CHINA April 5, 2009
Hello from China! I ended up feeling a little better and was able to get off the ship in China. The first day I was still feeling really sick and weak but I went anyway, as the days went by I felt like I was getting better but now this morning as I write this I feel like I’m starting to feel sick again and I don’t know why. I’ll get through this blog though anyhow. I’m going to have to come back and edit these because for Thailand and Vietnam I know, I was feeling really sick when I wrote them so I don’t think they are consistent in length and detail as with my other entries. I’ll have to revisit those in the future and add more details and reflection to them when I feel better. Anyways we got into Hong Kong, China on March 29th. I decided to get off with Courtney, Nora and Adam and walk around the city. The ship was docked right in the middle of a mall, which was something different. As opposed to being at a dock with nothing, we we’re surrounded by buildings smack in the middle of downtown city. We bought some tickets for the ferry and took it across the river. We had decided to go and visit a Taoist temple, which was really interesting. I think we we’re the only ones of our kind there. Everyone else was Chinese and praying with incense as we watched. Nora and Adam decided to buy some sticks of incense to light and make an offering. The place was swarming with smoke from the incense, sometimes I found it hard to breathe, I don’t do well with smoke of any kind. Everyone was praying and doing rituals, it was very interesting to watch and be a part of. We spent quite some time wandering around the temple gardens and then we decided to catch a bus and head over to the market. It was interesting trying to buy tickets for the metros and bus but we managed to figure it out and figure out how to get to the right places. The market was cool, not much different from anywhere else except here they didn’t hassle you too much. It was a nice atmosphere right next to the harbor. People we’re out and about and it was a very chill environment.
We decided to catch the bus again back to the harbor and eat at the ship for dinner because it would be cheaper than eating out. I was okay with that too because I was still feeling sick. We got back on the bus. I forgot to say the bus was double decker. This time we sat in the front on the top level. It was fun because it looked like from our view that we we’re running over everything so it was an exciting ride. The streets are also narrow and very curvy where we we’re driving so that added to our entertainment, thinking we we’re going to tip over. The scenery was beautiful. There we’re so many trees and plants sprouting. There we’re so many hills and the mountains cascaded right down to the sea, it was gorgeous. We got back to the port finally, it was about a 45-minute bus ride and I did surprisingly well. We we’re cutting it close to dinnertime on the ship so when we saw a Subway we decided to stop there for dinner. I got what I usually did back home, as soon as I finished dinner I felt great. I think my body really needed some real food. After being on the ship’s BRAT diet for the last three days, I felt really weak so it was nice to get some good food in me. We made it back onto the ship just in time for the light show. Our ship was docked in the best spot for viewing the light show. All of the buildings downtown lit up in so many different colors and some had lasers on the top and made light designs in the sky. It was so cool! Not as good as Disney World light show but it was still really neat. There was quite a group of people who gathered on the top deck in the lawn chairs to watch the show, complete with candy and popcorn, it felt like we we’re there to watch the 4th of July fireworks. It was really neat! I took some pictures and video but it doesn’t do it justice.
That night I went back to my cabin and packed for my trip the next day hoping everything would work out. I got up early the next morning and got my things together. I decided to check my email quick before I left and I was really happy to see that my Mom and dad wrote me however, they gave me some really sad news about my kitty who died. Leo (aka. Vader) died in his sleep on Wednesday night/Thursday morning (the same time I got sick, interesting enough) They had the autopsy done and everything and it turns out that he had a birth defect of an enlarged heart. I started to cry when I read it and wished I could have been there to atleast say goodbye. My kitties are like my kids and I love them just as family, so this was heartbreaking to me and still makes me really sad to think about and think about coming home and knowing that my most affectionate kitty and favorite next to Zoey, won’t be there anymore to cuddle with. Anyways… after looking through old pictures of when I first got the two baby kitties and having some time to myself, I quickly hurried up to the Union to meet for my overnight trip. I ended up knowing quite a few people on my trip and met some others very quickly. That’s something I’m becoming good at now. I love how everyone here is so open, its easy to become friends fast here and get to know someone really well and become closer. One girl Cara, I made friends with right away while waiting for our trip and we decided to sit by each other on the bus as well. We left on buses to airport. After checking in and everything at the airport and going through security, which took awhile a group of us headed to Starbucks, they wanted some coffee and breakfast things. I just got some apple juice and it was so good. We then stopped at a small bookstore for awhile, I bought a magazine to read, a couple post cards to send and a magnet. When we got back to our seats we all had quite a bit of time to wait so we all chatted and got to know each other better. Soon it was time for boarding, I sat by some cool people and had good conversation. Everything was fine until I ate the airplane food and then I started feeling sick again which made me really worried I wouldn’t make it through the trip. I all of a sudden got really hot and felt very dizzy and faint. My friend Dave, who was sitting behind me, went to get me some water, which was really nice of him. Luckily the plane ride was ending and I could get off. I just needed to go to the bathroom and get some fresh air, we we’re on the plane for over three hours. I took a sickness bag just in case I might need it on the bus or later or something. We finally got to Beijing and I was able to get off the plane, I went to the bathroom and drank my water slowly while walking with everyone to catch the metro to the busses. We met our trip hosts from Peking University and we’re led to the buses and were on our way!
