A .05% Chance of Sunshine, Ali Babba's, a Moat, Street Food, Scarlet, Beijing Opera Karaoke Dragshow and Cilantro Mutton

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So I am finally getting around to writing about China even though I've been here for three weeks already and only have three weeks left. When I first got off of the plane, I made the stupid STUPID mistake of trusting the first "cab driver" that approached me. As it turns out, I could have taken a bus from the airport to Tianjin for about $5, but instead, I thought I should take a cab to the bus station. I, for some reason (I guess I had forgotten about Paraguay), decided that it was fine that this cab driver was leading me into a deserted underground parking strucuture, that the "cab" we were driving in was unmarked, and that the meter was hidden in the glove compartment. Okay, so I survived, but the drivers charged me about US $45 for a cab ride that, I found out later, should have cost about US $10. SO... when I finally got to my dorm in Tianjin I was really upset with China, jet lagged, and frustrated that I didn't listen in my Chinese 101 class or continue taking it. The biggest plus is that my dorm is awesome- it is much nicer than my freshman dorm at ASU, and now that I've gotten used to air drying my laundry, the mosquitoes, the occasional power outages, all the pollution, the stomach pangs, and the frequent car accidents, China is growing on me. No it's really not that bad (although a lot of people in my group seem to think that they are in hell). I am in Tianjin for six weeks studying Mandarin at Nankai University. It has been great so far- learned a lot of Mandarin, seen a lot of China, made some friends, done a lot of shopping, and tried some interesting/ mystery foods. Tianjin is the third (some say the fourth) largest city in China, after Beijing and Shanghai. It seems like a small town even though it has about 10 million people in it. My favorite place to eat is hands down the street vendors, because their food is very cheap and good. Other good places that we have found in Tiajin are the Foreign Guesthouse Restaurant at Nankai, Goubouli, Ali Babba's (the bar, not the Indian restaurant), and this Italian place by Ali Babba's. Isetan is pretty good for shopping, as is Ancient Culture Street, but depending on what you are looking for, there are pretty much the same knock off clothes and pirated music and movies everywhere you go. Oh, and I thought Chile was bad the first week when I didn't see the sun. In China, these last three weeks (while in Tianjin), I have probably seen the sun three times. And the sky is rarely blue. It is SO polluted. There is a moat around our campus that smells absolutely rancid and we can't decide if it is human sewage or just people's trash- but I guess it does a good job of keeping people out of the university. Oh, and here is the best thing. One day, I decided to find a piano. It took me about two hours with my limited Chinese, and the limited knowledge of the University inhabitants about the locations of pianos. Finally, I found one, and a Chinese student argued with the guy in charge of the building for about ten minutes before he finally let me in to play it. I played for about two hours and the whole time I was being attacked by mosquitoes. The next day, I went back to see if I could play it again, and a different guy was there. He first told me they didn't have a piano, then just told me to go away. The next day, I went back again, the same guy was there with another student who spoke English, and he told me that I had to get special permission to use the piano and directed me to another building. I went there and, after talking to a woman who called her boss to check if I could use the piano, was informed that it was "forbidden that I use the piano". So, I guess I will just have to be happy with the two hours that I was allowed to use it.

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Comments

[Mom]

WELL!!!!!
Where is your stuff on China???? I'm getting worried. xxoooo