So I am currently sitting in an au bon pain in Washington, DC with so much of nothing to do right now it is amazing. So I will now blog about what it is about the Chinese I COULDN'T STAND!
1. Driving... The Chinese people in Beijing have only been driving for about 10 years. So how do they drive...
A. At every time they change lanes, or back up anything rather than looking and going they blow their horns then go. Also if there is someone in the crosswalk and the car ahead of them is not driving they blow their horns. Their excessive use of the horn was something that was way worse than NYC and drove me completely up a creek.
B. They have no idea how to park. It is funny to try to watch a whole country of people who cannot park attempt to park. They ALWAYS have someone help them park regardless of the size of the spot. Also when attempting to parallel park... CURB BEWARE!
C. They have not learned that the crosswalk is there so that pedestrians can have a place to walk without fear of being hit. In actuality they were just lines there for no reason, just to be there. Along with that they don't stop to look when making right hand turns and there could be someone in the crosswalk, if you're lucky you'll get a honk. Now if a smart motorist stops for the old lady with ten bags in her hands, he can be prepared for an barrage of honks.
2. Spitting... now I do spit probably more than i should,(ok i do) but these people get huge snot filled spit balls from the back of their throat and will just spit anywhere and apparently it is better than it used to be.
3. General lack of awareness... I don't know it is like they were all overly obsessed with everything that was going on and were completely unaware of their surroundings. I don't know how often I saw people coming towards me about to hit me and had to step around them. I felt like even when I was looking down text messenging I had better awareness than those people and yes "those people." Or they would not be aware that people were around them and stop awkwardly anywhere... damn people
4. They would take pictures anywhere... They would stop and take pictures in the worst places. In the middle of overcrowded walkways they would just STOP and have themselves and their family pose for pictures. I got so annoyed with this, that I eventually made a habit of finding people who were taking pictures and intentionally walking through their pictures.
5. Stop taking pictures of me! It was interesting maybe even cute at first, but I eventually started to get annoyed with the fact that everywhere I went there would be people who would ask me to pose either w/ them or their children. Also sometimes they would just take pictures of me, just on the, random. I think that they probably thought I likewise had their lack of awareness but NO, my awareness is HIGH, so I knew when people were taking pictures of the BLACK GUY! (or maybe i'm just weird)
6. They really aren't that nice... Now I did run across some very friendly Chinese people, but as a general rule they are pretty much jerks to most foreigners. Don't ask for too much help from them, because they just aren't that nice. Now if you are one of them, they might be friendlier. This might just be because they don't believe in common US courtesies, like excuse me or sorry when they run over you. It again probably is just cultural. However even their most common responses for thank you can be loosely translated into "no need to thank"
7. Grab my arm again... please grab my arm! So when attempting to bargain and you decide you don't want what you are bargaining for and you walk away, they physically grab your arm. Like people taking pictures at first it was cute, entertaining, cultural even... but i generally don't like people grabbing me, especially when i'm trying to walk away. So the death grip was NOT CUTE, when people started to grab my arm, i generally made it a rule to refuse to buy whatever they offer
PHOTOS FROM THE GREAT WALL!!!!
August 29, 2008
Let the games begin and what sucked at the games
I'd like to apologize for the last post, it was kind of wack. The only good thing about it was the pictures, which really were not all that exciting.
Anyway, I'm sure that people were curious to know what it was like to get to the games. And what the Olympic sports area was like... So I will let you know how it was to get there then get in. One day, I rushed there and got there way too early and decided I should take some pictures of the experience. I'll begin with what the Chinese completely and utterly without a doubt sucked at in terms of organizing the games...
Concessions concessions concessions... Wow the Chinese had NO IDEA how to do this efficiently run these concessions. Let me try to explain how terrible this was.
The lines to get the concessions were SO LONG and there were two people manning the stations. Oh yeah, the Chinese don't know how to do lines, so that they just kind of push to the front or have lines going to nowhere. The two young people at the front did not have a system, like one person handling the money and one person handling the food, it was just kind of do whatever felt right at the time. Not to mention there were not enough of them, and there were no people in the stands, running around with food and drinks which would have lessoned the strain on the stands. Your best bet was to stock up on a whole bunch of food and drinks at one point then hope you don't run out, because you are going to spend 30 minutes and miss something cool on the track.
Was there security at these games?
So the security at the games in terms of getting into the games was phenomenal. However, once you got into the stadium the little volunteers and little security people were a complete joke. How else could they allow me to sit RIGHT there for my friend's jumps, or go straight to the bottom of the stadium to give my friend a hug during her victory lap. How do you do this, just walk right by them and ignore them when they talk to you and just find an open seat and sit down or stand, whatever you feel like. Now I LOVED this, because it meant I could do all the cool things that I mentioned and be RIGHT there during ALL the field events... And I am sure that London 2012 will be NOTHING like this.
These seats suck why are they more expensive than our other seats?
The seating classifications made NO SENSE. Our best seats were without a doubt the cheapest seats which were right past the finish line. This also was the day of the 100m. However, the seats got more expensive and somehow they also got higher up and further from the finish line. This left us in wonder, what is the rationale for the seats. But whatever it didn't matter because you could sit wherever you wanted as long as there was an empty seat... And the Chinese are the worst fans in the world so they often left really good seats very early in the night
Now it all begins with a subway ride then you exit the stadium and you see...
After you see of people you turn and see more people...
Now say you are hungry and want to get some food at the ONE RESTAURANT... McDonald, yes that is a line to get INTO McDonalds
So if you do not want to wait in the pandemonium of McDonald's you walk a little bit further and you see Asian people taking pictures of the water show spectacle thing...
walk a little further,turn the other direction and you see...
keep on walking towards the food and you see the media tower and no doubt Chinese people taking pictures of it.. amazing how all the people can stand sideways
you then walk and finally you see the food and this is what is on the menu
Trying to get food was a challenge, since Chinese people are just now learning what a line is, you have to just push your way to the front, please note the lack of a line...
Continue walking and you will see the practice/warmup track
Now turn the other direction and you see dragon lake, which is actually the shape of a dragon but is really disgusting water
Eventually you walk past and get into the stadium and this is what you see...
(slideshow pending)
Anyway, I'm sure that people were curious to know what it was like to get to the games. And what the Olympic sports area was like... So I will let you know how it was to get there then get in. One day, I rushed there and got there way too early and decided I should take some pictures of the experience. I'll begin with what the Chinese completely and utterly without a doubt sucked at in terms of organizing the games...
Concessions concessions concessions... Wow the Chinese had NO IDEA how to do this efficiently run these concessions. Let me try to explain how terrible this was.
The lines to get the concessions were SO LONG and there were two people manning the stations. Oh yeah, the Chinese don't know how to do lines, so that they just kind of push to the front or have lines going to nowhere. The two young people at the front did not have a system, like one person handling the money and one person handling the food, it was just kind of do whatever felt right at the time. Not to mention there were not enough of them, and there were no people in the stands, running around with food and drinks which would have lessoned the strain on the stands. Your best bet was to stock up on a whole bunch of food and drinks at one point then hope you don't run out, because you are going to spend 30 minutes and miss something cool on the track.
Was there security at these games?
So the security at the games in terms of getting into the games was phenomenal. However, once you got into the stadium the little volunteers and little security people were a complete joke. How else could they allow me to sit RIGHT there for my friend's jumps, or go straight to the bottom of the stadium to give my friend a hug during her victory lap. How do you do this, just walk right by them and ignore them when they talk to you and just find an open seat and sit down or stand, whatever you feel like. Now I LOVED this, because it meant I could do all the cool things that I mentioned and be RIGHT there during ALL the field events... And I am sure that London 2012 will be NOTHING like this.
These seats suck why are they more expensive than our other seats?
The seating classifications made NO SENSE. Our best seats were without a doubt the cheapest seats which were right past the finish line. This also was the day of the 100m. However, the seats got more expensive and somehow they also got higher up and further from the finish line. This left us in wonder, what is the rationale for the seats. But whatever it didn't matter because you could sit wherever you wanted as long as there was an empty seat... And the Chinese are the worst fans in the world so they often left really good seats very early in the night
Now it all begins with a subway ride then you exit the stadium and you see...
After you see of people you turn and see more people...
Now say you are hungry and want to get some food at the ONE RESTAURANT... McDonald, yes that is a line to get INTO McDonalds
So if you do not want to wait in the pandemonium of McDonald's you walk a little bit further and you see Asian people taking pictures of the water show spectacle thing...
walk a little further,turn the other direction and you see...
keep on walking towards the food and you see the media tower and no doubt Chinese people taking pictures of it.. amazing how all the people can stand sideways
you then walk and finally you see the food and this is what is on the menu
Trying to get food was a challenge, since Chinese people are just now learning what a line is, you have to just push your way to the front, please note the lack of a line...
Continue walking and you will see the practice/warmup track
Now turn the other direction and you see dragon lake, which is actually the shape of a dragon but is really disgusting water
Eventually you walk past and get into the stadium and this is what you see...