The trip I was doing is said to be one of the best SAS trips you can do, a University trip in which you stay on a university campus with Chinese students, are able to interact with them and are also touring all of the big sites in China. I stayed at Peking University, which happened to be the campus where the Ping Pong Olympic games took place so that was cool. Our first stop for our tours was spending time at the location of the 2008 Olympics games. It was a really neat place, there were so many people there and everyone was so excited. They played the music from the Olympics over speakers and it felt really cool to be there and experience it. We wandered around the Bird’s Nest and the Water Cube and took pictures of it and statues and things surrounding the area. At one point a Chinese woman shoved her daughter in front of Cara and I and wanted to get a picture. This ended up happening a lot on our trip and at first it was weird but then it made us feel special like we we’re celebrities or worked at Disney World as a character and the kids wanted pictures with us. After spending time at the Olympics stadiums we got back on the bus and headed to Peking University to check in to our rooms and such. We we’re staying in the international students dorm. It was strange because it was a dorm building but our rooms in particular we’re set up more like a hotel room would be but only with dorm room furniture. It was interesting for sure. The campus was huge! I was so big that they even had a hotel next to our living quarters, it was really nice. After taking a break and settling into our rooms we all met in the lobby of the hotel to walk to a local restaurant on campus. Yes the campus even had little restaurants as dining halls. Dinner was interesting, the food actually wasn’t very good at all, even the rice wasn’t that great. It made me nervous for the rest of the trip, some of us walked to the local campus convenient store to buy some bread and crackers. We all bought bottles of water as well, one because we couldn’t drink the water in China and two, because they don’t serve you any here at all. After dinner we walked all the way across campus to meet with local students at the PKU Yingjie Exchange Center. I remember thinking it was so far, because I was freezing cold.
They didn’t tell us how cold it was in Beijing now. From what I remember hearing, it was thought to be in the 40-50’s which didn’t seem too cold, actually a nice break from the scorching heat in Vietnam, Thailand and India which was close to the 100’s and over. Turns out it was really in the 20’s and my toes we’re freezing because I was wearing flip flops. Finally we made it inside and met the students who we’re really nice. We all split off into groups and hooked up with a PKU student. A small group of friends and I went with Tien. He was really sweet and funny too, he reminded me of a nerdy type kinda, he was really cute. He showed us around campus and took us to different school stores on campus because we we’re interested in buying school apparel. We found a place that had some cute sweatshirts. I got a zip-up one that had PKU stuff embroidered on it. It was funny because the tag said Target. As if they bought the sweatshirts from Target and just embroidered their letters on it and such, which is pretty obvious, they did. Whatever, it looks really cute and it says PKU on it with Chinese letters and stuff and their emblem. I like it anyway and a lot of others complimented me on it too. Tien took us outside of campus to McDonald’s because we we’re kinda hungry still from not having much dinner and we knew McDonald’s was safe and satisfying. We had a nice conversation with Tien about him and us, our different cultures and what we do and stuff and it was very interesting.
