Beijing Bound

And... the Grace Note.

2009-09-09T17:45:00.000-07:00

Here I am!

Writing my final manifesto/research paper on this trip, I’m thinking on re-reading it that it rings more philosophical than I might have intended. If you don’t want to hear a bit of my thoughts on travel, people and life, then you’re not really in the right place. There’s an exit behind you, but I’d rather you stay.

I’ve sat on this task for almost a full 8 months now, and it’s finally over a year after I left that I’m sitting down with real determination to write the final chapter of this story. I’m calling it a story because I think of it as a story; it’s a tale of experiences, people met, times had and sometimes a mere recounting of deeds done. There’s a cast of dozens, most of whom you (my patient and wonderful audience) haven’t met in name but have heard of as you read this blog over the months I spent in a little town called Beijing.

Alright, kids. I’m going to give you a bit of a rundown on why I haven’t actually written this for so long. The creative lie would be that I’ve been busy. The honest truth would be that every time I’ve sat down and attempted to write a few pages on such a massively life changing experience, I’ve had to re-live the memories. And the worst thing about re-living memories of people you don’t have around you all the time is that you miss those. It’s not a ‘I miss the days when the Simpsons was funny’ sort of feeling. It’s more a ‘Fuck. Here I sit, 8 months after last seeing these people and I still wake up with their faces on my mind.’ It’s love in a deeply platonic sense; the transitory nature of these trips makes you seek out someone, anyone, with whom you can share yourself. If you’re lucky, those people share right back. That’s where the trouble begins.

I’m honestly trying to keep this away from a depressing, monotone recollection of memories most of weren’t there for. Really, I am. But every time I think of China, I think of what Sarah told me. I’ve said it before, and I’m going to keep saying it until the day it rings false: The best and worst things about travel are the people you meet. Everything I’ve said on those words is in earlier entries, so if you want context you might just have to scroll down and dive into those words I typed an entire world ago.

In terms of a simple State of the Union, my trip to China was initially intended as one of those ‘find yourself’ sort of moments. I was 22 and had lived at home my entire life. Despite working steadily since I was 14, I have lived both a sheltered and privileged life; a gift I don’t think I could repay my parents no matter how much ‘rent’ increases. I read, while in China, that anyone who travels to ‘Find themselves’ is bound for bitter disappointment. Count me as proof. I don’t know myself. I don’t know what I want in this world. I don’t see where I fit. I don’t know whether I’m fit for a ‘career’ in an office or whether I’m one of those guys destined to work at the end of a shovel until his knees wear out.

And you know what? This ‘lost’ feeling isn’t as depressing as it sounds. To me, the whole problem of not knowing something means that there’s just that much more learning to do. And if any of you actually know me, learning about ‘stuff’ is something I love.

So, China didn’t result in me coming home a fully rounded person confident in their abilities to take the world by the proverbial balls. It did not make me a genius. It did not even make me fluent in Mandarin (though I can still order a pepperoni pizza). What it did do was make me more than I was. It make me more confident. It make me realize that even if I don’t know what it is I want, I know that I’m not just going to settle for whatever works at the time.

It’s made me conscious of the people around me. How easy it is to connect yourself to other people. I’ve missed people I see every day of my life here in Calgary, just like I’ve missed people I’m honestly probably going to never see again. I keep in touch with the people who meant the most to me in both situations, and if I didn’t please don’t assume you mean nothing. It means that I’m fallible. I’m a human. I’m a scatterbrained, disorganized person who often forgets that zippers go on the –front- of his pants.

So. What did China teach me? It taught me that of all the things I love to do, the thing that terrifies me through to exhilaration the most is the meeting of people. Making friends. I’m learning, just now, how my times in Beijing taught me how to do that, even if it’s a skill I may never master. Travel, in any form it takes, is among the best ways to do just that; meet new people. There’re a million plus people in my home city, but there’s something about sharing the experience of sitting on a pole boat in the middle of rural Liuyang with a guy from Sweden that gets rid of all those trappings of the ‘modern western world’ that get in the way. Small talk be damned; laughing at your mutual failed attempts when trying to explain something to someone who doesn’t speak your language is something that transcends ‘the weather’.

And that leaves life at home. Living amongst friends I’ve known for so much longer than 5 months in another country. People who understand me in deep, essential ways who aren’t surprised or offended when I’m 5 minutes late to tea. People who I would give everything I had to, if only for a smile. It means a world of bills, the ring of a work phone, the seemingly endless grind of getting up at 6:45am to smash the alarm clock into silence. But it’s these things that make moments outside ‘real life’, whether it’s wiping away tears of laughter because your best friend made a particularly clever play on words (often incorporating ‘your’ and ‘mom’) or wiping away their tears of frustration after another part falls off their car and their rent’s due so crucial. Work is something I enjoy. I wouldn’t work the ridiculous hours I have if I didn’t enjoy spending time being busy. But it’s a means to an end.

And here’s where I wrap it all up. The biggest lesson China taught me is that I crave experiences. I don’t want material trappings. I don’t want a pretty car without cracks in the fenders. I don’t want to own the newest, brightest, shiniest electronic toys because my ‘friends’ have a new one. I want to make money and then through any means possible transmute those dollars and cents into memories. I crave the ability to tell stories; regardless of the reaction from any given audience. The fact that these are real moments, saccharine or bittersweet, that I’ve lived means that it’s all worth the time and effort. I want not just physical or digital images of places I’ve been, but mental recordings of my friends dancing in the middle of an ancient Chinese village or laughing so hard beer comes out their nose. Travel is, in my opinion, how I can best create those experiences.

So, in the remaining sentences of the most writing I’ve ever done without being mandated by a University professor, I’m going to thank some people.

Thank you to my friends at home. Without your support, love and grounding influence, I don’t think I’d be the sort of person who could keep a straight face while embarrassing myself in front of a desk full of 18 year old Chinese girls. You keep me down when I get a little too high. You’ve taught me that laughing at myself is often the best way to get other people to laugh. You’ve taught me that being proud, cocky or big headed is a great way to lose someone who I care for. Without you, I’d have no courage to do anything I want to do. I’d love to thank you individually, because my memories with each of you are my shelter against any storms that pass my way, but I’m running out of words.

Thanks to my family; my sisters, cousins, aunts and uncles and everyone else in that mishmash of blood ties. You’re the network of people I grew up in. Of all the people in my life, you’ve been constants; changing as I’ve changed but always being the sort of person who I could relate to as ‘Uncle X’ or ‘My cousin Y’. Without your interest and lifelong support, I don’t know if I’d be who I am today and I don’t really know how to thank you for that other than a few heartfelt words.

Thanks to my parents. You’re separate from ‘my family’ only because your contributions can’t be understated. You, probably more than anyone, have taught me how to be who I am today. You’re not just a safety net, but also a driving force. When I was a precocious little brat who loved to read ‘World Fact Books’ and thus knew everything, you both always made sure I realized there’s always stuff I need to learn. You wouldn’t accept less than my best in school or work, but in a way that made me realize failures are a great lesson in cause and effect. And now, come time to grow up, you’re right there pushing with one hand and steadying with the other. Because of you both, I’ve led a pretty damned charmed life. I just hope that I can take what you’ve taught me and make my own way. Thanks.

And to the people I met in China. You all make me cripplingly sad. You’re wonderful, wonderful people who I can honestly say I barely knew, but really understood. And here we are, forced to rely on e-mail until one of us gets up the means to jump off-continent and visit ‘Foreign’ for a hug and a knowing grin. For some of you, our friendship centered on laughing at each other and ourselves until we couldn’t breathe; weaving a love of music and learning about other cultures into that fabric. Others gave me weeks of memories giggling our way through smoke and Qingdao at simple words denoting parts of the female anatomy. Another brought to me a new confidence in myself as a person in so many ways that my head still spins; leaving me with an addiction to one song that still chokes me up. Still more brought to me a breathless excitability about anything new; taking me by the hand and running us both into the unknown, consequences be damned.

To everyone that made me who I was last September and who I am today, thanks. It wouldn’t have been the same without you. I’m going to travel my whole life through; this is one of those few things I know.

I called this blog Beijing Bound because that was my destination then. I like the sub-title better. Here’s to living your live as original research; collecting memories and experiences for whatever tests life throws you in the days to come.

- Nathan

Penultimate

2009-01-19T06:49:00.000-08:00

In a flight of fancy, I've decided that this is going to be the second last entry in this blog. This is influenced only mildly by the 白酒 that my friend Ben and I consumed at dinner (along with 青岛; China's defacto 'light' beer). What follows is largely stream of consciousness, so be forewarned.

I promised you all some deep introspection into my stay in China, and deliver on that promise I shall. I'm writing while coming down off a caffeine buzz and a chinese-liquor drunk, so I apologize if there is any problems with coherence. I'm also in a bit of a melancholy and wistful state.

In 13 hours (8 of which are allotted for sleep), I will be on a tube of metal screaming through the upper stratosphere towards cold weather, family and good friends I've left behind for the previous 5 months. I've never been this far away from hearth and home before, and the amount it's taught me about myself is staggering. The amount I've learned about others is almost as amazing.

One friend here, one very very good friend I don't think I'm going to let go of, told me that the worst part about travelling is the people you meet. Here you are, temporarily displaced from everything familiar and comfortable. You're alone, sometimes for the first time, and you crave human contact. In this vulnerable moment, you're deeply involved in the mind-numbing panic and boredom of eating lunch alone again in a packed cafeteria full of people chatting in an alien tongue. Who should come along but someone who's essentially destined to be your friend. People who share your interests, sense of humor, taste in music and everything but country of origin seem to find you in the crowd. Or you find them.

