More fun times in BJ - May 26-29, 2012

---

Lots of updates for everyone from the weekend!



Saturday, May 26^th we spent the morning being lazy in our hotel. I did a bunch of laundry – which, considering we’re going all ghetto here in Beijing, I of course did with a bucket and bar of laundry soap in my shower with no walls or curtains. I then draped wet clothing anywhere I could in my room. But now I have a bunch of clean clothing! I also spent time catching up on TV on Chinese youtube which is much better than real youtube because it’s not illegal to post copyrighted material here. Granted, the google translate of the Chinese results in some funny things like "Cat Wearing Boots" as the translated name of "Puss in Boots" haha.



In the afternoon, Fernanda, Jeff and I met with a Chinese intern from our office, Ya Ma, to go visit Houhai. It’s a fun area with hutongs on a lake. We did some shopping (FINALLY found a store that sells postcards!! It should not have taken this long) and had a nice walk along the lake. Ya Ma had to leave around 5:30 for dinner plans and Jeff left shortly after as well because he was feeling tired. So Fernanda and I walked around a bunch more and then found a nice rooftop patio to sit and have a drink. It was overpriced, of course, but we really enjoyed the atmosphere so it was worth it. Then we got hungry and ordered some food. I decided a burger and fries sounded nice but the portion was miniscule for the price. Fernada got what was called “sweet and sour pork” which was short on the pork and heavy on the veggies. See, even when the menu is English we still don’t get what we expect! In fact, I think we get more of what we want just by pointing at pictures in Chinese places. Anyways, Fernanda is extremely picky and does not like fruits and veggies but she ate most of her plate! She’s slowly changing, I’m very proud of her. I even got her to like green apples! As she says “oh, it tastes like green apple candy!” Yes, Fernanda. They usually base the candy off the real fruit haha.



After we had had enough of the roof, we went to a tea shop and did some tea tasting which was awesome. We then spent perhaps too much money on tea but again, we spent so long tasting all these different teas that in a way we were paying for that experience too. The buses had stopped running at that point so we took a taxi which is always fun because they don’t speak any English. But thankfully we have cards from our hotel which have a map so the driver found our way home. Plus, taxis in Beijing are super cheap. I actually feel bad for them after reading an article in The Economist (http://www.economist.com/node/21551537). Anyways, we made it home safely after a great day.



Sunday I woke up a bit earlier and went for a morning run. I could feel that the heat wave we had this weekend (accuweather tells me it was 35 celcius both Saturday and Sunday) was having an effect on the pollution because I felt the smog more during my run than I had any other day. Sunday was also a big day for Fernanda because she was leaving for a “business trip” to Tongling, in Anhui Province. She wasn’t sure what to expect since, you know, they tell us so very little around here. And they tell her even less than they tell me. Anyways, she packed up her things and we’re all hoping for the best for her! So far she reports that the hotel is very nice but that she's mostly just lost in a sea of Chinese. Hopefully things get better!



Around noon I left the hotel to have brunch with my Canadian friend Humphrey. We then had a day of adventures – visiting the Lama Temple and some hutongs, then hopping in a taxi to do some shopping. Originally we were going to go to a mall, but then when we got there he changed his mind and decided to go to Silk Street instead. But before we got there we passed some sketchy-looking Russian mall and decided to hop out. It was HILARIOUS. The place was empty, everything was in Russian, and all the Chinese people spoke Russian. He also made me try on a fur hat because, you know, I might be going back to Siberia some day. We walked to the Silk Street market from there and went on a hunt for a fake purse. No one would go under 100 yuans for the bag I wanted (which I didn’t want THAT badly) so I didn’t get anything. But Humphrey got a backpack. It’s very useful having someone who speaks Chinese with you, that’s for sure.



For dinner, I told him he had to come to the West side to see the real Beijing. I even made him take the subway which he hadn’t done yet. It was wonderfully crowded just to add to the effect. Not sure why we were crammed in like sardines on a Sunday but I think Beijing’s subways are like LA traffic – it’s busy at completely unpredictable hours. We went to a skewer place near my hotel and thankfully he was there because the Chinese menu apparently had a lot of things I wouldn’t want to order like beef testicles and “assorted heads”. I am curious to know what that skewer would look like hahaha.



Monday morning we were back at work again. My supervisor didn’t come in until late so I had nothing to do all day. But I caught up on e-mails, read some news, and studied Chinese. I also arranged with Ya Ma to trade Chinese lessons for French lessons! So maybe my Chinese will get better. Monday evening, Jeff, Liz and I headed out to Sanlitun to an English bookstore/library called The Bookworm. Humphrey met up with us there for dinner, drinks, and some TRIVIA NIGHT! It was really fun. The host was this sassy guy from Northern England with a very thick accent that we struggled to understand. We did pretty badly but somehow we didn’t win the prize for the worst team which made us sad. We took a cab back to the West side and the driver really struggled to understand where our hotel is. It’s not that complicated! We called the hotel and he talked to the front desk for like 10 minutes. Literally the trip home was drive straight down this street for a long time, then make one left turn, one right turn, and go straight some more until we tell you to stop. Oh, some people.





I learned some interesting things at trivia night such as:

-Polar bears are the only animal to actively hunt humans

-"that chick from American Beauty" will get you a half-point out of pity when you score 2/10

-I suck at British trivia, and when the host is British, there is a lot of British trivia

-the Hong Kong 6's is a cricket tourament, and I've spent enough time in British colonies to guess that correctly

-"character from Zelda in recreation area" = Linkin Park and I was the first person to get that!!! Anyone who is confused clearly isn't young enough to get it.





Oh I probably learned some other things too but I can't remember now. Point is, we were terrible. Terrible, terrible, terrible. But somehow not the worst.



Tuesday morning I decided to start working on another presentation to my group – they want to know about things I’ve researched at school. Since we don’t have to write a thesis, it’s hard to say what exactly I've "researched" but I’ve found some relevant info from term papers. At lunch time, I had my first Chinese lesson with Ya Ma which was already really helpful. I then grabbed some food in a tupperware container and headed out to the skating rink. I’d arranged with my supervisor to go skating at 1pm one day per week which is great. The rink was much less crowded and it was a good workout. When I got back, the office was very empty because all of CAUPD (China Academy of Urban Planning and Design) is participating in this inter-department badminton tournament today and I guess a lot of people went to cheer on our department (landscape design and environmental planning) team. The good news is, our department team won! So Jeff and I are going to watch them in the next round.





Tuesday evening I decided to just relax and, well, write this blog. It's a nice break from all the excitement around here.



Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent in Beijing,

-Dafne

---

Photos

Dafne and Fernanda sample the local snacks
It was REALLY yumm

The lake
So pretty

Walkway by the lake
slash driveway