(slideshow pending)
August 28, 2008
The Chinese are kind of gay... and more pics
It was interesting being in China... Now the Chinese people are very anti homosexuality. They don't really believe in homosexuality at all. However, they do somethings that would be considered homosexual in American culture, but I guess since they are so against it they don't think about what they are doing as gay. For example it is not uncommon for people of the same sex to walk down the street holding hands, especially women. Also men will call other men attractive. For example, I was at the games with a fellow American who was talking to a Chinese man who when describing his teacher said that he was "very attractive... and he looks like Brad Pitt. Now this is would only be possible in a culture that either has extremely high homophobia or extremely low homophobia. Now considering, I am not sure that I saw any gay people and from what I've heard they are very homophobic, I'm going to say that they don't believe in it the way that US culture does. So they then act real gay, so when you go to China look out for this extreme gayness...
Below are pictures from when I first arrived in China... Beginning with our layover in Seoul...
Something I forgot... I am glad that someone anonymously but astutely mentioned that the French women's 4x100 team leaving was also a major reason that it was time for me to leave, and in actuality if they were staying I might have also stayed...
Below are pictures from when I first arrived in China... Beginning with our layover in Seoul...
Something I forgot... I am glad that someone anonymously but astutely mentioned that the French women's 4x100 team leaving was also a major reason that it was time for me to leave, and in actuality if they were staying I might have also stayed...
August 27, 2008
this blog... cant stop wont stop
I'd like to thank everyone for tuning into my blog. I safely am back in the US and jetlag has me awake at 5am As you know China is not exactly the most friendly to openness about everything. So now I will have a few debriefing sessions about my experience in China. While life in China was grand it was about time for me to leave... and my travels are not yet over. I'm in LA, tomorrow I head out to bmore, then at some point ill go to nyc, then up to CT, then to St. Louis then eventually back to Nashville. For Now I will give you...
THE TOP TEN REASONS WHY IT WAS TIME FOR ME TO LEAVE CHINA!!!
10. I hadn't spoken to my family in a LONG time and I really missed my talking to my friends in the US (this could have easily been fixed)
9. The Olympics are over
8. Durrell was getting sick of me taking up two rooms and having my crap all over the place (I'm sure Durrell would like this to be number 1)
7. All my friends were leaving
6. I was getting used to Chinese customs (not tipping, yelling at waitresses, not showering every day and not changing clothes everyday)
5. I was starting to understand people when they were talking to me (and gettin comfortable talking to people)
4. The Chinese were no longer seen as interesting or some great cultural experience, but just annoying
3. I had run out of cash
2. School for Vanderbilt has already started
1. I was starting to think it was time for me to get a job (or go to school) i know number one is VERY scary!
honorable mention:
My Visa was about to expire
I hadn't gotten serious la duza yet
I dont think my body could take too much more partying (Whatever, I'm a beast I had at least two more weeks in me)
I had run out of money on my cell phone
Beijing was starting to get dirty again
I no longer really wanted to do touristy things
I had only seen like 5 music videos in 3 weeks
Don't forget to stay tuned, I'll be posting pictures on here as well as my shenanigans in China!!!
THE TOP TEN REASONS WHY IT WAS TIME FOR ME TO LEAVE CHINA!!!
10. I hadn't spoken to my family in a LONG time and I really missed my talking to my friends in the US (this could have easily been fixed)
9. The Olympics are over
8. Durrell was getting sick of me taking up two rooms and having my crap all over the place (I'm sure Durrell would like this to be number 1)
7. All my friends were leaving
6. I was getting used to Chinese customs (not tipping, yelling at waitresses, not showering every day and not changing clothes everyday)
5. I was starting to understand people when they were talking to me (and gettin comfortable talking to people)
4. The Chinese were no longer seen as interesting or some great cultural experience, but just annoying
3. I had run out of cash
2. School for Vanderbilt has already started
1. I was starting to think it was time for me to get a job (or go to school) i know number one is VERY scary!
honorable mention:
My Visa was about to expire
I hadn't gotten serious la duza yet
I dont think my body could take too much more partying (Whatever, I'm a beast I had at least two more weeks in me)
I had run out of money on my cell phone
Beijing was starting to get dirty again
I no longer really wanted to do touristy things
I had only seen like 5 music videos in 3 weeks
Don't forget to stay tuned, I'll be posting pictures on here as well as my shenanigans in China!!!
August 22, 2008
Conquering the Great Wall... while people try to hustle us
If you never heard... Ann and I are BEASTS! And since Jihad and Lachman have been here... We have been partying every night. Now the night before venturing the great wall was no exception. We went out and did not go to sleep at all for our 10K (4 hour) mainly uphill walk on uneven steps. So I will recap what happened before we left for the wall
4:15 Out partying with friends... realize i need to go ASAP to make sure my boy and his fam get to the airport.
4:20 Leave straight from party area to his place
4:45 Arrive at their place
5:00 get them into cabs, cab back ourselves
5:30 change clothes, grab snacks and water for our trip
6:30 get to bus station leave for great wallish area
Ok, so this trip almost turned into a disaster, we are on the bus to a city where we will take another bus, when we get to the city, the bus tells us to get off at a random place, now both of us were sleeping and were incoherent so we just get off, right in front of about 10 cars who were tryin to hustle us and make us pay way too much. We then walk to a hotel and ask what do u we do, then walk to a bank, then end up walking around this whole city. Eventually, we realize that no one will give us directions if they think that I'm with Ann. So "we" decide that we need to be 10 meters apart at all times... clearly this worked like a charm, so we board that same bus that we were on and take it to the terminal station, where we then again run into a bunch of people in cars tryin to hustle us the same way. We find this couple who is trying to go to the same place, we basically team up with them and find a guy who has credentials(maybe they were fake) to take us up to the area we were tryin to go. This worked out real well, even with this hella extra pushy dude, who I had to physically move away from my new friends. It takes us about an hour to get to the area of the great wall we were tryin to go.
So after about 2 hours of listening to BS from people who were all pretty much against me (note not "We"), and trying to get me to pay way too much money, we make it to the wall.
Now this area of the wall again was dangerous, had hella steps and was extra hard and not the most kept up place. Now if you read closely, in no time did I mention eating a meal and it was hot, so i was dehydrated and hungry, and sadly and stupidly we were low on money, so we couldnt buy snacks. However we did have some snacks that we brought and enough water to make the trip. We also bought a coke for the sugar content! Well we walked the wall, and had to turn down a bunch of snacks and souvenirs even from the guy who said that he'd show us a "shortcut" (yeah... right)
Anyway, It's much better to show it in pictures, but it was a "perfect" day and i could not have asked for a better day to see one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in my life. Also there were not that many people so it made it even that much more special... Absolutely an AMAZING time, without a doubt the best hike i've ever taken in my life.
We make it to the other area and decide to take a bus back to the first bus station, to save money, because again we were getting low on cash. This bus was like the buses that you see in the movies low budget, lots of bumps, not the most comfortable seats, packed etc etc. We eventually make it back to the bus station and board the bus back to Beijing, and realize that our little 2 hour hangup is making us late for the track meet, we eventually make it back and we are rushing like crazy, I make it back to D's apartment and there is no key to let me back in, eventually he comes back lets me in, we rush hella late back to the stadium and eventually make it back JUST in time for the 4x100 relay and another Bolt world record.
Afterwards we grab dinner and Ann and I decide you know what... we're goin to go out again tonight, but not for too long just until like 2am... Clearly, we didnt get in until after 4am!
special note just to make Maggie Hope jealous- remember when we watched Nigera v. USA and Argentina v. Serbia? Nigeria V. Argentina was the gold medal match! Pretty cool huh HOPE!!!
4:15 Out partying with friends... realize i need to go ASAP to make sure my boy and his fam get to the airport.
4:20 Leave straight from party area to his place
4:45 Arrive at their place
5:00 get them into cabs, cab back ourselves
5:30 change clothes, grab snacks and water for our trip
6:30 get to bus station leave for great wallish area
Ok, so this trip almost turned into a disaster, we are on the bus to a city where we will take another bus, when we get to the city, the bus tells us to get off at a random place, now both of us were sleeping and were incoherent so we just get off, right in front of about 10 cars who were tryin to hustle us and make us pay way too much. We then walk to a hotel and ask what do u we do, then walk to a bank, then end up walking around this whole city. Eventually, we realize that no one will give us directions if they think that I'm with Ann. So "we" decide that we need to be 10 meters apart at all times... clearly this worked like a charm, so we board that same bus that we were on and take it to the terminal station, where we then again run into a bunch of people in cars tryin to hustle us the same way. We find this couple who is trying to go to the same place, we basically team up with them and find a guy who has credentials(maybe they were fake) to take us up to the area we were tryin to go. This worked out real well, even with this hella extra pushy dude, who I had to physically move away from my new friends. It takes us about an hour to get to the area of the great wall we were tryin to go.
So after about 2 hours of listening to BS from people who were all pretty much against me (note not "We"), and trying to get me to pay way too much money, we make it to the wall.
Now this area of the wall again was dangerous, had hella steps and was extra hard and not the most kept up place. Now if you read closely, in no time did I mention eating a meal and it was hot, so i was dehydrated and hungry, and sadly and stupidly we were low on money, so we couldnt buy snacks. However we did have some snacks that we brought and enough water to make the trip. We also bought a coke for the sugar content! Well we walked the wall, and had to turn down a bunch of snacks and souvenirs even from the guy who said that he'd show us a "shortcut" (yeah... right)
Anyway, It's much better to show it in pictures, but it was a "perfect" day and i could not have asked for a better day to see one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in my life. Also there were not that many people so it made it even that much more special... Absolutely an AMAZING time, without a doubt the best hike i've ever taken in my life.
