Can't read comments. Hate to ask for double postage, but maybe comment the FB note too? Entirely up to you. My readers. thanks!
UPDATE: I totally beat the system. Figured out how to forward comments to my email. I won't be able to respond but I'll at least get them now!
Friday, May 30, 2008
Silly ole Red Party
Would you believe it!? I can't look at blogspot pages but I can totally post. whateves.
I've had a great last few days here. Completely amazing. I'm learning something new every few minutes which my brain loves. The feeling of being immersed in an unfamilar language is downright exhilarating. And being around so many people... I've never been around so many people. China = 1.3 Billion people. US = 0.3 Billion people. wowza.
Thursday, after I woke up (at 5 am for some reason) showered, & yoga'd I took a short look at the map posted in the lobby of the hotel. Fantastic hotel btw. And after about a minute of deliberation I decide I'll visit the Palace Museum. Having no watch/phone is great and I love it completely though I'm about to cave and buy a watch. So I'm just strolling along with a backpack(mistake, clearly a tourist) and in my nice jeans and red nintendo jacket(read, rich tourist). About a mile and half from the Palace I'm approached by a male and female (hard to tell ages) who both speak english. I'm still fresh and willing to chitchat and they tell me their university students from outside Beijing who study calligraphy. Long story short, I'm easily talked into visiting their gov subsidized art exhibit where I'm easily talked into helping their university by purchasing some artwork. Great art, but I definitely overpaid. Live and learn. I told myself I won't let the gov bilk me out of money like that again. lol. I'm not bitter about it or anything.
So after I part ways with "Jenny" and "Bob" (those were names they picked) I'm back on my way to the Palace and My sweet lord was it ever amazing. If I still have time and money at the end of my stay here in Beijing, I'm definitely going back. Sheer spectacularness. I wish I could put up some pictures but I don't have the USB cord I need nor access to a USB port on this computer. So I'm doing the automated tour and spend way too much time being awed by the size and granduer of the first few Palace Halls that I way underbudget time for the six smaller palaces in the east and west sides of the north end which is incidently where all the sweet exhibit stuff is. 5 o' clock rolls around and I have to leave :(
This starts the next episode of my trip. After leaving the palace there are more than a few people outside trying to hawk stuff to tourists. I fend off all the people trying to sell me stuff without much difficultly, but once I reach the road there is a taller lanky fellow who asks where I'm going in English! Well, broken english, but its my first day and really happy to talk refuge in familiarity. He introduces himself as Young and starts trying to sell me a "tour" of historic Hu Tong. I'm not really in the mood for a tour though and I try to brush him off, but he's uber persistant and I figure I'll play along and listen for a bit. Well he pulls out this brochure and shows me a “competitors” price almost double. eh, not interested. Then he shows me Bill Gates in the competitors brochure. damn. sold.
Well I'm pretty new at this and forgot to inquire where the real rickshaw is. If I would have known I'd be riding the wire "seat" on the back of his bike for that price I'd have negotiated him through the floor. Painful, like fighting a tiger with my rear end. Well the ride wasn't that bad and I saw a lot of stuff I probably wouldn't have seen walking. Plus I learned quite a bit. At the end of the tour of course he tries selling me again. He ask, "Where you go tommorow?" I tell him I'm not sure. Maybe the Great Wall. "Oh really, you want guide?" he asks. I try to decline for a bit, but I figure a translator/photographer isn't that bad so I agree to meet him tomorrow morning. "What time?" I ask. Anytime he says. 11? I say. no, no earlier he say. I know he wants to get back soon to bring me shopping so I can get special "deals" so I agree to 9.
