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Ben Norris
HRowBrazil
I'm an Ohio State University student interning in Dandong, People's Republic of China.
Travel Blog Posts
July 24th 2010
This week went by pretty fast. Things accomplished outside of work: 3 day dry-cleaning, hand-washed everything in my itty-bitty sink, and um....that's it. Every night, someone from work wanted to go out and sometimes I didn't even get to workout. Monday night, Mr. Huang invited me to dine with him, the restaurant manager, one of his chief architects, and several Korean friends. We ate on the rooftop of Xinandongge where I always seem to chill at for dinner and had our baijiu fix. 1st of all, that stuff is putrid and should never be imbibed, but I was successful and left home with just a slight feeling of disgust whilst everyone else was too inebriated to come to work the next day. Tuesday was chill with some working out in the evening and catching a pic ... read more
July 17th 2010
Today, work consisted of touring. Love this job. After arriving at work at the usual 7 am, Director Ai and I hopped in his car and headed North along the border to do a little sight seeing. The area was richly diverse in scenery with fields of corn along the riverside set off my by the gently rolling hills, blanketed in beautifully dense greenery and peach orchards. The area reminded me a lot of California and Ohio put together which brought back warm memories of home. The first stop on the road was the Hushan Changcheng or Tiger Mountain Great Wall. It's location about 25-30 km northeast of Dandong makes it an incredibly less frequented section of one of China's greatest national treasures and thereby lets you get a good luck at a testament to the ... read more
July 16th 2010
So I've been noticing every morning on the way to work that at quarter to 7 everyday, North Korea sings. Weird songs. Like I don't know if they have a massive PA that projects music or if they are all actually singing but it's pretty red if u know what I mean. I feel like I got thrown back into the Soviet Union or at least that I need to heil on the way to work....but not really. Work was same old, a whole lot of cooling my heals in the 95 degrees with humidity. :) All in all, not too bad. After lunch, Dir. Ai took me to A.D. Fitness Club which is also owned by the company, big surprise there. I have a pass here too apparently and get to hang out with people ... read more
July 15th 2010
Today was a good time, I finally got to meet boss man and was he ever nice! We basically just chilled in his office for tea for like 45 minutes and talked about the city and how I liked my place. He flat out told me that I can have anything I ask for, but I will be sure not to ask for much out of respect. My office was also moved to the 14th floor from the 16th to be right next to Mr. Huang, Dir. Ai, and the secretaries. A good change given that the A/C is usually on down here and I have walls around my workstation for a little more privacy than just being in the middle of a big room. Mr. Huang had me taken home by his driver today that ... read more
July 14th 2010
Breakfast = PLUS, lunch = also a plus. I sat at a desk all day and just studied. Trade Manager Ding has not gotten back from business in Jiling yet so I get to hang out until he does (apparently next Thursday). Mr. Guo and all of his electrical engineering aptitude rewired my entire work station for me so I have internet access and a beautiful view of the river and N. Korea on the other side. Today was very low key; I rather enjoyed it. Tonight I had jiaozi and baozi for dinner. Basically, just dumplings with delicious filling. Jiaozi are thin, crescent-shaped, and can sometimes be greasy. Baozi are more like large, cooked dough balls with a tasty inside and slightly more filling due to the large amount of carbs. Both are among my ... read more
July 13th 2010
I came in on time just I had promised only this time I had all my luggage and accurately told the cab driver to go to the Sun Island Bath House (right next door), getting me there in one shot and for only 5 kuai as opposed to my random 10+ kuai trips the previous day. They greeted me and introduced me to Director Ai. This guy is a hoot; he's shorter and round and has the most maniacal laugh ever. He always seems like he's up to something. But anyway, he took me on a trip around town to the Sun Fortune Center where I saw my soon to be apartment that would be ready that afternoon. We then visited the Sun Towers (also owned by the company) and I got to see a model ... read more
July 12th 2010
Today, I woke up early to reserve another night at the hotel just in case my boss forgot about my arrival. Turns out that was a good idea because I wouldn't having an apartment until the next day. After trekking around the city on 3 cabs because no one knew where to find the Huiyouhuayuan Tower, I finally made it around 9:30 am. I met the two secretaries who had taken care of my arrangements and was instructed to just go hang out until 3pm (seems to be the norm at this company based on previous e-mail correspondence). I went back to the Canadian coffee shop where I met the owner, Kevin, and learned that the shop was named after his son, Peter. After enjoying myself for a few hours, Miss Zheng called to invite me ... read more
I'm sopping wet, but at least there's A/C.
Published: July 17th 2010Asia » China » Liaoning » Dandong
July 11th 2010
So today was pretty simple. It's Sunday and in China that equals nothing spectacular. I ate a very Asian breakfast at the stationary "revolving" restaurant in the non-international "international" hotel. I WILL NEVER STAY THERE AGAIN. Breakfast wasn't too bad and the view of Dandong and North Korea was pretty cool. I'm literally less than 1 km away from it. Creepy..... Breakfast was from 7 to 9:30 because it was Sunday so I decided I'd beat the rush and get there a few minutes after 7. Of course, Chinese people are always on time for one thing, and that is food. There were people already getting seconds or leaving when I rolled in at 7:09. Ridiculous. It was hard not to get my hands chomped at in the bowl of conghee. I checked out soon after ... read more
July 10th 2010
So barely slept last night in the comfortable hotel I had in Beijing. Now, I get to say in the world's most uninternational "international" hotel. Let's rewind a tick and gather recap the morning. Woke up at 5:00, packed and checked out a little before 6, walked a few blocks, hopped on the the #5 to Lama Temple and then the #2 to Dongzhimen where I took the long march to catch the airport express to catch my 8am flight to Dandong. Got to the airport around 7 only to find, as always, long lines everywhere I looked. I went to a domestic ticket counter where I waited 5th in line of about 23 for 35 minutes because once again, some people do not know how to queue properly and it seemed like 1 in 3 ... read more
July 9th 2010
Last night, I ended up going out to a Xinjiang Restaurant in a hutong just two blocks from the Super 8 and it was a good little hike through winding alleys and bunches of old people playing majhong. I got several of my favorite Western Chinese specialties: spicy pulled noodles and goat skewers. The noodles were phenomenal and I could literally have just eaten bowl after bowl of that for all I cared. I also decided to order a skewer of lamb chops and sheep kidneys. The chops were fine but the kidney made me nauseous beyond belief. The taste was so-so, but the texture and appearance was foul. One of the kidneys still had intestine attached to it and that about put me off. The best part of the meal, other than the atmosphere, beautiful ... read more
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