We make it to the other area and decide to take a bus back to the first bus station, to save money, because again we were getting low on cash. This bus was like the buses that you see in the movies low budget, lots of bumps, not the most comfortable seats, packed etc etc. We eventually make it back to the bus station and board the bus back to Beijing, and realize that our little 2 hour hangup is making us late for the track meet, we eventually make it back and we are rushing like crazy, I make it back to D's apartment and there is no key to let me back in, eventually he comes back lets me in, we rush hella late back to the stadium and eventually make it back JUST in time for the 4x100 relay and another Bolt world record.
Afterwards we grab dinner and Ann and I decide you know what... we're goin to go out again tonight, but not for too long just until like 2am... Clearly, we didnt get in until after 4am!
special note just to make Maggie Hope jealous- remember when we watched Nigera v. USA and Argentina v. Serbia? Nigeria V. Argentina was the gold medal match! Pretty cool huh HOPE!!!
August 19, 2008
OMG!!! OMG!!! DAWN WON!!!! DAWN WON!!!!
maybe some things happened yesterday, but all I remember is that Dawn Harper won GOLD!!!!! I will replay the event for you for those who did not see. Now if you noticed from yesterday or from previous posts from when I was in LA, Dawn is the wife of my boy Craig. She runs the 100 hurdles (you can check out pictures from their wedding on my facebook page) We hung pretty tough in LA, watching her practice, driving her around to physical therapy. etc etc... anyway, well let's recap what occurred yesterday. Dawn Harper was racing the race of her life in the Olympics final, and it looked like she had second place locked up when the leader and big favorite Lolo Jones hits the hurdle with her lead leg and is barely able to stay up. Dawn then takes the lead and crosses the finish line in first place, in a personal best time of 12.54... NOT BAD for someone who had knee surgery in March and was in a leg sleeve for a significant amount of time!
Now how do you react when you are there when the homie wins an olympic gold! I was sitting with friends Curt and Jakki, Jakki's father and sister and my friend Erica's mom. For a split second you are in shock. Personally, all I could say was a barely audible voice "omg omg dawn won!" Then the screen flashed 4th place finisher Damu Cherry and I thought that possibly I had them confused, then the results flashed Dawn Harper first place. I reacted by jumping onto my friend Curt's back and screaming something, that probably was no language known to man. I then sit down and think to myself for about 30 seconds in disbelief. Then the idea hits me, forget it... I'm going down there! I tell no particular person "brb"
I then do a very quick assessment of where would be the best place to go. I do a mad dash down to the bottom of the stadium weaving around people and find the spot where I wanted to go. I run down through security which is tryin to stop me. I just continously yell "sister" "sister" sister" (no we are not actually siblings) After running past at least 5 security people. I end up at the bottom of the stadium stairs and yell at Dawn as she is doing her victory lap. I yell her name at the top of my lungs, she looks over at me comes over and gives me one of the biggest hugs anyone has ever given me... while embracing all I can say is "omg, omg, i can't believe it" her response is "omg omg" this is so crazy, this is like so crazy, where's craig (her husband) and I have no idea at this point. (Special note- these might not have been her exact words or mine, for some reason exact words kind of escape me) I didn't want to but I eventually let her go and return to my seat. When I return everyone around me is like "wow, how did you get down there so fast and thank goodness you were wearing that shirt because we could see you so clearly!" They took pictures of me and when they get them to me I'll post them here and it will no doubt be my facebook profile picture!
Did you know... That 2004 Olympic champion in the 100m hurdles JoAnna Hayes and Dawn Harper have the same coach... Bob Kersee
Now how do you react when you are there when the homie wins an olympic gold! I was sitting with friends Curt and Jakki, Jakki's father and sister and my friend Erica's mom. For a split second you are in shock. Personally, all I could say was a barely audible voice "omg omg dawn won!" Then the screen flashed 4th place finisher Damu Cherry and I thought that possibly I had them confused, then the results flashed Dawn Harper first place. I reacted by jumping onto my friend Curt's back and screaming something, that probably was no language known to man. I then sit down and think to myself for about 30 seconds in disbelief. Then the idea hits me, forget it... I'm going down there! I tell no particular person "brb"
I then do a very quick assessment of where would be the best place to go. I do a mad dash down to the bottom of the stadium weaving around people and find the spot where I wanted to go. I run down through security which is tryin to stop me. I just continously yell "sister" "sister" sister" (no we are not actually siblings) After running past at least 5 security people. I end up at the bottom of the stadium stairs and yell at Dawn as she is doing her victory lap. I yell her name at the top of my lungs, she looks over at me comes over and gives me one of the biggest hugs anyone has ever given me... while embracing all I can say is "omg, omg, i can't believe it" her response is "omg omg" this is so crazy, this is like so crazy, where's craig (her husband) and I have no idea at this point. (Special note- these might not have been her exact words or mine, for some reason exact words kind of escape me) I didn't want to but I eventually let her go and return to my seat. When I return everyone around me is like "wow, how did you get down there so fast and thank goodness you were wearing that shirt because we could see you so clearly!" They took pictures of me and when they get them to me I'll post them here and it will no doubt be my facebook profile picture!
Did you know... That 2004 Olympic champion in the 100m hurdles JoAnna Hayes and Dawn Harper have the same coach... Bob Kersee
How many people in the world can say that...
How many people can say that they witnessed a world record at the Olympics, from RIGHT NEXT to where the coaches sit...
If you noticed I did not update from the 17th. That's probably because I don't remember what I did on the 17th I'm pretty sure I did not do anything and I just napped, but I could be wrong. Anyway... I'll just jump straight to the 18th which ended up being phenomenal... The last of my Yale crew arrived today... Jihad arrived today and that pretty much set the rest of the day off...
I went to a handball game with Press and Lach. That was pretty cool even though I was tired and I hadn't really eaten anything. We then went back to the Press apartment where we regrouped and headed out to the Bird's nest. We did not eat before we got there and that was probably a mistake. In the Olympic area there is only one place to eat and it is McDonalds. We went there and it was a PANDEMONIUM. They held us outside the door, then when they let us in it was straight madness. Imagine the New York Stock exchange, people yelling, screaming and pushing. No order, serious fire hazard, I was pushed by an old lady, a little kid, not to mention countless people who were closer to my age. I had to revert back to my running back days and find a whole and hit it hard. I eventually made it to the front where I ordered for my homies and we ate the much smaller portioned Mickey D's
We eventually made it into the stadium where we watched the meet which was pretty cool... but did not get phenomenal until the women's pole vault. When Isabadova was going to go for the world record in the pole vault there was no way that Ann and I were not going down in the stands RIGHT next to the pit. When we got there we clearly stood up and clapped. Even after Chinese guy and told us to sit down and some European woman told us to "why don't you just sit down" whatever, if you won't stand up and clap for a world record attempt in the Olympics you don't deserve to see it. Anyway, when she finally cleared it on her third attempt the stadium erupted, and no one left. Also we were standing right by her coach and people went crazy trying to get autographs and pictures with him. Again the scene was UNREAL, I was able to sneak in some pictures of him... I do have to say that this moment was completely 100% unbelievable and I'm still kind of in disbelief of how close I was to witness this feat. This alone made the trip worth it... Also the countdown can begin 7 more days left in China, exactly one more week.... we went out afterwards and it was chill and I had a pretty good time with the "dream team" (jihad, press, lachman etc) and Ann. Anyway for now... that's all I'll post pictures later, but gotta run to the next EVENT!!!!!! DAWN HARPER IN THE 100 HURDLES!!!!!!!
If you noticed I did not update from the 17th. That's probably because I don't remember what I did on the 17th I'm pretty sure I did not do anything and I just napped, but I could be wrong. Anyway... I'll just jump straight to the 18th which ended up being phenomenal... The last of my Yale crew arrived today... Jihad arrived today and that pretty much set the rest of the day off...
I went to a handball game with Press and Lach. That was pretty cool even though I was tired and I hadn't really eaten anything. We then went back to the Press apartment where we regrouped and headed out to the Bird's nest. We did not eat before we got there and that was probably a mistake. In the Olympic area there is only one place to eat and it is McDonalds. We went there and it was a PANDEMONIUM. They held us outside the door, then when they let us in it was straight madness. Imagine the New York Stock exchange, people yelling, screaming and pushing. No order, serious fire hazard, I was pushed by an old lady, a little kid, not to mention countless people who were closer to my age. I had to revert back to my running back days and find a whole and hit it hard. I eventually made it to the front where I ordered for my homies and we ate the much smaller portioned Mickey D's
We eventually made it into the stadium where we watched the meet which was pretty cool... but did not get phenomenal until the women's pole vault. When Isabadova was going to go for the world record in the pole vault there was no way that Ann and I were not going down in the stands RIGHT next to the pit. When we got there we clearly stood up and clapped. Even after Chinese guy and told us to sit down and some European woman told us to "why don't you just sit down" whatever, if you won't stand up and clap for a world record attempt in the Olympics you don't deserve to see it. Anyway, when she finally cleared it on her third attempt the stadium erupted, and no one left. Also we were standing right by her coach and people went crazy trying to get autographs and pictures with him. Again the scene was UNREAL, I was able to sneak in some pictures of him... I do have to say that this moment was completely 100% unbelievable and I'm still kind of in disbelief of how close I was to witness this feat. This alone made the trip worth it... Also the countdown can begin 7 more days left in China, exactly one more week.... we went out afterwards and it was chill and I had a pretty good time with the "dream team" (jihad, press, lachman etc) and Ann. Anyway for now... that's all I'll post pictures later, but gotta run to the next EVENT!!!!!! DAWN HARPER IN THE 100 HURDLES!!!!!!!
