I can't seem to find Panda Express

---

Alrighty, I finally made it here after flights which left my left butt in nonworking condition. Somewhere over Russia I started doing lunges down the ailes for fear that I was going to lose use of my legs.

Everyone kept telling me not to worry, everyone will speak english and be really friendly to you. Maybe that would be the case if i was six feet tall and blonde, but I'm a Japanese guy in China who speaks hood engrish. Seriously though, my first day here i didn't hear a lick of english, and let me tell you it's a different, very different world. Chengdu is freakin hot, like ATL hot and sticky. I thought I would wander around and see the city but that was complicated by two details...

1. Chengdu has 11 million people, 4 million in the immediate city
2. Not very many street signs are in english and the streets change names mid street....meaning that unlike in Europe, I can't even tell what the heck the name of the street is and even if I could, there's no way I could pronounce it. (now i know what it's like to be illiterate, READ TO YOUR KIDS)

So these factors combined led me to wander aimlessly for 6 hours, and walk the length of manhattan...twice. It's a good way to get a feel for the city and people so I can't complain. I ate what I am assuming was duck on a stick which was yum yum. I also took note of some social differences. You don't use diapers for your kids here, you pretty much carry them around in go-time position with their butts pointed away from you so when the party starts, you can just aim them at the nearest street/bush/Japanese guy. Dude, and you have never seen so many bikes in your life... It's this weird harmonic existence of pedestrians,bicycles and cars all running in different directions down the same roads and paths. Every other second someone lays on their horn, and it's just a fact of life, nobody freaks out. It's crowded. People don't turn and glare, they just shift over to the side and let the cars pass. All I could think about was if someone pulled that junk back in the states, their car is getting keyed...at the very least.

I also think that the ability to fall asleep anywhere is an Asian thing. During my Walk for Hope expedition of Chengdu I moseyed on by a KFC and saw a father with his son...and the dude was full on passed out on the window sleeping. It must have been a hella good KFC meal to put this guy down like that, but I know what that feels like (jokiel/rose...shut the f. right now). Phelan, I know that you claim you are moving to China for business but after that time I caught you at home during lunchtime in your straw hat under your power-puff girl sleeping bag rewinding to the bathing scene in Crouching Tiger-Hidden Dragon...I know why you are moving here. It's the age old anglo male fascination with asian women ( i don't get it). You'll be happy to know that all of the stewardesses could have been that chick, and the fact that they don't understand what you are saying will probably help your game a little bit. (many of my other friends, the same goes for you...you know who you are)

Hmmm...Other things that I noticed. (i'm going to rant since i have limited ability to conversate here)

There are no obese people here. In fact, I'm pretty sure that if I were to walk into the men's jeans section, I would have a hard time finding anything above a size 32. (adolf that means any clothing i buy you will likely go to brandi) I'm trying to get a feel for what is cool in the mid 20's age group and so far it looks like a watered down immitation of J-pop with a twist of Donnie-Brasco leather gear. I get tons of weird looks walking down the street and so-far as I can figure it's either because
a) I dress and look different
b) I'm that good looking
c) The likely choice is that I'm singing 50-cent raps cause all the skinny guys make me feel tough.

Dude, Here is the best part. China is the fastest growing economy in the world. you might as well sign your kids up for Chinese classes now, cause this place is booming and in 20 years, half your IRA will be in Chinese companies. That being said, it's pretty amazing at how affordable things are here, and by affordable, I mean dirt cheap. Here are some examples.

-full body chinese massage for 1 HOUR= $1.95
-20 ounce sprite = 40 cents
-bus ride anywhere in town=12 cents
-rickshaw service door to door = 50 cents
-local beer = 15 cents
-shots of Cuervo 1800 = $1.75
-bottle of REMI VSOP served at your table, $50

You can pretty much eat the most amazing chinese food you'll ever eat prepared authentically and right in front of you for less than 2 bucks a day. Today some of the medical students took me out for an authentic Sichuan lunch and damn was it good. We covered the foodgroups of Pork, Beef, Chicken, Tofu, Fish and eggs all in one sitting. Dave, They aren't kidding when they say it's spicy either, like so spicy they have a small basket of towelettes to swab all of the sweat. I was freakin dripping onto the table trying to play it off like the air conditioner was broke or something. They guy next to me ordered something and I look over mid meal and he was full on crying...I though maybe he had gotten a phone call or something that someone died, but it was the chilli peppers. He offered me some and I was like, "hell no, not if it's gonna make me look like that... I mean no thank you". And the food just kept on coming and coming...every time I was like "sweet, I'll finish this and I'll just say i'm full"...then out comes another sweet looking dish that I was forced to eat. Scott, it was like that time in Munich that the large german women forced me to eat the pound of cheese before we could leave.

They put me up in a really nice hotel on campus which would probably rank 4 stars back in the states, at a whopping cost of 16 dollars per night.

I met with the Chinese faculty here this morning and finally found out how I'll be spending these weeks here. for the first 3 weeks I'm going to sit in on english language medical school classes that they are teaching their international students which pretty much means their Nepalese students. I should get to catch some accupuncture classes so all of you prepare for some needle sticks when I return. Then the last 4 weeks I'll be in their hospital doing rotations in Internal Medicine, Surgery and Oncology. The hospital here is 4,000 beds...which to put in perspective is...well, mutha-f-ing huge. I'm pretty sure there are no comparable hospitals of this size in the states and I don't even know how you begin to manage something that big.

So the SIM card that I bought doesn't seem to work, meaning that I'm going to have to make a new friend to teach me how to use the phones here. Everyone and their grandma has a cell phone, and not the ghetto radio-shack cell phones...cool phones that we are never going to see in the US. I have met some pretty cool people, but DAMN it's hard to remember a name here. I'm not getting introduced to "Hank" or "Bob", the names I have to remember have X's and Q's in places I've never even thought of. If this were Scrabble, I'd have to skip a turn and grab some new tiles. But I think I may have found a steady source for internet, so i'll keep you updated as things happen... Oh, and once I can figure out how to post some pics, that will happen too...


much love,
ak

---