So Friday morning I wake up at 5, yoga, shower again (trying to get me one of those morning routine things) and I'm out and about to buy batteries for Liz's camera around 8. Thanks again for the camera Liz! Eats batteries if the flash is on tho. After my little excursion I'm back to the hotel before 8:15 and I proceed to read the rest of the newsweek I bought at the airport. Young shows up and I ride that blasted bike an hour to the bus station. Then we ride for a positively scenic hour to the wall and get there around 11. Well I'll be a monkey's uncle i said when I found out you have to pay to climb the wall. Not too much. About half what you'll pay to see a lot of our national treasures. That's about what things cost. About half. Except food which comes a bit later. So then we climb the wall all the way to the top to the 888 meter mark. very lucky. make me great man. that's what the sign posted by the old chairman said anyway. It was gorgeous. stunning. breathtaking. Lots of adjectives which I'll leave off. Many picture. show later. So we get to the top and my friend Young gently tries to dissuade me from going down the other side which would essentially double the duration of our stay there. I get it.
little diatribe. forgive me. skip if you don't care to read about chinese business etiquette. The chinese have a lot to learn about business. I know he tries to pitch his time by the hour, but we're on my terms now and we've pre-negotiated nothing. In all honesty I think at the the end of little "tour" together I'd have a strong argument for why I wasn't going to pay him which I won't go into, but I'm a benevolent client.
So we get back to the bus station in Beijing and I'm flat broke. I deliberately didn't bring much money, but I didn't plan on it being that close. I did have an emergency US bill, but Young doesn't know that. He saw my empty wallet. I dressed less like a tourist and more like a holes in the tshirt traveller too. The high context culture can read in and say "shoot. I thought I nabbed a rich one." The empty wallet was my bargaining chip. "I can't pay you. Money at hotel. Didn't know wall cost money." I plead the 5th! Sweet sweet ignorance. So for the cost of two hours thats how I got a "guide"/translator/photograher.
So now I'm more back in my budget and today I'm just going to visit some parks. I'm not going completely ignore people, but I'm much more skeptical of english speakers and I practiced scowling in the mirror >:( if someone tries to sell me something :)
I've had a great last few days here. Completely amazing. I'm learning something new every few minutes which my brain loves. The feeling of being immersed in an unfamilar language is downright exhilarating. And being around so many people... I've never been around so many people. China = 1.3 Billion people. US = 0.3 Billion people. wowza.
Thursday, after I woke up (at 5 am for some reason) showered, & yoga'd I took a short look at the map posted in the lobby of the hotel. Fantastic hotel btw. And after about a minute of deliberation I decide I'll visit the Palace Museum. Having no watch/phone is great and I love it completely though I'm about to cave and buy a watch. So I'm just strolling along with a backpack(mistake, clearly a tourist) and in my nice jeans and red nintendo jacket(read, rich tourist). About a mile and half from the Palace I'm approached by a male and female (hard to tell ages) who both speak english. I'm still fresh and willing to chitchat and they tell me their university students from outside Beijing who study calligraphy. Long story short, I'm easily talked into visiting their gov subsidized art exhibit where I'm easily talked into helping their university by purchasing some artwork. Great art, but I definitely overpaid. Live and learn. I told myself I won't let the gov bilk me out of money like that again. lol. I'm not bitter about it or anything.
So after I part ways with "Jenny" and "Bob" (those were names they picked) I'm back on my way to the Palace and My sweet lord was it ever amazing. If I still have time and money at the end of my stay here in Beijing, I'm definitely going back. Sheer spectacularness. I wish I could put up some pictures but I don't have the USB cord I need nor access to a USB port on this computer. So I'm doing the automated tour and spend way too much time being awed by the size and granduer of the first few Palace Halls that I way underbudget time for the six smaller palaces in the east and west sides of the north end which is incidently where all the sweet exhibit stuff is. 5 o' clock rolls around and I have to leave :(
This starts the next episode of my trip. After leaving the palace there are more than a few people outside trying to hawk stuff to tourists. I fend off all the people trying to sell me stuff without much difficultly, but once I reach the road there is a taller lanky fellow who asks where I'm going in English! Well, broken english, but its my first day and really happy to talk refuge in familiarity. He introduces himself as Young and starts trying to sell me a "tour" of historic Hu Tong. I'm not really in the mood for a tour though and I try to brush him off, but he's uber persistant and I figure I'll play along and listen for a bit. Well he pulls out this brochure and shows me a “competitors” price almost double. eh, not interested. Then he shows me Bill Gates in the competitors brochure. damn. sold.
