Days 2 & 3 part 2 "Hey guys, watch this"

Day 2 continued:

We visited Tianamen Square after getting settled into the Three Legged Frog hostel.  The hostel itself is very cozy and is clean enough by Chinese standards.  Tianamen Square is huge.  The square holds Mao's tomb in the center and around it are several significant cultural buildings such as the National Museum of History and the Chinese Workers' Cultural Palace.  The Zhengyang and Qianmen gates border the southern part of the square and the Forbidden City occupies the northernmost portion.  We did not actually enter the Forbidden City, but all of the walking around gave us a good glimpse of the older Chinese architecture and style.  After being out in the sun for so long we felt ready for dinner, but when I returned to the hostel I promptly flopped into bed.  This was at 5pm.  From what I gather everyone did this.  We were just too exhausted from the walking and the sun and the traveling.

Day 3:

Today was the day to tour the Great Wall of China.  We visited the Jinshanling section of the wall, which was less occupied by tourists.  We had more personal time to explore the wall, albeit accompanied by our "personal tour guides" who were trying to work their way into our goodwill to sell us souvenirs of the trip.  They were local Mongolians who had set up shop in the base area by the parking lot.  They would attach themselves to one of us and walk alongside us, offering tips and insights as well as taking pictures and even fanning us at times.  They were a little obnoxious at first, but after an hour their presence felt much more natural.  Apparently they abscond and traverse the wall two or three times in a day trying to sell their wares.

We really lucked out with the weather on this day.  The sun was obscured by clouds for most of the day.  We were able to stay cool despite all of the walking (and some running) that we did along the wall. The wall itself is amazing.  The Jinshanling portion trails across the mountain tops and ridges.  It's hard to imagine anyone wanting to build a wall upon these mountains, let alone travel over them to invade.   Judicator Brewskie, JT York and I put it upon ourselves to make it all the way out to the Five Window Tower because our guide told us that it was the farthest that we could go.  Getting there was rough.  The Great Wall dips and rises with the mountains, making the walk difficult, especially when the steps suddenly become steep and treacherous.

We made it to the Five Windows tower and promptly sat down for a while to catch our breath.  The journey to and from the Five Windows Tower was exhausting, but wholly worthwhile.  We all got fantastic pictures and bonded over our collective stubbornness/stupidity.  The view returning was breathtaking, but I will let my pictures do the talking since I find myself at a loss for words.

During the Great Wall excursion Mr. Mundo struck up conversation with a French tourist aboard our bus.  Inspired by his amiable nature I decided to converse with some Canadians that were sitting behind me.  They proved to be a lot of fun.  The Canadians were also graduate students studying in China.  They were on a brief break and had come to Beijing to enjoy themselves.  They gave us many insights into haggling, which I have since used to buy some knock off Ray Bans for a steal!

Returning from the wall we rested then ventured out for Beijing duck.  The hostel employees told us of a good restaurant nearby.  The culture at this restaurant was unlike anything that I had expected.  Smoking inside was allowed, some men had their shirts off, the hostess moved the occupants of one table in order to seat us, and spitting, throwing trash, and leaving cigarette ash onto the floor was completely acceptable.  I don't know if this restaurant only appealed to a particular demographic, but it was an eye opening experience into Chinese culinary culture.  The food was delicious though and we enjoyed the restaurant atmosphere.  The whole meal cost less than $7 per person and left us satiated.  Afterwards we wandered around our area of Beijing and found a large market street full of lit up signs and peddlers selling light up toys.

The stores were blasting techno music and, suddenly, Mr. Mundo launched into a full on dance number of his own creation.  I have not laughed so hard in a long time.  Mr. Mundo clapped, spun, kicked and shuffled his way along the marble street drawing a sizable crowd around him who did not grasp the concept of clapping in time, but a good time was had by all.

WHEW!  that's it for day 3.  Day 4 coming soon (hopefully I'll be back on track by week's end!)










Mister Mundo is the friendliest man in the world, and a great dancer.
BEIJING DUCK!

Days 2 & 3: "Danger is my maiden name"

I do not have a great track record so far in foreign countries.  I've been scolded in Russian airspace, Chinese airspace, and at the Great Wall.  The flight from Moscow to Beijing was surprisingly open, with many empty seats, especially in business class.  But the flight was otherwise ordinary.  Our taxi ride into Beijing, however, was not.

After gathering our bags we went out into the taxi queue to get our first taste of organized chaos.  The line for taxis was long, but we spied a man with a van who waved us other, directing us around the line and past a traffic guard who tried halfheartedly to prevent us from crossing.  Van Man wanted Y600 for the ride into Beijing but Ohio Homebody knew the going rate and promptly turned us away.  We piled into three other "official" taxis (I say official because they have the same paint job as all other taxis) and took off for Beijing.

