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Sitting in Class
Missy and me pretending to be studious before class starts
(note the Starbucks!) Today’s the day it really hit me, more so then the day we were on the Great Wall, that we needed to do school work on this trip. Went to 2 different universities here in Beijing and listened to 3 different lectures at each.
Right before we got to the University, I was looking out the window of our taxi and I saw two tall guys trying to get across the street without getting hit by the cars. I was so confused to see two tall guys, one of them blonde and got all excited and opened my window the yell to them. Before I got a chance to yell, they turned around and to my disappointment, it was just Rob and Bret. Love them to death but damn, I got excited that we’d found some hot locals!
I did, however, end up meeting up with the boys shortly after along with Amanda, one of the students that had been traveling with us during our stay. While we were waiting for the rest of the people she asked if anyone was interested in getting Starbucks. My eyes got big, my adrenaline started pumping; it sounded like someone had
Peking University
If ASU’s campus looked like this I don’t think I’d be stressed out so much. just said I’d won the lottery! I turned to her and in pure honesty, I said “I love you” and I hugged her. It was the most perfect moment in the world at that time. That moment was overcome with the second the barista handed me my Starbucks coffee and I took that first sip. It was warm and sweet as it passed over my lips. Nothing could ruin the thrill and heartwarming feeling of that cup of coffee. So with my Starbucks I strolled into that first class ready to take on the day and anything thrown at me.
Our first stop was to Tsinghua University, the #1 university in China for the past few years. With 26,571 total students in undergrad, masters, doctorate, and MPA programs, the only students accepted are international. Domestic students are not welcome to the university yet. Every year, 400 students apply to the school but only 12 get accepted…that is some intense competition. The university is best known for its publications which influence the policy of China. This is not, however, what we learned about today.
We met with professor Xiao who discussed the Chinese economy and the rate in which
Beijing 2008 Olympics
Count down for the Olympics, these countdowns are in all big tourist areas! it is changing. I was extremely surprised to discover that the work force of 481 million are making less then $120 USD/ month! I couldn’t imagine living off that amount in America…I don’t even think it is possible. Xiao was also telling us about China export and import problem with other countries around the world. Unlike many counties, China exports more then it imports creating a surplus. This could never happen in America. He was also saying that there is a surplus of labor in China. I was able to see this everywhere I went between the many people working in the restaurants. It appeared that there was a 1:2 ratio for waiters to guests in almost every dining facility. It was also noticeable in the streets where they would have a traffic attendant on every side of an intersection directing the people and traffic even though the lights were doing the exact same job! He discussed much more that I would prefer not to write about as I know it wouldn’t interest you.
During Xiao’s lecture I was quite disappointed with the actions of our professors. They left their cell phones on and they continuously rang throughout which
Perfect.
Sitting by the water with Phil at the Peking Uni campus
I wish we didn’t have to leave. I found quite rude. I am personally going through cell phone with drawls but there really isn’t anything I can do about it at this point.
After Xiao we went to the dining hall for lunch; something equivalent to the Maricopa Café in the MU at ASU. It was a nice change of pace since the food was different. We’d had so many of the same foods so far.
Following up lunch we met with Professor Wang Tianfu from the Sociology department. He was telling us that the income gap was huge compared to most countries and that the rural people of China really have no idea how big the gap is. I wasn’t particular fond of this lecture but I think it might have been because I was unable to understand him.
Finally we visited with a professor from Peking University who discussed with us the importance of global affairs and how China was responding. It was interesting to hear his side of things because it was easy to see that he was saying what the government wanted him to say rather then his own real opinions. I founds this quite alarming because it was my
Starbucks!
You know I had to find it. first real interaction with people censoring themselves. We concluded our day by walking around the university which was absolutely beautiful. This has to be the most amazing campus I’ve ever visited. If ASU looked anywhere as nice as this campus, I don’t think I would be stressed out as much. There were lakes, flowers, rivers, gardens, everything all over! There is no way to describe how amazing this campus was.
Now comes my favorite part; night life.
So we all decided to pre-game in Rob and Bret’s room before heading out for the night and there is no better way to start off our night than with South Park; the episode when they build the Great Wall. It was so perfect and we were laughing like crazy drinking beer. We finally contained ourselves and decided to head out to the lakeside we’d gone to the night before. 19 of us piled into cabs and off we went. Jess, who doesn’t like beer, bought a bottle of hard liquor that she wasn’t able to read except the part that said 135 proof and it smelled like ethanol. We weren’t allowed to bring our own beer into the bars so
Bret getting a little freaky
Out at the bars around the lake. she downed the rest of the bottle as did we with our beers. This is when the night started off.
We went to a bar called “Sex and da City” and grabbed a table right near the bar. Before we even ordered our drinks, half the people were up on the bar pole dancing! Gotta love the Barrett Honors College kids! Every one was so belligerent that the only way to capture this night was with a camera…and I did.
After we got the pole dancing out of our system, we left and continued walking to our other favorite club. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it that far. Jess, who drank that crazy ‘no name’ liquor, was so drunk that she could even walk and we all were passing her around taking care of her! I will admit that she was very entertaining falling every few steps and denying the existence of chairs when we tried to sit her down; it was great! We decided to send her home with a few other people and we had to literally shove her into a taxi. The events that occurred afterwards I prefer to remind unknown.
Once that episode was
Barrett Honors College Pole Dancing
Whoever said honors kids were nerdy and boring hasn’t seen us pole dance on the bar!
This is after we got kicked out of another bar 25 seconds after we walked in, no joke. over, we were all checking to make sure our ‘cab group’ was there. I noticed that Bret was missing from ours and knowing that I’d handed him my beer to hold while getting Jess in the taxi, I decided that I might as well hunt down my beer, and him. Back tracking our steps, I found him sitting at a little café smoking hooka with two Chinese men! Not a good situation. Drunk Bret + 2 Chinese men = Heather joining Bret to make sure shit didn’t go down. So for the rest of the night I hung with Bret at the café and then went home. Not even 2 minuets after getting into the taxi, we saw a 24 hour McDonalds. (Let me make this clear, I was quite intoxicated and this is something I would NEVER do sober.) Bret and I were ecstatic and made the guy pull over so we could get food. McDonalds never tasted soo good. I was weak, I’ll admit, but at that moment I couldn’t have wanted anything more.
Satisfied, we headed back to the hotel where I found my wonderful roomie Fei passed out…and I did the same.
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