For My First Post Upon Return to the United States of America...

I would just like to say:

FREE TIBET.

TIANANMEN SQUARE TOTALLY HAPPENED AND THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT SLAUGHTERED HUNDREDS OF UNARMED COLLEGE STUDENTS WHO WANTED DEMOCRACY

TAIWAN IS ITS OWN NATION.

INTERNET PORN.

My Last Blog from the People's Republic of China

My room is all packed up. I'm about to take my last shower before the 14 hour flight and possible delays at the airport. It's surreal. Last night, I couldn't sleep because I lay awake thinking of all the memories I've made here in Shanghai. It has been wonderful. I still remember the wide eyed wonder with which I looked at the city on my first taxi ride from the airport to Fudan. I remember being unable to fathom that I was all the way on the other side of the world. It's gone by so fast. But in some senses it feels like so long ago when I first came here. I feel like I've grown up a lot. Whether or not I have, I don't know.

And I'm a little bit scared. I'm scared to go home. I know I've changed. How will I react to my friends, and their change. Or perhaps their lack of. I'm scared of the same 'ol same 'ol. And Southwestern. I've always sort of felt it to be confining, but what about now? After I've lived in one of the biggest, most wonderful, heartbreakingly dirty-beautiful cosmopolitan cities of the world. A place of blinding light and excitement and craziness.

Perhaps I'll be motivated to move. Not to be still. I have 4 day weekends this semester. I need to use my passes while I can. Chicago, San Fransisco, Boston, these are all places I have never been but can get to easily. With hostels. And interesting people. And adventure.

I'll never forget one evening, when I was little, at the dinner table at our house on Bear Lake Drive. I was complaining that I always had to bring my lunch to school, instead of eating "hot lunch" (the fast food that was delivered to my private school). And I'll never forget when my Dad told me that the reason we were able to go to Disneyland, and cool vacations was because I didn't get hot lunch. That seeing the world and experiences and memories are of far more worth than creature comforts. And this has stuck with me. And for my family, who has given me this gift and has made my adventure in China this much greater, I am eternally grateful.

In anticipation of my return home, and the almost certain reverse-culture shock which will ensue, I would like to go ahead and request to not have to hear any of the following upon my return by those who read my blog:

Please,

-no "ching chang chong" jokes
-no "so solly! me so solly", etc.


If those could be avoided, that would be super.

I'm packing right now, and it's weird. I remember unpacking.

Things I Will Miss About China

-8 kuai dried fried beef dish from Uncle Asian
-Xiao Long Bao (15 Kuai with veggies)
-Public transportation
-Magnum Ice Cream Bars
-Seeing the Pudong skyline at night
-Complaining that a 50 Kuai or above meal is "too expensive"
-Getting tailor made clothes at the fabric market
-Speaking Chinese
-Element Fresh
-General ridiculocities (buildings lit up like rainbows, Club Banana, etc.)
-Club Banana
-Chinglish (Welcome to Shanghai next time!)
-Being able to say "ni ge" all the time (pronounced "nigga")
-The general awesomeness of Shanghai night life
-Slim Japanese cigarettes
-My new friends
-the 5 kuai scary-as-hell motorcycle ride from Jiangwan Zhen station to the apartments
-Chinese food
-Fun, crazy traffic
-Chinese people
-General adventure

Things I will not Miss:

-air pollution
-not being able to dry my clothes (my socks and underpants are especially uncomfortable when they're all stiff)
-honking
-the smell of street vendor Cho dofu (stinky tofu)
-Germans (f***ing germans, nothing changes)
-Asshole white people who tend to congregate in the Shanghai night life (mainly German)
-A serious lack of Mexican food and good cheese
-wishing my friends and family were here
-Getting up at 8:00 am for 3 straight hours of chinese
-2 bikes stolen (of everyone who bought bikes in our program, only one person did not get their stolen)
-beggars who use their children
-serious media restriction

2 days left. Let's make 'em count

12 More Days

This semester has flown by. It feels like just yesterday I was moving into my room, still amazed that I was in China. It's a crazy feeling too. I know I'm going to miss China. A lot. And I'm going to miss Shanghai, and big city life. And excitement. And my friends. I've made some wonderful friends here. But all is well. Right now, I'm hoping to return to Shanghai for Spring Break on a pass. My ultimate goal is to go for less than 100 USD, which would be cool. And also, a lot of my friends are from Minneapolis, so I will probably go visit this summer. But still, I will miss China. It will be strange to have to drive everywhere. And to not walk. And probably the first time I am in a public space by myself, I will be creeped out. And everything is going to be so expensive. "That meal was 150 Kuai! For a burger from Chili's!"

But it will be good to see my family. And my new nephew. And it will be good to have Christmas breakfast, with little smokies and angel biscuits. And then to see my friends. And to have a burrito. From Chipotle. And to have clothes that smell good when they come from the dryer.

But I will return, someday. At least that's my new dream. I haven't had a life goal since high school, which was "Go to college". Now it is "Go to China."

I am the Wu Tang Clan

Tonight I walked alone in the cold Shanghai night. It is strange to see the city asleep, huddled under the blanket of cold. I stood in an intersection and saw no cars coming towards or away from me. And I walked, in the cold, a cold of which I am unaccustomed to. A cold which requires a hat, and scarf, and gloves, and actual coat in order to venture out in on a daily basis. This is something I am unaccustomed to. One of the many fabulous and wonderful new things of which I have been made to grow accustomed to in this bright blinding city on the other side of the world. A place which is so far from home, and yet is so close to home. A city of bone, concrete, in which it is hard, white and cold, and yet which is pulsing with blood and life and soul. And in the cold I think of the closing weeks. And how I am trying to breathe in these experiences while I can. And I walk to a place of solitude, a place where I have been before. On top of a building. A majestic mountain overlook of a sprawling and pounding, beating urban jungle. And I go here because it is crazy. Because I must. Because the man who tightrope walks does it because he is crazy. And because he must feel life and death. And in it something beautiful is created. And I think of the man who walks the tightrope, perched between the two tallest towers in the world, and who in the middle of his crossing looks straight down below him to see something that he will never again see in his life. And I think that I am crazy to walk in this lonesome cold. But I think of how I am invincible. And how all of my new learning is true in this moment. Because I am a white man, and no one will touch me. Because whoever fucks with the white man has a mess on his hands, a mess which his government will swiftly and economically wipe clean. And I think about being in a place in which such a reality is still so utterly and apparently real. We have come along way. And we haven't really come any way at all. And I am the Wu Tang Clan. And I feel guilty. But then I remember that I was born into this. And this reality extends beyond me. And I will do my best not to propogate it. But I will be damned if I let it’s opportunities slip through my fingers. And then I see another man. And I am no longer invincible. But an animal again. A life. Which ends. And my senses stand on end. And I find myself feeling where he walks, though I do not turn to look. And in this moment I am in rare form. And something which I am usually not. And this is fortunate. But I cannot help but feel exhilarated. He passes, and I breathe a quiet sigh of relief. And I walk up the stairs. And I look out on the city whose lights are turned off, because no one is there to look at them. And in this moment I am a rich man. Because I am the king of this mountain. And young. And things which are beyond my control have made me rich. My one for their seven. The lady today told me that they don’t have yuan on a tie, because only the dollar is good. And I can buy anything I want in this country. But I think to myself that myself and everyone I know can buy anything they want, if they really want it. And I wonder whether or not the ability to buy something is what makes one wealthy? And looking out, I know the answer to this question before I even finish asking it.

