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Well, its Thursday, July 5th, and I've had a full week and just under a day back in the US, and its surreal to think about where I have just been.  Other trips, week or month trips I guess, you take then you come home and its like you never went.  You have the pictures, but life is back to normal.  It kind of feels like that, but, I KNOW I went somewhere because I know 6 months went by.  Nothing really changed here, so, one week later I'm back into the swing of New England, US road rules (US drivers much easier to handle) and weather (rain, cool, hot, sunnny, a nice mix of things) but I"m still not quite used to the obsessive amount of trees in my area, and all of New England.  I drove to Boston last weekend and I was floored at just how beautiful every valley is, all lush and green, its just beautiful.  Nothing like that in China, there were beautiful hills, but nothing like the pure, pure green of New England.  And these places aren't parks, they are just towns.  The sky is partially blocked by trees on my street, which I love, and Beijing had NONE of.  I never really thought of my town as a forest, but, coming back to it, it sure looks like one!

Good to be back with friends from home.  Don't party as hard here, though, you need to drive yourself home.  Also, something I guess I didn't really notice before either, is how many people in the US dress exactly the same.  I guess Chinese variety (good or bad) just made it all too clear how similarily people in the US dress.  I notice it and I grew up in it, so I wonder how natives of other countries first raect to our homogeneous fashion.

Food is great!  I love eating something and not feelign at ALL sick afterwards.  Good times.  Haven't had anything other than just america style stuff, no Idian or Chinese.  A pizza, Mac and Cheese, Pasta with Sauce, Pancakes (with Chocolate Chips), Bagel Sandwich, Bagel with cream cheese (actually impossible to have in China, unless you're willing to travel 2 hours East of where our school was).

Also nice is back to US music.  Not that there isn't US/western music in China, there is, but its either a) old, b) bad or c) played everywhere.  For instance, and this still makes me laugh when I think about it, whever large markets close they play the same Kenny G song REALLY loudly, to signal its closing.  They took the name of that song way too seriously, since its titled "Going Home".  I used to like that song, now I cannot imagine ever listening to it again!  Same goes for cheap pop, like Backstreet boys.  Chinese people, men, like to sing, it shows their romantic/soft side, which they are way to willing to "reveal" to women, so, they like boy-bands, and they can sing along and try to woo the girl they have a creepy crush for.  Fast internet is great too!

Things I miss: people outside.  Nothing like it here, in the US we all have houses, back yards, etc.  No one just spends time in a park.  I miss seeing a few hundred people hanging out in the local square, doing whatever, just standing around watching people dance, rollerblade, fly kits, etc.  Yeah, i miss watching the line-dancing too.  Food, or just eating culture in general, I enjoyed having dishes that weren't your own, but for the table, and you take smoe from each.  You don't just say, "hey, i'd like some of that burger over there to go with some pancakes," in the US.  I miss Chinese language perhaps the most.  A piece of my brian is like, jumping around, trying to get out, tryint to express itself in this other language.  Having a Chinese conversation is still a rush, especially with someone who has a really heavy accent.  I miss that...

This concludes my China blog, the trip, the experience, that whole chapter of my life.  Hope it was a good read. Read More...

Sue decided that she wanted me on the same flight as them to buy me a new ticket. So, no more 18 hour layover in Japan, instead, straight Beijing-Newark! Cool! Read More...

    After just saying hello and getting dinner on Monday, Tuesday began the touring of Beijing.  Our first stop was the Summer Palace.  This, as the name suggests, is the place emperors would vacation to during the summer.  It is a rather large complex (more like a large park, actually) with a huge lake, bridges, towers and gardens.  A lot of walking, though, and even more stairs/hills, so we could only see about half of it.  Also, it was a very hazy/foggy day, so we couldn't see across the lake and enjoy the beauty of the view.  From the postcards we saw, though, looked amazing...anyway, this was the first time we took a cab from the hotel, and I was floored how, i guess, removed guests are from Chinese people and Chinese.  Its not suprising, really, since most people that stay at that hotel don't speak Chinese, but it was still strange for me, having spoke chinese the past 6 months and not having any otehr option.  At the hotel, not only do you have a card with english and the corresponding Chiense next to it, so you just need to underline/circle/point to where you want to go, but also the door/bellman at the front gate asks you in English where we're going.  We told him the summer palace, and he informed us, or warned us, that it was near the outside of the city and may be hard to catch a cab back from there, so, we could have the taxi wait for us there.  Thats a nice option, and I wouldn't be suprised if many, or most, people took that option.  We said it was okay, so he just warned us to always take a yellow colored cab, to avoid fake cabs and people trying to rip you off.  When trying to catch a cab back there were many fake cab drivers harassing us, which wasn't pleasant.  Then, we saw a bunch of real cabs hanging out, so I went up and asked if they were available for hire, and one guy said yes, so I told him where we wanted to go (I wanted to bring Sue and Marcia to the place we went for our final noodle dinner)  Then, this other guy they were talking to was like, yep I know where you want to go.  He was kind of pushy, so I got suspicious and asked him where his car was.  Lo and behold, he had a "Mianbaoche", or like a mini-bus, not a cab.  So, I said forget it and he kept yelling at me until we hailed a real cab.  Annoying! Read More...

My mother and Aunt arrive in Beijing the afternoon I get back from Shanghai. Not much to tell... Read More...

Awesome city, awesome tournament. Came in 3rd, and really smelly, in the end... Read More...

Well, the people who departed made it home alright, as shown by their away messages.  Glad they made it back, and their reactions are all pretty much the same, what happened and why are we home?  Most of us had the same dream sometime throughout this semester.  In our dream, we'd be back home, and wondering how we got there and why we were there, overall a large unwillingness to accept we were no longer in China and stuck home.  So, it seems, this dream has come true.  This time we were prepared for it, but, still, having people be back home is just...freaking strange.  You prepare so, so much, to leave the US and come here.  We had the holidays, goodbye parties and whatnot.  And for leaving China, we just kind of leave.  Yeah we had the last time parties, but, still, it wasn't a true preperation to leave, cause on some level we didn't believe we'd be leaving.  We thought we just might end up back at Lush, Kai, Shooters, Kro's nest the next week.  

The sad feeling that I didn't go home is still a little bit there, just because i would very much like to enjoy some food from home, but, i'm very happy to still be here, especially in this apartment.  I've got a few days to get ready to go to Shanghai, but today I'm going to spend doing nothing, just relaxing and reflecting. It really doesn't feel like I'm leaving in a little over a week...so much to do...

Apartment = Awesome! Read More...