It was really cool to be able to hang out with Chinese students and walk around with them and have them help us out with things and teach us about things we’d want to know and do. We walked across the street to a bookstore and walked around town a little bit. We walked by a Karaoke bar but decided to not go tonight but maybe tomorrow night with a bigger group. It’s not like at home when you’re in a bar singing in front of everyone. Here you just pay for a room for yourself or a group of friends and just sing in front of them. It was getting pretty late and Tien wanted to get back home to study but he didn’t want to leave us on our own because we needed a guide. He walked us back to campus and we all said bye to Tien and that we’d see him tomorrow at our “party” with the PKU students and we headed in for the night. I was hoping to read a little or chat for a bit when I got back but Becky, my roomie was asleep. That was fine, I thought I should get some sleep since I had a long day and a long week coming up, even if it was only 10:30 or so, it was best to get some rest so I read a chapter of my book and then fell asleep. The next morning I was still feeling a little sick but I had to tough it out. I skipped the sketchy Chinese breakfast and had a granola bar that I had packed. Our first stop today was a visit to the Cloisonné factory, a place where they make all the fancy traditional Chinese pottery and stuff. We watched them make the pots, fire them, and paint them and learned the technique of each and also how to tell the real thing from fake ones that markets try and pawn off on tourists. After the tour we had time to walk around their store, which was huge, things we’re pretty and all but I didn’t buy anything. For one, I didn’t need anything or see anything that anyone I knew needed or was possibly interested in; also, I’m not big into Asian art and things like that. After our visit to the factory we got back on the bus and visited the Ming Tombs. We we’re told its tradition and rule really, to enter over the threshold first with your right foot if you’re a girl and left for guys. We had to do that everywhere we went in China, so now every time I step over something I use my right foot without even thinking now.
The tombs we’re cool to be at but there really wasn’t much to see there. We entered underground and walked through some hallways where there were old thrones standing and that was about it. The scenery was so pretty though with the trees and mountains around the temple. It was so green and even though it was still a little too cold for me at the moment I really enjoyed the fresh cool breeze that came through the trees. There we’re so many shops and venders that walked the area trying to sell stuff. The hats we’re pretty popular because it was so cold, they had many different kinds including a communist type hat, or something that looked Russian to me. The most popular hats with our group we’re the Panda ones. Basically it was a panda head that was a hat and it’s paws wrapped around your chin. A bunch of people bought some as a joke really because they thought they we’re funny. Turns out it caught on to be a trend on our trip because all 30 some of us bought these hats and wore them around. We looked ridiculous and we’d get funny looks from the Chinese people and they would laugh jokingly, but we had a lot of fun and wore them with Pride. It was funny because when we we’re all sitting on the bus wearing them, when we all looked down as if we we’re doing something and someone just walked onto the bus all they saw was Panda heads. We took plenty of pictures, we found it to be rather amusing. After our visit to the Ming tombs we headed to lunch. We we’re all relieved because this lunch was a whole lot better than the dinner we had the night before. I practiced more on my chopsticks stills. Surprisingly it came rather naturally to me once I picked them up. The practice in Vietnam helped, once I quickly found a comfortable position I did rather well. I think once you stop thinking about how to hold them and just do it, it’s easier. I don’t know if that made sense. I was hungry though so I learned pretty quickly. In the beginning I pretty much just stuck to rice because I wasn’t sure what would upset my stomach or not. I wanted to try more foods but stayed away from ones that I thought might not settle well, such as the seafood. I didn’t get to try much at lunch because a lot of what they serve here is seafood, but I really enjoyed the rice, vegetables and chicken or beef, especially if it had a sweet and sour sauce to it.
