird at the same time. There are people now that I don’t recognize at all. I am tempted to cling to group b, but I refrain and try to introduce myself to the people I don’t know. We then go out to the buses and drive off to the Stone Forest, which is apparently a huge tourist spot. The place is extremely crowded and it is hard to keep track of the group. I cannot wait to get out of there and don’t actually end up paying a lot of attention to the stones, which is the whole reason we came.

Finally, we exit and have time for lunch. The area is very expensive though, so I just get an ice cream bar and decide to wait until dinner back in Kunming. We return to Kunming and I go out with some others to look at the shops. I actually end up looking in the shops several times over because I keep meeting up with people who want to look and have not yet been. I have dinner with Meredith, Michaela and Casey at a Japanese restaurant. We each get a sushi roll and then split a basket of veggie tempura. It’s all very delicious. I then end up going to dinner again, but this time not eating anything because I meet up with Kathleen and some other people from group a. After that and some shopping, I go back to the hotel and end up playing cards with people for a while.

Then, it is the witching hour, so to speak, and everyone goes out to the bars again. I fall into a small group of about eight who are determined to NOT end up at the same bar as everyone else. We succeed and settle into the bar next door. We each get a drink, relax and talk. A few from the other bar float in and out when they need a break from the craziness, but otherwise we are left undisturbed until the bar closes. At this time we go next door, but I set about one foot inside and decide I’d rather not stay. Mike is in the same boat, and again we walk back to the hotel together. We part ways and I go to bed.

Day 15

We wake up and pack up. I am mostly glad that this trip is over, if for no other reason than that I will actually be staying in one place and will no longer have to live out of a suitcase. We check out and have breakfast. There is then an announcement about reflections for the following week, which I, as well as a majority of others, am not happy to hear about and then we are off to the buses one last time. We are taken to the airport, we check in and wait. We have almost an hour before take off. We discover in this time span that the entire group will be on one flight, all 96 of us. This is a pleasant surprise.

Finally, we begin boarding, which involves a bus ride across the tarmac to get to our plane. We are seated and the plane takes off. The ride is uneventful and before I know it, we are touching down in Beijing. We claim our luggage and take the very last bus ride back to campus. I am so excited to be back, although I’m not looking forward to the task of laundry. Lara and I both just lay down on our beds for a minute before doing anything. I unpack, get myself reoriented and go out to dinner with some friends. We’re craving western, so it ends up being expensive. I don’t mind though, because it’s got to be one of the best burgers I’ve had in a very long time. I come home and just relax. I turn in early, worn out from all the travel. It’s alright though because I have a week to recuperate before classes start.

Success!!!

So, I forgot the password to this blog and it took me forever to figure out how to make the site show in English instead of Chinese. Just reset the password today!! So this post is going to be what I wanted to post the first few days. Another blog will follow soon delineating my trip through Yunnan.

1/15/09

So, I’ve officially been in China for a few minutes over twenty-four hours. I can’t believe that I’m really here. Shock, awe, and exhaustion are just a few of the things I’m feeling right now. The flight from Hartford to Chicago was pretty smooth, and the flight from Chicago to Beijing wasn’t too bad, considering it’s the longest plane ride I’ve ever been on. The four hour gap in between however, was not fun. I was extremely anxious and I had a hard time keeping myself from crying because of it. Once on the flight, though, I was just fine, emotionally at least. Lol. I never knew that sitting could be so painful. Note to self for next time – stand up more frequently or for longer periods of time. We actually flew through Canada, over the North Pole and then down through Russia to get here. We arrived in Beijing at a little past 4:00 p.m. local time on Wednesday, January fourteenth – after baggage claim and customs, we actually left the airport nearly an hour later and got on buses for the ride to TBC (the Beijing center). We had just about an hour to unpack before dinner – I was so dazed that I neglected packing and wandered down the hallway to have a look around. I ended up talking to a kid named Tim who was unpacking in his room. Then we went out into the hallway and talked to some returning students and then headed off to dinner at a nice little restaurant down the street from the university. After dinner, a few of us ended up talking in the lobby of our dorm for quite a while.

Eventually, a group of four of us decided to go out and have a drink to celebrate our arrival and to help calm our nerves and make it easier to sleep. We walked a little ways down the street and found a bar called Liky 19 – after a small debate we decided that it was an acceptable choice and went in. We were the only people there and the décor was…what’s the best word to describe it? I’ll go with eclectic. It was fun to look around at everything that they had up on the walls. We ended up all getting a beer and then braving one mixed drink – should I choose to drink again while here, I’m going to stick with beer. I ordered a beverage called Snow White and I really don’t know what was in it; however the consensus was that it tasted very similar to either semen or how bleach smells. One of the other guys, Ben, got a drink that tasted kind of like Listerine, and Dan was not fond of his drink, although we couldn’t come up with a parallel taste. Mine still won the worst taste contest though.