The drivers got confused about 20 minutes into the drive.  They pulled over onto a median between an off-ramp and the freeway, with one of the taxis hanging over into the freeway.  The drivers talked for several minutes before taking off again.  My taxi was the lead taxi and things seemed to be going ok until we stopped in front of a hotel to wait for the rest of the taxis, who didn't appear for five minutes.  At this point it was clear that our drivers had no idea where they were going.  I was worried that our trip might be over before it had really started, but thankfully our compatriots appeared.  JT York informed us that both of the other taxis got separated and spent some time circling the block around Tianamen Square before figuring out where we were.

We pulled into a narrow alleyway and stopped at the Far East Youth Hostel, which is not the hostel that we booked.  We showed our driver the correct address.  He pointed to the hostel and said something in Chinese, probably "I'm tired of this and you're close enough."  We got out, paid our Y100 for each taxi, and began walking with our bags.  The Three Legged Frog was actually very close.  I sympathize with our drivers.  They were clearly lost, overwhelmed, and eager to get rid of us.  I'm just glad they got us close to our hostel.

More happened after this but I'm exhausted and must retire.  I'll update in Wuhan.

Sparknotes:

Visited Tianamen Square and the outskirts of the Forbidden City
Everyone made plans for dinner but passed out around 5pm at the sight of a comfy bed after several hours in the sun.
The Great Wall of China is awesome, literally inspiring awe in you.
Canadians are great compatriots.
Don't buy ANYTHING you are offered at the Great Wall.  This goes double if you are a sucker like me.
Mister Mundo is the friendliest man in the world, and a great dancer.
BEIJING DUCK!

Day 1 "I'm overwhelmed just telling you about it."

Day 1 of the trip was spent driving the 8-9 hours from Columbus to the residence of Judicator Brewskie's family.  JB and I drove the rest of the Wuhan 7 and some hilarity ensued.  While JB's car slept for the majority of the trip, my car was quite lively.  The passengers included JT York, Mr. Mundo and (introducing) Ohio Homebody.   We perfected the car dance and sampled some Justin Beiber at Mr. Mundo's request.  JT York is excited to see pandas, Ohio Homebody is looking forward to Chinese architecture, and I am looking forward to people watching in China.

Along the way we drove through West Virgina briefly before crossing into Pennsylvania.  JB's family lives in the Amish country and during the drive we passed several horse and buggies with Amish families in them, and saw a couple of barefoot Amish girls on scooters pushing their way down the country roads.  It's beautiful country out here and the last few hours of the drive were increasingly pleasant and scenic with rolling hills and lush forests surrounding the road and farm plots.

Tonight we are staying in Judicator Brewskie's house.  It is an old Victorian house originally built in the 1790's with additions in the 1890's and the 1920's.  It is beautiful and certainly qualifies as an American heirloom.  JB's mother has decorated the house with old, vintage pieces of local Pennsylvania and American culture.  The house looks and feels classic.  My favorite bit of Americana is an old tri-corner hat the family found in the attic.  There is no tag so it may very well be an original colonial tri-corner hat!  Or a good looking imitation.  Either way it's a unique piece of early American culture.

Day 2 will be spent in transit.  We calculated our travel time to be around 27 hours on planes and a van.  Really it's almost 48 hours including the 10 hour layover in Moscow.  Hopefully they are playing the World Cup qualifiers in the airport bar...

Ready or not here I come!

The last week has been a mad sprint to finish finals.  As my last post suggests finals take priority over all else, especially personal health.  Thankfully, year one of the HESA program is behind me and I can move onto more pressing matters such as China.  5 weeks in China!

Thankfully the car (Black Thunder) has been "repaired" and can now transport us to Judicator Brewskie's Pennsylvania residence.  I say "repaired" because the dent in the driver door is gone, but now the lock does not respond to the remote or the car lock/unlock toggle.  But at least the car is back.

My father came to visit for the weekend and made the end of finals week that much better.  He got to sample some of Columbus' proud foodie installations including Jeni's, Buckeye Pho, & Surly Girl.  Being around family and friends was a nice release from seeing people fleetingly in the library with the same tired look in our eyes.  But now everyone is much more lively!  Also, thanks to padre I now have some new blues albums to listen to on the drive to Pennsylvania.

Packing for China has proven to be the most difficult part of this ordeal.  At this point I'm three bags heavy including clothes, toiletries, gifts for the Chinese, food, pills and whatnot.  I'll need the third bag for all the stuff I'll pick up in China where the USD is worth 6x the Renminbi (Chinese unit of currency).

"I'm sorry I thought today was Wednesday"

Two things are synonymous with graduate school: stress, and unhealthy habits. 

To illustrate this concept I have 3 papers and a presentation due in less than 48 hours, and an IRB application that must be finished by tomorrow.  Instead of working on them I am writing a blog while eating some cheesecake that I found in the adjacent office.  Grad school renders common sense and willpower obsolete in the face of impending deadlines.  In grad school regularlly sleeping less than 5 or 6 hours a night is not uncommon.  Thankfully, my peers and I are not in a program like nursing or vet school where sleeping less than 5 or 6 hours a night is the norm.