On the Move

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Hi everyone! I haven't had a chance to update since I have been here. Internet connection at the hotel cost money, so I opted out. Today we are headed to Xian, but our flight was delayed a couple of hours so I have a chance to use the free airport wifi (after scanning my passport into a machine so that the government can keep track of me).

Our trip began with a bit of a mishap. About half of our group's visa entry dates had expired. So the majority of the Pacific Lutheran University students were left behind, while Clare and I (the LC students), Ben (Chicago), Cara (Nebraska), Shannon (PLU, but she was in Trinidad for the previous semester so sent in her passport late), and Greg Johnson (PLU philosophy professor) went ahead. The flight was eleven painful hours, but I didn't sleep. I read and watched four movies on my personal entertainment screen. Love those.

In Beijing we went to Tiananmen Square, the Temple of Heaven, The Summer Palace, The Forbidden City, the Olympic Center with the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube, the Ming Dynasty Tombs, the Great Wall, Beijing Opera and an Acrobat show... I will go into more detail later. I have no means to load pictures onto my computer right now. Apparently only Macbook Pros have memory card slots. I will have to buy a cord in Chengdu, or find someone to borrow from.

After a while, with the humidity and the long bus rides, I began to be irritated with the tourism, tourism, tourism. We have been to three showrooms/factories/tourist traps: pearl, jade, and cloissone. Everything costs far more at these than on the street. The crazy traffic stopped being novel a couple of days ago... five cars abreast in three lanes?!?! It takes a long time to go a short distance. Also, the food has been westernized. Yesterday we ate at the "Friendship Store." There were meatballs, french fries, chicken strips, noodles... They give us far too much food at every meal. Always white rice. And you know the meal is over when they give you a platter of watermelon.

The pollution burns my eyes when it is hot. The smog masks buildings and landmarks, so it is hard to tell how large the city really is. Bad smells blow past on the street fairly frequently. And vendors with "Gucci watches," "Mao Zedong," "just take a look," will not leave you along even when you tell them “不要“-- don't want. It is more effective just to ignore them.

Despite all of my complaints, I am loving this trip! Every single person in our group is friendly and willing to chat. For an example of their awesomeness, the three students beside me are playing Go Fish in Chinese. The professors are hilarious and super chill. Speaking in Chinese and having people understand me feels awesome, although I missed an opportunity to have a conversation with a salesperson in the airport earlier today because I didn't fully comprehend her question until I had left the store. She asked “你说中文吗？” (Do you speak Chinese?), the most basic question she could possibly ask. But I woke up at 4:20 this morning, so I think I have an excuse. And I will be paying more attention in subsequent interactions.

I can't wait until we get to Chengdu. Tourism is not my thing. I don't like pushy crowds, or long bus rides, or living out of a suitcase. I want to unpack, get settled in, and start becoming familiar with Chengdu.

This is a long post already, so I am going to sign off. Look for backdated posts in a week or so when I have had a chance to get things figured out with cell phones, and internet, etc. 再见！

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Comments

[DeeDee]

Laura, I'm loving your blogs already. I feel like I am there with you and wish I could see and do all the things you are doing. So envious. Your classmates and profs sound like a lot of fun.