Zhu ni gan en jie kuai le! (happy thanksgiving)

This Thanksgiving was the first one I've spent out of the country. This is not suprising considering I have never lived outside the country before, but you know. Anyways, our program decided to throw us a pot luck style Thanksgiving dinner. My class made mashed potatoes, and they were awesome. All in all the menu included spaghetti, a fruit platter, pumpkin pie, our mashed potatoes, salad, chocolate chip cookies, turkey, apple pie, and a punch made of straight liquor and fruit. Needless to say, a good time was had by all. Even though none of the food came out, and our Chinese teachers started eating dessert along with the food (and also, straight from the buffet table). But it was great fun. Not the same as a home grown Thanksgiving, but still pretty special. Sadly, we neglected to dress up like pilgrims and indians, as had been the plan. That evening we tried to find and watch Jurassic Park, but were unable to, and settled for Indiana Jones instead.

The next morning we left for our program's weekend long trip to Shaoxing. We loaded up bright and early and drove about 4 hours southwest to Shaoxing, which is the "textile capital of China", and the home of Lu Xun, a famous revolutionary writer. When we got there, we checked into our hotel, and then we toured a textile factory. It was really moving experience. The factory was basically a giant a room where hundreds of people sat at sewing machines and made shirts, or pants, or whatever it was they were assigned to make. I suppose I am just supremely ignorant, but prior to this I thought all clothes were completely machine made, that they had robots that sewed shirts and pants and what not. But no, these clothes are sewn by people. People who spend all day, every day sewing the same collars and pockets onto shirts, over and over again, thousands of times. I watched a woman sew the ruffle part of a tuxedo shirt, a process which was intricate and tedious. Really it was very sad. Most of the people only had 2 days off for the entire month. Most were migrant workers who had come from rural areas and were saving up money or sending it back home to their families. Almost certainly they were not fairly compensated for their efforts. It put a human face behind clothing. I will probably never be able to buy clothes again without seeing the hundreds of faces, working their fingers to the bone to help their families, and grateful for the oppurtunity. I couldn't imagine this kind of work. I wish that every person in America (and the west, really) could be made to walk through this factory, or perhaps spend a day doing one of these jobs, and that way they might consider what goes into things that we so easily take for granted. Of course this all seems preachy. And I don't really know what the answer is. All I know is that the whole thing didn't feel right. And I guess it made me think that there is a price to pay for everything that goes beyond dollars and cents. And also, I think I'll make my own clothes from now on.

After that we went to dinner. Prior to dinner we had about 30 minutes to go explore, and I ended up going by myself, and wandering in the alleyways and down the street. Shaoxing is very much more like a traditional Chinese town than Shanghai, and it was really, really cool. I was standing in the park below a pagoda perched atop the hill, watching a man do tai-chi with a fake sword and was once again amazed to find myself in China. The evening was great, Shaoxing is much cheaper than Shanghai. We took pedicabs from our hotel to the bar, and on the way there I realized that we had not negotiated a price. I automatically assumed the drivers would work in cohesion in an attempt to rip off the big group of white people (something that is likely to happen in Shanghai). They were suprised when we offered them 10 kuai per person, and eagerly accepted the proposition (I was expecting to start at 10 kuai as the beginning of my bargaining, and if I was lucky would only be paying 15 kuai). Apparently we could have paid a lot less. But they worked hard. And when we got to the bar, it was only 15 kuai for Tiger beer (which is my favorite beer in China, it's imported from Singapore and oh-so-delicious). In Shanghai at the seedy dive bar we go to on Tuesday nights (the Hard Rock), it's 20 kuai for Tsingtao (the run-of-the-mill Chinese brand). So it was super cheap. We enjoyed some beers and then hung out in the massive public square in the middle of the city (where the security guard was walking around with a giant patio furniture sized umbrella).

The next morning we woke up and took a boat ride. It was awesome. Me and two of my buddies piled into a "Water taxi", which is a traditional covered Chinese boat, and we were rowed down a canal. It was amazing. Again, I felt like I was really in China. The weather was absolutely perfect, sunny and a little bit chilly. Old women and children were washing clothes and dishes in the river. Old men sat in chairs smoking cigarettes. They say life is made up of moments. This was definitely one of them. It was beautiful.

We departed from the canal and waited for everyone to arrive before going to the house of Lu Xun. While waiting, we saw a man who was selling a snake in a bag. Upon trying to ask him how much it was, he showed us that two of his fingers were missing. I couldn't reallyy understand what he was saying, but he kept pointing to the snake and pointing to his butt, back and missing fingers. I'm guessing he was a snake hunter. Either way, it was nuts. The house of Lu Xun was pretty cool. It was a very traditional, old style Chinese gentry house, and I enjoyed being there more for that than knowing that it once belonged to Lu Xun. After this, we toured a buddhist temple and enjoyed a delicious vegetarian meal. So far, the food had not been excellent on the trip, so I was prepared for the worst. But it was one of the best meals I've had in China. After the meal, we hiked to the top of Screaming Mountain, which is more of a hill. At the top, there was very cool buddhist temple, and it was all very serene. Strangely, on the hike up, we realized that all of the natural rock formations had been covered in concrete. Perhaps this was to prevent erosion, but either way it was dissapointing. Upon the completion of the hike (and a short nap in the hotel room), we had another exciting night on the town. This time we went to the bar and to an arcade afterwards. It was amazing. I got like 40 tokens for 10 kuai. Plus they had a Mario Kart arcade game! Picture a game as ballin' and as fun as Mario Kart, and then picture in big arcade form with a steering wheel and pedals and such. It was awesome. I also spent like 2 hours trying to beat my buddy Joe at shooting hoops. My arms were sore the next day. It was quite sad.

