Dear Blog,
Okay, so they’re no longer giving us prompts nor setting aside reserved blogging time and it’s currently 2.5 weeks into the trip and I’m only now making my second entry (I can sense that this is going to be a continual challenge). .
In any case. I will present the first two weeks of our trip to you as they were presented to me (sort of):
Friday May 24th, noon: Depart UM campus, drive to Detroit Airport, take out cash to exchange once we arrive in Beijing, call friends, relatives, etc. to wish farewell, change voicemail to inform callers that I will not be returning their calls for the next two months. Fly to Beijing.
Saturday May 25th, 11 pm: Arrive at Wan Liu apartments in Beijing, China. Scarf down the food and bottles water from our gift bags . Pass out immediately.
Sunday May 26th, 5 am: Rise and shine! (we all love jet lag). Unpack and organize room, mill around for the next 7 hours.. Noon: Touring begins! Lunch + Forbidden City (aka 3 hours outside in 90 degree heat) + dinner + can we please go home and die in our beds yet + Tian'an Men Square + 8:30 pm return. 8:31: Sleep.
Monday May 27th – Friday May 30th, in summation (obviously): Morning language classes with Nian (aka the daily butchering of the Chinese language) + group lunches + afternoon culture lessons (lectures on Chinese society and history; which were all really interesting, save a few..) + some afternoon adventure followed by group dinners mostly. This is similar to the following week’s schedule as well. We mostly just spent the time trying to learn some survival Chinese, getting some basic background information on Chinese culture, learning how to travel around (aka take the bus, subway, and taxi), and getting to know the area around the campus and our apartment. We went on some outings as well: pearl market, clothing market, acrobatics show, Peking duck restaurant, Peking opera, Karaoke, etc.
Saturday May 31st 8 am: Ok jet lag has worn off. Let me see if I can roll myself out of bed. 9 am: Touring begins. Lama Temple + Confucian temple + lunch + Hua Hai Lake tour + drum tower + tea house dinner + variety show performance. 10 pm: drop off at Wan Liu. 10:01 pm: Sleep.
Sunday June 1st (aka the best day ever) 7 am: Rise and shine, happy new month! 8 am: Pick up and drive to the first section of the Great Wall. 11 am: Arrive. First of all, let me say that the weather is wonderful (maybe low 70’s, breezy, a bit cloudy- aka NOT stiflingly hot). The countryside is covered in luscious greenery (which I’ve heard is not always the case..). We take cable cars up part of the mountain (aka “Nicole!!! WE’RE A BUG!!!” (refer to the picture section for details) and after a short walk, there it is. I’m not going to get all sentimental and mushy, but it was honestly one of the coolest experiences of my life. I walked along it, spellbound, for a bit, not being able to put my camera down. We eventually leave our unofficial tour guides and head off to lunch and to the next section of the wall (which required a rather more strenuous hike to reach but was fun and beautiful just the same). 7 pm? Drop-off at Wan Liu.
Monday June 2nd – Friday June 6th, in summation (again): See above.
The following weekend, part of the group went to Xi’an. I opted not to go because I wanted to save my money and have a weekend to rest. The others went because they’ll probably never get the chance to go again. In any case, let us continue:
Saturday June 7th, 10:30 am: Rise and shine after a full 12 hours of sleep (I’m not exaggerating). 11:30: Pick up and hot pot lunch (aka the most delicious invention ever) + happy birthday to Kelly and the biggest pieces of cake on earth + subsequent destruction of the singing lotus. 2 pm: Summer Palace. It was cool to see although architecturally rather similar to the Forbidden City (for obvious reasons), which made touring it a bit redundant (it was also very hot and I had forgotten my camera), but still a good experience. Drop-off afterward in time for dinner and our own devices.
Sunday June 8th, 10:30 am: Rise shine after a full 10 hours of sleep (ok, we’re getting better) for 11:30 pick-up. Dumpling lunch!!! (aka how many dumplings can Tom and Xu eat before regurgitation becomes inevitable? Answer: 70 between the two of them. Please refer to the picture section). 2 pm: short tour of the Temple of Heaven and shopping at the Pearl Market (again- girls’ choice) + time for dinner and the joyous reunion with the other half of the group (you wouldn’t believe two days apart could ever seem that long until you’ve spent every minute of every day together for the previous three weeks).
And then Monday is the big first day in the lab! BUT. I believe this is enough information for the moment. Until next time.. Um.. Wait patiently?
Peace, love and Chinese stunted dogs.
Okay, so they’re no longer giving us prompts nor setting aside reserved blogging time and it’s currently 2.5 weeks into the trip and I’m only now making my second entry (I can sense that this is going to be a continual challenge). .