Well I'm pretty new at this and forgot to inquire where the real rickshaw is. If I would have known I'd be riding the wire "seat" on the back of his bike for that price I'd have negotiated him through the floor. Painful, like fighting a tiger with my rear end. Well the ride wasn't that bad and I saw a lot of stuff I probably wouldn't have seen walking. Plus I learned quite a bit. At the end of the tour of course he tries selling me again. He ask, "Where you go tommorow?" I tell him I'm not sure. Maybe the Great Wall. "Oh really, you want guide?" he asks. I try to decline for a bit, but I figure a translator/photographer isn't that bad so I agree to meet him tomorrow morning. "What time?" I ask. Anytime he says. 11? I say. no, no earlier he say. I know he wants to get back soon to bring me shopping so I can get special "deals" so I agree to 9.
So Friday morning I wake up at 5, yoga, shower again (trying to get me one of those morning routine things) and I'm out and about to buy batteries for Liz's camera around 8. Thanks again for the camera Liz! Eats batteries if the flash is on tho. After my little excursion I'm back to the hotel before 8:15 and I proceed to read the rest of the newsweek I bought at the airport. Young shows up and I ride that blasted bike an hour to the bus station. Then we ride for a positively scenic hour to the wall and get there around 11. Well I'll be a monkey's uncle i said when I found out you have to pay to climb the wall. Not too much. About half what you'll pay to see a lot of our national treasures. That's about what things cost. About half. Except food which comes a bit later. So then we climb the wall all the way to the top to the 888 meter mark. very lucky. make me great man. that's what the sign posted by the old chairman said anyway. It was gorgeous. stunning. breathtaking. Lots of adjectives which I'll leave off. Many picture. show later. So we get to the top and my friend Young gently tries to dissuade me from going down the other side which would essentially double the duration of our stay there. I get it.
little diatribe. forgive me. skip if you don't care to read about chinese business etiquette. The chinese have a lot to learn about business. I know he tries to pitch his time by the hour, but we're on my terms now and we've pre-negotiated nothing. In all honesty I think at the the end of little "tour" together I'd have a strong argument for why I wasn't going to pay him which I won't go into, but I'm a benevolent client.
So we get back to the bus station in Beijing and I'm flat broke. I deliberately didn't bring much money, but I didn't plan on it being that close. I did have an emergency US bill, but Young doesn't know that. He saw my empty wallet. I dressed less like a tourist and more like a holes in the tshirt traveller too. The high context culture can read in and say "shoot. I thought I nabbed a rich one." The empty wallet was my bargaining chip. "I can't pay you. Money at hotel. Didn't know wall cost money." I plead the 5th! Sweet sweet ignorance. So for the cost of two hours thats how I got a "guide"/translator/photograher.
So now I'm more back in my budget and today I'm just going to visit some parks. I'm not going completely ignore people, but I'm much more skeptical of english speakers and I practiced scowling in the mirror >:( if someone tries to sell me something :)
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
We're going to a party. It's a birthday party...
I made it to China! go me. woot.
So I don't have a whole lot to talk about yet. I did get on a plane. yes, it was a long flight. no, the food was awful. My seat was all the way in back and was in the middle. The plane flew over some of Alaska/Russia and I did get up to look at the mountains which were all snowy and cold looking. The flight was 12 and half hours of which I slept about fourty five minutes. I mostly read a novel I picked up at the airport by the author of "Thank you for Smoking" and I watched most of the movie Jumper which mostly blew. The novel is called Boomsday and I highly recommend it so far.
Eventually we landed in China! Masterful landing by the pilot too. never felt us touch the ground. Anyway, the really crappy part about riding in the back of the plane and flying internationally is that you're the last one to the immigration counter where you have to get your visa/passport checked for about the 3rd time. So that was about 25 - 30 minutes just standing, which wasn't the worst on second thought, after sitting on the plane so long.