August 17, 2008
YAY-JING!
I'm a little slow with this post so excuse me. But for a quick second let me thank all of my readers and all of those who have been giving the positive feedback, i'm not goin to lie, i LOVE it!
Well good news! I got my travel buddy back. Ann and I hit the tourist trail hard again. Before we went to the track meet Ann and I decided to hit up a park where I could see all the way around the Beijing including the Forbidden City. It was a pretty nice park. We then ventured over to the track where it was how do you say... PHENOMENAL. Our seats were slightly past the finish line. The highlight of the meet was most def watching Usain Bolt run sub 9.7 while showboating as well as the shock of seeing Tyson Gay NOT make the finals. The atmosphere in the stadiumafter Usain set a world record at the Olympics was something that is completely indescribable... I wish that I could describe it in words how it was for y'all but sorry, it's something you just had to be present for. I'll give you a quick synopsis, random people hugging each other, high fives all around, screaming, cheering, people dancing to Jamaican music... (ok, well maybe that was just me)
Afterwards it was my boy Durrell's birthday celebration. A group of us left the track meet and went to the middle of town where the it went DOWN! We went to this bar called Que Bar. It was a nice little spot where some of the drink glasses were actually ice. Check out Erica modeling one of these wonderful glasses...
Anyway, at some point I'm not sure when, but Erica and I began a conversation about the "Yay Area" and Beijing... maybe something about us coming from there to here... Not quite sure how it started however, It ended with us coming up with a new phrase that has a copyright pending... The official term describing people getting "hyphy" in Beijing... YAYJING! Anyway...
It was a real nice crowd of people who were hanging there for the birthday festivities. it was most def a fun time! The shirt that Money Marj gave Durrell for his birthday was priceless. (check out the shirt at the top of the page) Good people good times can't beat that!
Afterwards we went to Bar Blue aka blue bar aka toads.... I also had a realization that there is a club like this in every town not just in America, but in the WORLD! As Ben from Yale said... "There's a Toads in every town" We stayed there and danced the night away and it was SO MUCH fun, the rug at the place wasnt just cut up, it was DESTROYED! Anyway, the night was all good, until we had a lil disaster that was probably my fault... sorry Lovely Luci! Anyway, while the night ended on a sour note, It was still a GREAT time and i'm pretty sure that we held it down for D's birthday! for now... That's all
Thought of the day... Maybe people in China aren't staring at me because I'm weird NOT just because I'm black
August 15, 2008
oh so bitter sweet....
So yesterday probably epitomized the definition of bitter sweet...
Yesterday, my friend Erica competed in the triple jump. Battling a somewhat serious hamstring injury and all, after watching her warmup I had my doubts as to whether she was going to be able to compete at all... However being the beast that she is she turned out a gutty performance and while she didn't perform as well as she wanted to, she still was the top American in the meet. So i'm proud of you homie... this year was just a preview of even greater things to come!!!
The good thing was that I was able to weasel my way down to basically RIGHT NEXT to the pits. I randomly saw some people i had just met who were sitting high up on the pit side and since there were open seats decided to sit next to them. We then figured that we could stand at the top of the first level by the pits. We then devised a plan to where I and Abbas my new friend would run down and I'd record the jump and he'd take pictures, while we run down my new friend Sherry would talk to the volunteer people and tell them I was taping my "sister" and i'd be right back. However when we went down there no one said a word and allowed us to stand basically on the bottom of the stadium on the stairs we didn't move... So i was able to easily record my friend's jumps as well take a nice amount of pictures.
As a whole the meet was loads of fun. Afterwards, I rolled out w/ Sherry and Abbas and met up w/ our friends Press and Lach from the Yale track team. We then went to a party that was for another Yalie's birthday. I do have to say that Yale was def in the house and it's weird seeing at least 15 yale kids at a bar in China... for now that's all
Did you know... That Erica McLain is the American junior record holder in the triple jump
August 14, 2008
catching the giggles from a blind masseuse
So getting a massage here in China is super cheap, the massage I got yesterday for an hour was 80cny which is about $12usd. So Money Marj and her friend Alexia take me to a place... Now when I get in front of the place the sign says massage by blind Masseurs...Take a look for yourself
immediately I think to myself wtf, they can't actually be blind... well they actually were. When I walk in there were blind people sitting around. Now at this point a lot of things are going on through my head, a glob of exploitation of people with differences, with a dash of is this really serious, topped off with inordinate amounts of WTF! So they take us to a room which smells REAL funny, at this point I'm ready to get out of here, they then take us to a room that smells much better, but has a millipede running across the wall... now i'm two steps from the door... After some coaxing I eventually lie down, and this was one of the better decisions I've made in my life. Her hands and elbows were so gentle, but had the firm touch that was just magical.
However her magic hands were not enough to keep me from laughing as soon as she got to work. As has been internationally studied the giggles are one of the hardest ailments to get rid of. Also they are incredibly contagious. Now close your eyes and imagine for a second myself face down, cracking up, and squirming, with a blind masseuse over the top of me likewise cracking up and the masseuse next to her starting to laugh and clearly alexia and money marj begin laughing. The entire massage was full of laughter. However, she still did such a great job and since I can't speak the language so I have become accustomed to giving hand gestures, like the Stephen Trapp thumbs up of approval.
So I gladly gave her the gesture. It wasn't until the massage was pretty much over that Money Marj reminded me that they were blind and could not see the international Stephen Trapp sign of approval. I then went to saying different versions of OK which I've realized everyone knows what it means.
The massage concluded and I was extremely pleased, it was one of the better massages I've had in my life. Below is a picture of the lovely ladies, the one in the pink is the one who worked her magic hands on me!
Thought of the day... I REALLY need a lineup
immediately I think to myself wtf, they can't actually be blind... well they actually were. When I walk in there were blind people sitting around. Now at this point a lot of things are going on through my head, a glob of exploitation of people with differences, with a dash of is this really serious, topped off with inordinate amounts of WTF! So they take us to a room which smells REAL funny, at this point I'm ready to get out of here, they then take us to a room that smells much better, but has a millipede running across the wall... now i'm two steps from the door... After some coaxing I eventually lie down, and this was one of the better decisions I've made in my life. Her hands and elbows were so gentle, but had the firm touch that was just magical.
However her magic hands were not enough to keep me from laughing as soon as she got to work. As has been internationally studied the giggles are one of the hardest ailments to get rid of. Also they are incredibly contagious. Now close your eyes and imagine for a second myself face down, cracking up, and squirming, with a blind masseuse over the top of me likewise cracking up and the masseuse next to her starting to laugh and clearly alexia and money marj begin laughing. The entire massage was full of laughter. However, she still did such a great job and since I can't speak the language so I have become accustomed to giving hand gestures, like the Stephen Trapp thumbs up of approval.
So I gladly gave her the gesture. It wasn't until the massage was pretty much over that Money Marj reminded me that they were blind and could not see the international Stephen Trapp sign of approval. I then went to saying different versions of OK which I've realized everyone knows what it means.
The massage concluded and I was extremely pleased, it was one of the better massages I've had in my life. Below is a picture of the lovely ladies, the one in the pink is the one who worked her magic hands on me!
Thought of the day... I REALLY need a lineup
MF... I'm ILL!!!! COMPETE!
Wow, so I'm approaching Day 10 in China and the tourist luster has just about gone and I might be starting to get bored... I MISS ANN!!!!
MF i'm ill (literally)but it's ok cause i'm a beast
I then went met up with Lovely Luci for a late lunch. My first time at Peking Duck!!!! Now as some of you know I'm a competitor, I love competition for the sake of competition sake. So while enjoyinig a lovely lunch of peking duck, duck bone soup, this gross shrimp vegetable dish, some kind of pickled vegetable, fried rice washed down with a milkshake Lovely Luci challenged me. She made the statement that if I finished all of the food that was left, which was a substantial amount then she would pay for the meal. In the spirit of the Olympics...GAME ON! I looked at what was in front of me and developed a strategy. I would tackle the least appetizing dish first, the shrimp vegetable combination. There was A LOT of this one left! I also had to eat the peppers of one dish so i thought that if i ate this fast enough then I wouldnt taste it, I then realized that if I psyched myself into liking it then i'd be all good, so that's what I did and mmmm was it ever tasty. And what did i wash it down w/ the soup... so tasty! After this I was beginning to feel ill. I then finished off the pickled vegetables, when they brought out MORE FOOD!!!! a coconut milk dish with a fruit in the middle that was so tasty. I had doubts, but I thought COMPETE, COMPETE and probably said it out loud! I finished the rice then I drank this dessert dish fruit and all, then moved onto the hardest part. The HEAD OF THE DUCK. Now the head of the duck includes, skull, brains and that's about it. It was so crunchy that it barely went down, thank goodness they brought out MORE FOOD, watermelon and cantelope! Since I'm in the conquering business, i took some watermelon and cantelope. OK, back to the HEAD, Now when eating the bones it has a real hard consistency, that makes it difficult to go down... Again washed it down w/ more soup. At this point the only thing left was this half of a head staring at me. I attempted to eat it, when I realized that there was a squishy substance, which was BRAIN! I spit it out then covered it in plum sauce put it one of the tortilla like rolls and COMPETED IT DOWN THE HATCH! The last part was then staring at me, crunchy skull, which feels like exactly what it is, pokey bones going down. After a quick change of mind, I of course COMPETED THIS DOWN THE HATCH! All that was left was child's play drink the soup, down the milkshake!