Then, months later, some great big breaker in your mind suddenly slams shut when sitting at a dinner after laughing so hard that your stomach hurts. Like a slap to the face, you realize that these people will, in all likeliness, never be in the same room again at the same time. Looking from face to face, you drink in expressions, accents, stories and laughter to hold on to the memory of people you've known for such a brief time. People who, if you had lived next door to them your whole life, would be sitting beside you as your bones creaked in shit weather a few dozen years down the road. Tears well up before the Aussie across the table laughs so hard beer spurts out her nose. Then everything's obliterated in white hot laughter as the table erupts again and the locals question your sanity.

The worst thing about travelling is the people you meet. It's the most glorious thing, too. Landscapes bedamned, historical sightseeing is for photographs and culture fades. The best thing about spending time immersed in another nation is the people you meet and the friendships you make. Bittersweet joy abounds as you share explorations of this strange new land. You give freely of yourself and accept whatever it is they offer of themselves; knowing that these people have no reason to trust you other than you trust them. You find humor in cultural differences and laugh endlessly about how everyone's supposed to be speaking English but no one can ever get their damned point across.

Then they leave.

Or you leave.

Sooner or later, real life digs deep and reels everyone back in. No one's a permanent fixture anywhere. Some say 'home is where you make it', but the problem is in coordinating with those near and dear exactly where we should set up shop.

I'm rambling. I'm sad, and mildly intoxicated, and this is the end result. I'm attempting to wax poetic and organize thoughts that simply refuse to cooperate.

I've met so many wonderful people from all walks of life. I've learned so much. So much. I've learned about the Chinese; their language, culture, traditions, cuisine and daily life. That was expected and indeed the point of the trip.

What I didn't expect was to learn the word 'bogan'. Or to listen to an Australian girl ask a French girl in Chinese how to say 'Regular' in English. Or skull VB while cheering on Hawthorne as they blitzed toward an AFL title. Or skate on a frozen lake in downtown Beijing while helping a new friend not fall on her arse. Or change the way I speak my own language in the name of hacking out a common pinyin so everyone can understand me regardless of origin. Or cry when friends left, despite having known them a relatively tiny portion of my time on this earth.

I'm sad for having to leave. I'm sad for the knowing that of all I've met, e-mail is our best bet for prolonging the relationships we've made. I'm sad for having to say goodbye.

But do I have any regrets? Yes. Those aren't for public airings, though. My regrets are my own.

One thing I never, ever, will regret is the time I've spent in Beijing. I've learned a truly immense amount about both myself and the world around me. My mind races daily with exactly how my time here in Beijing will dictate the course of my life in future years.

Thank you. Everyone who I've met in Beijing, whether I enjoyed your company or not. Knowing you has taught me something; about myself, yourself or the world. The knowledge is invaluable and I appreciate it.

For now, I've got to get packing and then get some sleep. I'm for a final breakfast in 五道口 tomorrow before I leave.

Thanks for reading these entries, if you have. After I've been home for a bit, I'll polish up the blog and the trip. There's so much to think about that I don't think I'll be ready to put the final bookend on this trip for a while.

One more left...

- Nathan

T-Minus 9

2009-01-10T23:12:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

As usual, it's been quite a while since I've last written anything here. I don't really have a good explanation as for why. A lot of it has to do with the end of the semester being a busy time. People are leaving or already gone. I've said goodbye to a lot of good friends made here that, truth be told, I'll like-as-not never see again. One of the reasons I've sort of shied away from writing this blog is because I know that it's going to be the penultimate post in China. Because I don't really feel like spending a few thousand words analyzing my time in China when I'm supposed to be studying for my Tingli final tomorrow, I'm just going to make this an update on my times here since I last posted.

Christmas was unusual, to say the least. At the bottom of this post are photos of my activities on the 25th of December. We started the day out with YiHeYuan, the summer palace, and wandered around there for a bit. Some of those with us hadn't even walked on a frozen lake, so there was much exclamation and unsafe tramping over ice-bound water. After this, I went ice-skating in HouHai (a large park in downtown Beijing full of bars and a big lake) with Sarah and some of her friends from Australia and France. It was a lot of fun, truth be told, and I actually got to prove that Canadians are born and bred to move on ice. The fact that I was the first person to fall has nothing to do with anything; I MEANT to slip and land on my ass. We then went and spent a little too much money on bad hot chocolate, which is still welcome after 2 hours in cramped skates.

The cap on an unusual but good Christmas was Jenny and Me gorging ourselves on Sichuan hot pot and YanJing beer! Ate so much good food... I think I was in a bit of a food coma afterwards. Photos of our 'spread' are blurry, but also below.

Flash forward to New Years (happy birthday to Mayan in the days between), we did what everyone normally does on the 31st of December! We went for Teppanyaki at Tairyo. This is a place with downright _amazing_ food and all-you-can-drink sake and beer. We ate a lot of great japanese food and drank way more alcohol than was healthy. After this, we went to HouHai (again) to stand in a crowded bar and listen to loud, bad music while drinking sugary champagne. Saw the President of China get on tv and give an address. Sarah translated for me, though this basically amounted to her repeating to me the words that I also understood when HuJinTao said them! After this, I went home and slept for a day and a bit.

The semester has wound up as of last wednesday. I sit here facing three solid days of finals; 1.5 hours a day worth of tests for the 12th, 13th and 14th. Tomorrow morning is Listening (TingLi) at 8:00am and will undoubtedly be my _hardest_ test by a large margin. My listening skills in Chinese are worlds better than they were before I came to China, which is to be expected. I can usually understand everything that's being said by teachers and fellow students, while only understanding about 60% of what a local says to me (provided I know what the context of the conversation is about!). This is way better than 4.5 months ago when I arrived, when I felt like I understood pretty much nothing. Still, the concept of 'fluency' is something I can't even consider yet. It feels like the progress made is a tiny, tiny step in the right direction, which is somewhat discouraging. Still, I don't regret coming here. Not at all.

Like I said, the last week or three have been busy but largely within the ordinary bounds of ordinary life. I've scaled back considerably on the drinking but eat out every night. The campus food is bland and unoriginal; being more 'fuel' than 'food'. I'm stressed but not unreasonably considering exams are upon us. I've got my next semester at the U of C all kitted out and I'm looking to graduate in the spring; something I'm still a little shocked about. It's a little intimidating being this close to a bachelors degree while knowing that I need to start making serious decisions about the course of my life from this point on.

Annnnyways. I said I wasn't going to get all introspective this time. That's for a few days time, after everything in my room is packed up and I'm all melancholy about leaving Beijing.

Oh. Special thanks to my mom and dad for the Tim Hortons. I've already finished a tin. I think I'm more addicted to coffee now than I ever have been before. It's delicious and I'm trying to limit myself to 3 cups a day. This is helped by the fact that it's a pain in the ass to make a cup. Anyhow, thanks for the care package!

Thanks for reading and being patient, folks. I really do hope everyone is well and happy.

Enjoy the photos below:

Me standing somewhat awkwardly on skates. I blame the skates.

The 'Christmas' skating group heading to... WuDaoKou for something or other.

This is us at YiHeYuan (The Summer Palace) on Christmas Day.

Again, us on Christmas Day. I pretty much just liked Andrew's pose on the right. He insisted that it made him look 'dignified'

Random Stache Pic! I just found this on Facebook and liked how I appear to be grooving to my own inner beat.

Jenny and I with our Christmas Hot Pot Feast!

More photos of Hot Pot!

A Bridge at YiHeYuan

Jon, one of the Aussie's, walking on a lake. I like this photo. I like it a lot.

Sarah and Claire under a gate on Christmas day.

Lions on the bridge in the above photos.

"The Largest Pagoda of Its Type", or so said the sign. Sarah and Matthew make another appearance.

The above pagoda, this time with better cameratography skills.

Pseudo-artsy photos of rocks! Pretentious!

Sarah grinning from ear-to-ear because she's Standing on Ice.

Yinkuan NOT grinning because she's trying not to fall on ice.

State of the Union

2008-12-23T05:32:00.000-08:00

Hello one and all,

It's fast approaching the holiday known to China as 圣诞节 (ShengDanJie), which is an Anglicization of 'Santa Holiday'. Christmas is a scant 2 days away, and here I am 6000 km away from my family and friends at home in Canada.

As my first Christmas away from home, this is a bit of a shaky part of the trip. It's going to suck to miss pretty much everything associated with the biggest North American holiday of the year (barring, of course, my birthday). Egg nog, fantastic food, friends, family, drinking and yes even shopping. My plans for Christmas Eve involve the same thing I do every Wednesday (pub quiz).

On that note, my Dad will be pleased to know that he indirectly helped us win first place 2 weeks ago. There was a round on acronyms, and one of the questions (worth 4 points!) was say what all the grades of Cognac were! V.S., X.O., V.S.O.P., I nailed 'em all because Dad knows his cognac. We won the Jack Daniels and then shared it, which might not have been a great idea.

Anyhow, the last week or two has been great by turns and not so great by other turns. Had to say goodbye to a couple really good friends I've made. It's been pointed out by some of the wiser people I've met that this will always be the worst thing about travelling. Meeting amazing people and then leaving them (or them leaving you) soon after. I'm noticing more and more that even though some of these folks are amazing and the sort of people I'd like to have around all the time, most of them I won't even see again once I step foot on a plane home. It's a very, very saddening fact, but sort of makes me want to spend as much time with the friends I've met as I can.

Regardless of all that melancholy, I've got Christmas in 2 days. So far my plans consist of the following: Ice Skating with Sarah because she's never been. It's been fairly damned cold in Beijing of late, with last Sunday getting to -13 in the day (with a ridiculous wind making it worse). I know you folk in Calgary are suffering through worse, and I frequently remind people that Canada is in fact much colder than this. That's why I'm not bundled up like crazy. You should see the Aussie's out here; they're in full length parkas with toques and gloves and scarves. All this because of some wind and a little chill. Cultural differences I tell you.

Anyhow, I'm about to go lay in bed and watch a movie before trying to drift to sleep. I've been having some fairly serious issues with insomnia of late. It's coming and going, mostly involving the tossing and turning until 2:00am before I drift off to sleep. Either way, it's getting a bit better, so that's all well and good.