The next morning we awoke and traveled to a replicated "1000 year old riverside street", which was also very cool. My buddy Ryan found a vendor who was selling these absolutely ridiculous Chinese Pop Star posters. They were only 1 kuai each, so I bought like 6 of them. They are ridiculous. Like, you look at them and then wonder who would actually post them on their wall. Also they had posters of babies, with unicorns in the background. It was wierd. Plus, they had fireworks. Naturally, I bought some, and Joe promptly attempted to set them off. We realized that the fuse was way too short, as the bottle rocket pretty much went off immediately after having been lit. This was all very amusing to the Chinese lookers on.

After a delicious lunch, where I tried snail for the first time in my life, we boarded the bus and went home. All in all the trip was super....what's the word I'm looking for?...duper!

Yesterday, after an exciting trip to the Site of the First Meeting of the Communist Party of China (which had a really ballin' wax person display) we went to Qufu Lu, which is a place to buy knock off stuff. A man followed us for 45 minutes. It was awesome. He simply followed us saying "hello American friends, i find you very cheap! Follow me!" It was insane. He was like Jason. We split up in an effort to ditch him, and my friend Joe and I managed to lose him. And we looked around for an hour bargaining and looking at stuff. And then when we decided to go back home, guess who managed to find us again? It was ridiculous. Luckily he didn't follow us to the subway station, but I was seriously scared I was going to go home and find him sitting on my bed, or in the refrigerator, or under my bed. "Follow me American friend!"

In other news, Thanksgiving is the day after tommorrow. My class is making mashed potatoes. We are all very excited. Also, we are going to try and dress up like pilgrims and indians. I am going to miss the Turkey trot, which sucks because I've always enjoyed the pretentious central Fort Worth crowd, and the free yogurt. But it's all good. Also, my sister had a baby! So now I'm an uncle! This is going to be the most spoiled baby of all time, because everyone in my family has all wanted to have a baby to play with for like 4 years. And now we have one! So congratulations Kyle and Joey!

All in all, a good couple of days.

Chinese Pants

So I haven't updated in a while. It's all good. Let's see, what all is new. School is going well. We are about to move up and start using the level 2 book, which I am not excited about. I dropped down from the class which started with the level 2 book because of the insane amount of homework, so hopefully they won't try and force that trend on us. Or I guess I just won't do it (a likely scenario) and just do what's necessary to stay afloat until the end of the semester. I'm concerned that when I get back to Southwestern I will have a laziness instilled in me that I won't be able to fix. But then I remember that at Southwestern my classes will be in English, and won't expect 4 hours per day of workbook exercises. In other news, I am excited to return to America. I found out I won't be living in the house I lived in this summer, because nobody will be moving out. But it's okay because for now it would appear that I've found another place to live that is just as close to Southwestern, and with two dudes whom I don't know all that well, but who seem like they would be good roommates. Oddly, I think this may be the same house that T-Dickson lived in this summer (it's with Jeff Elliot and is in a neighborhood across the street from the golf course, ringing any bells Tricia?). Also, I will only be having classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and will be getting 3 Comm. classes out of the way. Since I will only have class two days a week, and since I will be out of money when I get back, this means I will need to find a job. Hopefully, I can get some serving experience, because this seems to be the most versatile and useful job for somebody my age. In other news, I am not excited to leave Shanghai. I can see reverse-culture shock looming in the months ahead. I am none too excited about getting back to the heartwrenching dramas of Southwestern University. And somehow, I'm forseeing that the excitement of Georgetown will probably pale in comparison to Shanghai, China. But I'm excited to see my friends and family, whom I miss dearly. Also, I just don't know what I'll do when I can't get up and have delicious fried Jaozi for breakfast. Or be able to get everywhere without a car. Or think that a $15 meal is outrageously expensive. But on the other hand, it will be sweet to drive. And to cross the street without thinking I'm going to die. And to eat Mexican food. But I feel like it will be eerily, eerily quiet, when I take my first nighttime winter stroll down my street. It's a strange feeling, to want to leave and to stay, and to not want to leave and not want to stay all at the same time.


p.s-Mom, for Christmas I want Age of Empires III for the PC (try to get the one with the expansion pack)

p.s.s- everyone else, don't make fun of me for being a nerd

Quantum of Solace

Well, we went to see "Quantum of Solace" tonight. It was released a week earlier in Asia than it was in the United States. All in all, I thought it was excellent. While those who are expecting it to live up to "Casino Royale" will likely be disappointed, this is only because "Casino Royale" was so excellent. It was such a departure from previous Bond films, and "Quantum" simply follows this departure. It was also more frenzied and hurried than the leisurely "Casino Royale," and with a much darker tone. Some of the action sequences were a bit hard to follow due to shaky camera work, and it is somewhat confusing in parts, but it was good. In conclusion, it's not as good as Casino Royale (which in my opinion is almost like saying "not as good as 'Fargo'" or "not as good as 'Taxi Driver'") but definitely in the top 7 Bond flicks. So Garrett, enjoy it next week.

In other news, America has elected it's first black president. I never thought I would see the day. Also, between this and the fact that I'll be returning home from China, I can't imagine all of the racist backwater ignorance I will hear upon my return to the U.S. But it's all good. Maybe now we'll have an administration and a congress who realize that development of alternative energy is most crucial for national security, not a needless and expensive occupation. My hope is that one day my children will be able to drive around in fuel cell powered hummers making a "suck it" sign to all of the crazies whom we don't buy oil from anymore. And perhaps we will restore some dignity for our country on the world stage. Because right now America is like that drunk friend who won't give up the car keys. And the French are just sittin' on the porch smokin' their cigarettes and scowling while we vomit in the yard.

And also, at least Sarah Palin has no chance of potentially becoming the leader of the world's most powerful nation. Oh J-Mac, if you had picked anybody else I might have voted for you.

Oh, and Chinese movies have some pretty ridiculous trailers. I really want to see this one called "Super Typhoon."