So after I finished at the immigration counter, I walk down some stairs that point to the baggage claim, but theres no baggage. just clearly marked signs that say there's a railcar that goes to the baggage claim every 3 minutes. the sign said "Relax." Also there was a nice bit of engrish on the escalator that said "Watch out for step of oldster and young."
So I get my bag and I'm outta there and I walk to the road where theres about 100 taxis at any given moment. Theres what appears to be a queue which i shortly wait in and line up for before the nice pilot behind tells me in an australian accent that you just go out and get one. Pretty pointless having at the queue if he doesn't do anything, if you ask me. So I get a taxi and we're not off to the smoothest start. I had the address translated from English to Chinese by the girl sitting next to me on the plane, but the driver still has to talk to other drivers and seems to know where I'm going by the end of their little conversation. Well we ended up getting pretty close, but we went to Xibahe Baili instead of Xibahe Xili. Minor detour and we're there. Check in was pretty much a breeze. They needed my passport which seemed really weird though.
I was pretty starving after check out and took a walk up Xibahe which is the road the hotel is on. Language barriers abound as I floundered in mime to finally get a pot of tea (Delicious jasmine). I was really hungry though. Of course I had to pick a restaurant without a picture menu. after the 3rd cup of though it occured to me there were signs on the wall which I could point to. unfortunately they didn't really help that much. Luckily, with the help of a woman who overheard my dilema and spoke a little english I was able to get some dumplings!
mmm. very tired. write more laters.
So I don't have a whole lot to talk about yet. I did get on a plane. yes, it was a long flight. no, the food was awful. My seat was all the way in back and was in the middle. The plane flew over some of Alaska/Russia and I did get up to look at the mountains which were all snowy and cold looking. The flight was 12 and half hours of which I slept about fourty five minutes. I mostly read a novel I picked up at the airport by the author of "Thank you for Smoking" and I watched most of the movie Jumper which mostly blew. The novel is called Boomsday and I highly recommend it so far.
Eventually we landed in China! Masterful landing by the pilot too. never felt us touch the ground. Anyway, the really crappy part about riding in the back of the plane and flying internationally is that you're the last one to the immigration counter where you have to get your visa/passport checked for about the 3rd time. So that was about 25 - 30 minutes just standing, which wasn't the worst on second thought, after sitting on the plane so long.
So after I finished at the immigration counter, I walk down some stairs that point to the baggage claim, but theres no baggage. just clearly marked signs that say there's a railcar that goes to the baggage claim every 3 minutes. the sign said "Relax." Also there was a nice bit of engrish on the escalator that said "Watch out for step of oldster and young."
So I get my bag and I'm outta there and I walk to the road where theres about 100 taxis at any given moment. Theres what appears to be a queue which i shortly wait in and line up for before the nice pilot behind tells me in an australian accent that you just go out and get one. Pretty pointless having at the queue if he doesn't do anything, if you ask me. So I get a taxi and we're not off to the smoothest start. I had the address translated from English to Chinese by the girl sitting next to me on the plane, but the driver still has to talk to other drivers and seems to know where I'm going by the end of their little conversation. Well we ended up getting pretty close, but we went to Xibahe Baili instead of Xibahe Xili. Minor detour and we're there. Check in was pretty much a breeze. They needed my passport which seemed really weird though.
I was pretty starving after check out and took a walk up Xibahe which is the road the hotel is on. Language barriers abound as I floundered in mime to finally get a pot of tea (Delicious jasmine). I was really hungry though. Of course I had to pick a restaurant without a picture menu. after the 3rd cup of though it occured to me there were signs on the wall which I could point to. unfortunately they didn't really help that much. Luckily, with the help of a woman who overheard my dilema and spoke a little english I was able to get some dumplings!
mmm. very tired. write more laters.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Why State Schools Are Awesome
A few free minutes popped out of my schedule to blog.