Thanks for reading folks. I'll post on Christmas night (here), which is the morning for you all.

Hope everyone is all well and good and seasons greetings to all,

Love Nathan

Another!

2008-12-09T08:07:00.000-08:00

Well, like I expected, I’ve been lax in updating this blog. For that, I apologize. Not even really sure who outside my immediate family reads it, but for what it’s worth the apology is sincere.

Really, there hasn’t been much going on that is of too much interest in the last 2 weeks that’s been worth posting.

I really did intend on going out with a motographer and getting a ton of motographs so you all could see me, the mo and Beijing. Unfortunately, a combination of bad weather, extremely itchy facial hair and lack of willing personnel meant that I could only really provide one crappy self-shot of the mo right before it got shaven off. It’s attached below, along with some miscellaneous (bad) photos snapped during the time I had the moustache.

In other body hair news, I did get a haircut. Finally. After going over 2.5 months without trimming or doing anything with my mop-top, I decided that it’s just hair and if it was REALLY bad I would just shave it and wear a toque. 8 kuai later (CAD $1.46 for you at home), I was the proud owner of a half-decent cut from a young man in the barbershop below my classroom.

Laundry side note: If you don’t clean a towel for long enough, it becomes stiff enough to poke someone with it. Ask my roommate. It also starts to smell funky. I’m currently doing laundry and stewing my towel in a cocktail of laundry soap and boiling water. Who knows if it’s going to work. It’s not like towels are a pricey commodity; I paid a whopping 15块 for mine, so I’m not going to be heartbroken if I have to buy a new one.

Other than that, I guess the only really significant updates are having to do with money and sleep. Namely that I’ve got less and less of either.

I’ve been sleeping less and less lately. For some reason, no matter what time I go to bed or what I do before I hit the hay, I just toss and turn for hours before finally nodding off. This usually results in me obliviously sleeping right through my alarm and missing a class or two in the mornings. I don’t really know what’s going on there, but I’m open to suggestions for helping me get to sleep.

Moneywise, I’ve tried my damndest to stick to a budget while in Beijing, and I largely have. Unfortunately, going away parties and a social life have slowly chewed away at my funds. A Canadian dollar worth about 20% less than what it was when I arrived does NOT help (though it means the MASSIVE chunk of money I get back from my dorm payment is more favorably exchanged into Canadian). I have enough left to get me through if I’m REALLY stingy and don’t buy anything big, but like I said it’s getting less and less. I haven’t touched my line of credit or my credit card yet though, so there’s always options. I’m not destitute and it’s not like I’m nickel-and-diming myself out of a good time, so most of it’s just needless obsessing.

Other than that, not much exciting in the land of Me. I DID get to make a bizarre but tasty “Pumpkin Style Dessert” one of my classmates had received from home in America despite her hating pumpkin pie. So Sarah and I made ‘Dorm-Pie’. It was a weird, weird texture but really tasty. It certainly managed to assuage my pumpkin pie cravings, which is something I’m really missing. Then I remembered Egg Nog and almost cried.

Anyways, as you can see it’s going fairly well. I’m going to tell you all now that I will update sooner. Hopefully I will hold to that promise this time!

Off to see how my towel-stew is going. Hopefully more flexible and less odorous.

Hope this finds you all well,

Nathan

End of Movember

2008-11-30T09:07:00.001-08:00

First and foremost, thanks to everyone who donated even a few dollars! All in all, you put together a whopping 285 bucks for the funding of mens cancer research!

And I got to grow a moustache.

All in all, I may have swindled those who donated. Here I get to increase my manliness by at least 3-4 times, while you are parted with your hard-earned dollars.

It's all for a good cause, and I'm going to donate $15 more just to round it up to a nice fat $300 cheque to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Canada.

As promised, I will be posting pictures of the fully formed and unbelievably manly moustache as soon as I can convince someone to be a mo-tographer. Once the position is filled, mo-tographs will follow.

I will not be shaving this bad boy off until I get at least a few photos for you generous folks.

I think you still have time to donate a dollar or two more if you haven't. Just go here: https://www.movember.com/ca/donate/donate-details.php?action=sponsorlink&rego=2022056&country=ca and follow the dead easy instructions.

Thanks again to those that have donated!

- Nathan

A Proper (and LONG) update

2008-11-24T02:07:00.000-08:00

(Note: If you just want to see pictures, they're at the end. If they look TINY, click them and a bigger version will open)

Alright.

I apologize about the lack of updates. I’m going to blame this one on midterms, procrastination and technological problems.

You see, I DID update twice in the last 3 weeks. Big updates, full of fun and useful information that I’m sure you would have all found riveting.
Unfortunately, when I hit ‘Post’, some vagary of Chinese internet meant that I lost the hour or so each time that I had put into them. Being me, I never saved drafts or anything for the two updates I did make. This time I’m going all out and writing it in Word with the 5-minute auto-save feature activated.

So what has happened since I last posted? I’ll tell you what has happened. Lots.
First and foremost, most of you who read this know that we are currently approaching the end of November. This means we’re also approaching the end of Movember, a cancer research fundraiser that operates on the reverse principle of the Head Shave. You see, instead of removing hair, men are encouraged to grow the most outlandish moustache they can for a whole month, collecting funds that go to male-specific cancer research.

So far those of you that have donated have helped me raise $225 CAD for the effort! In return, as promised, I will make every effort to post some pictures of my ‘stash around Beijing. I have a few photos of the ‘stash as it stands now, but I’m still a full 6.5 days away from the full maturity of facial hair.

If you haven’t donated yet, there is still ample time. Please go to this link:

https://www.movember.com/ca/donate/donate-details.php?action=sponsorlink&rego=2022056&country=ca

And donate. Remember that it’s 100% safe and trusted, not to mention tax deductible!
Alright, now that my fundraising efforts have been made, back to the updates.
Middle of November means the same thing for most students worldwide: midterms. It means that we have to break from drinking and partying and enter the hallowed halls of the school library and brush up on our books and our notes!

Alternately, it means going to a pub-quiz the night before your 听力 (Listening) exam and still scoring 94%. 综合 (Comprehensive) was a 98% and 口语 (Spoken) was a 90%. All well within the expected parameters. I was satisfied.

What else… various forays into the Beijing nightlife, of course. I’ve been doing the Wednesday night Pub Quiz at the nearby pub Lush every week since early October. Cat and I are the central members of our team (whose name is, unfortunately, unprintable), with numerous other repeat offenders dropping in from week to week to fill the considerable gaps in our collective knowledge. We’re middle of the pack as far as the regulars go, having reached 3rd place twice and gained a spot on the leaderboard (which, to be fair, we only played for the last 7 quizzes out of the 40 they do a leaderboard for). Fun stuff and I finally found a use for all the useless trivia I’ve accumulated over the years.

Starting to have to say goodbye to friends I’ve made at the Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU). Having made an amazing friend in one Sarah Gildea here at Tsinghua, I then through her met an incredibly likeable and sociable gentleman who was a student for a few months at BLCU. This is the sort of guy who collects friends like most people collect small change. Through James and Sarah I’ve come to know at least a few dozen students at BLCU, and count a few of them as good friends. Unfortunately their semester ends 2 months before ours does, so James has already returned home and many more are leaving within the next week and a half. It’s sad to see these people go, and at James’ goodbye party we all sort of realized how unlikely it was that all these people would ever again be in the same room at the same time.

Along with a sort of ‘core’ group from BLCU, Sarah and I tagged along to the Beijing National Performing Arts Center for a contemporary Chinese opera. This building is called the ‘Egg’, for various reasons, and is situated right next to Tian’anmen Square amongst architecture thousands of years old. Look at the picture I’ve put up below and you’ll see why a lot of Chinese don’t really care for its inclusion in such a conspicuous location. Inside was beautiful and highly modern; it made the new Jubilee look old and careworn.

The Opera itself was very, very good and the story was interesting. It wasn’t the traditional 京剧 (with the facepaint and loud, clashy music), but instead was a modern piece about rural women dealing with men moving to the cities to find work. It was also subtitled! They had vertical ‘message board’ things on each side of the stage that spelt exactly what was being sung at any given time! It was Close Captioning for a live performance! Because of this, those of us with better Chinese could at least understand SOME of the plot (though it wasn’t until the penultimate scene that we FINALLY realized that the man 大哥 was not in fact the brother of the main character, but was instead her lover). Brilliantly done and epic in scope.

In the past two weeks I also had my first foray into the Chinese medical system! On the Friday of my Comprehensive and Listening exams, I somehow managed to trigger a blockage in my left ear. 10 minutes before the listening exam. A virtually complete loss of hearing. Talk about bad luck…

Anyways, after various attempts by me to fix it back in my room only made it worse, I managed to con my German friend Jenny (who also speaks fluent English and Mandarin) to come with me to the Campus hospital and have it checked out. This is a hospital that has multiple operating theatres, a fully functioning emergency room, 24 hour pharmacy and obstetrics ward. What they didn’t have was one of those little scopes that allows you to look into someone’s ear. They turfed me out on my partially deaf ass and told me to go to the Beijing Third Hospital; a 20 minute cab ride away. Unfortunately Jenny had to go to a class the next morning (a Saturday, no less), so I called Sarah and asked if she and her electronic dictionary could come and help translate.

The next morning we ventured out. The cab ride from campus cost 17 kuai (about $3.15CAD) one way, and upon arrival we wandered into a room that was filled with people waving around a plastic RFID card and a blue form at this one bedraggled nurse. The room reminded me of a stereotypical WWII hospital; with peeling paint and poor lighting. After standing and waiting to talk to this poor lady without a card or a form flapping in her face, she finally looked at me and asked what I needed. In Mandarin. Into my bad ear. Fortunately Sarah heard and asked her where to get the card and form. Directed to ANOTHER building, we went and got the Patient card (5 kuai, or about $1) and a registration form. Armed with waving apparatus’, we returned to the nurse and flapped for all we were worth.