An Ode to the Republican Party

There is a dirt track behind my apartment building where I run everyday. Usually, I am the only white person there. Lately, I have acquired a new Chinese friend, who accompanies me on my jogs and we practice speaking Chinese and English. I'm somewhat wary because my running time is usually my alone time/relaxation time, but he's nice enough, and I feel like I could tell him that I just felt like running that day and he would understand. Today we talked about politics. It was staggering the amount of information he knew about the American political system and American politics in general. Ironically he claimed to know very little about the politics of his homeland (this is either true, or he is uncomfortable sharing his true feelings with a new friend, especially a foreign one). Either way, it helped me to appreciate the fact that regardless of how we feel about the current state of American politics, we still have a say. And at least we are informed about the goings on of government (if one wants to escape the "liberal" or "conservative" bias of the American media, it simply takes a little bit more effort and patience to review better, albeit more boring sources of news, CSPAN, for example). And at least we are able to say who we want to lead our country. Not wake up one day and discover that another person whom we know nothing about has been appointed into a position of authority for reasons we know nothing about. Which is the case in certain places. ahem ahem.

And for this I am grateful.

And for another thing I am also grateful. And that is that regardless of who wins in the next few days, at least we will have a new administration. Not a man who's administration somehow convinced America that he, a Yale-educated, Connecticut-Born, Skull-and-Bonesman, son-of-a-millionaire-President was somehow a political "outsider" in Washington. And I don't want to jump on the "Bush Hate Train", because really it's his administration. And he's just a man. And I was one of those who was convinced he was an "outsider". (In my defense I was in the 7th grade).

But maybe now we really can change things. Regardless of who sits in the oval office next year. Maybe constituents can start influencing legislation, rather than special interest groups and lobbyists. Maybe Americans will wake up and realize that rather than worrying about being the victim of a terrorist attack, the real danger is that both our earth and our democracy is being eroded before our eyes. Maybe people will realize that America needs less poverty, not more billionaires.

Maybe. Let's hope.

On the Road

"They rushed down the street together, digging everything in the early way they had, which later became so much sadder and perceptive and blank. But then they danced down the streets like dingledodies, and I shambled after as I've been doing all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars..."

-Jack Kerouac

Lost in Translation

Well it's been a while since I've written. And a whole lot has happened, but I've been super busy. Our break is in a week, and also Dad comes in a week, so that is exciting. Maybe I can convince him to take the MagLev train from the Airport to Pudong, I think it's the fastest train in the world, but don't quote me on that. Anyhow, that's exciting. In unexciting news we have our Chinese midterm on Friday. So that sucks. But it should be okay. Except that I've been barely passing all of my tests. But the most frustrating thing is that I'm looking over the test, and I'm getting like 2 points taken off for not putting a question mark, and one of my characters wasn't good enough, even though it was the right character. And I still got it wrong. And I'm like "Hey, isn't it cool that I actually know what character to put in this blank space" but they are like "hey you didn't write it perfectly so I'm gonna mark it wrong". But it's all good. All I have to do is pass. And I'm pretty sure they won't fail anybody who puts in effort.

In other news, I've decided I'm getting some sweet clothes made. The fabric markets here are ridiculous. It's just like an indoor mall full of different stalls with every single kind of fabric you can imagine. And you go and tell them what you want made, and they measure you and you pick your fabric. And the amazing thing is, you can take a picture of anything, and they can make it. My plan is to find a sweet suit from GQ and get it tailor made for $150. Garrett and I always talk about how ballin' it is to have a suit that's not black, so I'm going to get either a sweet grey or a sharp looking brown, if I can find it. And also a killer dark-brown tweed sport coat. And some handmade shirts. And hopefully, my wonderful family will opt to send money with my father to help fund this endeavor, because really, this is all I want for Christmas (hint hint).

Speaking of Christmas, it has occured to some fellow students and I that we will be missing the Christmas season. It will be sort of strange to get home and celebrate Christmas without all of the buildup. And also I hope they still keep selling Egg-nog for a while after Christmas. So that will be wierd.

Also, I discovered the joy of Element Fresh the other day. For those who haven't heard, Element Fresh is probably the best American restaurant in all of Shanghai. It's wonderful. It has legitimate salad. And legitimate salad dressing. And sandwhiches that are amazing. And hummus. And it's awesome. It's expensive (I spent 100 kuai on a sandwhich, salad, and the most amazing fresh squeezed apple juice ever to grace my taste buds, and 100 kuai is my more-than-ample daily budget). But really, it's about the price of a normal meal in America ($10-$12). I would also like to take this oppurtunity to make a large "suck it" sign (dX style baby!) to all of those who chose to study abroad in Europe, where they use letters. Probably the one downside to Element Fresh is that it's sort of a rich-white-asshole convention. But I've been going to one of those for like 2 and a half years now, so I'm pretty used to it (buh-dum-ching!). But really though. These are some pretentious mother you-know-whats. Like, people at Southwestern are affluent. They're upper-middle class. Children of Doctors and Lawyers and such. But these people. They're like upper class. Like, in that whole new class. And also a lot of them are European, so that doesn't help. But more on this later.

As of late, the night life has been rather exciting as well. And this weekend was interesting because I ended up sort of on both ends of the spectrum of things in the local/foreigner department. On Friday night, a lot of people in our program met up at our apartment where we enjoyed some pijiu (beer) and watched "Santa's Slay", a Christmas themed horror movie which stars Bill Goldberg (of WCW wrestling fame) as a viking-esque Santa Claus who goes on a murderous rampage through a small Minnesota town. It was as good as it sounds. After this, we made our way to Club Banana, which is the seedy local club/disco near our university. We were the only white people there. It was supposed to be sort of a guy's night, because we were going to try our luck with some of the local Chinese ladies. Turns out that Club Banana sort of lives up to its name, as there were very few girls present. I don't think it's a gay bar, but it could become one very easily. Also, it turns out some other people from our program had decided to go to Banana too, so there were plenty of ladies for us to dance with. Among the various ridiculocities that night, two of my friends were brought up on stage in order to help the guy who was singing perform a keg-stand of sorts (but with a pitcher of beer). Something was lost in translation, however, and they both ended up just trying to drink the pitcher of beer, and they were awkwardly escorted off the stage. Also, as I was dancing up on the platform at the front, I ended up falling in the gap between the two stage pieces and am now sporting some pretty serious bruises on my left leg. Luckily there were a lot of people on the stage too, so I don't think anybody saw me. So that was ridiculous. But it was fun. And the dancing was fun.

