Movin

Update...

2010-01-15T21:23:00.000-08:00

So, now I am living in Shanghai. I am a teacher at SHSID. More to come...

Jet Li, Money, and Trannies -- Shanghai

2008-06-15T16:33:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have been really busy with school and such. Sorry I didn't write sooner. I will try to be better about updating everyone.

Well, I recently (actually about a month ago) went to Shanghai. Needless to say, it is a different world than Beijing. We got to fly out of the new terminal which was built to support the traffic for the 2008 games. It was pretty impressive:

Upon arrival in Shanghai, I got to ride the maglev. It was fast fast fast, about 430 Km/h, or 270 mph. I remember reading about this train when it was first built and thinking it was too bad I would never be able to see it. It is funny how things work out in the end, cause here I am:

The hostel where we stayed was really nice, which was a lucky break. It was right by the subway station and the people were helpful. When we arrived they were overbooked and they paid for us to stay at another, more expensive place for the first night. If you are looking to stay in Shanghai on the cheap, you should go to the Blue Mountain Youth Hostel.

The first sites that we visited were Nanjing Road and the Bund. Nanjing Road has lots of malls and shops and everything else you can imagine. It is bustling with engergy. This is a not-so-candid, "candid" picture of Reese and me walking. (Christoph is quite fond of the not-so-candid picture)

Once you reach the end of Nanjing Road, you have arrived at the Bund. The Bund is located on the opposite side of the Huangpu River from Pudong (Shanghai's financial district). The Bund was initially the Brittish section of Shanghai way back when. Here is a picture of Pudong from the Bund at night:

That night we went out and partied. Actually, we partied most every night. I don't remember what days contained what activities for that reason. I think I burned out some of those neural connections.

*** Inside joke alert ***

Christoph, you cannot fool me brother. I know we were never really on that boat. I don't care if Reese does have the ticket. This picture proves nothing:

*** Joke commenced ***

On a day that I do remember, Christoph and I went to visit the Jin Mao Tower. It was the tallest building in the world for a while but nothing lasts forever... so sad. To truly appreciate my visiting of the tower and subsequent eye contact (that's right folks, eye contact) with Jet, thats what I call him now, one must first understand the context created by the preceding events that day:

We started out from our hostel at about noon o'clock. We were running late by Christoph's standards, but he is German. This was Christoph's second trip to the tower since arriving in Shanghai. He had gone once already by himself. The first time he went, he found a restaurant that looked nice and that is where we had lunch. I didn't have any money so Chris spotted me until we could get to an ATM. The price of the meal was 400 RMB, about 60 USD per person. It was by far the most expensive meal I have had in China, but it was worth every penny. Here is another not-so-candid picture of Chris:

Eh, what the hell... here's one of me:

So, after lunch, it was time visit the tower. First, however, I had to go to the ATM and withdraw some money. Just so happens that my bank, The Bank of China has a really big branch in Shanghai's Pudong... go figure. When going to withdraw money from an ATM there is a pretty standard procedure. First, you insert your card and type your pin #. Then, you type in the amount of money, take it, and get your receipt and card. Well all of these steps were present in my transaction except for the take my money part. The machine said it gave me 2000 RMB, about 245 USD, but it did not. Here is the thought that went through my mind:

"you mother f***** ****** ****** ******************** Bank of China ********** ****** ***** ********** ****** ***** ATM"

/\ /\ /\ That's a lot of expletives /\ /\ /\

After I calmed down from the blatant ATM theft, I tried to get my money back from the teller. He told me they would call me if they found my money. Then after a ridiculous amount of argument I got to talk to a manager. She said they would call me. Finally, they put me on a phone and let me talk to a customer service representative in Beijing because, get this, the Shanghai and Beijing branches cannot communicate with each other. At one point while on the phone with the lady in Beijing, I asked to speak with her manager. She informed me that her manager was listening to our conversation and would simply repeat what she said. I told her that I didn't care and that I wanted to hear it from the managers mouth, to which she replied, "I cannot let you talk to my manager, she is in a meeting".