Finally we were again selected and I had my blood pressure and pulse taken. From the nurses expression, I think I was higher than most of the Chinese people who had previously had theirs taken. Ah well. We were then quickly shuffled into a room that said ENT (Ear Nose Throat) on the door, and were handed off to one young doctor. The doctor happened to speak enough English to ask ‘what wrong’? Between Sarah and I and his English we told him that I couldn’t hear. He crammed a little funnel thing into the ear and looked with one of those cartoon-head-reflector things. Upon completion of his examination, he proudly proclaimed that I merely had a case of ‘Dirty on the Membrane’! We muddled that he meant a wax blockage and he prescribed some eardrops to soften the wax and told me to come back in a week to have the blockage removed.

Total cost for this examination AND the eardrops? 5毛. For those of you keeping score out there, that is precisely 9.3 CENTS Canadian. Amazing.

So, to shorten the story a bit, we went back a week later and had the blockage removed. This was in a MUCH, much nicer building with many modern amenities like waiting room televisions. The removal process cost me 30Z块 and consisted of another doctor shoving a dental vacuum into my ear canal. Intensely uncomfortable but very effective. I can hear perfectly clear out of both ears!

Total cost of the diagnosis, medicine and treatment: 30.5块钱 (Approx. $5.68)

Total cost of the taxi cabs I took to get the diagnosis and such: 80块 ($14.99)

Other than that, I’ve had a very normal few weeks. Lots of going away parties and whatnot. Even made it to a salsa night (attracted by the all you can drink for free policy), though I didn’t dance. Been to a GREAT concert to hear some good quality Chinese punk and indie music.

Unfortunately, I’ve also been blowing a LOT of money on having a good time. My budget is slowly slipping toward the 0 mark, and I’m going to have to properly manage what’s left if I don’t want to dip into my (thankfully clear) credit card and student line of credit. I’m happy to come home with no money for the experience, but I’d much rather not be in debt if I can avoid it.

Anyhow, I’m sorry if I’ve rambled. That’s what happens when you don’t update for a long time. I’m going to REALLY try and make an effort to update a little bit a lot more often, instead of 1700 words at one time. If you read it all, I’m impressed.

I’d like to end this by wishing Peter a quick convalescence and that I’m just as worried as everyone else about his health. I’m glad he was somewhere that prompt and quality medical treatment was available, as this is what is going to make the difference between future problems and a complete recovery. My thoughts are with the Stivens and Peter as he gets better.

Thanks again, hope everyone is well,

Nathan

This is EXACTLY what it looked like when we were there. Okay, not really. That reflection is from a massive reflecting pool that surrounds the whole structure. Unfortunately, the only time I've seen the Egg is when it's been emptied for maintenance and for the winter. Still, it's a magnificent building.

Myself and Kar-Men posing in the international 'Wood-Family-Represent' pose.
Also at James' going away party. I may have had a few to drink by this point. Notice the 'stash though!
The group that went to the Opera! This was the entrance way (the reflecting pool was directly above this; it's a glass skylight that's usually underwater)
See what I mean when I say James collects friends? He's in the middle with the yellow rose over his chest. How many of you could get THIS many people who you've known for 3 months to come out for your going away thing?

This is just another 'stash highlight. Notice the gap where I'm apparently incapable growing hair? Hint: corners of my mouth. Remember, I have shaved like that every day for 21 days.

I know, I know. I'm late.

2008-11-19T00:26:00.000-08:00

I've written this entry THREE times now. And we're not talking a 4-line update. We're talking the longest entry to date. Three times. 2 weeks worth of updates on my life and not ONE try has saved over the three days I've written them.

I'm not really in the mood to re-write it again at the moment, so what I'm going to do is write them in Word tonight or tomorrow and post them.

As an added bonus for your patience, I'll make sure to post a bunch of photos at the end.

Sorry folks.

Movember: A Novel Approach to Cancer Fundraising

2008-11-07T01:34:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone.

This is most certainly NOT spam, and is important that it be read. If you decide not to contribute, I fully understand and thank you for the time taken to read and understand why I've sent you all the e-mail. Below are details on exactly what I'm doing and how you can donate or contribute to a very important and very noble cause.

During Movember (the month formerly known as November) I'm growing a Moustache. That's right I'm bringing the Mo back because I'm passionate about tackling men's health issues and being proactive in the fight against prostate cancer.

To donate to my Mo you can either:

1.
Click this link https://www.movember.com/ca/donate/donate-details.php?action=sponsorlink&rego=2022056&country=ca and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account, or
2.
Write a cheque payable to the ‘Prostate Cancer Research Foundation of Canada', referencing my Registration Number 2022056 and mailing it to:

Prostate Cancer Research Foundation of Canada
Attn: Movember
145 Front Street East
Suite 306
Toronto Ontario M5A 1E3

I will provide updates to this every few days on my 'mospace' page ( http://ca.movember.com/mospace/2022056), which tracks both the amount donated and is home to a blog where I can show everyone both the epicness of my red moustache and give everyone an idea of how a moustachioed foreigner gets along in Beijing.

Remember, this is an international charity organization, but the money you donate is sent directly to the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation of Canada. As such, the website for credit card donations is 110% safe and uses a system world renowned for how safe your information is. You will not receive any spam e-mail, nor will anyone have ANY unpermitted access to your identity.

I've felt the effects of cancer on loved ones and friends. I'm sure many of you have as well. Remember that every dime helps to fund the crucial research for a cure.

Thanks for your time and your contributions. Any questions can of course me directed to either me or the website of the Movember event.

As an added bonus, I will (on the mospace page) post a photo of the burgeoning 'stache' in front of any and all historic Beijing monuments and locales!

Thanks again.

Love and regards,

Nathan

Another Late One

2008-11-02T05:58:00.001-08:00

Hey there. It's been a while (12 days) since my last update, and even then it wasn't quite a 'real' sort of update. So this is an attempt to bring everyone back into the fold. There will be pictures from random adventures at the end of the post!

First and foremost, my life has taken on something of a rhythm, which I think is contributing more than anything to my emotional and mental stability. It's nice to know that every Sunday I do laundry and homework, Wednesdays I go to the pub quiz with everyone from BLCU, Thursdays I generally play Beer Pong with Ben and Fridays/Saturdays are up for grabs. My classes are starting to get harder, which is actually nicer than I would like to admit. Everything up until now has largely been review, and though I've been introduced to hundreds of new words, I'm only expected to know a small fraction of them. I'm trying to remember as many as is possible though, in the name of fluency.

Other than that, I've had a few minor adventures and a major one or two in the last little while.

A couple weeks back, when the weather was still wonderfully warm in the daytime and not so windy you can easily be knocked off your bike, Sarah and I visited the grounds of the old Summer Palace. Called 圆明园 (Yuan Ming Yuan), this is largely a well maintained park with wonderful pathways winding around stone bridges, canals, old buildings and ruins. It's actually really interesting because I had been told of the park in a history class at the U of C. The park used to house wooden buildings from hundreds of years ago that was the traditional Summer home of the Qing dynasty. However, it was all burned down when the Western forces invaded Beijing during the 1860's as a part of the 2nd Opium War. The professor mentioned the fact that all that remained was the western style stone buildings that the Chinese had included as an homage to their relations with the west.

Seeing these was actually pretty neat, and I got to give a brief history lesson about 'em to boot!

More school and random stuff. Our quiz team is a regular 4 or 5 people with a few more randomly coming and going, but we've come in 4th place by 1 point for the last 2 weeks. This week we're fairly determined to win the bottle of Jack Daniels that the 1st place team gets.

No more serious drinking shenanigans to report, as I've decided to both conserve a bit of cash and a bit of liver in order to participate more fully when it actually makes sense to go drink a lot of alcohol. That and I just don't really feel like getting hammered with the people who regularly drink around these parts.

This last week I didn't eat dinner on Campus until Sunday though! I had Korean food, Japanese food, pizza, a proper pub burger, Amazing Indian food and Hot pot. It was a good week. Halloween wasn't anything special. I didn't have a fireworks show to work, so I went out for dinner and came back to sleep.

Saturday Sarah, James and I went to a place called 爨底下, which is a village with architecture largely preserved from the Ming dynasty. Wandered there, had lunch, saw a goat slaughtered and prepared for dinner then we left for Beijing. It was actually quite a beautiful place and the atmosphere was far different from Beijing. There was even an oddly placed mountain of corn for people to sit on. I don't know if that is why they had the mountain of corn, but that's sure as hell what we did with it. It was definitely worth the 100元 and 4 hours of highway driving to just get out of Beijing for a day and experience some rural China. Definitely a neat place to see too. Our taxi driver had a bit of a crush on me too; he randomly broke the silence by turning to me and saying "我爱你" (Wo Ai Ni), which translates exactly to 'I love you'. I turned to him, turned to Sarah and James in the back seat who were just as floored as I was, then turned to the cabbie (whose eyes weren't on the road, but on me) and replied that I loved him as well. Surreal.

Anyhow, I did warn you that life wasn't ALL that exciting for the past week or two. I do have midterms coming up like a freight train, so I'm going to post a little more often simply due to being in the room more often.

And now... photos! Enjoy. They're not in any specific order. I just put 'em up in the order I uploaded them.

A sign at YuanMingYuan. I liked how the guy wasn't just climbing, but doing graffiti as well.

Me in front of a pavillion in YuanMingYuan. It's surrounded by this massive concrete maze that's about shoulder height. We couldn't think of a single reason why there would be a maze there, but it was fun to wander.

Ruins of the Old Summer Palace
Chinese tourists taking photos in front of ruins denoting one of the greatest examples of foreign incursion on Chinese soil.

Intact bridge at YMY. Beautiful stonework, all clearly hand carved.

Speakers that piped soft music AND animal sounds. If you can't import animals, have rock-speakers make it sound like you have animals.