We then came back to campus and I actually unpacked and finally got to meet my roommate, Lara. She is from Esade University in Spain. I’m really excited because we seem to get along pretty well and when she and the other Lara (also from Spain) found out that I took Spanish back in high school they really wanted me to try and speak it. If I’m really lucky and really good, maybe I could come back in May as a trilingual person.

After unpacking, I finally went to bed around 11:30 p.m. Breakfast today was from 7:15 a.m. until 8:30 a.m. so I got up at 7 to shower and settle in a little more before heading down. I actually woke up a few minutes before my alarm was supposed to go off which was a good thing because it didn’t go off at all. I’ll have to try and figure out why not. I think there might be a difference between a.m. and p.m. but I don’t know how I’d be able to tell that. I have some time though before I have to figure it out – classes don’t start until February. Being the brilliant person that I am, it took me a good five minutes to figure out how to make the shower water hot, but at least I figured it out. Lara, Lara and I headed down to breakfast around 8 and then orientation began at 9. After orientation we met our host students and went on a tour of the campus. It’s a huge campus, but then again, there are a lot of students. We ate in the cafeteria, which was really good. I had noodles with beef. I was very proud of myself for being confident enough to use chopsticks for the whole meal. Then we headed over to a bank because four of the five of us had travelers’ cheques and needed to convert some of the money. It took about an hour at the bank because we had to wait for a while before we could go to the window. I’m hoping the money will last me for a while because I will absolutely have to go back with someone who can speak Chinese or gain some level of proficiency on my own. We then went and got a drink (I got kiwi fruit juice – yummy!) and parted ways.

And now I’m back here in the room, although dinner is in ten minutes. The room itself isn’t too bad – a bit smaller than I’m used to but definitely inhabitable. Space is a little tight in the way of storing clothes and other belongings, but I think it will be manageable. We have a balcony of sorts, and our room looks out onto the basketball and volleyball courts. The bathroom's not bad, although the shower is quite different from what I’m used to – I’ll have to remember to take a picture of it. Tomorrow, we are visiting old Beijing which I’m really excited for. Saturday is just a lecture on academics and more information on our trip to the Yunnan province. Then, Sunday we are off on our trip. I think we’re gone for about two weeks. I’m really excited but a little nervous, just because English isn’t spoken there as much as it is here in the city and I know very little Chinese. It’ll definitely be an experience. Alright, five minutes until dinner, so I have to go!


And now to add on a little more, after writing this up, I laid down for a little bit and then went out with Lara, Lara, Catherine and a bunch of Chinese students to dinner. Lara and Catherine’s host student was celebrating her birthday and wanted us to come along. It was a lot of fun. I regret not bringing my camera, but Lara brought hers and got a group picture. The girls were really nice and very eager to hear about what we were going to be doing here. Plus, the food was FANTASTIC! Lara’s host student, Jane, ended up paying for it all, which was a lot so we all promised that we would take her out later on because we want to repay the favor. I think I’m really going to like being here, although this internet connection is killing me. Lol It keeps kicking me off. Just a fun little kink I’m going to have to get used to I suppose. Today should be fun too. We’re going to Tian’anmen Square and the Drum tower. Now, with any luck, I’ll be able to post this and get onto Facebook. If I’m lucky, when I get back tonight I can post again about the day. 再见！


1/16/09

Whenever I actually get the chance to post for the first time, it’s going to be gigantic. The internet and I still aren’t getting along. It almost played nice just now, but it was just teasing. It is the one thing that is really frustrating me here. Today was pretty awesome though. After fighting for a few hours this morning with the wifi, I finally went to get something to eat and ran into Martina, who happened to also be in search of food. We tried the Stadium store, but nothing looked much like breakfast food. So, we went over to the Café and got something to drink. Then we headed off campus to the bakery just down the street. We ran into Luis and picked out some tasty treats. We then headed back to campus and on the way back to the dorm, we were stopped by a woman who wanted to know if we would be willing to tutor her son and her in English. We said we would if we could and there was an exchanging of numbers. Nothing will be set up until the semester actually starts, so we’ll see what happens with that. Who knows? Maybe I’ll be able to make a little bit of money tutoring.