Now how does that work exactly? Her manager is in a meeting and listening to my conversation at the same time? In China you have to get used to this kind of thing or you will go crazy. My roommate informed me that because BOC was once a state run commie enterprise, they still have an antiquated, inefficient, bureaucratic business culture. If you are coming to China, bank with BOC at your own risk. You have been warned.

Anyway, after 2 1/2 hours of trying every method imaginable to get my money, I gave up. I was defeated. The most they would give me was a vague promise that they would return my money if they found it, and then give me a phone call. On the way out of the bank I saw this:

Thaaaaanks, now you tell me.

Anyway, now it was time to go to the Jin Mao tower, so we did.

(It's the one in front)

Here are pictures from the 88th floor of the tower:

This is looking down through the Hyatt hotel, which is where Jet was staying.

This is the Oriental Pearl TV tower. It is a waste of space if you ask me.

And a not-so-candid picture of Chris:

Oh, what's that you say Chris? Take another one? Sure thing buddy.

How silly of me to turn my camera off... of course we're not finished.

Really Chris? Another? Really?

After we left the observation deck, we decided to check out the Hyatt hotel. To get there we had to go back to the first floor, and then catch an elevator to the 87th. As we were walking towards the elevator, the door opened and off walked Jet. At first I thought it was a friend because I recognized his face, but after a second I realized where I knew him from. I didn't get a picture, so you will just have to take my word for it.

After we saw the hotel, we took the train back to the hostel. By the way, the subway in Shanghai looks something like this:

Upon Arriving at the hostel, I got a "haircut" next door. The barber made a disastrous mistake with the clippers and after he took the chunk out of my hair I told him he'd better just continue. I came out looking like this:

That night, we went to the bars again. This is where the tranny story comes in. And no, I am not talking about the tranny in your car. No, this specific tranny was of the "I was born a boy" variety. Long story short, Reese told the tranny he thought she was a man, and the tranny punched him. If you want the details, ask me in person.

Later on in the trip, Reese's dad came to visit.

Here is a picture of everyone after the girls came:

We went to see a meat market:

It was a long eventful trip, but it was, alas, time to return home to Beijing. Good old dusty, dirty, smelly Beijing. I really am starting to feel at home here.

After settling back into my school routine, I had a visitor:

Hey, it's Nini! I ate at her grandma's house and the food was delicious. Thanks Nini, tell your granny she needs to invite me over again. Also, thanks for bringing my deodorant.

Here is a picture of us in front the Bird's Nest which is the main stadium for the 2008 Olympics.

Inside:

The Japanese team won the 4 x 400 relay so this is a video of their national anthem being played to the flag raising. I don't think the predominately Chinese crowd was pleased with this.

Today was rainy, so I decided to go take some pictures of the Beijing University campus. The campus is supposedly one of the most beautiful in China, and I think it is especially nice when it's raining outside.

The library where none other than The Great Helmsman himself, Mao, once worked:

This is the building where I study:

This is The Bell, my favorite spot anywhere... ever.

Random places on campus:

Nice campus huh?

**** DISCLAIMER ****

Jet Li was not consulted prior to the publishing of this post. Jet Li firmly denies that he ever gave the author of this post permission to call him simply... "Jet". All opinions and viewpoints expressed above belong solely to the author and are not the viewpoints and opinions of the Jet Li franchise.

WU MAO!

2008-04-06T06:40:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since my last entry, and for those of you that were waiting patiently, checking facebook or my blog 3 times every hour... you can finally have some satisfaction.

Last week we got our first test scores back and I made As. Not really much more to write about in that department, just thought you might like to know.

I was not sure what I would be doing in the way of language study over the summer and I looked into a few programs. They all looked as though they would end up costing me quite a bit of money, so I decided to try my luck at finding a private tutor in my University. After putting an ad on the bbs, I think I found a good candidate. His english name is Ben, he is working on his PhD (at the Harvard of China) in linguistics including teaching Mandarin to foreigners. I will have 2 hours, 5 days a week of 1 on 1 lessons. Each week will cost 500 RMB, about 70 USD. I should be able to cover 1 semester's worth of material in 2 months. It is really amazing to think that here, I can hire a tutor with such qualifications for only $7 an hour.