Just a neat shot of some weeping willows I particularly liked.
Yes, those are real lily pads. They're about 2-3 feet in diameter and are real. I threw a rock at one to see if they were. They are. People give you funny looks if they catch you throwing rocks at aquatic foliage in a national park.

One of the ubiquitous flower arrangements.

One of my favorite photos of China so far. CuanDiXia at dusk.

This sign translates directly to "I participate, I contribute, I am joyful." Makes sense if you know the Chinese.

This one, on the otherhand, was just amusing. It's on a random back path, against a non-descript tree with no really interesting things within sight.

Sarah, James and I in a pagoda above CuanDiXia

James with his head in the same bell.

Detail of the Iron Incense holder at the temple.

The Incense Holder

CuanDiXia from the Temple

A really beautiful painting painted right onto a wall. No idea how old or by whom.

CuanDiXia street with the Turtle in the background

The Tiger (left), Turtle (middle) and Bat (right), all supposed to be visible in the mountains about CuanDiXia. I can see the turtle really easily, the bat with a little squinting and NOTHING of the tiger.

Signs warning that you may be missing vague shapes in rock.

This is the character for Cuan. It's the traditional form and is incredibly complex but beautiful. It translates to the verb for "To Cook".

Not just old, but high.

Another CuanDiXia street

The whole village is on this massively steep slope. This just sort of gives you perspective of that.

This is the National Center for the Performing Arts. It's adjacent to Tian'an Men square, and pisses off a lot of the Chinese who subscribe to Feng Shui. It's neat, and in the summer is surrounded by a MASSIVE reflecting pool (they had drained it for winter/maintenance when we visited).

Sunset after a rainstorm taken from a balcony on my floor. I just liked the colors!

That's it for now! Tune in next week for another update and hopefully more photos.

Disclaimer Required

2008-10-20T04:12:00.000-07:00

I'm going to preface this (entirely late) update with a disclaimer. For unknown reasons (read: coffee at 10:00pm) I managed to toss and turn my way through a colossal 2 hours of sleep last night. As a result, I'm barely lucid. Combine this with hours in front of the computer doing nothing important and a 2 hour bike ride around campus to clear my head, I'm getting that panicky edge of extreme exhaustion. I'm trying to turn that 'edge' to a good purpose in updating you all on my past 10 days or so.

During the time in Beijing I've had to experience a LOT of cultural and social adjustments to living on my own, living on campus, learning another language and being in a foreign nation.

I've spoken to cab drivers in mandarin while they reply in English (with some semblance of understanding hopefully passing through the mishmash of poor language skills).

I've been told that 'Oh! You're from Canada? I have heard that you have REALLY good Kebabs there..' How's that for a stereotype.

I've eaten ox spinal cord, entire fish (sans viscera), boiled meat (Hot Pot is a new found addiction), black fungus (mushrooms that more closely resemble firm seaweed), a pot of hot chopped hot chilies with a few slivers of beef, unidentifiable skewers of meat from streetside vendors for $0.10 CAD apiece and the occasional banana.

I've drank gallons of beer I can barely stand the smell of at home, smoked a few very terrible Chinese cigarettes and cigars, enjoyed a decent hookah or two with some friends at the local college pubs and found out what 'fake' (illegally distilled, methanol-heavy) vodka and spirits does to the body. I've learned that waking up at noon facing the wrong way in your bed with your shoes on and feet on your pillow is a really awful way to realize that you don't really remember anything of the previous evening. I've done it again that same night after a hot shower, a breakfast at the local pub and previously made plans with a big group of people I couldn't in good conscience change.

I've turned down drugs. I've thought about enjoying them, then realized that I have an addictive personality and that the punishments are far too severe should I be caught.

I've ridden a bicycle more in 1 month than in the previous 10 years. I've walked more than in the past 2 years. I've learned that 'cold' is subjective, and that wearing shorts and a tee-shirt in Beijing on an overcast day at 14 degrees will get you even more strange looks than merely being a brighter shade of human.

I've learned to 'deal' with being a minority and being laughed at for being another color and ethnicity. I've not returned that particular favor out of consideration for the way it can make you feel.

I've seen toddlers defecate on the floor of a crowded mall with no one making any effort to stop them. I've also seen a dozen kids having the time of their life riding a single, rickety old bike in the concrete courtyard of run down apartment complex a few km away from campus. I kicked myself both times for not sucking it up and bringing my 'heavy' camera with me.

I've decided that actually trying to find something identifiable to eat is no longer a hassle I can deal with. Point and pray is a new way of life for me. I will no longer be afraid of Canadian food that is called 'spicey'. That's a misnomer.

I've been offered tea in a poorer part of town by a very pleasant older couple just pouring two cups of tea outside their tiny, crumbling brick room. I had enough Chinese to thank them and introduce myself, but not to understand what they were saying in return.

I've learned how incredibly easy it is to communicate with nothing but a smile and a nod of your head.

I've also learned that not knowing how to ask 'do you have toilet paper for sale' can be among the most frustrating moments I've ever suffered.

I've had some awesome times with people I never would have thought could be friends.

I've been so bored and lonely that I've just gone outside and watched people because I ran out of things to amuse me on the internet.

I've had fun. I've been so frustrated it's nearly brought me to tears. I've experienced more loneliness in 1 month than in 22 years previous.

I've questioned where my life is headed. I've replanned what the next 10 years of my life might look like a dozen times and can't decide on how I'm going to balance my life, my goals and the need for money.

I've budgeted. I've scrimped and saved on stupid petty things and I've spent 700元 on beer and concert tickets at the drop of a hat because I didn't have anything else to do. I've kept a daily running tally and budget that lets me know how much money I have to spend every day before I leave.

I've ignored that budget when it's inconvenient, only to realize that I have the resources, capability and support (thanks Mom and Dad) to bounce back from any financial setbacks that this 'experience of a lifetime' might cause me.

I've run out of energy to continue this stream of consciousness. It's interesting for me too, though I'm not going to go back and read what I wrote. It's more fun if it's unedited.

P.S.: I had a couple tests. I got 98% on the listening and 99% on the comprehensive. They weren't big tests, more so 'big' quizzes. Still, it makes me wonder just how much I'm going to be getting out of these classes.

Hope everyone is well. I'm going to reply to any e-mails that I've neglected right now.

Regards,

Nathan

Short One

2008-10-10T20:55:00.000-07:00

To follow the ridiculously long one I posted a week or so ago.

Sorry about the lack of updates; been busy living life!

I had a fairly fun week, though it got a little expensive by the end of it.

I went salsa dancing (well... I went 'live cuban band watching' more so than dancing, as I'm incapable). Let me tell you that there are some phenomenally talented salsa dancers in Beijing. These Chinese couples were putting Cubanos to shame!

Went out for various sorts of dinners; Hot Pot (which I have to photograph, as it's a right interesting way to eat a meal), Thai, Japanese and Pizza.

Last night I played my first ever Beer Pong game against a fairly loud and obnoxious American from Pennsylvania at the Pizza place where Sarah and I were having a dinner and a beer. We were challenged and we lost (though not by much). Chugging 8 beer between us after 2 pitchers worth alongside dinner (a massive pizza) nearly had us both puking simply due to being over full.

We sat out the next 5 or 6 games (the American randomly grabbed partners and won them all). Then I got dragged back over to the table and proceeded to kick the ass of 4 or 5 more challengers before the American and I were dethroned.

Fun, but it's a gross way to drink bad beer.

Anyhow, today I'm going for a bike ride to Ye He Yuan (The Summer Palace) to take some photos and get some exercise because it's such a wonderful day out.

Tonight some random dude off of Facebook and I are going to go to Mao Live House to listen to a Chinese punk band named PK-14. Should be fun.

I'll post more often, I promise! Just wanted to give you all some time to read the mammoth posts below this one :p.

Hope everyone's well,

Nathan

Liuyang Day 2

2008-10-05T06:15:00.000-07:00

I promised pictures, and there are a BUNCH following this entry. Stay tuned. I have to warn you, this is a LONG entry. Longest by far yet. Still, it sums up the trip quite nicely.

Well, my second day in Liuyang was definitely the best. I was picked up in the morning by Amy and Mr. Xu at the crack of 9:30; giving me enough time to enjoy a morning steam-shower and breakfast buffet.

Once I was in the car, Amy informed me I would be taken on a bit of a sightseeing tour of Liuyang. We stopped about 15 minutes from the hotel and wandered around the downtown area for a bit; just looking at the concrete marvel of the Liuyang River (浏阳河). Tons of people were fishing from the bridge and off the bridge (from 100 feet above the water, no less). It was quite interesting, in a stark and austere sort of way.

After that, we wandered into a park and Mr. Xu and Amy disappeared for a few minutes, leaving me to take a few photos of the park gates and temple nearby. After asking about the temple when they returned, they asked if I wanted to take a look inside. Of course I did, so we went up to the entrance, just outside of which a few groups of people were burning funerary 'money' in massive cauldrons full of coals as a way to honor their ancestors and dead loved ones. The money was just yellow tissue paper covered in writing, but there was smoke and ashes floating through the air all around the concrete temple 25 feet from a busy road. It was a little bizarre, but quite beautiful.

We then entered the temple, where there was incense lit in every corner and gold painted statues of 3 famous figures (about whom I couldn't get a detailed story of). My camera wasn't allowed out of it's bag inside the temple, which I understood, and I had to perform the basic bowing and prayer gestures as instructed by the temple keepers before we were given free reign to explore a bit. After wandering around the tiny interior, we exited the building and got back in the car to head out toward the countryside to visit 像象 (Xiang4Xiang4) Rock, or 'Resembles Elephant' Rock. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I didn't particularly mind as the countryside was very beautiful regardless.

