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Brookles - anonymouslady

So your thinking about teaching english in China are you?.....

Note: For whatever reason this site wont let me organize the journal from oldest entries to newest...so just hit next at the bottom of the page a couple of times (or click where it says 30) to start at the beginning of the trip (July 7th) unless for some odd reason you want to read it backwards. Also note... this is the edited down version (from my original handwritten journal). Perhaps this is why I abandoned my career aspirations of being an editor? This is a journal, not an English paper. So, to all you grammar freaks out there (I know who you are), chill. Also I like to use parenthesis a lot (being a lover of Nabakov and all), so deal.

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Joined on: August 15th 2005
Last Login: February 25th 2007

Blog Entries: 33
Photos: 220

TB Code: [blogger=5926]
Status: BLOGGER

Blogs & Travel Journals

by Brookles, order by Date newest first.

By Brookles
September 10th 2005

Signs Asia » China

A restaurant
wtf

Odd signs I saw all around China.... And some group quotes: "You have obeyed the People's Republic of China!" "I want to see your tongues" "There's beans popping out all over!" "I got a standing ovation from the women at Tai Chi. Reallly? Well, they were already standing...." "Frankly its not all that jazzed" "I think I just told that guy he has a beautiful mustache" "We need a code word for that. It's called English" "Dont worry mom they have bike lanes here" "She's so fugly" "Fine thanks. And you?" "if the cops make us leave do you think they'll [View Full Entry]

By Brookles
August 30th 2005

FLYING HOME Asia » China » Beijing

Longest day of my life…just about 32 hours. My horoscope today actually says I will pack as much in a day as possible…and oh how right. The flight was long. On it were Kate, James, Jackie, and Kareem, who we had met in Shanghai. We actually almost missed it because the buses ACT ordered to pick us up at the hotel never showed (or showed later) so we needed to cab it last minute. And in all the confusion we didn't get to really say goodbye to Sunny...who I will likely never see again. Forver goodbyes are hard, so maybe it [View Full Entry]

By Brookles
August 9th 2005

LOST AT THE SILK MARKET Asia » China » Beijing

Everything I saw in China that I bought I could have bought here for less. They had tons of awesome jewelry and other knickknacks. I didn’t even look at the clothes because it was too overwhelming and I had run out of cash. Anyhow after hours of shopping for last minute gifts, I went to the established meeting spot but Sam and Jackie were no where to be found. And I waited….And then I took off to go home. Stopped by the dumpling place we went to yesterday again for dinner (and earlier today for breakfast… because they were so damn [View Full Entry]

By Brookles
August 8th 2005

A DAY OF ART AND INTERESTING FOODS Asia » China » Beijing

Sunny marveling at Beijing

Sam, Annie and I had fabulous dumplings for breakfast (16 cents for a whole plate). The group was doing Great Wall today (at Badeling) so we ditched them to check out some modern art, which I had wanted to do for a while. We found this neighborhood, called 768 (kind of soho-ish), that seemed to have a lot of little galleries and studios among a sea of factories. Usually old factory towns become run down and then artists find them, yuppify and gentrify etc. These factories were still very much operating and the pollution in the area was terrible (our eyes [View Full Entry]

By Brookles
August 7th 2005

SUNNY'S RETURN :) Asia » China » Beijing

Sunny returns!
Sam, me, Sunny, Jackie at Tianneman Sq.

After a lot of effort we managed to pick up our bags and make our way to the hotel where ACT, the large group of Americans we started with in Shanghai, would be staying. We would be freeloading off them for a few days (free hotel, and tentative touring costs). Of course they weren’t there when we arrived, but they showed a couple of hours later. Turns out they were going to Tiananmen, so we trekked along for the ride. We had hoped to see Mao (in preservative jelly) but the lines were too long. In the large group Jackie and [View Full Entry]

By Brookles
August 6th 2005

MY BIRTHDAY, FINDING GENERAL GAO, AND TIENNEMAN Asia » China » Beijing

Birthday
The essential: mangos, chinese cheesecake and wine, the perfect birthday surprise :)

I’m 24 (I know I look 12) - I think that’s a pretty damn good age to be, except for the fact that I like odd numbers better. 23 was such a good year. Perhaps I am feeling a little bit old, but maybe that is because I have been traveling mainly with 19 year olds, who, to be fair, are actually very mature. Kate and James met up with us for lunch. They had been in Beijing all this time, staying with James’ uncle, whom apparently lives in a very wealthy neighborhood and has a driver. Kate, James, Annie, Sam, [View Full Entry]

By Brookles
August 5th 2005

THE GREAT WALL (SIMATAI) Asia » China

Great Wall

(AKA THE GREAT HORNET'S NEST) The wall is great, so great that in fact I am going to call it amazing. It is definitely one of the most beautiful and oldest sites (except perhaps some places in Israel) that I have ever seen. It also made the Swiss Alps look lame, including the 3 hour hike I did there. First off, we did not see the wall where most people see it, at Badeling, about an hour from Beijing. Sam, Jackie and I went three hours outside of Beijing, to Simatai, where it is a lot more rugged. At the beginning [View Full Entry]

By Brookles
August 4th 2005

Beijing! Asia » China » Beijing

Dumplings
Yum.

We ended up near the wrong train station and had to cab it thirty minutes. The city seems to be ridiculously huge. Our driver spoke no English and didn’t understand our (Sam’s) Chinese. I guess the accident is very different here, but I thought Sam and Jackie had been taught Beijing Chinese. Anyhow…it was kind of cute because she had to call her teenage son at home to talk to us in English. Finally we got there, and who do we see, but Annie (we knew she’d be here). Apparently she still hadn’t been able to leave Beijing. She’s been here [View Full Entry]

By Brookles
August 3rd 2005

Bu Yao! Asia » China » Shanxi » Pingyao

Local Man
Another great photo by Sam..one of my favorites.

In the morning, in the courtyard, we met this very jaded traveler from Poland/Australia (he said he’s a bit of a nomad). He actually kind of looked Dutch and sounds Canadian. Anyway, he was starting to get on my nerves, especially after he said that all Psychology was crap. He even said this after I said I was a psyche major, which I think is kind of rude. Plus, he had been lucky enough to get to Tibet, but complained that the money to get there (roughly a $300 tax) was just going straight to the Chinese government to persecute the [View Full Entry]

By Brookles
August 2nd 2005

PINGYAO Asia » China » Shanxi » Pingyao

Pingyao
An ancient, walled city from the Myng dynasty

Pingyao is a walled ancient city, from, the Ming dynasty. I believe its one of the only fully intact cities from this time, as most of them have been destroyed and modernized. Anyhow it’s totally a tourist town with nothing to do really but eat and buy trinkets, but it’s a small place, so it isn’t too crowded. When we got off the train some guy said he had a hotel for us for a good price. He drove us to this place which I thought appeared a bit sketchy on the outside. Inside it was actually really cool, totally old [View Full Entry]

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