Now let me tell you about "wu mao". Wu mao (or 5 mao) is a demonination of Chinese currency. It is worth 1/2 of a RMB, about 7 cents US. One day around a month ago, I decided that I needed a break from Chinese food and I headed down to the MacDonalds at the Golden Recources Shopping Center (for a brief period of time it was the biggest mall in the world). I parked my bicycle with all the others and thought nothing of it. After eating I went out to where my bicycle was located and some old lady was staring at me while I unlocked it. It was really disturbing since she wasn't saying anything. After a few moments, she said "wu mao". She was holding a wu mao note in her hand and pointing to my bicycle. I knew there was no way she thought I would sell it for 7 cents, so I figured she wanted to pay me wu mao to let her ride on the back. It is very normal for people to piggy back on bicycles in Beijing, but I declined because it was late. As I tried to take my bike away she grabed it and started yelling, "WU MAO!" Well, I thought, two can play at that game, so I started yelling back and jerked my bike really hard from her hands. I really did have to pull hard because this lady had a kung fu grip like no other (I have experienced 2 amazing kung fu grips here, I'll tell about the other one in a bit). As I rode away, she was still screaming.

A few days later, at a different shopping center, an almost identical situation materialized, except it was a different lady, and this time it was san mao (3 mao). As this lady was beginning to raise her voice, everything became clear. She was a security guard. I saw a Chinese person give her san mao and I realized she was there to guard the bikes, but not for free. Imagine the remorse I felt for the way I had acted to the first lady. Well, about two days ago I had the opportunity to right a wrong which I had unwittingly committed. I went back to the Golden Recources Shopping Center, and when I was ready to leave... guess who was waiting by my bicycle with a terrible look on her face. Go ahead, guess. Anyway, I handed her 1 RMB and told her to keep the change. I explained to her that I was paying for the last time as well as this one, and I apologized. I told her that I simply did not know what she was going on about when I first met her. She smiled and I saw tears begin to well up in her eyes. Her reply was, "mei guan xi' which means "it doesn't matter". It was a very heartwarming experience, and I actually teared up a bit myself. It can be really hard to deal with culture shock in China, but it's all worth it when things like this happen.

Aaaaaand back to the kung fu grip: The bicycle guard was the second encounter, but the first really blew my mind. I went to the Silk Market, which is basically a really big building with fake goods that are way over priced. The idea is that the fun is in the bargaining, and it really is quite fun. There are lots of stalls and all the attendants mob you to try and sell stuff. As I was walking by one stall, a tiny little girl grabbed my index finger. She did this before I could even see her. I tried to pull my finger out of her grip, but I couldn't. I am not kidding, I simply could not get free. I pulled and jerked as hard as I could, but she allowed herself to be thrown around rather than let go. I stopped jerking for fear that I would hurt the poor girl. I guess she eventually decided I was a lost cause and let go... thank god. I might still be there if she didn't. The kung fu grip is not a myth people.

Hootaaaz, and my very cool bicycle with its very cool basket

2008-03-16T06:18:00.000-07:00

Not a lot has been going on since my last post, just some of your general run of the mill studying and partying. I have decided to try and limit myself to hanging out with foriegners only one night per week. I want to force myself to make Chinese friends. I have a few friends already. One is the security guard at my community's gate. He makes 35 RMB per day, which is less than $5. I call him Gomer Pyle because that is who he reminds me of. Every night, when I come home late, he is curled up on his desk passed out... drunk. I treated him to KFC on saturday which ended up costing twice as much as his daily salary. I am really suprised at his ability to look fasionable. With his income, I would not be able to dress well at all, but somehow he pulls it off.