And this brings us to last night, which was Saturday. Joe, Kyle and I were sitting in our apartment trying to figure out what to do. All of us had done nothing but watch movies and lay around during the day, so were full of energy and ready to get out of the house. We were looking through the guidebook trying to find some cool bars to check out in a new part of town. We had decided on an art-deco themed place that seemed pretty cool, but the drinks were a little pricey. As we were about to leave I recieved a call from my lovely Japanese associate Risa, who told me that she had met up with some of her German friends and they were going to KTV (Karaoke) and then perhaps to a club. The KTV room was going to be free, and it was BYOB. So we were game. We gathered up some brew and headed to the KTV place. The KTV place, it turns out, was probably the swankiest place I've ever been to. It was near Jin'an Temple (which is where the Element Fresh is, which is in the shopping center under the Portman Ritz-Carlton). So anyways, we were a little out of our element. And when we arrive, Risa is there and a lot of her super-rich European friends whom she knows through a girl who went to her private boarding school in Connecticut and who attends Columbia. As I said before, we were a little out of our element. Not to mention the fact that none of us were dressed up (I was wearing my houndstooth sportcoat that I got at the Goodwill, but that was as nice as it got). The epitome of class came when Kyle, Joe, and I were sharing a fifth of Jim Beam we had purchased at the Lawsons whilst singing "Born in the U.S.A" by Bruce "the Boss" Springsteen (which I found out through reading the words was actually a scathing criticism on U.S foreign policy and the post-Vietnam era). I have never felt more like a white-trash American in my whole life. But it was awesome. And we followed the Europeans to a club that was supposed to have free drinks (one of the guys was part of a football club that was throwing a party), but that turned out to be bunk. But we club hopped and had a great time, and they were actually really cool.

And it was just nuts. I never thought I would be singing KTV with super-affluent Europeans in Shanghai, World City, China.

And I think when I graduate I'm going to try to get back here as fast as I can.

I got sick of writing last time

I will begin with two bits of excellent news. Firstly, Kyle got the internet working in our apartment again, so that is good. Secondly, it is no longer balls hot in Shanghai, which is also good. In fact, it's kinda chilly. Like, it's probably gonna be pretty cold before I leave.

I don't really want to talk more about our trip. I kind of got bored of writing about it last time. I'll just finish up and say that we went to Urumqi and it was cool. And we went to the Heavenly Lake, and it was as the name would imply. And also, we hiked to the top of the thing mountain where a pagoda is perched atop. It was nuts. Except a couple of us yelled at this one dude who wouldn't shut his yap. We were like "Hey, we're on top of ******* mountain, can we have some quiet for like two minutes?" And then we threw him over the side. Not really, but that would have been cool. Anywho, the whole trip was pretty dope. "Dope" is the new word, as this one guy has said it all along to describe things, and now we all do. So that's fun. But yeah, I'm sure I'll write more later, and also, you can ask me about it when I get back if you want. Plus I took like 2.3 gigs worth of pictures.

But there were some funny things that happened:

Firstly, in Xi'an at the bar street, there was a live band. I went to use the facilities and on the way out they immediately began playing the theme from "Beverly Hills Cop." This would become the theme for the rest of the trip. If you don't know the theme, look it up on youtube or frostwire or something, because it is a ridiculous song for a live band in Central China to be playing.

Also, the area we visited had a large population of Uygur minorities. The funny thing about "Uygur" is that it's pronouced like "Wigger". So our tour guide would constantly be saying "We are going to place with many wiggers" and "We are going to hear some traditional wigger music." The best was in Urumqi, where she warned us not to stay out too late because "wiggers tend to be more aggressive than Han people." It did not cease being funny for the entire trip.

Also, one of the people at the giant sand dunes looked like Kim Jong Il. And I managed to share the magic of Creedence Clearwater Revival with a Chinese man who was on our train. I don't think he was a very big fan.

All in all, an excellent and exhausting trip. Over 50 hours on a train. 4,000 miles traveled in 9 days. It felt strange to be "coming home" to Shanghai.

Night market in Dongguan.

Back from Urumqi

ni


Well we got back from our week long trip across China. It was awesome. Exhausting, but really really cool. I took about 400 pictures, and I'm in the process of uploading them as we speak. I probably won't be able to put all of them up, but I'll get the good ones. And they'll be here when I return. It was awesome. I shall begin with a run down of the trip.

On Friday, we got out of our Chinese Politics class early (sweet...) and we headed to the train station. This week was a holiday week (National Day was on Wednesday), so the train station was unbelievably crowded, allthough not as crowded as pictures I've seen. Our first train ride was a 20 hour soft sleeper to Xi'an. "Soft Sleeper" means that there are four beds in a private room, although everyone shared a room with two Chinese strangers. I thought the accomodations were fine, but there were others in the program who didn't share my sentiments. Really the only thing that was gross was the bathroom, but it's China and I've yet to see a clean public restroom in the whole country. Also, if anybody was bitching already, they were in for a rude awakening when we took the hard sleepers, but there will be more on this later.

Anyhow, we slept and hung out on the train and arrived in Xi'an at about 5:00 pm. After a much appreciated shower in a super nice hotel (with a super nice bathroom) we ventured out and found a really cool bar street where we enjoyed a few drinks at a Wild West themed bar called "Ol' Henry's" and the "Touch Pub" (which looked like a strip bar, sans naked women). It was a really cool area, and oddly vacant for a Saturday night. The next day we headed out to the Terra Cotta Warriors, which was really cool. After that, we went to a really cool Mosque/Shopping district which had excellent street food and a lot of cool knick-knacks. I managed to snag a soviet style winter cap (complete with Red Star) for only 25 kuai, so that was exciting. That night we boarded the train again for Jiayuguan, which was another 21 hours away. This time it was on a hard sleeper, which has a 3 bed bunk bed and no doors to the rooms. Although it wasn't exactly the most comfortable place to sleep, it did the job. Plus it was fun to just lie around all day and read and listen to music and stuff.

That evening we arrived in Jiayuguan, which is an industrial town in the middle of nowhere. We stayed at a reasonably creepy orange hotel, but it was nice to have a shower. We ventured out again that evening, and there was a festival going on. We played a laser gun game, and I managed to impress everyone with my Texas shooting skills. But there was no prize. We walked around and enjoyed a beer at another bar (but the beer was this really shady Tsingtao knock off that tasted like half Keystone/ half water). The next day we went to a really cool fortress place in Jiayuguan, which was where the Western part of the Great Wall begins. It was sweet. After that, we went to a section of the Great Wall and climbed it to the top (which sucked), but once we got there, the view was amazing and we did a little mountain climbing. After this, we had a 5 hour bus ride to Donghuan.