At this point all of the waitresses were laughing at me, not to mention confused why i wouldn't let them take away any of my food. I have to give a shout out to lil wayne and the song a millie because while dancing to move food down my digestive track, I repeatedly uttered the words "MF I'm ill" and I'm a beast, I'm a MF problem, you say you a goon, but what's a goon to a goblin"
Didn't think this would happen... I never thought that a day would come where I scoff at 3 souvenir shirts for $15
MF i'm ill (literally)but it's ok cause i'm a beast
I then went met up with Lovely Luci for a late lunch. My first time at Peking Duck!!!! Now as some of you know I'm a competitor, I love competition for the sake of competition sake. So while enjoyinig a lovely lunch of peking duck, duck bone soup, this gross shrimp vegetable dish, some kind of pickled vegetable, fried rice washed down with a milkshake Lovely Luci challenged me. She made the statement that if I finished all of the food that was left, which was a substantial amount then she would pay for the meal. In the spirit of the Olympics...GAME ON! I looked at what was in front of me and developed a strategy. I would tackle the least appetizing dish first, the shrimp vegetable combination. There was A LOT of this one left! I also had to eat the peppers of one dish so i thought that if i ate this fast enough then I wouldnt taste it, I then realized that if I psyched myself into liking it then i'd be all good, so that's what I did and mmmm was it ever tasty. And what did i wash it down w/ the soup... so tasty! After this I was beginning to feel ill. I then finished off the pickled vegetables, when they brought out MORE FOOD!!!! a coconut milk dish with a fruit in the middle that was so tasty. I had doubts, but I thought COMPETE, COMPETE and probably said it out loud! I finished the rice then I drank this dessert dish fruit and all, then moved onto the hardest part. The HEAD OF THE DUCK. Now the head of the duck includes, skull, brains and that's about it. It was so crunchy that it barely went down, thank goodness they brought out MORE FOOD, watermelon and cantelope! Since I'm in the conquering business, i took some watermelon and cantelope. OK, back to the HEAD, Now when eating the bones it has a real hard consistency, that makes it difficult to go down... Again washed it down w/ more soup. At this point the only thing left was this half of a head staring at me. I attempted to eat it, when I realized that there was a squishy substance, which was BRAIN! I spit it out then covered it in plum sauce put it one of the tortilla like rolls and COMPETED IT DOWN THE HATCH! The last part was then staring at me, crunchy skull, which feels like exactly what it is, pokey bones going down. After a quick change of mind, I of course COMPETED THIS DOWN THE HATCH! All that was left was child's play drink the soup, down the milkshake!
At this point all of the waitresses were laughing at me, not to mention confused why i wouldn't let them take away any of my food. I have to give a shout out to lil wayne and the song a millie because while dancing to move food down my digestive track, I repeatedly uttered the words "MF I'm ill" and I'm a beast, I'm a MF problem, you say you a goon, but what's a goon to a goblin"
Didn't think this would happen... I never thought that a day would come where I scoff at 3 souvenir shirts for $15
August 13, 2008
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMA!!!! and something the Chinese aren't good at!
So the 13th which it still is today in the US is my mother's birthday. I just wanted to give a special birthday shoutout to my favorite girl!
Anyway, so I was able to go to a couple of men's soccer matches yesterday and it was beyond an interesting sight. The games themselves were pretty amazing. The first game featured USA v. Nigeria and the second game was Argentina v. Serbia. Now while the Nigerians pulled off the victory, the highlight of the game I'd have to say was the Nigerian cheering section that had drums playing and did not sit down the entire game, even with the little security man trying to get them to sit down the entire game. The game in itself was exciting but watching the Nigerians be extra crunk in the stands was Def something to see. Argentina pulled off the victory in the next match.
If you've noticed that the Chinese are pretty much holding it down in the Gold medal count. They are beating the US by 7 and are only two behind in the overall medal count. Now while this has been done primarily by putting people into many competitions that either A people don't care about or B take little or no talent. Regardless you have to give credit where credit is due and the Chinese deserve some credit. However, while winning in competitions is what they are good... The soccer game revealed some things they are not so good at. GO CHINA!
1. Paying attention to the game... the Chinese people are easily distracted. For at least half of the Argentina game people were staring at Kobe Bryant or at Maradona, none of which were actually playing
2. In the same breath as the earlier post.. Keeping their cool around "superstars" At one point I heard a grown man shrill like a school girl when he thought that Maradona was going to go into the game.
3. Doing the wave... They generally just don't understand the wave. First of all they call it the "mexican wave" when the wave became Mexican I don't know. Second, they spent the majority of both games trying to get a wave started and never quite got it right. I don't think they understand that you can't have 5 sections trying to start a wave. At some point it's just a bunch of people standing up and sitting down
4. Clapping... First of all they often attempt to clap on beat and it is absolutely awful. Second when they attempt to just randomly clap, their hands are too tense and it just sounds terrible. It makes sense that they brought in cheer coaches to teach people how to clap
5. Cheerleading... First of all cheerleaders at a soccer game is strange. Second they were like the Hooters girls, rhythmless, robotic and w/out coordination. Also there were too many of them and they were not adequately spaced apart... How do I know this you ask... am I a closet cheer coach? No, they were just about bumping into each other.
6. Making money off of concessions... While this is admirable that they don't want to make money off of their people and I'm certainly not complaining, they could make a KILLING if they wanted to, but instead they are charging the equivalent of about 75 cents for all beverages. GO CHINA!!!!!!
For now that's all...
did you know... that August 13th is the birthday of my mother!
Anyway, so I was able to go to a couple of men's soccer matches yesterday and it was beyond an interesting sight. The games themselves were pretty amazing. The first game featured USA v. Nigeria and the second game was Argentina v. Serbia. Now while the Nigerians pulled off the victory, the highlight of the game I'd have to say was the Nigerian cheering section that had drums playing and did not sit down the entire game, even with the little security man trying to get them to sit down the entire game. The game in itself was exciting but watching the Nigerians be extra crunk in the stands was Def something to see. Argentina pulled off the victory in the next match.
If you've noticed that the Chinese are pretty much holding it down in the Gold medal count. They are beating the US by 7 and are only two behind in the overall medal count. Now while this has been done primarily by putting people into many competitions that either A people don't care about or B take little or no talent. Regardless you have to give credit where credit is due and the Chinese deserve some credit. However, while winning in competitions is what they are good... The soccer game revealed some things they are not so good at. GO CHINA!
1. Paying attention to the game... the Chinese people are easily distracted. For at least half of the Argentina game people were staring at Kobe Bryant or at Maradona, none of which were actually playing
2. In the same breath as the earlier post.. Keeping their cool around "superstars" At one point I heard a grown man shrill like a school girl when he thought that Maradona was going to go into the game.
3. Doing the wave... They generally just don't understand the wave. First of all they call it the "mexican wave" when the wave became Mexican I don't know. Second, they spent the majority of both games trying to get a wave started and never quite got it right. I don't think they understand that you can't have 5 sections trying to start a wave. At some point it's just a bunch of people standing up and sitting down
4. Clapping... First of all they often attempt to clap on beat and it is absolutely awful. Second when they attempt to just randomly clap, their hands are too tense and it just sounds terrible. It makes sense that they brought in cheer coaches to teach people how to clap
5. Cheerleading... First of all cheerleaders at a soccer game is strange. Second they were like the Hooters girls, rhythmless, robotic and w/out coordination. Also there were too many of them and they were not adequately spaced apart... How do I know this you ask... am I a closet cheer coach? No, they were just about bumping into each other.
6. Making money off of concessions... While this is admirable that they don't want to make money off of their people and I'm certainly not complaining, they could make a KILLING if they wanted to, but instead they are charging the equivalent of about 75 cents for all beverages. GO CHINA!!!!!!
For now that's all...
did you know... that August 13th is the birthday of my mother!
August 11, 2008
umm... Where am I? am i lost? YESSSSSSS!!!! and who are you?
Yesterday was my first weekday without my travel buddy... my navigation system... the one who helps motivates me to get up in the morning and actually do something with my day. So Day 1 without Ann looked like this... Sitting on the computer until lunch time, eventually going out to a Japanese restaurant, then coming back and sitting down until late and eventually deciding that I can't waste a day, so i ventured out to the Lama Temple at about 3pm.
Very important travel tip, when you go to a country where you don't speak the language and decide to take public transportation and go somewhere have an idea of where you're going looks like. When I got off the Subway, I had no idea what I was looking for and walked the wrong way to a water park, because it looked like it could be something important...
I eventually went the other direction and found the Lama Temple. According to Wikipedia, The Lama Temple is apparently one of the most important Tibetan Buddhist Temples in the world. So it is a religious place, like the Sistine Chapel of Tibetan Buddhists. Again it is not just one temple, but a series of temples (I think that something is lost in translation). It was odd because people were worshiping while tourists walked through. I was not from this culture so I did not want to take pictures of people worshiping also apparently you are not supposed to take pictures of Buddha and some other figures, so I just kind of walked around. Also I was hesitant to walk into places when people were burning incense and bowing to Buddha. So I would wait until someone else who looked like they knew what they were doing(meaning looked Chinese) took the lead. Again, the structures were large and very detailed. This whole thing took only about 30-40 minutes and I figured I should walk around or do SOMETHING for a while.