After lunch I was so excited! We we’re all excited because we we’re finally getting to go to the Great Wall!! Again driving up to it, it was a lot different than I expected. The part that our group went to was like one long piece of the wall that just went straight upwards, up the mountain. I expected it to be a little more flat in parts that we’d visit. However the wall is SOO big. Other groups visited parts of the wall that looked like more like what I had previously imagined it to be but our section was pretty sweet too. We we’re at the Great Wall!!! I thought hiking Table Mountain was really hard, but I think the wall was really hard. All the steps we’re all different sizes and we’re really tall so it was not like walking up normal stairs but more like stepping up a foot and a half every time. I wondered why the Chinese made such a wall with so big of steps, they aren’t big people at all. Climbing it actually made my knees really hurt a lot. My knees have been hurting me for awhile now but I think I just made them worse. Even now as I write this, its been two weeks or so and I have to take the elevator up and down stairs on the ship because it hurts so much to walk up stairs and even worse on the way down. I’m not sure what happened, but something is definitely not right. It even hurts to walk but I muddle through it because I have to obviously. When I get home I need to get checked out though for sure. Anyways, back on topic…What also made it even harder was that it was really cold and windy. I was sure to bundle up more today and wore proper shoes but the cold wind made hiking harder because we we’re breathing in the cold air and that was hard on my throat and lungs. And I did end up getting a cold, but it was worth it. I climbed the Great Wall of China!! My knees are really messed up now though however, so I don’t think that’s part was worth it. But anyways, The wall was so cool! I climbed it with new friends that I had made; Cara, Becky, Annie and Diane, Sassa, Jai and Molly. We had a great time and helped each other make it up. I took a lot of pictures but not as many as I had in the past. To be honest, I have kinda gotten tired of taking so many pictures all the time and just wanted to take in the moment for itself and not so much through my camera lens, but I did get a lot of good pictures and plan to get more from others. It was so cool!! I couldn’t believe I was walking on the Great Wall, this significant world monument that is one of the World Wonders. I was so excited and happy! It was unfathomable! I walked on the Great Wall of China!! ☺
After we got down the wall we we’re all so tired. We stopped at the vendors outside the wall and looked at all their stuff. Before we even got there, a few of us we’re walking out the gate toward the bus and where all the little booths of venders we’re set up. There had to be about 20 of them. They we’re all shouting at us. “Hello, hello” just so we’d look at them and come buy something. We we’re ignoring them kinda but I thought it would be fun to wave back and say hello, so I did and they all flipped out! They we’re so excited and starting yelling back more hellos and things about what they had to sell. Each one thought I was looking at them specifically and wanted their things. I laughed, I found it a little amusing that I had that effect on so many people. I did go and stop and each and every one of the booths there and looked at what they had to sell and talked with them. The rest of the group looked at it too and we bought a lot of things from them for really cheap which was exciting. After the great wall, it was time for dinner. We we’re having dinner with the PKU students. We ate at a really nice restaurant on campus and the food was actually really good this time. A group of SAS-ers from our group sat at a table and each table had two or three PKU students. It was another great chance to meet more local students and ask them questions about China, school, them and a bunch of other things. I enjoyed it very much. It was great to be able to talk to people our age here, and ask things and such and be in a relaxed setting and not part of a structured tour with a script. It was really neat and I learned a lot. After dinner we all walked to the hall where we all first met the PKU students. Tonight we we’re having a party with them. Not a “party party” but more of a social with ice breakers and games and such. It was actually a lot of fun! We all had a great time! After the party was over a lot of us wanted to go out and do something because it was still pretty early. Of group of us got together and decided to go out for Karaoke with some of the PKU students. There were about 13 of us from our SAS group and 5 or 6 PKU students. We had a blast at the Karaoke bar. It’s a big thing for locals to do, and they go all the time so it definitely was the place to be! We had a large private room to ourselves (which is the way it is in Asia) and because we paid for three hours at this particular place, it also included free food and drinks for that time period. What a great time we had trying new food and snacks and singing and dancing!! It was a great night!
When our session was up at midnight or so the PKU students walked us back to campus where we we’re staying and we all headed in for the night. Becky was in the room up still and reading when I walked in so we stayed up for awhile and talked about many things like ourselves, school and getting to know each other better and bouncing thoughts off one another. It was a really good conversation, it was nice to really talk to someone and just chill for awhile. I’m glad to have gotten such great roommates on my SAS trips. The next morning was our visit to Tiananmen Square and the Imperial Palace and Forbidden city. It was so cold outside and the place was so crowded with people. We had to go through so many security things just to get in and out of the square. The government here is really intense about everything. It was different being in a communist country, not somewhere I’d like to live. It reminded me of old movies during the war, when troops would march by all the time. There we’re troops here marching in the square and on the street, they all we’re armed and everything. They walk together too, so if you’re in their line of walking you have to move. It was definitely different, something I hadn’t experienced before. I felt like I was back in time in WWII Germany or something, with troops marching armed everywhere. It was interesting. After walking around the square for awhile, some of us left and went to go visit the performing arts center or the “egg”. It is called such because of the way it is shaped. We had another experience with a foreign person wanting out picture. It was rather amusing actually. This woman and her husband we’re so excited. They we’re talking in Chinese the whole time to each other and to us. Obviously we just stared and smiled not understanding a word of it. They would take turns taking pictures with each of us. The woman kept touching her face and pointing to us and our hair. She pointed to herself and kept repeating something, which I assumed to be her name. So I pointed to my friends and said each of their names. That seemed to be what she wanted to know. Also, we told her where we we’re from since we we’re from all over. Like Molly and I we’re from the U.S. but Sassa is from Greece and Yaisel is from Cuba, so we tried to explain that to her also. She was so happy and excited to talk to us. After her husband taking so many pictures, I decided I wanted one with her on my camera so I could remember the moment. That afternoon after lunch we visited the Forbidden city which is Huge! I walked around with some new friends that I had made and took pictures. As part of our tour we all got audio sets which was really nice because then we we’re able to understand what we we’re seeing. They we’re programmed in a way that depending on where you we’re standing or where you just walked into, the guide would automatically turn on and start speaking about where you we’re standing.