After about an hour in the car, we pulled up to this MASSIVE cliff side in the middle of a range of small mountains. The mountain had been carved by rainfall and water for thousands of years until a little bit of it, from the right angle and a lot of imagination, looked somewhat like an elephants trunk. Yeah, I didn't really see it. I've got a photo later, so you can be the judge. At the bottom of this cliff was a large pond (or small lake) with a dozen or so flat-bottomed river barges anchored at the shore. I stepped onto one of these boats to get a better angle for a photo, and was jolted when Mr. Xu pushed it off from the shore and we started moving around the little lake!

There were a few other boats on the water, mostly filled with kids and adolescents playing in the water and on the ladders dangling from the cliff. It was a lot of fun and I ended up stealing one of the boats from the kids. To be fair, they boarded our boat in an act of aggression first, making my actions defensable by the laws of the sea!

After a couple hours sweating profusely (it was 35 degrees), we left the area and headed back to the town of Guandu for lunch. More chili-laden food, but amazingly tasty nevertheless. I joked that when I got back to Beijing, all the food would be totally flavorless because there weren't any chilis! After lunch we headed for the Cake and Shell factory of Guandu fireworks (where I would be visiting next).

We arrived and were greeted by the production manager for the factory. A young gentleman of about 25-28, he wasn't particularly talkative, unlike the manager for the factory from the previous afternoon. Still, the factory was MASSIVE, employing over 600 people in the various operations and covering over 2 square kilometers. I asked how big it was exactly, and the manager only said "It takes 8 hours to walk to all four corners of the factory". Big.

We toured the cake production likes and the shell production lines, but unfortunately the shell side was cut a bit short because it was getting too hot out for production to continue (fire hazards apparently, though I don't really see how or why). It was VERY interesting to see the production lines though, and the workers all pointed at me and smiled when they saw my camera.

After the tour, I had my ass parked in an air-conditioned room for a few hours to watch a DVD of the Liuyang International Fireworks Competition from last year. If anyone from the Canadian industry is watching this, I tell you that we have never seen a truly 'big' show. There was one show out of the four, from a French company called J.C.O., that was probably the size of 4 Laronde shows put together, and less length to boot. They ripped the sky apart. Nowhere near as artful as the shows we see regularly, but an order of magnitude bigger.

Later that evening, after meeting a couple Americans from Flashing Thunder (incidentally the hosts of PGI next year) and chatting with them for a bit, we were all led to the back of the building for a demonstration. More shells, more cakes. No photos because I was taking notes, but interesting effects that I've never personally seen before.

Tim, Bob, Dan and Maggi: This is an aside for you. The manager of another factory who makes stage fireworks was there. His gerbs were hands down the most amazing chinese products I've ever seen. Absolutely smokeless and odorless silver fountains that were 6 feet high and 2 minutes in duration (with NO perceptible loss of height or choking off). A gold gerb that was 60 seconds long and 5 meters high with the most amazing multi-branching sparks I've ever seen. My jaw was hanging open after that one and Yuleoh (from Aurora) laughed and asked if I had found a favorite. These were amazing.

Anyways, after that it was fairly late and we went for a late supper, just John (owner of Aurora), Amy and myself at another small restaurant. Was dropped off at my hotel and woke up the next morning to begin the trip home. I had to fly economy class this time, which was just dreadful; bundled in amongst the cattle like that. I don't suggest you try it. I'm kidding, of course; the flight back was enjoyable and uneventful. Met Mr. Han (The Chinese Oilman from the flight down) at Beijing International when I landed and agreed to call him for lunch or dinner sometime in the next week or two.

All in all, the trip was a resounding success and only marginally more expensive than I had budgeted for. The start was a bit rocky, but it turned out to be an amazing experience and I learned a lot about how the fireworks industry in China is run and how their production processes are laid out. It was educational, interesting and a lot of fun. I wasn't lying when I repeatedly said to Yuleoh, John and Amy that I will definitely return to Liuyang sometime in the future.

Alright kids, here come the photos! These are links to larger versions, so if you want more detail just click the image to open a bigger one. There are a lot, but only small captions by each one.

My Hotel's Lobby

Chrysanthemum Stones. These are another famous export of Liuyang, and are fossilized sea anemones extracted from the mountains in Liuyang county. Artisans often carve the stone around the Chrysanthemums. This particular one was about 4 feet tall and cost about 36000 yuan (about CAD $5700)

Me in front of Liuyang River

Amy in front of same.

Mr. Xu and Amy at the park in Liuyang. That's not a temple or anything at the top; just a tower for the public.

Entrance to the temple. That's all incense in the holder to the right

Boats and such tethered in the pool by Resembles Elephant. I liked the colors

Me! Resembles Elephant is in the background.

Mr. Xu and Me at the Resemble Elephant Rock

Kids boarding our boat in an act of piracy!

Making his getaway

Boats and such tethered in the pool by Resembles Elephant. I liked the colors

Me! Resembles Elephant is in the background.

A worker cautiously and carefully (read: frighteningly fast) measuring lift for cakes.

The star production line of the first factory. The building in the foreground is on the powder production line

A lady putting effects into tubes with lift in them. The lady in the background (hard to see) is tamping the effects and putting those damned paper caps on top

Tube plug production. These two churned out an easy 40 in the 5 or 6 minutes we were there

Cake tubes in the sun letting the glue dry

A man pressing cylindrical stars with a mallet and a bronze form. He was making them so quickly it was mind-boggling

Piles of coal next to the boilers. These produce the steam used to heat the drying rooms.

Cakes being fused together

Lady putting effects tubes into fused and lifted cakes. Apparently she makes about 200 per day (I have no idea how long their 'day' is)

Anyone from the industry see a familiar shape in this logo? Guandu has no affiliation with Dancing, despite almost identical logos.

That's rice. ALL the roads had massive swathes of rice drying in the daytime heat on the roads all around the countryside.

Liuyang Day 2

2008-10-02T08:08:00.000-07:00

Well, after the annoyance with the tickets on the first day, I have to say that Liuyang is kicking ass so far.

I was met at the airport last night by Amy, Yuleoh and Mr. Xu (this is how we were introduced; I'm Mr. Wu and he's Mr. Xu). They were very gracious and spoke excellent english, and we chatted on the 30 minute drive from Changsha to Liuyang. On the way, they informed me that they had changed my hotel; the first one did not offer breakfast and was 3-stars, while the new one offered a free (buffet!) breakfast and was _5_ stars.

5 stars indeed. This is one of the absolute nicest accomodations I've ever stayed in. The room is MASSIVE. I have a king-sized bed, a wide-screen hi-def television (with 1 english channel), a steam shower and a jaccuzi and fresh effing fruit delivered every morning. Oh, and did I mention that after all those problems with the tickets, I realized that the only ticket I could get for the next day was first class? That's right, I lounged in the first class lounge. I flew in the front of the plane with a Chinese Oil-man who had been to Calgary many times and spoke wonderful english. I felt like a king.

Anyhow, back to the present. Today I was picked up (after a tasty buffet breakfast, Chinese Style), and was taken to the Aurora Fireworks office to meet with the head of the company (Yuleoh's brother, Mr. Jin) and his wife (Nancy Jin). I toured their sample room (pictures to come), browsed their catalog and talked about fireworks with Yuleoh and Nancy for a few hours. After that, we stopped into a hole-in-the-wall restaurant with wonderful food. The food here is almost universally wonderful, but the majority of the ingredients is a single vegetable.

The hottest damned chilis you've ever had. I swear, this food is _so_ damned spicey, I walked into a restaurant this evening and my eyes watered and I started coughing because the AIR was spicey. It's good stuff though!

After the meeting and the lunch, they dropped me back at my room for a nap and quick shower. An hour later, I was taken to two factories where I toured their production facilities for Roman Candles and Shells. These things are MASSIVE; upwards of 260-300 employees apiece. I saw most of the machinery and such, but as it's a national holiday everyone went home early. The production managers were both very, very knowledgable and VERY kind and helpful. I got a few neat pictures, which again will come up a little later.

The neatest part of the day was the tour to a remote little area just as night fell. I met the owners of both factories (candles and shells) and their families and we all sat and watched as they demoed about 30 different shells (2"-6") and another 15-20 candles (30mm-75mm). They had some VERY interested effects and I took notes about 'em all. This was awesome, and the two owners were just unbelievably nice and happy that I enjoyed their fireworks.

After that was the aforementioned spicey-aired restaurant for dinner (the restaurant is owned by Nancy's Aunt, so we got wonderfully traditional food). Great food again. They then took me back to my room and told me to expect them at the Hotel tomorrow t 9:30 for a sight-seeing tour.

I came up to my (top-floor) room and was about to sit down when my room phone rang. Amy and Mr. Xu were downstairs and wanted to know if I would like to join them on the 2nd floor of the hotel for KTV. For the uninitiated (read: me), KTV is Kareoke in a private room, with music-videos set to the kareoke. I walk in and am introduced to 4 members of the Liuyang city council, including the CCP's regional business and export manager (whose name escapes me) and the mayor of the city of Liuyang.

We drank a lot of beer. The tradition is that for a guest, the give you a cup. Then everyone wants to fill your cup, drink it all, then do it 2 more times. There were 7 people in the room. I had 21 glasses of beer in about 15 minutes. This is the equivalent of shotgunning about 8 cans of beer back to back. I sang a duet with one of their wives on the only Chinese song I know the words to and then just clapped and laughed as everyone got more and more trashed.

It's just starting to hit me, so I'm going to eat some fruit and head to bed. I'll post again tomorrow with pictures from today and a run-down of the cake factory and demo they're taking me to tomorrow night!

Thanks for reading all. Hope you're well.

Nathan

PS: Mayan, the words to Muo Li Hua are _so_ much different than what we all sang. We weren't even close :P.

Liuyang!

2008-09-30T19:57:00.001-07:00

Talking with my mother last night (Skype is a beautiful thing!) I realized it had been almost a week since my last update. A few things of note have occurred.