Meeting Briana:
So I started walking down the street, there were stores on both sides, when I reached the end I decided to walk on the other side back to the subway, I saw an alleylike sidestreet that looked tempting so I walked down it. I was walking along when a young lady approaches me and asks me if I speak english, I say yes, then we start to talking. Turns out she is from Palmdale, CA (yeah, i don't know where it is either.) She says she's going to find a sandwich, so I walk w/ her to a hutong (alley like area). We venture around and eventually find a ridiculously overpriced cafe next to a hostel. When we finish eating we go out and walk around some more, looking at stuff. At lunch I made the statement that I think one day I'm going to just try to get lost so I can see the city. So we start walking along the street and then toward a subway. Long story short, we are walking around when we realize that the shortcut that we tried to take didn't take us to where we were trying to go. Now, two people who don't speak the language, not really knowing where they are going, traveling down an alley where people give them slightly funny looks...Don't worry again... I know what you are thinking... YES!!!!! SO MUCH FUN! Seriously, though it was a great opportunity to see some different things and we weren't too lost so it was ok. (Really all about perspective I'll talk about it on a later post) I got to see a lot of the area and some smaller side streets. Eventually, after walking in a few circles, we found the street I was supposed to be on, she left to her hostel and I left to the subway. So after hanging for like 3 hours Briana and I parted ways.
When i got off the subway, it was kind dark outside and I forgot which exit to take, so I took the wrong exit and decided that correct direction was the wrong way and kind of walked the wrong way, and again found myself slightly LOST(so much fun)!!! So i decided to take pictures of random stuff that I saw. I eventually found my way and that pretty much concluded my day!
did you know... That Palmdale, CA refers to itself with the nickname "the aerospace capital of the United States"
Very important travel tip, when you go to a country where you don't speak the language and decide to take public transportation and go somewhere have an idea of where you're going looks like. When I got off the Subway, I had no idea what I was looking for and walked the wrong way to a water park, because it looked like it could be something important...
I eventually went the other direction and found the Lama Temple. According to Wikipedia, The Lama Temple is apparently one of the most important Tibetan Buddhist Temples in the world. So it is a religious place, like the Sistine Chapel of Tibetan Buddhists. Again it is not just one temple, but a series of temples (I think that something is lost in translation). It was odd because people were worshiping while tourists walked through. I was not from this culture so I did not want to take pictures of people worshiping also apparently you are not supposed to take pictures of Buddha and some other figures, so I just kind of walked around. Also I was hesitant to walk into places when people were burning incense and bowing to Buddha. So I would wait until someone else who looked like they knew what they were doing(meaning looked Chinese) took the lead. Again, the structures were large and very detailed. This whole thing took only about 30-40 minutes and I figured I should walk around or do SOMETHING for a while.
Meeting Briana:
So I started walking down the street, there were stores on both sides, when I reached the end I decided to walk on the other side back to the subway, I saw an alleylike sidestreet that looked tempting so I walked down it. I was walking along when a young lady approaches me and asks me if I speak english, I say yes, then we start to talking. Turns out she is from Palmdale, CA (yeah, i don't know where it is either.) She says she's going to find a sandwich, so I walk w/ her to a hutong (alley like area). We venture around and eventually find a ridiculously overpriced cafe next to a hostel. When we finish eating we go out and walk around some more, looking at stuff. At lunch I made the statement that I think one day I'm going to just try to get lost so I can see the city. So we start walking along the street and then toward a subway. Long story short, we are walking around when we realize that the shortcut that we tried to take didn't take us to where we were trying to go. Now, two people who don't speak the language, not really knowing where they are going, traveling down an alley where people give them slightly funny looks...Don't worry again... I know what you are thinking... YES!!!!! SO MUCH FUN! Seriously, though it was a great opportunity to see some different things and we weren't too lost so it was ok. (Really all about perspective I'll talk about it on a later post) I got to see a lot of the area and some smaller side streets. Eventually, after walking in a few circles, we found the street I was supposed to be on, she left to her hostel and I left to the subway. So after hanging for like 3 hours Briana and I parted ways.
When i got off the subway, it was kind dark outside and I forgot which exit to take, so I took the wrong exit and decided that correct direction was the wrong way and kind of walked the wrong way, and again found myself slightly LOST(so much fun)!!! So i decided to take pictures of random stuff that I saw. I eventually found my way and that pretty much concluded my day!
did you know... That Palmdale, CA refers to itself with the nickname "the aerospace capital of the United States"
August 10, 2008
wow... China is cheap... and more epiphanies
So today, was again another pretty low key day. I figured today was a good day to take care of some business. After waking up insanely early, then going back to sleep until about noon, I decided that today would be a good day to handle one piece of important business... GLASSES! In order to properly shop for glasses, one must begin the day with a dim sum breakfast. This dim sum restaurant was the cleanest Chinese restaurant that I've been in. So after filling our bellies, Durrell and I took a trip out to some place where they had a lot of glasses. Now while my indecisiveness and lack of coherent sentences again made for an awkward interaction with the lady trying to sell me glasses, I eventually found two pairs of prescriptions and paid 336rmb which roughly translates into about $50 USD.
Afterwards I met up with Lovely Luci (I think I'm goin call her that from now on, it just rolls so smooth off the tongue) and we went to get some massages. Now when you think about full body massages for an hour and a half for two people you would think that you'd be lucky to pay $100 USD per person. So we paid 450rmb at a real high class looking place (not the whole in the wall I was looking for) and afterwards they fed us for no extra price. So let's think about this, massage for an hour and a half, and dinner for 2 for about $65 USD. I'm not goin to lie, I was kind of upset because I thought we overpaid (seriously). The massage was like a soft deep tissue and I think I'm kind of sore, but more in shock that the little lady could work with her hands for that long like that. I'm also not 100% sure I liked it, I'll let the world know tomorrow.
We then ventured to a bar to watch the US basketball team play China. Today was the first time that I saw the great mother china propaganda, (just for the record, I think that it is awesome that China goes out of the way to inform people in English how great they are and how the rest of the world is either afraid of them or they don't understand them) Other than that it was slightly disappointing seeing the US hoop team only win by 30 something. Another funny story was watching how in the American filled bar everyone was slightly afraid to chant USA... which I don't understand because the "mother" is so nice, accepting and caring! I LOVE CHINA
Thoughts...
1. Sarah- so guess what I found a pipa!
2. Sabrina- Hesitate and Die takes on a whole new meaning here... I literally almost die every time I hesitate... WHEN BOY MEETS GIRL WEDDINGS AND SPECIAL EVENTS
3. I have no idea what day it is in the US
4. Having insomnia and an irregular sleep schedule in general means that the word jetlag doesn't exist in my vocabulary
5. If you pretend like you like something then walk away, they lower the price to what it should be in the first place, but understand that they will physically grab you
6. I'm not sure if there is much better than the "Beijing Belly Stance", I think I'm goin to devote a whole day to photographically documenting the Beijing Belly Stance and things that don't translate right like "baby rape soup"
7. I've realized that the more densely populated an area is, the less people care about "common courtesies" In Beijing there is no such thing as a line, and people don't say hi how ya doin to randoms and you don't say excuse me when you walk over people. (again I'll go into more detail in another entry)
8. I love how you yell "waitress" across a restaurant in order to get their attention to give you something... I'm going to do that in the next Chinese restaurant I go to in the US
9. Apparently American kids aren't that special... Chinese kids also have smart mouths
10. Tomorrow will be my first weekday without my travel buddy... I hope that she is having a good time!
Afterwards I met up with Lovely Luci (I think I'm goin call her that from now on, it just rolls so smooth off the tongue) and we went to get some massages. Now when you think about full body massages for an hour and a half for two people you would think that you'd be lucky to pay $100 USD per person. So we paid 450rmb at a real high class looking place (not the whole in the wall I was looking for) and afterwards they fed us for no extra price. So let's think about this, massage for an hour and a half, and dinner for 2 for about $65 USD. I'm not goin to lie, I was kind of upset because I thought we overpaid (seriously). The massage was like a soft deep tissue and I think I'm kind of sore, but more in shock that the little lady could work with her hands for that long like that. I'm also not 100% sure I liked it, I'll let the world know tomorrow.
We then ventured to a bar to watch the US basketball team play China. Today was the first time that I saw the great mother china propaganda, (just for the record, I think that it is awesome that China goes out of the way to inform people in English how great they are and how the rest of the world is either afraid of them or they don't understand them) Other than that it was slightly disappointing seeing the US hoop team only win by 30 something. Another funny story was watching how in the American filled bar everyone was slightly afraid to chant USA... which I don't understand because the "mother" is so nice, accepting and caring! I LOVE CHINA
Thoughts...