Once back at the dorm, we decided to venture out again because neither Martina nor I have cell phones yet. One of the returning students, Connor, is trying to sell two old phones, so we’re thinking of buying them from him, but we’d still need to buy Sim cards. We didn’t have any success in finding Sim cards, but maybe tomorrow we will. And it was kind of good because we got a better sense of the campus and where things are located. Then it was back to the dorm briefly and off to Tien’anmen Square and the drum tower. It was pretty incredible and I’m really excited about the pictures I got. We actually didn’t have a whole lot of time there so I’d definitely like to go back before the end of the semester. At the drum tower we got to see a small performance, which was really fantastic. First, though, we had to climb these incredibly steep steps – it was very intense. And getting back down was a bit treacherous. But the view was well worth it. After carefully navigating back down the stairs, we took a fifteen minute walk to dinner, which was in this amazing place – I think it’s called the Hutong. There were a bunch of shops, with the center of it all being the Houhai Lake, which is pretty much frozen over right now. They had ice skating and vendors and all sorts of fun things to explore. I hope to go back at least twice, once soon to go skating and again in the spring to see what it looks like with the trees in bloom. The restaurant was good. I’m very happy to say that so far the food here seems to be agreeing with my stomach. I had my first meeting with an eastern style toilet, which, for those who are unaware, is basically a hole in the floor. I was mostly successful, although it did take me a minute or two to figure out the best squatting position. Lol I’m going to have to get used to it though. I suspect that I’ll see a lot of them on our trip to Yunnan.
I’m really tired still. I suppose I’m still adjusting to it all. For the past two nights I’ve slept for nearly seven hours exactly. I’ve woken up without an alarm, which I guess is a good thing since I still haven’t 100% figured out how to set it. Still, I’m hoping that it’s just a phase and eventually I’ll be able to sleep for longer. At least this’ll be good for getting me into the schedule of getting up early for class. I’m going to download my pictures and then maybe go to bed. It’s a little bit earlier than I’d like, but I’m feeling really wiped out right now. 再见！

1/17/09
Today was pretty awesome. I woke up before my alarm went off again today, but at least it did go off so I at least know it works. We had the academic briefing over in one of UIBE’s buildings which was a little tricky to find, but we made it on time. It was informative, but long. They talked a lot about the Yunnan trip and so I’m even more excited and nervous about it. Haha, I guess that’s the way it goes though. Apparently the temperature is really going to vary depending on where we are in the province. I think when I look back at the trip, I’m going to remember it fondly, but the actual experiencing of it may not leave me feeling so great. There’ll be a lot to adjust to very quickly and I’m not sure how that will go. I’m going to try very hard to keep an open mind and a sense of humor. I’ll probably be fine, but still, mild concern is still present.
Once the presentation was over, Tom, Luke, Luis, Nazar and I went to eat with a couple of returners at a restaurant outside of the east gate. Then we stopped by the dorm to pick up a few things and headed off to do some shopping. I can’t remember the name of the place we went to, but it was beyond words. It’s really hard to express the impressions of this place. We took the subway and navigated it successfully, which was very empowering. I definitely plan on using it as transportation in the future. Once off the subway, it did take a little to find where we were actually looking for, but we did it. We poked around in the department stores because the guys needed to get a few things before leaving for the Yunnan province. We were approached by some women who said they wanted to show us their calligraphy work. We talked to them for quite a while, but they tried to get us to go down an alleyway. It was then that we decided it was probably better to part ways. The best part of the day, by far was the stalls of food that we found. We were able to try scorpions, silkworms and snake. The scorpions were actually really good; they basically tasted like french fries but the silkworms were kind of gross. It wasn’t that they tasted that bad, but the texture was a real turn off. I personally liked the snake, but the others weren’t as big on it as I was. The guys got dumplings, which were pretty tasty too and then we pretty much all ended up getting fruit dipped in sugar.
We started to head back and on the way stopped in an alcohol and smoke show because Nazar would like to send his parents a nice bottle of something and wanted to see what they had. I ended up buying a small bottle of something because the bottle was very pretty. I thought it was 58 kuai but it was only 10, which was a pleasant surprise. It’ll be interesting to try though because it’s 65% alcohol or 130 proof. I imagine it will take quite some time to consume despite its small size. We got back on the subway and came home, running into some other TBCers who had also been where we were.
And now I’m relaxing in my room. I think I may stay in tonight, although I have said that every other night and ended up making myself a liar. Last night a group of sixteen of us went out to a local bar. We each only had one or two drinks, and just talked and played games that they happened to have at the table. I really enjoyed it. Some people decided to go to another bar, but a few of us decided to head back home because we were wiped out. I ended up getting back to the room and going to sleep around one in the morning. I think I really will try to stay in tonight though because my ankles are really swollen and I think I really need the rest. If my internet connection comes back, I’ll hopefully get this posted before it’s outdated. In the meantime, I may just lay down for a little bit because I ache quite a bit.