That night after dinner we all went to go see an acrobatic show, which was really cool! I’d never seen anything like it besides at the IMAX or something when we showed Cirque Du Solei things, which is similar to some things that they did. It was very entertaining. All the lights and sets we’re really neat and the stunts that they did we’re unbelievable! I took pictures and a few videos to show people back home. I just watched in awe at most of the things they we’re doing, it was amazing! What a great show!! The next morning after visiting another temple we headed to the market for awhile to try our bartering luck there. I’ve never run into more rude people than the people who worked at this market. Some were nice to us but other females workers were very feisty and got incredibly upset when you wouldn’t buy something from them. Many of my friends and I were grabbed to come and look at things and when we tried to walk away they grabbed us again. This would never be allowed back home. It was ridiculous here. After the market we headed to an early dinner and then back to the airport after dinner. I sat with some new friends that I had met on the trip and had a really good conversation with them. One was reading Twilight so we struck up a good conversation. I asked her if she knew of any other books as good as the Twilight series that are easy reads and easy to get into and she recommended me the author Jodi Picoult (sp?) I ended up getting one of her books and am gonna read it, but there are two in particular that I really want to read but I’ll have to get those when I get home. The plane ride was good, it was a really big plane, one of the huge ones! There was movies playing on this plane so the time passed by pretty quickly. I was excited that it was my last plane ride for SAS, no more until I go home! We got back to the ship and got through security and everything pretty late. When I got back to the room, Val was heading out to the clubs with friends. I wanted to go but I had to get up early for an FDP (faculty directed practicum) field trip in the morning. I talked with Val for awhile and then I went downstairs to take a couple postcards to a friend that I met on my China trip. I didn’t have time to get to the post office to get stamps and send postcards because I was busy the whole next day, so she offered to send my postcards for me because she was going to the post office. I only had a couple so I brought them to her and gave her money for postage and thanked her. Courtney was on my trip with me so it was nice to hang out with her again.
We got up for breakfast the next morning because it was French Toast and headed down to the buses. It was about a two hour drive to the first garden. We we’re on a tour of Chinese gardens which we’re beautiful. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a place like it. They are built to specific standards needing to have water, greenery and rock formation. It is sculpted in a particular way to help with meditation and spirituality. I think I mentioned this earlier. It was beautiful and so peaceful. I wished my Mom and Dad were there to see it as well because I know that they’d love it. We went to a lot of gardens that day, they were all so beautiful. My favorites were the ones with the most water around them. I like ponds and things like that, it adds so much more to something I think. We had a great day and were ready to head back. The FDP took the whole day pretty much. We ended up getting back a couple hours earlier than expected so we had some extra time before we had to be back on the ship for “on ship time”. We decided to just stay in and chill, we were exhausted and my knees were really starting to hurt me for some reason. I couldn’t walk anymore, I just needed to lie down so I went back to my cabin to rest before dinner.
I had a great time in China for the most part. But I just needed to get some rest afterwards because I had been sick for so long and to be honest the people weren’t making that great of an impression on me, being so pushy and everthing. It was really getting to me. I loved China and seeing all the things I did and I had a great time on my trip but I was ready to go to Japan! Two days till Japan!
I'm way behind on posting but things are written and I will get them posted soon!!