Friday night was foriegner night, and this week we went to Hooters. The second you walk in, all the waitresses yell, "welcome to Hootaaaz!" It really is impossible not to chuckle just a bit when you hear it. All joking aside though, the Hooters girls probably have some of the best English of any Chinese people I have met here. The food was not great, and way overpriced. That's what you get in the states though, so it really wasnt a dissapointment.

After hooters, we all went to a bar nearby. They were playing old music and I must have heard YMCA like 5 times. We started a congo line on the dance floor. We didn't have to pay for a drink all night. Being a foreigner in China often works out well in unexpected ways. Also, if you are a lesbian in Beijing looking to find pretty girls who are as well, then this is the bar you want to visit. All the guy's in my group were just a tad bit jealous of some of these girl's partners... ok maybe a lot jealous.

Last but not least, as any man who is worth his weight in Einsteinium, I am lost without my wheels. I bought a bicycle and I ride it to school 5 days a week. It takes 40 minutes to get to class and 40 minutes to get back. I'm not talking about a leisurely commute here either. Im talking 40 minutes of hard peddling, traffic dodging, sweaty back and armpit smelling goodness. I am so fast that only the electric bikes, and cars pass me. To anyone worried about me riding a bike in the Beijing traffic I have this to say. It is safer to have a bike here than it is to walk, because if someone hits you while on your bike, it will damage thier car more. That last statement was tounge in cheek, but it is actually kind of true. The taxis stop for no man though.

Here is a pic of my bicycle:

I had the basket put on by a guy who fixes bikes on campus. My basket is cooler than most because it has a decoration:

Yes, that is a butterfly on my mountain bike.

Great Wall, Bavarian Beer and Chinese Haircuts

2008-03-01T19:55:00.000-08:00

I have found a little bar district near my house here which is cool because I have really begun to meet Chinese people. I go there almost every night and do my homework. In the past few weeks, I have only seen one foreigner there and he was Spanish. This saturday, however, was different. I went to the great wall and then went to some western places with friends. I spent waaaay too much money... like $60 which seems like a small fortune here.

Naturally, before any really good night out people like to get all primped and primed. I hadn't had a haircut in a while, so I decided to go and get my first one since I came to China. It was about $5 but the experience was priceless. I have become accustomed to being stared at, but this place took it to a whole new level. I thought I had offended my hairstylist because he kept cracking jokes and the whole place would break out into uncontrollable laughter. Needless to say, I had no idea what he was talking about. It was very awkward and stressful and when it was over, I grabbed my dictionary to look up the word "offend" so that I could apologize. As I was looking in the dictionary, all the stylists, hair washers and clerks quit what they were doing. They circled around me and waited silently with anticipation. When I pointed to the word in the dictionary, they all started laughing again. My stylist shook my hand and told me he wanted me to come back because I made everyone laugh. All I really said the whole time was, "I don't understand" and "what did you say". Apparently that is a riot around these parts.

The next day, saturday, was time for climbing the Great Wall, and then a little socializing with my classmates. The climb to the Wall is really hard. I stayed at the very front of the pack though.

Here is a picture of how high we climbed. That town at the bottom was the starting point.

This is me standing on the wall:

The view:

This is me with my favorite Croatian, Maya. Actually, she's the only Croatian I know.

The next picture is of me with my Thai friends and the Croatian. From left to right: K, me, Oui, Li, Belgie, and Maya. Oui is a weightlifter. I see him in the gym almost everyday and he invited me to go to Thailand with him this summer. I sure do hope I have the money.

These are some more people I am friendly with. I don't remember their names, but I will remember eventually. They are in a higher level class. The girl with the reddish hair is Caroline. She is from Macao and speaks English, Portugese, Chinese, and some other languages. She sounds native in English, Chinese, and Portugese. I thought she was American the first time I talked to her.