1. Sarah- so guess what I found a pipa!
2. Sabrina- Hesitate and Die takes on a whole new meaning here... I literally almost die every time I hesitate... WHEN BOY MEETS GIRL WEDDINGS AND SPECIAL EVENTS
3. I have no idea what day it is in the US
4. Having insomnia and an irregular sleep schedule in general means that the word jetlag doesn't exist in my vocabulary
5. If you pretend like you like something then walk away, they lower the price to what it should be in the first place, but understand that they will physically grab you
6. I'm not sure if there is much better than the "Beijing Belly Stance", I think I'm goin to devote a whole day to photographically documenting the Beijing Belly Stance and things that don't translate right like "baby rape soup"
7. I've realized that the more densely populated an area is, the less people care about "common courtesies" In Beijing there is no such thing as a line, and people don't say hi how ya doin to randoms and you don't say excuse me when you walk over people. (again I'll go into more detail in another entry)
8. I love how you yell "waitress" across a restaurant in order to get their attention to give you something... I'm going to do that in the next Chinese restaurant I go to in the US
9. Apparently American kids aren't that special... Chinese kids also have smart mouths
10. Tomorrow will be my first weekday without my travel buddy... I hope that she is having a good time!
August 9, 2008
Nike Boxing and realizations
So today was REAL low key. After dominating for a bunch of days even the "Spartans" have to rest. However, today Durrell and I along w/ Ben and some other Chinese guy whose name I don't remember went to see Olympic Boxing preliminary rounds. Some fights were real tight, while others were pretty wack. We watched a total of about 10 fights.
Later Money Marj, Durrell, Erica and I went to this Nike Exhibit open house kind of thing. I'm not goin to lie, it was real trendy cool type thing. There were people walking around with food and drinks that I ate and drank. I mean I felt important being there because it was somewhat exclusive, but it was kind of boring, I'm goin to just be honest. The upstairs part was REAL hot, literally and it was a short lived visit to that part of the club, exhibit thing.
The most important thing about about the day was the custom made shirt I picked up. It was one of the best shirts I've ever worn, pretty amazing. Please take note!
Life realizations/China realizations
1. Emily McKenzie is the shiznet and having her in my life is that hotness!
2. While China is amazing, I kind of wish I was in Atlantic City this weekend... Special shout out to RC and the rest of the crew!
3. Chinese men are pretty physical w/ women... I witnessed a man backhand his wife in the chest because she was complaining about walking up some stairs. (and no one even looked twice)
4. Chinese dogs look like little rats and avoid people, because apparently they are also treated pretty physically.
5. Having Ann around is like having navigation on my phone it is easy and convenient, but it has kept me from taking the training wheels off and properly learning how to negotiate in a country where I don't speak the language (AT ALL)
6. I'm goin to miss not having my travel buddy around next week... I might have to find her somewhere!
7. When you don't speak the language if you pretend that you don't hear people when they talk to you is a good way to avoid the awkwardness
8. Speaking of awkwardness, I think that my awkwardness is amplified when I don't speak the language... I know the prospect of that is scary (Imagine me trying to decide on tailor made pants and shirts, when I don't know what I want nor do I speak the language)
9. China is real cheap, and the food is real tasty, I think this is to the detriment of general cleanliness...
10. It's amazing how much you can pick up what people are talking about with context clues and physical cues.
For now... That's all
It started out so low key... I LOVE MY USA!!! These colors DON'T RUN!!!!!! but... zhongguo jiayou
So after dominating for two days "We" decided to rest. Or so we thought. As a whole it was low key, we did not do too much throughout the day the big stuff was at night! As the world witnessed last night was opening ceremonies. The day started out like all days with breakfast, We along w/ Durrell and Ben ventured over to a small place that was literally a hole in the wall. We ate dumplings and soup for breakfast. Now while I was slightly scared that this place could produce la duzi luckily everything is working fine with my digestive system. I sat around throughout the day, until opening ceremony time. A group of us USA's eventually made it over to the Workers Stadium, ( where soccer and boxing is not the birds nest where the ceremony was held). At the stadium about 1 million people (i'm exaggerating) met up outside the stadium. At first Nothing too crazy happened just watched with a bunch of people... until the USA walked into the stadium and was announced. Clearly we went crazy sang the national anthem and ran around. However, when China came up, we grabbed a Chinese flag ran to the front of the crowd and started up a zhongguo jiayou chant(which roughly translates into GO CHINA). There was a ton of news people taking pictures of us, and we were in the front of everything, makin it happen gettin it done. So there is a strong chance that Durrell and I are in some newspaper in the world representing China. I'm sure after last night there is no way that I will not be able to stay my full time in China. I think that posting pictures will give a better idea of how cool it was.
Don't question how much I love USA from these pictures, but I think that the Chinese needed a little help gettin "hyphy."
Did you know... that Dolphins nap with one eye open
Don't question how much I love USA from these pictures, but I think that the Chinese needed a little help gettin "hyphy."
Did you know... that Dolphins nap with one eye open
August 7, 2008
Dominating the Summer Palace and Blue Bar/Toads in Beijing
So today "We" walked around the summer palace. The name in itself is deceiving. It is not ONE palace, but basically a HUGE lake resort around Kunming Lke. Again, amazing to think that this place was built so long ago and the sheer size of this place was absolutely astonishing. The actually astonishing part was the fact that while it was enormous every little facet was carefully decorated. Which is in stark contrast to the US way of things where they are mass produced and very little "personality" is put into them.
Ok, so there are several ways to handle this lake. You can either A take a boat around the whole lake, you can take a paddle boat around the whole lake, you can simply walk around the lake or you can walk around the lake and walk to various islands and up and down hills to different pavilions, towers, halls, etc. Clearly, since We are into dominating things, We walked around the whole lake and took detours to visit various towers, halls, pavilions etc. This was up hills, down hills through little passageways. It was actually somewhat dangerous and I'm pretty sure that this place would not be allowed to exist in its current form in the US because of the risks involved with climbing through some of these places. Which is why I love China.
Now at night I met up with some friends of mine from Yale. Presser and Luci were DEF in the house. I also met some other Yalies, which brought the number up to 5. We went to a club/bar place which was hot, kind of gross, full of Americans, with some Yalies, played hip hop, was free to get in and there was no dress code... Don't worry I know what you're thinking... TOADS!!!!!! We stayed there for a while before we went down the street to another free club place called... bar blue, which had a dance floor, bar area and a pool table... Again those Nashvillians who have ever been in the Vanderbubble know... "bluebar." It was odd because for the time that I was there I really felt like I was in not in China. for now... that's all...
Ok, so there are several ways to handle this lake. You can either A take a boat around the whole lake, you can take a paddle boat around the whole lake, you can simply walk around the lake or you can walk around the lake and walk to various islands and up and down hills to different pavilions, towers, halls, etc. Clearly, since We are into dominating things, We walked around the whole lake and took detours to visit various towers, halls, pavilions etc. This was up hills, down hills through little passageways. It was actually somewhat dangerous and I'm pretty sure that this place would not be allowed to exist in its current form in the US because of the risks involved with climbing through some of these places. Which is why I love China.
Now at night I met up with some friends of mine from Yale. Presser and Luci were DEF in the house. I also met some other Yalies, which brought the number up to 5. We went to a club/bar place which was hot, kind of gross, full of Americans, with some Yalies, played hip hop, was free to get in and there was no dress code... Don't worry I know what you're thinking... TOADS!!!!!! We stayed there for a while before we went down the street to another free club place called... bar blue, which had a dance floor, bar area and a pool table... Again those Nashvillians who have ever been in the Vanderbubble know... "bluebar." It was odd because for the time that I was there I really felt like I was in not in China. for now... that's all...
this city is Forbidden
for future reference unless i otherwise specify, when i say "we" i was with Ann. So the day began like every day should, with a nice hearty breakfast. We went around the whole area where my friend lives only to get rejected by almost every place that claimed they did not serve breakfast. Since Jimmy was about to come out and Ann's alter ego was also about to make an appearance we decided to just suck it up and go to Mickey D's... Somehow in the midst of us ordering they decided to change from the breakfast menu to the other menu. Frustrated we left and eventually found a restaurant around the corner where I'm not sure I can think of a time i was more satisfied with a meal. I had a flatbreadish dish w/ a sweet bean filling, which tasted like peanut butter w/ noodles and Ann had porridge and a different flatbreadish thing and a carton of juice. All of this ran us about $7USD and had us about to burst and not hungry for hours.
