New Photos! (click here)
I suggest not looking at them all at once, unless you're killing time at work. Includes Gold Medal Volleyball, Trip to HeNan, and Special Olympics at the Bird's Nest.
Some of these photos definitely require explanation, soon forthcoming.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Apologies
Hello again everyone! Sorry for being an irresponsible blogger. Here's the short version of the last 20 days:
End of Stanford-Peking U Program:
A whirlwind of exams, Beach Volleyball Gold Medals and banquet. Sadly, on my last night with Stanford friends I was kicked-out of one of Beijing's nicest clubs. Apparently they want you to wear shoes. Next morning I caught an early train to 漯河 LuoHe in the 河南 HeNan province. I slept for most of the eleven hour journey... the Stanford program was nothing if not intensive. The Chinese countryside between 北京 BeiJing and 河南 HeNan looks a lot like Ohio. Corn, corn, corn, and the occasional nuclear cooling tower. Weather's pretty similar to the Midwest as well.
河南 HeNan:
Ten days of feeling uber-foreign began as soon as I got off the train. 漯河 LuoHe is not a small city by American standards, weighing-in at 2.57 Million people, but it feels a small for China. Upon seeing my glimmering white skin (and mild confusion), taxi drivers descended voraciously, but I managed to ignore their lies ("absolutely no more buses today!") and find a cheap bus ride.
I traveled to 河南 HeNan to teach english, at the invitation from a Chinese friend I'd met in 北京 BeiJing. So I did that, and climbed a mountain, got some free massage, ate crabs, drank beer with middle school kids and learned to cook some Chinese cuisine. And made some close friends. On a strange note, because of my appearance, about 80% of people I passed on the street in 河南 HeNan openly stared at me. Small children sometimes yelled out, "外国人!” (foreigner!), and babies looked at me with a mixture of confusion and fright.
北京 BeiJing Again:
I've moved-in with a Chinese family: "Aunt" and "Uncle" are probably in their late 30s, and "Little Bro" is eight. I'm still not exactly sure why, but his female "cousin," also eight, lives here as well. The food is excellent, the kids are hilarious, but overall I'm still getting used to living here. I'm also trying to figure out how to teach english to two kids who just want to mess around, as this is my sacred duty one hour each day.
I'd write more now, but classes at Beijing Language and Culture University started earlier today. So I have to get up at 6AM for my 8AM classes. Wish me luck! I promise more posts!
End of Stanford-Peking U Program:
A whirlwind of exams, Beach Volleyball Gold Medals and banquet. Sadly, on my last night with Stanford friends I was kicked-out of one of Beijing's nicest clubs. Apparently they want you to wear shoes. Next morning I caught an early train to 漯河 LuoHe in the 河南 HeNan province. I slept for most of the eleven hour journey... the Stanford program was nothing if not intensive. The Chinese countryside between 北京 BeiJing and 河南 HeNan looks a lot like Ohio. Corn, corn, corn, and the occasional nuclear cooling tower. Weather's pretty similar to the Midwest as well.
河南 HeNan:
Ten days of feeling uber-foreign began as soon as I got off the train. 漯河 LuoHe is not a small city by American standards, weighing-in at 2.57 Million people, but it feels a small for China. Upon seeing my glimmering white skin (and mild confusion), taxi drivers descended voraciously, but I managed to ignore their lies ("absolutely no more buses today!") and find a cheap bus ride.
I traveled to 河南 HeNan to teach english, at the invitation from a Chinese friend I'd met in 北京 BeiJing. So I did that, and climbed a mountain, got some free massage, ate crabs, drank beer with middle school kids and learned to cook some Chinese cuisine. And made some close friends. On a strange note, because of my appearance, about 80% of people I passed on the street in 河南 HeNan openly stared at me. Small children sometimes yelled out, "外国人!” (foreigner!), and babies looked at me with a mixture of confusion and fright.
北京 BeiJing Again:
I've moved-in with a Chinese family: "Aunt" and "Uncle" are probably in their late 30s, and "Little Bro" is eight. I'm still not exactly sure why, but his female "cousin," also eight, lives here as well. The food is excellent, the kids are hilarious, but overall I'm still getting used to living here. I'm also trying to figure out how to teach english to two kids who just want to mess around, as this is my sacred duty one hour each day.
I'd write more now, but classes at Beijing Language and Culture University started earlier today. So I have to get up at 6AM for my 8AM classes. Wish me luck! I promise more posts!
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