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.