Afterwards we went to the Forbidden City. Now we could have just taken a taxi, but obviously we took the subway. It can get kind of crowded, but you just kind of make your own way and push through. Anyway, the Forbidden City was so much larger than I expected. The highlights which were unexpected was all the people that came up and asked for my picture. Obviously there are not many chocolate chips in this ice cream and I am kind of a big deal in this town. The highlight of which was a boy pointing at me and saying"black person" in Chinese and running away laughing. OK, so the forbidden city is interesting because while it is large, the buildings are very similar when you walk through them from the outside, however each one has a ridiculous amount of detail put into the smallest facets of every little thing. It is kind of insane actually. It's amazing to think the Forbidden City is actually a city inside of a city and the city goes straight for a while with hella little side street areas. We were there for a solid 5 hours of walking around and didn't even go through all of the little side areas. Also this place was rampant with tourists, Chinese and Foreigners. Also with people trying to sell you stuff. I realized that you deal with those people the same way people in the states and just ignore them, and if they get too pushy i have Ann tell them in Chinese and they automatically leave you alone. Oh another highlight was DEF the paddle boats. There is a lake of some sort by the Forbidden City, where there are paddle boats in a very green lakeish sort of body of water. Well anyway, we paddled around the lake and added to the nice burn that we had worked up from walking in 85+ degree humidity filled weather. Again, I was the star of the show and there was a little boy who was in a motor boat with his family and was dead set on either circling around us ramming into us. Luckily, i'm an outstanding paddle boat driver and was able for the most part to avoid the motor boating summama ***** (sorry i had to do it) Eventually, we left and went back on the packed subway... that's all! (Again pictures would be nice and I'll be taking them from Ann soon)
Did you know... That the Forbidden City occupies 720,000 square meters and the Vatican measures 440,000 square meters
Afterwards we went to the Forbidden City. Now we could have just taken a taxi, but obviously we took the subway. It can get kind of crowded, but you just kind of make your own way and push through. Anyway, the Forbidden City was so much larger than I expected. The highlights which were unexpected was all the people that came up and asked for my picture. Obviously there are not many chocolate chips in this ice cream and I am kind of a big deal in this town. The highlight of which was a boy pointing at me and saying"black person" in Chinese and running away laughing. OK, so the forbidden city is interesting because while it is large, the buildings are very similar when you walk through them from the outside, however each one has a ridiculous amount of detail put into the smallest facets of every little thing. It is kind of insane actually. It's amazing to think the Forbidden City is actually a city inside of a city and the city goes straight for a while with hella little side street areas. We were there for a solid 5 hours of walking around and didn't even go through all of the little side areas. Also this place was rampant with tourists, Chinese and Foreigners. Also with people trying to sell you stuff. I realized that you deal with those people the same way people in the states and just ignore them, and if they get too pushy i have Ann tell them in Chinese and they automatically leave you alone. Oh another highlight was DEF the paddle boats. There is a lake of some sort by the Forbidden City, where there are paddle boats in a very green lakeish sort of body of water. Well anyway, we paddled around the lake and added to the nice burn that we had worked up from walking in 85+ degree humidity filled weather. Again, I was the star of the show and there was a little boy who was in a motor boat with his family and was dead set on either circling around us ramming into us. Luckily, i'm an outstanding paddle boat driver and was able for the most part to avoid the motor boating summama ***** (sorry i had to do it) Eventually, we left and went back on the packed subway... that's all! (Again pictures would be nice and I'll be taking them from Ann soon)
Did you know... That the Forbidden City occupies 720,000 square meters and the Vatican measures 440,000 square meters
August 6, 2008
I defy stereotypes even when I'm in China...and did i mention i love public transportation?
Now my first day in China involved me pseudo running away from the Chinese police, people trying to pressure me into buying Jordan's and resisting KFC. Now it is no surprise that in America all of the above mentioned things are stuff that black people supposedly are subject to. However, as the wise Dave Chappelle once said, "if you don't like chicken and watermelon something is wrong with YOU!
OK on to the stories. When we arrive in Beijing after our travels Ann and I decided to take the train instead of a cab, to save a little bit of money and also because we both have a strong love for public transportation. When we get there we are supposed to register at the local police station, so we find a police officer at a shady train station police office place and ask him... He has no idea what we are talking about and takes us to a larger station in the train station. We go there and still people have no idea, he then tells us we need to go back to the airport to register, and not to stop at our friends place to drop off our bags. This request was utterly ridiculous in our minds after traveling for over 24 hours, so Ann tells him ok, we're going. We then proceed to run up the stairs toward our friends apartment with all of our luggage, and try as hard as we can to keep them from seeing us. When we arrive above ground we have NO real idea which direction our friend lives, we start walking the wrong direction then eventually find a cab and he takes us to my friends place, which we easily could have walked to (no worries the cab ride was under $2usd)
We then decide to go do a little bit of shopping (emphasis on little), I went and got two custom shirts made for about $34 USD... I think I overpaid and I'm not happy about it. In the shopping center we went downstairs where I made the mistake of looking at some Jordan looking shoes, the girl tells me to try them on and then refused to let me go. She cut the price in half, grabbed my arm when i tried to walk away, and told me to not play games with her. Now this is clearly not the first time that this has happened to me, but in this context it was a first. I eventually found a way away from this girl and walked around some more, where I noticed that any place they sold Jordans or Air Force 1s of any kind I was aggressively sought after to buy some stuff.
I was famished when I walked by the KFC, however I resisted. I did not travel to the other side of the world to eat KFC on the first day... Instead I went to Hooters! Where I would have been able to forget that I was in Beijing, if it was not for the terribly loud music that the off beat waitresses danced to... bless their hearts.
Ann and I then decided that we needed to make the trifecta or quadfecta or something like that. We needed to travel on all forms of public transportation that Beijing had to offer. We decided to take a bus to a park... The bus was real cheap 1cny which is about 15cents usd. So if you've been keeping count that's 3 a subway(train), taxi and bus (if you include the plane that's 4.) So for now... that's all
did you know... That most dust particles in your house come from dead skin
OK on to the stories. When we arrive in Beijing after our travels Ann and I decided to take the train instead of a cab, to save a little bit of money and also because we both have a strong love for public transportation. When we get there we are supposed to register at the local police station, so we find a police officer at a shady train station police office place and ask him... He has no idea what we are talking about and takes us to a larger station in the train station. We go there and still people have no idea, he then tells us we need to go back to the airport to register, and not to stop at our friends place to drop off our bags. This request was utterly ridiculous in our minds after traveling for over 24 hours, so Ann tells him ok, we're going. We then proceed to run up the stairs toward our friends apartment with all of our luggage, and try as hard as we can to keep them from seeing us. When we arrive above ground we have NO real idea which direction our friend lives, we start walking the wrong direction then eventually find a cab and he takes us to my friends place, which we easily could have walked to (no worries the cab ride was under $2usd)
We then decide to go do a little bit of shopping (emphasis on little), I went and got two custom shirts made for about $34 USD... I think I overpaid and I'm not happy about it. In the shopping center we went downstairs where I made the mistake of looking at some Jordan looking shoes, the girl tells me to try them on and then refused to let me go. She cut the price in half, grabbed my arm when i tried to walk away, and told me to not play games with her. Now this is clearly not the first time that this has happened to me, but in this context it was a first. I eventually found a way away from this girl and walked around some more, where I noticed that any place they sold Jordans or Air Force 1s of any kind I was aggressively sought after to buy some stuff.
I was famished when I walked by the KFC, however I resisted. I did not travel to the other side of the world to eat KFC on the first day... Instead I went to Hooters! Where I would have been able to forget that I was in Beijing, if it was not for the terribly loud music that the off beat waitresses danced to... bless their hearts.
Ann and I then decided that we needed to make the trifecta or quadfecta or something like that. We needed to travel on all forms of public transportation that Beijing had to offer. We decided to take a bus to a park... The bus was real cheap 1cny which is about 15cents usd. So if you've been keeping count that's 3 a subway(train), taxi and bus (if you include the plane that's 4.) So for now... that's all
did you know... That most dust particles in your house come from dead skin
August 5, 2008
getting there... with Ann
For those of you who don't know Ann is my travel buddy who speaks Chinese pretty well, it seems fluent to me, but according to her it's not outstanding. Whatevs... but anyway we FINALLY made it to Beijing... A lot has happened and I haven't had good consistent sleep in at least the past 72 hours so I'm having a hard time remembering everything so bear with me... While I was nervous about the length of the flight it was actually not too bad. I slept the vast majority of the time and while I was awake I just ate. My plan of not really sleeping the night before the flight worked pretty well. Ok, so the flight... The airline that I was on was a Korean based airline, so the food options were a choice between American and Korean. I decided with the Korean option, which was the best airline food I've ever had. It was bibimbop for a "heavy snack". Which is a beef, rice and vegetable dish, there also was kim chi on the side. For the breakfast option, I kind of punked out and decided not to go with the Korean option. I don't know but something about eating spicy octopus and rice in the morning just did not appeal to me. So I went with the "western option" which was an omelet, ham, croissant, and yogurt, which was not nearly as good as the Korean food and did not look as good as the spicy octopus ironically enough. After about 12 hours we FINALLY landed in Seoul (South Korea), I wished that I would have had more time to hang out in Seoul or at least actually leave the airport. However, we had 4 hours to burn so my travel buddy and I made the best of it. We stopped and grabbed a quick bite to eat at some cafe, where we at breakfast at a cafe, where we dined on spicy seafood ramen... Which is exactly what it sounds like, ramen noodles, with muscles, squid, octopus, shrimp, mushrooms in a spicy broth. When ordering this, i forgot that I don't really like seafood, but I made it work (by making it work I mean I gave lots of the seafood to Ann). After breakfast we ventured over to a little Korean cultural center place, where they had crafts and we made a little jewelry type bag. A funny story about that was that the Korean lady at the crafts placed mentioned that GW Bush was going to be coming through the airport, I mentioned to her how cool it would be if he stopped at her crafts place. She then mentioned that she wouldn't like that because she did not like Bush... Which I thought was interesting and I'll leave it at that, just for the record I love President Bush and he is coming here on Friday so please don't post anything negative about him because i am not trying to get kicked out of the country. We got on the plane again for the 2 hour flight to Beijing and AGAIN they fed us, a beef and rice dish, which was amazing for a two hour flight, also all the flight attendants stood in the aisle and bowed before the flight. Oh yeah another notable was that all the silverware was metal, which was cool. We finally arrived in Beijing and that's when the fun started... (i'll post pictures later)
Did you know... That despite a population of over a billion, China has only about 200 family names
Did you know... That despite a population of over a billion, China has only about 200 family names
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