I went to a party for the Australian Grand Final. This is the equivalent of the Superbowl or the Grey Cup and the celebration also consists of copious amounts of food and alcohol. Australian Football is a weird beast, but a hell of a fun game to watch. I proceeded to embark on a night of drinking the likes of which have not yet been seen. I remember most of it, including making an arse of myself in front of a bunch of Aussie and English guys at a little bar. Ah well, mostly a fun time.

After a day of recovering in which I rode my bike for 3 or 4 hours to clear the system, I then spent time studying and relaxing. Did I mention that after a whopping 4 days of classes, the entire University has a week of holidays? 9 days worth. Everyone is travelling; I know some who are going to Malaysia, some to Xian and some to Mongolia.

Me, I'm going to Liuyang to meet with a company called Aurora Fireworks and Export Co. My contact there has been patient and wonderful, including agreeing to drive the 160km round trip to pick me up at the airport, book me a hotel and arrange 2 factory tours and some product demos! This should be _fun_.

Would have been fun yesterday, which is when I was supposed to leave. I booked my ticket online with Hainan Airlines, a reputable and well-known airline for domestic service. Through some technical and human errors, I ended up not having a seat last night. They also didn't have a seat today. I have applied for a refund, but the process takes about 20 days and they said they didn't know whether the refund would go through. The charge has though, and if I don't hear from them in a week I'm contacting Visa.

Long story short, Aurora had met me at the airport in Changsha and were panicking that I wasn't there. I feel pretty bad that they wasted their time and resources, but they were very kind and patient and understanding.

Long story shorter, I bought another ticket last night and changed the trip from the 30th-3rd to the 1st through the 4th instead. I hope no more problems arise. I'm 518 bucks CAD into the hole than I would otherwise have been (ironically, this was almost exactly how much I had budgeted for the rest of the trip, hotels/cabs/meals and misc.).

I'm a little frustrated, but am leaving in about 3 hours to take the subway to the airport. Hopefully, as mentioned, things go smoother. I cannot spend much more money, and if this refund doesn't go through then I am not able to buy anything fancy for myself in China without dipping into my Line of Credit. Money isn't everything though, and I'm having a good time of it aside from all frustrations.

Thanks for your e-mails and your comments. Nice to know the folks at home at keeping up.

I hope everyone is well and all is going okay in Calgary.

Love and regards,

Nathan

A photo of the gymnasium at Bei Da (the Beijing Normal University) where they held gymnastic and weight events for the Oympics. Shot at about 6:30pm; gets dark really quick here.

Classes

2008-09-24T06:55:00.000-07:00

Well, Classes have begun!

After taking my placement exam last Friday, they saw fit (in their infinite wisdom, I guess) to put me into the 102 level. This is one above 101 and just below 201. This was where I fit based on an exam I left mostly blank, excepting the essay portion (it's easy to fill 100 characters when you know how to make basic sentences).

I got to class on Tuesday (Monday having been an 'off' day for some reason...) and attended a confusing day of being spoken to in rapid Mandarin. My classmates, about 12 of 'em, seemed to have a grasp of what was being said, but I felt like something of a fool for catching about 2 in every 10 characters; not enough for comprehension much less learning.

I sat in that day on a 101 class during the afternoon. This class was for people who had zero experience with Mandarin, meaning that they started absolutely bare bones; pronunciation and pinyin learning that we did in the first 2 weeks of class at home.

A couple days later, I'm WAY out of my league in 102 and a significant amount ahead of the 101 class. I've been told varying things by varying people. From 'stick it out and catch up!' to 'go with the one where you'll learn _something_ instead of wasting time'.

I'm going with 101, I've decided. I spoke with my teacher and there's another guy from another 102 class in the same predicament. Both the professors at the 101 level said to stick it out until Friday (when we have to 'lock in' whichever class we will stick with), then make the decision. They also said they would be happy to help us figure out where we were in terms of the curriculum and they would try and make sub-lesson plans for us to work on while the new students caught up. That and it's interesting to be one of those students other kids (I use 'kids' loosely here) can ask for help.

Anyways, in other news, my trip to the Fireworks City of Liuyang is in jeopardy. I have lost all contact with Matt Palazynski of Pyro Innovations. As Matt had previously agreed to help me make travel arrangements, hotel arrangements and host me on a couple factory tours I had been counting on him HUGELY to help make the trip work. I know nowhere NEAR enough Mandarin to comfortably go to another area of the country with no English and communicate complex ideas without the support of a University behind me.

I have e-mailed a number of other fireworks companies here in hopes of getting some new arrangements in place. This includes Dancing Fireworks, if anyone from the industry in Canada is reading, and I hope especially to visit one of their factories.

Who knows what's happening. The holiday begins on Saturday though, so I need to figure out if I'm going or not and make those arrangements.

Wish me luck! Thanks for reading and thanks for the e-mails. Miss you all!

Love and regards,

Nathan

P.S.: Mayan, no Tiffany stuff in sight yet. I'll still keep an eye out whenever I'm in a market.

Tomorrow

2008-09-21T23:58:00.000-07:00

First off, I'd just like to say thanks to everyone who said some words of support or encouragement. I appreciate them very much; every little bit helps.

Tomorrow my classes start. Apparently 2 semesters of Chinese in Canada gets me into the 102 (Beginners) level Chinese here. This is as opposed to the 101 (Introductory) level, which is for people who haven't studied Chinese before or have VERY little. Judging by how I think I did on that placement test, I have a feeling that I'll be shifting around my classes after the first week or so.

Either way, should be fun. I have classes from 8:00am-11:40am Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and Class from 1:00pm-4:40pm Thursday and Friday. I'd rather it be the opposite, but there's no changing that. I can change levels, not schedules.

I'm looking forward to seeing how different the system is here! I'm MORE interested in learning how better to communicate. I'm getting a little tired of having to lean on people who have more Mandarin than me. I'd much rather be able to communicate what I mean myself, though the help is always appreciated.

Anyways, I'll let you all know tomorrow how the first day of classes went.

Thanks again,

Nathan

The Beijing Flu

2008-09-19T20:53:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

This won't be a long entry as I'm not feeling 100%. I'm barely feeling 15%.

I've seemingly got a pretty wicked case of bacterial gastroenteritis. Montezuma's revenge for those more familiar with the common name.

Coupled with the obvious symptom, I'm running a fairly significant fever, have chills and hot spats and am nauseous to the point of not eating.

I have some nuke-tastic antibiotics that my doctor prescribed for just this eventuality, but I'm going to give the other drugs some times to work before I use up one of my two doses.

Just running on no sleep right now and feeling a little crummy since yesterday afternoon. Been confined to my room, as I'm not sure running around Beijing on a Saturday is going to do me any favors.

I, like all men, hate being sick.

Hope you're all well in the land of filtered/treated water.

Nathan

P.S.: Mayan, now would be a great time for you to pay me back for all the times I brought YOU ice cream when you were sick.

On the Culture Shocked Mind

2008-09-18T01:17:00.000-07:00

I'm going to come right out an say it.

Over the past few days to a week, I've been struggling with a bit of depression. Not to compare myself with those truly combating the clinical ailment, of course. Just feeling generally down, agoraphobic and unwilling to get out of my room because I don't know what I'm going to do out there. This entry is an attempt to analyze the why and the how of these problems and feelings. Enjoy the rare opportunity to read something like this.

Humans are social creatures. By nature, we want communication and understanding from our peers. I'm of the opinion that when a social mind is deprived of outlets and interaction problems begin to surface.

Case in point: for the first 4 or 5 days I was in China I was away from a comfortable home environment with easy access to loved ones and friends to provide those social aspects of life we all crave. Arriving across the world with a bunch of material possessions, I was excited at first to explore my surroundings.

Qinghua is a massive university. It's about 2-3 times the size of the U of C's campus and has roughly the same number of students. It's lush, it's green and it's almost entirely alien.

It's not nearly big enough to prevent a 'trapped' feeling when you're inside the (guarded!) gates.

After the first few days, I met my roommate; Cristoff. A German MBA student from Aachen he is a fairly well traveled student fluent in English. Talkative when you engage his interest, he's mostly a private person. Saw very little of him the first few days we shared the small hallway between our rooms and the common bathroom, other than a 'hello' and 'goodbye' here and there.

Before going on, I'm going to let you in on something not many people know about me. Hell, I don't really know it about myself; this is something I'm discovering more and more that is an annoying trait. I'm cripplingly shy about forcing myself into someone else's social life or scene. If I'm invited, I'll usually go and have a great time. Once that invitation is extended, I'm happy to join the fold and will have no trouble socializing when they make the first gesture. I always feel awkward (to the point of inaction) when asking if they have room for one more.

Until I'm driven stir-crazy enough and lonely enough that I finally asked him if I could tag along when him and his friends went to the Silk Market. I went, met about 10 Germans who all speak fluent English (a common thing, apparently) and had a great time. Nice people, one and all.

Met a few Aussie's too whom I have hung out with quite a bit. That was a random 'my name is x, my name is y' thing in class, and then we were all eating in the Foreign Student Cafeteria and they invited me to their table when they spotted me. Note the similarity; the first move was made by them.

I think I'm rambling. I always write more when I'm in a 'down' state of mind.

I've been trying to fill my days with distractions, but it's not working so well. 3 hours of studying, a 3 hour bike-ride and lunch fills 6-7 hours out of the 14 I'm usually awake. I play video games on my laptop, but I feel crummy when doing so and it never lasts long.

Coherency bedamned, this is another attempt to fill my time with a distraction. I've been riding my bike a lot. I've probably ridden around the northwest near campus for about 10-12 hours total over the past 4 or 5 days. It's uncomfortable and my bike has just about bit the dust. Besides which, I've explored a lot of what can easily be accessed in this area. I've taken my camera with me, but I don't feel motivated to take photos.

Motivation might be my problem. Maybe when classes have started (Everyone else I have met is in class already) I'll be able to find something to do with my time or some group I can regularly spend down-time with.