Later that night, me and some English speaking friends went to the Lufthansa Center. It was fun but I won't be going there again because it is expensive. When we left, we got lost and walked around the streets drinking. We finally found a decent bar, and I drank everyone under the table... go figure. One guy actually threw up. It reminded me of the time me and Brandon out-drank the frat boys at Ohio State our freshman year. Here is a picture of us at the Lufthansa Center:

Left to right: Amanda (American), Peter (American), Nigel (American/Ugandan), Anna (Khasakistani), Robert (American), Nate (American), Belgie (Thai), Me (Descended from Heaven), Fina (German), Flourian (Swiss), Ben (American)

Beijing University is Hard

2008-02-24T02:35:00.000-08:00

Well, I have finished my first week of classes and already I feel like this is going to be the most demanding semester in my academic career. It is a good thing that I like learning languages otherwise I would probably do very badly. On my way to school, on the second day, I found a bunch of security guards doing drills. I guess they do these demonstrations to make the people who live in "Luxurious City" feel safe. I asked if I could film them and they were cool with it.

They are not very impressive really, but they are on my way to school and they always try to talk to me when I'm in a hurry. The Sifu asked me if they were any good. I lied and said they were.

Aside from the curriculum at school, my schedule has been made harder by the fact that they keep taking us to see the touristy stuff. If anyone is coming to Beijing, you can skip the opera. I really tried to appreciate it, but the general consensus among everyone I talked to was that it was awful. Seriously, if you go see it, sit near the door so you can leave early.

The acrobats on the other hand, were a sight to behold. I have never seen anything like it, and the videos I'm posting don't do these people justice. The coolest things they did, I didn't try to get on film because I wanted to give it my undivided attention.

Here are some really cool teeter totter jumping tricks:

These are the contortionists:

Also, I have been out a couple times and Beijing is a really fun city. I need to find some cool places by my house, but without a bicycle I am limited. I'm going to go buy a used one tonight I think.

My first days in Beijing

2008-02-15T05:39:00.000-08:00

This blogpost is from my notes on Facebook:

Well, I haven't really had a chance to organize my thoughts, so this may just end up sounding like a jumbled rant. I have been in Beijing since Feb. 6th, and I am loving it. My Chinese "auntie", Helen, and her daughter, Cici, are really cool and helpful. I am the envy of many foreigns students because I already have a bus pass, cell phone and Chinese bank account. If anyone is considering study abroad I highly reccomend doing a homestay, at least until you get settled. It is cheaper and it really helps. So far, I have not had to cook a single meal. I really like Helen's food, except for the sheep's head/cow's stomach soup. They also eat a lot of cartilage and chicken's feet here. I don't like that much either.

My first day, Helen took me to a Chinese "sauna". It is not what it sounds like. It started out with me being escorted to a men's bathouse full of naked chinese men. Then they undressed me and re-dressed me in silk pijamas. There were 4 all you can eat buffets, beds with thier own personal TVs for relaxing, amazing baths with cold water, or hot water and water massages. You could also get a cute chinese girl to give you a foot massage... or a cute chinese guy if that's your thing. I stayed for 16 hours and all it cost was 17 dollars. I can't even imagine what a place like this would cost for a night in the US, but I'll bet it would be well into the hundreds.

The toilets here are totally not cool. So many of the public toilets lack toilet paper and soap. Not to mention, you cannot flush the paper if you do have it. Next to every toilet is a trash can full of poopy paper. At first it was gross, but I got used to it pretty quick. No choice really. Water is expensive in Beijing, so instead of flushing the toilet at my house, we collect the water from our showers in buckets, and pour it in by hand. It really is efficient, but sometimes I just don't feel like the hassle. Being here really helps me understand how good American's have it. I met a lady who serves tea here, and via Helen's translation I learned that she works 12 hours per day, 7 days per week and earns less than $100 every month. She is a minority, and is sending about half of the money back home to her daughter for her education. She lives in a small house with 30 other people.

Today was my second day at Beijing University and it went well. I have already met a few cool people here. This one scottish guy is going to take me to his buddy's bar. It sounds awesome. It has a go-kart track. I'll get to drink and drive responsibly! He says it is the most fun I'll ever have a bar, but I don't know, I have had some fun times. Everbody laughs at my stories about West Virginia. They really don't know about how we party. I sure do hope my friends can come visit, although I don't know for sure whether China is ready for the combination of Aaron, Stonewall and Knotts. Well, that is all for now, I have been typing emails for the past hour and I'm tired.