Upon arriving in Donghuan, we had free time to explore it's famous night market, which was really fun. The street food was good, and we ate dinner at this open air restaraunt and had a great time. The next morning we woke up and went to the Sand Dunes, which were awesome. They were over 800 feet tall, and we were able to sled down them. It was wicked. We also rode camels and had a good time. It was awesome. After the dunes, we went to this place that had a bunch of grottoes, which are caves/buddhist worship places. We saw the 3rd largest Buddha in Asia, and it was awesome. Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed. This was cool, but after a while everyone was ready for the tour to be over. After this we boarded another train for the 12 hour trip to Turpan.

Upon arriving in Turpan we boarded a bus and went to the Flaming Mountain, which is a famous site featured in a Chinese folk tale about the Monkey King. It was pretty cool. We also toured an the ruins of an Ancient city (and some people almost got attacked by the donkey pulling our cart). After that we went to a Uigur vineyard, and we enjoyed some snacks and toured the home. This was definitely the busiest day. We were supposed to visit 2 more sites, but everyone opted to skip those (they didn't sound that interesting) and travel on to the next city and to our hotel (we hadn't showered in 24 hours, and this was after visiting and playing around in the sand dunes). The next stop was Urumqi, which is the largest city in Xinjian Autonomous Region.

Crap! my comptuer is about to run out of batteries. I'm going to upload more pictures and finish later. PEACE!

shi bong ding

I'm not really sure what the title above means. It's Chinese for something, and it's pronounced like "sure bong ding". Dr. Robertson used to say it, and it's a lot of fun. Anywho, yesterday I had my one on one session, where we discussed some more pragmatic language issues. For instance, I found out that "zhe ge" means this, not "zhe shi" which is a way of asking what something is. So, for these past three weeks I have been at restaurants saying "Wo yao zhe shi" which has been translating to "I want to know what this is." Which would explain why every time I ordered I would face a barrage of indechipherable Chinese. Ah, the more you know.

Yesterday, my roommate showed me the shady mall where you can buy all of the knock off stuff. I got some sweet Ray Ban knockoffs for about less than 10USD. I also, got a 4GB memory card for 15 USD. The only electronics which our cheaper here are memory cards, oddly enough. Also, we were taking to a shady "cabbage truck" store, where you had to knock on the door to be let in. Kacy, send pictures and money with Dad, and I'm pretty sureI can get you a real prada bag for about 60 USD.

Anyways, I leave for our trip to Xi'an and Urumqi tommorrow. I am stoked! So I probably won't be updating for a little over a week. But not to worry, I'll take plenty of pictures.

I love everyone!

I need grace (STRESS)

I need grace. From everybody. At least everybody back home. Here's the deal: as you can imagine, China is stressful. Stressful enough just because it's China. Where I can't read. And I don't really speak the language. And 20 million people live here. And it smells bad most of the time. And it's humid. And it's wonderful. It's F-word wonderful. And, perhaps most importantly, I don't really have internet access. I'm supposed to have it in my room, but it barely works. In fact, it doesn't work. So basically, whenever I get some spare time, I have to make my way either to the lobby, or the coffee shop next door and get on the internet. Which is still slow. At which point, I have limited time. Limited time with which to connect to what's important. And to try and let everybody know what is happening. And find out about politics. And the cowboys. And my friends. And my family. And it all must take place in a public place. So please, understand. In China, there's not a lot of dick-around time on the internet. Not for me anyways. It's a precious resource where I must make sure everything is okay. And that's okay for me. Part of me feels that things should be this way. But it's hard to get used to. So please understand.

And I need grace. Because I am barely staying afloat here. I need you to know that no matter who you are, I miss you. I promise, I miss you. And I wish you were here. Seeing this place. And feeling it. And I need you to understand that it's hard being here. And I can't keep everybody happy. And I won't. My priorities will be in being here, in China. And experiencing this adventure. Not on making sure everybody at home is happy. I love you Mom. You need to get on Skype. Everytime you are on the internet, get on Skype and see if I am on. Maybe I will be. And I haven't bought an international phone card yet, and I will call you when I get one. I promise I love you and I miss you and I am thinking about you. And for all of my friends at SU and elsewhere, I'm thinking about you too. You should all be here.

Anyways, I apologize if this seemed curt or whatever. I'm a little stressed right now. I apologize.

But please know, that I miss you and I love you. And understand that I'm going to be gone for a little while. But that I love you and am thinking about you, no matter who you are. (I promise, I started missing some random-ass people, it's kinda wierd).

Shout out to Grant Watters

Howdy Ho folks! Well, first things first, I got a new camera. So get ready for some super awesome pictures. I was considering getting a nice camera, like a Canon D60 or something of that nature, but I decided I would save the money and just get a little bit higher end regular camera. So far it's the best Christmas present I've ever gotten. Also, we found out our itinerary for our trip next week (after a ceremony in which we apparently pledged not to speak English in our apartments). We will be following the Silk Road, starting with a 20 hour train ride to Xi'an. The ride won't be too bad, because it's an over-nighter and we got a soft sleeper (which is like first class). I'm mostly going to sleep and take a lot of Tylenol PM and sleep some more. We are also going to Urumqi, which is in the far northwest corner of China. It's the largest city in that province (which is the something something autonomous region) and it only has 2 million people (which for China is like a small town). We will get to see the great wall on it's western most edge, and also I think go sledding down a giant sand dune. I'm also excited because according to weather.com the highs have been in the upper 60's, and it's in the desert, so no more humidity. Shanghai feels like Vietnam. I get back sweat pretty much the second I walk out the door. And also the sweat that I can sometimes feel trickling down from my "pecs" to my belly. So I'm definitely excited for the change in climate. And also, it apparently is supposed to get cool here sometime soon. It needs to. Mom, you would hate it right now.

Other than that, things are going well. I'm excited to travel, and also to say that after the trip I will have been across China. I'm trying hard to remember what has happened since I last wrote. Class is reasonably lame. In my Chinese politics class, I can't seem to figure out how to stay awake (it's a 3 hour class on Friday afternoon, cut me some slack). The material is very interesting though, and as you can imagine, the inner workings of the People's government can be very complex and oddly intertwined. My favorite class, by far, is the Issues in Contemporary Society class. Our teacher is very lively, and has a style of exploring Chinese society in a very Southwestern-esque style (by which I mean a liberal-academic-feminist lens, which is a fun way to look at China). It's fascinating. And Chinese class is intense, but good.

Anyhow, I suppose that's all for now. I hope things are well at home. I miss everybody. I'm excited for Dad to come visit for our break. I'm already preparing a list of things for him to bring in the extra bag (among which are Shiner Bock, queso making supplies, and if we can find a way to do it, DVD recordings of some cowboy's games).