Today I went to UWM to talk to an advisor about what credits might transfer if I get into the physics program which apparently is a given for transfers with a degree which is awesome. Here I was still worrying about whether I would get accepted or not. He also gave me some good advice about what I should be applying for because there's a difference between a second degree and second major. I guess if I was going for the second degree I would have to take a whole mess of HU and SS credits plus 2 semesters of language, but he said when I apply if I declare second degree and then switch I can get financial aid so I get to milk the system. Anyway, the best part is I already have about half the major done and can probably finish in a year! go me. woot.
As a finals week update, I have one final down which I think I pretty much rocked. Four finals, two papers and a homework/lab assignment now stand between me and graduation. The end is in sight.
Today I went to UWM to talk to an advisor about what credits might transfer if I get into the physics program which apparently is a given for transfers with a degree which is awesome. Here I was still worrying about whether I would get accepted or not. He also gave me some good advice about what I should be applying for because there's a difference between a second degree and second major. I guess if I was going for the second degree I would have to take a whole mess of HU and SS credits plus 2 semesters of language, but he said when I apply if I declare second degree and then switch I can get financial aid so I get to milk the system. Anyway, the best part is I already have about half the major done and can probably finish in a year! go me. woot.
As a finals week update, I have one final down which I think I pretty much rocked. Four finals, two papers and a homework/lab assignment now stand between me and graduation. The end is in sight.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
What better time than now?
I thought to myself now would be a good time to get a blog rolling. Better late than never right? The main impetus to start one is my impending trip. It almost demands a log of my experiences since I'll be intentionally inducing severe culture shock. Should be fun.
For those who haven't heard I'll be spending about 2 1/2 weeks in China. My itinerary is Beijing, Xi An, and Shanghai. I'll probably post more about it before I go. If not my apologies; its going to be a hectic week. 5 Finals, the Senior Design Show and Graduation! Maybe I'll find the time to quick jot off some posts about those too.
A little about me blurb:
I'm a college senior attending MSOE and currently plan on graduating this spring. 6 days from now incidentally. I will be receiving a degree in Computer Engineering and have throughly earned it. I'm well versed in both electronical and softwarish concepts. I like to mutilate English for my own devious purposes. Computers and their practical applications are my two most time consuming hobbies.
Interests include: Reading, guitar, skateboarding, games of the video, board, and card varieties, hackysack, frisbee, Mandarin Chinese, physics (Standard Model & others(string/M-theory)), putting things in parentheticals, improving human-machine interactions, nanotech, safely navigating the singularity, writing, and food, but probably not in that order. I'll spare you the whole list. I have a fairly extensive list of interests. Though I will mention two that I don't usually bring up in conversation but plan on occasionally blogging about: extrasensory perception and calender change.
Comments are encouraged! Interaction and communication are what its all about.
Raleigh
For those who haven't heard I'll be spending about 2 1/2 weeks in China. My itinerary is Beijing, Xi An, and Shanghai. I'll probably post more about it before I go. If not my apologies; its going to be a hectic week. 5 Finals, the Senior Design Show and Graduation! Maybe I'll find the time to quick jot off some posts about those too.
A little about me blurb:
I'm a college senior attending MSOE and currently plan on graduating this spring. 6 days from now incidentally. I will be receiving a degree in Computer Engineering and have throughly earned it. I'm well versed in both electronical and softwarish concepts. I like to mutilate English for my own devious purposes. Computers and their practical applications are my two most time consuming hobbies.
Interests include: Reading, guitar, skateboarding, games of the video, board, and card varieties, hackysack, frisbee, Mandarin Chinese, physics (Standard Model & others(string/M-theory)), putting things in parentheticals, improving human-machine interactions, nanotech, safely navigating the singularity, writing, and food, but probably not in that order. I'll spare you the whole list. I have a fairly extensive list of interests. Though I will mention two that I don't usually bring up in conversation but plan on occasionally blogging about: extrasensory perception and calender change.
Comments are encouraged! Interaction and communication are what its all about.
Raleigh
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