Here are some pics.

This is Cici, my Chinese little sis. Isn't she the cutest little 9 year old commie soldier you ever saw? She calls me gege, which is Chinese for big brother.

This is me at Tian'an men square with the great helmsman himself in the background. The girl is Claudia, her chinese name is Xu ShanShan. She has been helpful to say the least.

This is a picture of my Chinese auntie and Cici sleeping in the bed/chairs at the sauna. There were about 100 such beds in this room. It is like a big slumber party with a whole bunch of complete strangers.

This is a picture of what about $2.50 can buy you to eat in China.

My Home in China

2008-02-09T15:07:00.000-08:00

This is a video tour of my home in China:

First Days in Beijing

2008-02-07T03:19:00.000-08:00

So, right before I left for Beijing, my father told me that he was worried about the homestay company I chose. He speculated that maybe they would kidnap me and take my money. Needless to say, that did not happen. I was taken to my Chinese family's house where I will be staying for the next six months. Since my arrival in China was on the eve of the Spring Festival, my family treated me to a night at the spa/all you can eat buffet/massage parlor/bath house/hotel. It was quite the experience. Helen, my Chinese big sister treated me. The whole night cost around 17 USD.

Upon entering the Hannashan International Club, I was escorted to the men's area by three Chinese guys about my age. They told me to get naked, using hand gestures instead of English. Before I knew it, I was being dressed in a new wardrobe of silk pijamas that I would wear for the durations of my stay. The rest of my stay was spent watching CCTV (terrible), bathing and eating 5 times at the buffet. This buffet was not like a US buffet though, the food was amazing. It was healthy too.

What is really crazy about my stay so far, is the fact that I have not seen any foriegners since I left the airport. Everywhere I go, people stare at me. Some look happy to see me, but others definately are not. Anyway, I will get some pictures posted soon, so dont worry.

The Last Supper

2008-01-28T13:07:00.001-08:00

Alright, this post is about my going away party. It started out at Hibachi and ended... well I don't remember where. This first Picture is not from the party, but it is J.W. with drumsticks in his nose.

This next picture is us pre-gaming at Knots' house. Knots, I owe you buddy, you hooked it up for me on multiple occasions. I don't wanna say how, but you and I both know.

This is the rents. Glad they could stop by.

Here are some more pictures. You all know who you are.

2008-01-06T14:35:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I want to be able to post video, and this is my first test of the feature:

That's my buddy Aaron.

Anyone who would like to post a comment... all you have to do is look at the bottom of any post and you will see a link that says "comments". Click the link and type in the box that comes up. You have to sign up for an account though.

First Post

2007-12-15T01:56:00.000-08:00

Well, I figured that the best way to keep people updated about my trip to china would be through a blog. Here is a picture of Cancun as a test:Ok, now that I know I can post pictures we can move on to the real content.

I have been trying to study abroad in China now for a little over a year. It has been very hard and there has not been a day that I haven't done something to reach my goal. I recently got an email from Yumei at Peking University saying she would be sending out my admission letter soon. It is amazing to think that I am going to one of the best universities in China, especially when you consider the fact that I haven't been such a good student in the past. Anyway, here is another picture:
Sorry about that, I am just trying to figure out this software. I know these pictures don't really have anything to do with China, but who cares?

The problem that I am facing now with China is trying to find a place to stay. Marshall doesn't have a cooperative set up with PKU so I cannot stay in their dorms. I am thinking about doing a homestay, at least for the beginning, but I am going to need a family that is ok with me wanting to party. I plan on buckling down and being a good student, but I want to have fun on the weekends. I don't know, maybe I can find a family with a kid my age who has similar interests. Well, I'm tired so I gotta say goodbye. My future posts will be better I'm sure.