Also, Sarah Palin is crazy.

That is all.

Also, are things going to be okay with America's financial situation?

Wo de Zhongguo Pengyou

Time for an update! So much has happened, it's been crazy! I suppose a good place to start would be the awesome time I had on Friday. Pretty much everybody from our program went out to club Muse, had some drinks and danced the night away. The drinks were expensive though, so I only had two. But the music was awesome. For whatever reason, the club music here is really good, and there are a lot of good remixes. For instance, one song contained Rage Against the Machine. Dancing at a hoppin' night club to Rage Against the Machine in the Shanghai night is something everyone should experience. On Saturday we had a mandatory field trip to the Shanghai Urban Planning Expo. The 2nd floor contains a scale model of the city, and it is quite ridiculous, as soon as I get a camera, there will be pictures, although you really have to see it for yourself. And then we took a "virtual tour" of the city in a theater that completely surrounds the audience. We pretty much made fun of the ridiculous cartoon characters who guided us around, and at one point I accidentally swallowed my bottled water the wrong way and coughed it up all over three different people (one of which was a chinese man whom I did not know, and who promptly walked away despite my best "duibuqi"s (sorry)) . It was pretty ridiculous. And the tour guide accidentally called me an asshole for it. And then at the end, the tour showed the earth and the lady who was narrating said "We are now in the space." All in all, a cool place. Afterwards I decided to walk around People's Square by myself, and two chinese high school students came up and started talking to me and asking where I was from. We had an awkward conversation of broken chinese and broken english. As I was walking away, it started raining and the dudes ran over and invited me under their umbrella. It would seem that Chinese students are eager to make western friends because it's cool to have them, and so we hit it off very well. They ended up taking me to a really cool tea house where the waitress performed an elaborate tea ceremony. We shared cigarettes (also a chinese friendship tradition, sorry mom) and conversed. It was very cool. They also taught me how to hit on girls in Chinese. I was taught to say "xie xie mei nu" which means "Thank you pretty girl" and also I was taught how to say "flower girl" but I forget the Chinese right now. On Sunday, me and some dudes decided to explore the Pu Dong area (which is on the other side of the river, and is where all of the super tall buildings are). There was a lot less to do over there, but it was cool to see the buildings (even though it was rainy and foggy). There is a cool park in the middle of the pudong area, and it's pretty nuts to just sit there and be surrounded by massive sky scrapers. And then we went to the mall, and we ate at Burger King (which, I am pleased to say, tastes identical to American Burger King, so I will definitely be hitting that up for some western junk food). On the train ride back, a Chinese woman started awkwardly hitting on me and my two friends. She poked me and my buddy Kellen in the belly numerous times and commented that we were "fat, but i also fat". She ended up sort of making a scene, and we were all laughing uncomfortably. It was ridiculous. And it was the longest subway ride of my life. She ended up asking us for a kiss, and she ended up kissing me on the cheek. It was wierd, but hilarious. All of the Chinese people on the subway looked pissed off at her. After a nap, we went out to the bund to meet some girls from our program and to go to a "paint party". We were all wearing our crappiest clothes, and when we got there, the girls decided that the party wasn't cool enough and also that they were tired and wanted to go home (they had been out since 3 in the afternoon because some place had free margaritas). So we ended up making it a guys night and heading over to "I Love Shanghai". It was awesome because the bund is the are of shanghai where a lot of super snooty and pretentious bars and clubs are, and we were in our clothes we were going to throw away. We ended up walking around and meeting some other Americans who were teaching English in Hangzhou. It was cool because I hope to visit Hangzhou, and now we know some people who can show us around.

All in all, it was quite an adventurous weekend. And this is an adventuresome place. And it feels good, to be twenty-one, and to be on an adventure.

Yesterday I had my first taste of Renmenjiu (the people's liquor), it was not too good. And I am starting to figure out how to use the metro and the bus. And I found a cool little alley way with neat trinkets. And I got my money situation worked out. Things are on the up and up.

Classes have begun

It's update time! Classes began on Monday (although they had a frightening introduction on Sunday). According to my schedule, I will have Chinese language from 8:40-11:35 a.m. every day except Wednesday, Issues in Contemporary Chinese Culture on Mondays and Thursdays from 1:30-3:30, and Chinese Politics every Friday from 1:30-4:40. So it's nice because I have Wednesdays off and no classes on Tuesday afternoon. The language classes are going to be intense. Our teacher doesn't really speak to us in English, and we move very fast. But I've already learned a lot. I'm in level 2, which I feel is a good place for me. It's not too comfortable, but we don't move too fast either. Either way, I'm feeling like my language skills should definitely improve over the semester, although actually passing class might be a stretch, and I don't know if I'll exactly be "fluent".


For my first Wednesday off I plan to sleep in, go running, and then spend the day getting lost somewhere in Shanghai and exploring. Hopefully my money from Western Union will have come in by then, and perhaps I can get a bike. Also, I hate Wells Fargo for giving me the wrong PIN number and leaving me on the other side of the world in the People's Republic of China without a way to get money. So when I get back, I'm switching to Bank of America, free popcorn in the lobby be damned.

So things are still going well. It's pretty crazy here (as you can imagine). There is a Wal Mart here, only it's 3 stories and in the middle of an urban area. Also, the seafood section looks more like an aquarium, complete with live turtles, all sorts of fish, and live frogs (they're fat too!). Also, the writing on the wall says 200% Satisfaction Guaranteed (There's actually a tremendous amount of amusing "chinglish" in this city). Also, you can select a variety of Chicken's feet, whole fish, Jackie Chan shampoo, or pig's feet. Also, I have yet to find a carton of milk that is not on or past its date of expiration. It's like the dairy gods are teasing me. It's incredibly fascinating though, everywhere I go is like a wonderland of craziness. And I love it.

I'm sure I'll get homesick here in a while, and I'm holding out as long as I can without western food. But luckily, the place where the Wal Mart is part of a new shopping complex that features a lot of places where you can get western stuff. There are several bread and pastry shops, a western food market that sells peanut butter and other items, and a movie theater that sometimes shows movies in English (although it's about 12 USD, which is a pretty ridiculous price in China).

All in all things are well. I hope things are doing good back home. I'm on the hunt for some cool baby clothes for Kyle (the only place I've looked at is in the luxury mall where an outfit was about 700 kuai, or $100...the Chinese have a knack for blowing a lot of money on their children, an interesting consequence of the one-child policy).