In any case. I will present the first two weeks of our trip to you as they were presented to me (sort of):
Friday May 24th, noon: Depart UM campus, drive to Detroit Airport, take out cash to exchange once we arrive in Beijing, call friends, relatives, etc. to wish farewell, change voicemail to inform callers that I will not be returning their calls for the next two months. Fly to Beijing.
Saturday May 25th, 11 pm: Arrive at Wan Liu apartments in Beijing, China. Scarf down the food and bottles water from our gift bags . Pass out immediately.
Sunday May 26th, 5 am: Rise and shine! (we all love jet lag). Unpack and organize room, mill around for the next 7 hours.. Noon: Touring begins! Lunch + Forbidden City (aka 3 hours outside in 90 degree heat) + dinner + can we please go home and die in our beds yet + Tian'an Men Square + 8:30 pm return. 8:31: Sleep.
Monday May 27th – Friday May 30th, in summation (obviously): Morning language classes with Nian (aka the daily butchering of the Chinese language) + group lunches + afternoon culture lessons (lectures on Chinese society and history; which were all really interesting, save a few..) + some afternoon adventure followed by group dinners mostly. This is similar to the following week’s schedule as well. We mostly just spent the time trying to learn some survival Chinese, getting some basic background information on Chinese culture, learning how to travel around (aka take the bus, subway, and taxi), and getting to know the area around the campus and our apartment. We went on some outings as well: pearl market, clothing market, acrobatics show, Peking duck restaurant, Peking opera, Karaoke, etc.
Saturday May 31st 8 am: Ok jet lag has worn off. Let me see if I can roll myself out of bed. 9 am: Touring begins. Lama Temple + Confucian temple + lunch + Hua Hai Lake tour + drum tower + tea house dinner + variety show performance. 10 pm: drop off at Wan Liu. 10:01 pm: Sleep.
Sunday June 1st (aka the best day ever) 7 am: Rise and shine, happy new month! 8 am: Pick up and drive to the first section of the Great Wall. 11 am: Arrive. First of all, let me say that the weather is wonderful (maybe low 70’s, breezy, a bit cloudy- aka NOT stiflingly hot). The countryside is covered in luscious greenery (which I’ve heard is not always the case..). We take cable cars up part of the mountain (aka “Nicole!!! WE’RE A BUG!!!” (refer to the picture section for details) and after a short walk, there it is. I’m not going to get all sentimental and mushy, but it was honestly one of the coolest experiences of my life. I walked along it, spellbound, for a bit, not being able to put my camera down. We eventually leave our unofficial tour guides and head off to lunch and to the next section of the wall (which required a rather more strenuous hike to reach but was fun and beautiful just the same). 7 pm? Drop-off at Wan Liu.
Monday June 2nd – Friday June 6th, in summation (again): See above.
The following weekend, part of the group went to Xi’an. I opted not to go because I wanted to save my money and have a weekend to rest. The others went because they’ll probably never get the chance to go again. In any case, let us continue:
Saturday June 7th, 10:30 am: Rise and shine after a full 12 hours of sleep (I’m not exaggerating). 11:30: Pick up and hot pot lunch (aka the most delicious invention ever) + happy birthday to Kelly and the biggest pieces of cake on earth + subsequent destruction of the singing lotus. 2 pm: Summer Palace. It was cool to see although architecturally rather similar to the Forbidden City (for obvious reasons), which made touring it a bit redundant (it was also very hot and I had forgotten my camera), but still a good experience. Drop-off afterward in time for dinner and our own devices.
Sunday June 8th, 10:30 am: Rise shine after a full 10 hours of sleep (ok, we’re getting better) for 11:30 pick-up. Dumpling lunch!!! (aka how many dumplings can Tom and Xu eat before regurgitation becomes inevitable? Answer: 70 between the two of them. Please refer to the picture section). 2 pm: short tour of the Temple of Heaven and shopping at the Pearl Market (again- girls’ choice) + time for dinner and the joyous reunion with the other half of the group (you wouldn’t believe two days apart could ever seem that long until you’ve spent every minute of every day together for the previous three weeks).
And then Monday is the big first day in the lab! BUT. I believe this is enough information for the moment. Until next time.. Um.. Wait patiently?
Peace, love and Chinese stunted dogs.
1 comment:
I am interested in Chinese culture. I prefer to learn Mandarin Chinese .it sounds nice, it is the language which is spoken by most people. Besides, It is the language, which has potential to influence the future. If you want to learn Mandarin, perhaps yon can visit http://www.hellomandarin.com .it's a good website from where i learn Chinese.
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