I'll leave you with some interesting tidbits I've noticed about Shanghai thus far:

-Traffic laws are more of a suggestion than a law.

-The entire country has blocked internet porn (not that I've tried for any other reason than to see if it was true). Also, if you type in *ibet and other such words, often the internet will shut down "randomly".

-They don't use American style toilets, rather, there is a whole in the ground (granted, a porcelain hole) that you squat over. Also, people are expected to bring their own toilet paper (and usually you can't flush it).

-You can buy cigarettes and beer just about anywhere. Also, you can smoke pretty much anywhere.

-There's no such thing as an ambulance having the right-of-way (the law is there, but people are not accustomed to following it). Often, a taxi or private car is the fastest way to get to the hospital.

-A liter of Canadian mist (read, homeless man liquor) costs 50 USD, a liter of Johnny Walker Red Label costs 22 USD.

-All of the crappiest fast food restraunts in the states are the fanciest restraunts here. Dairy Queen, KFC, McDonalds, and Burger King are all super nice. Meanwhile I feel like I need my hepatitis booster just to drive through the parking lot of the Georgetown Dairy Queen (God Bless it).

Delicious Street Food

So yesterday we went on our scavenger hunt. After taking a pretty ridiculous bus ride to the City Centre we walked around and saw a lot of famous places. I desperately need a camera. As soon as I get my money and get better at haggling (about two weeks from now) I'm going to buy one.

Anyways, the street food is delicious. more later.

Arrival in China

Well I’m here. In China. It’s so nuts. I can’t really believe it. I look out the window and try to comprehend that I’m on the complete opposite side of the world of my home, my family, my friends. The flight went pretty well. It wasn’t crowded at all and I got a whole side row to myself (which was two seats). I made myself a pretty cozy corner with those packages of pillows and blankets and took three Tylenol PM and slept for like 6 or 7 hours of it. All in all the flight wasn’t too bad. Ironically, I didn’t end up sitting where there was a power port for my laptop (this was ironic because I definitely made a 12:30 AM run to Wal Mart the night before to find an adapter so I could plug it in and watch movies and stuff). It’s all good, I made due without it. All in all, not bad for a 13.5 hour flight.

And now on to the good stuff. China is amazing. As we were landing, I was looking out at the city, unfortunately I was on the wrong side to the see the tall buildings in Pudong (the home of the Pearl TV tower and all of the other futuristic buildings are that are so iconic of Shanghai). Really though, I probably couldn’t have seen them anyways because Shanghai is definitely Pollution Town, USA (or China, rather). It was seriously pretty nasty. It’s not as bad as Beijing though. But a thick brownish fog envelops the city, and from the airplane this narrows visibility to about 4 or 5 miles. Also, as we were landing I was looking out at these fields and there were people working in them, wearing those cone shaped Chinese hats. It was really cool. Anyways, we landed and I went through customs and all that jazz. And no, I didn’t get hassled for bringing that “special book” or anything like that. I was hoping to find people from the Alliance program waiting for me, but I couldn’t find them and assumed they had already left. I was carrying way too many bags and looking way too lost, and a lady from one of the hotel desks yelled at me and told me she could arrange a Taxi. I ended up spending 300 kuai (about 50 US dollars) for a car to the University. This was about twice as much as I would have spent on a regular Taxi but she had ordered it and I didn’t want to be rude or whatever. The ride over was fun, I was looking at all of the buildings and trying to soak in as much of Shanghai as I could. The cab driver spoke no English, and I am not the most adept of Chinese speakers, but we attempted to converse. It was fun.

The city is sprawling and growing. There are clumps of high-rises everywhere. The area where our campus is located is very cool. It’s a “college area” so there are lot of cool shops and cafes around. There are two very tall towers, and I’m told that’s where we will have class. As far as my apartment goes, it is OFF THE CHAIN. I’m sharing an apartment with a buddy from school, Kyle Mathis, and a Chinese roommate whom I have not met yet. The apartment is amazing. It’s located on the 15th floor of the Tonghe International Student Apartment building. Every single window has a wonderful view of the city. We have a sun-porch, where we will dry our clothes, and the bathrooms are very nice (especially by Chinese standards). Right now I’m looking out at the sunrise over the city from my bedroom window. It feels like a New York City penthouse. There is a window in the shower that also overlooks the city, and I’m hoping to start each morning soaping off, looking out at the city, sipping a bottle of scotch with a cigarette dangling from my mouth (just kidding, sorta…)

And now to the food. The Alliance took us to dinner last night, where we sampled some authentic Shanghainese food. Of course, this kicked the crap out of Panda Express. They kept bringing bowls and plates of various dishes out and we shared them, family style. Among the dishes were Thousand Year Old Egg (which is this black egg soup that looks disgusting, but tasted delicious, similar to boiled egg), these furry green beans (fortunately we had a student from Shanghai who informed us that we were only supposed to eat the seeds inside), shrimp, tofu and crab, and all sorts of vegetables. The most delicious was a pork dish, and the most weird was a dish made from jellyfish. The flavor was delicious, but I couldn’t quite get used to the texture. Apparently that’s the thing with weird Chinese food, the flavor is okay, but the texture is harder to swallow (Ha ha ha). All in all the food was excellent.

Wandering around the streets of Shanghai, with a nice autumn breeze, watching bicycles, scooters, and cars go by, it’s still hard to believe that I’m actually here in China.

More, later.

Skype Name

So I downloaded skype and got it all worked out. My Skype name is "tyler.rankin". Creative huh?

Beginnings

So I've decided to do a blog for my adventures in China. I'm doing this for a number of reasons. Firstly, before I left I heard from a lot of people that it's a good idea to keep a journal in order to remeber the trip. Also, I'm too lazy to email everybody all the time (and hopefully I'll be having too badass of a time), so this way, anybody who is interested can check on any updates at their leisure.

As of right now, I'm in Fort Worth, preparing to leave. I just made folders of copies of all my important junk to give to my parents. And now I'm creating a blog. 2 things off my to-do list! CHA CHING! Now all I have to do is pack (my two pieces of checked luggage are looking mighty small in proportion to my monstrous pile of dirty laundry) and go shopping for some new stuff (I'm smuggling in cheese baby!)

It was wierd today, leaving Georgetown and knowing I wouldn't be seeing it until after Christmas. I suppose in the grand scheme of things it isn't all that long, but it still felt wierd to say farewell. And to say farewell to all of my friends. But I'm excited. Part of me thinks I was born for adventure.

Well gang, more later.