I'm bored and a bored mind is a vicious one. I need cheering up, but more than that I need social interaction.

In closing, I don't really expect anyone to have read all of this.

Thanks,

- Nathan

p.s.: Here's a crummy photo of someone fishing in a canal on campus.

A Long One

2008-09-14T20:06:00.000-07:00

So I've been away from this thing for a few days, just like last time. It's been an odd couple of days, but busy and for the most part fun.

Going back to mid-last week. I had a 'placement exam' so they could determine my Mandarin abilities and pick which class I would be put in. I got the paper, and it was all in Mandarin so difficult I couldn't even decipher the instructions. I muddled my way past about 20% of the test, leaving the rest blank. Then the instructor stood up in front of the class and rattled off about 15 minutes of rapidfire Chinese, which everyone else SEEMED to understand.

I had an inkling that all was not well.

After everyone but a couple students had dispersed and I went up to the front, I learned from another girl (a Belgian who spoke VERY good Chinese and flawless English) that there are two programs. There is a Chinese Language and Literature Program (where I was) and a Chinese Language Program. Turns out, I had registered for the CLP, but they put me in the CLLP.

Problem: CLLP is for advanced learners, and includes study of classic literature, calligraphy and other such. Not what I signed up for.

Either way, my program is switched to the CLP as originally intended. A whole NEW crop of problems comes up now. My classes in the CLP don't start until the 23rd, a full week and a day after everyone else. It's also an 18 week course versus the 16 weeks in a traditional Tsinghua semester.

What this all means is that I'm now arriving back home 4 days later than I originally intended. I also arrive back AFTER the change-add-drop course date has passed for the U of C. This means that I'm totally messed up for my winter semester. I anticipate writing a dozen or so e-mails to a half dozen professors seeing if I can enroll in programs late, miss the first 2 weeks and try to catch up when I return. I dunno though; most might not go for that.

I will be returning with about 2-3 courses MAX left on my degree, provided I am granted the 5-6 courses credit for this exchange. Spring can only cover 2 courses of that, so if Wei Cai decides I only learned 5 credits worth of Chinese here, I'm hooped for that 1 credit until Fall. It's irritating, to say the least.

Other than that, Mom should be proud. I did laundry last night and today! I washed everything I owned except for the cold-weather clothing i haven't worn yet. I have to wash half at once in the tiny machine (it's only 3 yuan per wash, about $0.50CAD), and then air dry it because the drier doesn't have heat. It worked though; the first half is dried (overnight) and then machine dried to loosen the stiffness.

It's not perfect, but it'll do.

Sort of seems to be the motto for my stay so far.

Here's a couple photos:

This here is a photo of one of the lakes on campus. There are about 3 of them, and they're filled to the brim with lilies and decorative statues and whatnot. Tsinghua used to be the gardens for the Summer palace (very close nearby)

This is a photo of the Main building and the grass islands leading up to it. One of the more picturesque areas on campus.

And this is my room with laundry everywhere!

That's about it for today, but I'll be a little more vigilant about posting more often.

Hope you're all well,

Nathan

P.S.: You suck, Mayan. I wanted to go to Wil...

Paralympics and Electronics

2008-09-12T03:11:00.000-07:00

Hey hey,

It's been a few days, but they've been a busy few. I've just stepped back into my room from a very long day of wandering Beijing, attending a few hours of the Paralympics and helping a new friend shop for an electronic dictionary.

I initially bought 5 tickets to the Olympics because my roommate and his friends from Germany said they wanted to go. Then, of course after I had purchased them, he told me that they had instead signed up for a tour of the city and wouldn't be using the tickets. So I was stuck with 250 yuan (about $40CAD) worth of tickets and no one to go with. So I called up a few random people I met last evening and they agreed to take 3 of the tickets (which I sold them for 30 yuan apiece; taking a hit of about 110 yuan on the whole shebang). So I attended for about 18 bucks versus the 7 normally, but it was all good. The Olympic facilities are simply stunning; the birds nest National Stadium and the Swimming 'Cube' in particular.

Anyhow, we're all going for dinner here. I'll elaborate more later.

Hope all is well! Miss you, hun.

Nathan

Acclimatization

2008-09-08T19:19:00.000-07:00

Day... 5?

Yup, 5. Feels like longer already. It's about 10:30am and I don't have anything to do today except for study for a placement test I THINK I'm writing tomorrow. I dunno.

Yesterday and the previous day were fairly eventful in a weird, vacation-y sort of way.

2 days ago (Sunday):

I spent an hour or two wandering around campus looking for the place to get my meal card. No such luck. I then spent another hour wandering back to the dorms, where I found out that I was IN the building where you get the card, but on the wrong side of it. By that time I had already bought a couple snacks from the market on campus, and was frustrated.

I decided that I would do what many women have done since time immemorial to relax and blow off steam. I would go Shopping. That's right, I would spend money I cannot afford to spend in order to get my mood up.

I kid, I needed 2 things. A cell phone, since I was dumb enough to forget the one Ervin gave me at home, and a bike. If you've ever even seen a picture of Beijing, you'll get why I need a bike.

Anyways, I asked the desk reception girl in broken mandarin where the best place to find a bike was. She replied in broken english that 五道口(Wudaokou) was a good place to start. I shrugged and went to catch a cab before one of her friends ran out and said he wanted to sell HIS bike. I agreed to look. It's a grand, stylish, touring sort of piece-of-shit that wouldn't even be allowed on the road in the West. Still, it's better than about 40% of the bikes on the road here, and it works. It was also only 18 bucks, with a heavy-duty chain lock, a basket and a back seat.

I decided I would _ride_ my bike to Wudaokou then and there. I got on the newly purchased wheels and headed off with a vague notion of where to go. It turns out that 15cm on a wall map is really a LONG distance. About 4km of desperately unused bike muscles later, I arrived. I shopped. I didn't find anything. Then I decided on another route home, resulting in my getting lost for an hour in this crazy, dilapidated back street full of (you guessed it) bike shops. New bikes, mountain bikes, electric bikes (which are VERY popular) and so on. All for less than what I paid.

Buyers remorse. I got my bearings, I came back to campus and I fell asleep. On my way into the gate though, what did I see but a man selling brand new bikes (nice, dual-suspension mountainbikes) off the back of a trailer to other expats. I laughed my way back the dorm.

Yesterday:
I went to 中关村 (ZhongGuanCun). This is the electronics district of Beijing. Boy is it ever. I hopped a cab this time.

Did you know it was possible to get saddle-sore from a bike? My ass is black and blue, I swear. Still can't con my new roomie (Cristoff, a German MBA student) into checking for me though.

Anyhow, 中关村 is home to dozens upon dozens of electronics markets and shops. Untold THOUSANDS of laptops, computers, hardware (more motherboards than I've ever seen), cameras and anything else digital under the sun. It's downright unbelievable. I wandered through 5 of these mega-malls. 5 Storeys at a minimum, here I found some of the pushiest salespeople I've ever come across. They aren't allowed out of their store though, and there is a central walkway past the booths, so it's a lot like walking through a gauntlet of clamoring shills.

I had my noise-isolation headphones in, with some nice music in. They only came out when I needed a response to a question.

Anyhow, today's rainy and VERY overcast. Muggy as all get-out.

I'm not sure what I'll be doing.

Thanks for listening, folks,

- Nathan

Decipher This

2008-09-06T18:47:00.000-07:00

红薯干. For those of you who see that as a bunch of little boxes, that says 'hong2shu3gan1" or "Red Sweet Potato".

It's what I am eating for breakfast on this, my second day in Beijing. It's oddly tasty, especially for someone who isn't a huge fan of Yams.

Those three characters, with the exception of 红 (hong2 or 'Red'), took me over 25 minutes to decipher so I could figure out what the hell I was eating. Whatever, it's a victory. I figured out a system for deciphering some of the characters I don't understand or even recognize.

I've had a rough day yesterday. I spent over 4 hours walking around campus (which, by the way, is MASSIVE) trying to find the building where I can buy a meal card so I can access some of the scary/interesting looking food in the dining halls. There are like, 15 different dining halls, and all of them (except for separate restaurants, of which i've found 5) need the card because they don't take cash. I FINALLY got enough english out of someone to tell me that it was Building 15 (a dorm) that could dispense these, and that they opened at 2. It was noon at that point and I was starving. I went and bought pizza. It was good pizza, and for it +2 bottles of water I paid all of 11 bucks. Expensive here, cheap in Canada.

Then, I figured I would take a nap, because I was tired. I ended up waking up at 12:00am because Dustin was MSNing me repeatedly. I totally messed up that whole sleeping pattern thing and tried to force myself to sleep until morning. At 4:30am, I was woken up by continuous, rolling thunder and amazing lightning.

I've been up for 5 hours now. I'm hungry, but it's another 4 hours till I can get a card and I'm not eating pizza again.

Anyhow, who wants a tour of my living conditions? Everyone? I figured as much. Here are my 'digs', sans roommate who has yet to arrive.

My 'Kitchenette'. Consists of cupboards, microwave and sink. Pretty swanky.

My Bathroom. The shower and toilet/sink combo are all in a common cubicle. The shower drains through an open hole under the sink.

My Room. Yes it's a mess; I didn't have hangers until 5 minutes ago. Don't judge.

My room from the 'common area'. By common area, I mean a shared area the size of a washroom stall that has our two doors, the can and the kitchenette.
My Desk. The jeans in the bottom left are resting on the TV (with a whole ONE English channel). That orange bag is my 红薯干。

Anyhow, till next time. I need to go find some chopsticks for my noodle cup.

再见！

Here

2008-09-05T15:22:00.001-07:00

Well... I'm here.

It's currently 6:00am I'm sitting in a somewhat spartan room on campus at Tsinghua after a very, very restless night of sleep. We're talking maybe 3 or 4 hours tops, broken into 1 hours chunks. I've never really had serious jet lag before, but hopefully it'll dissipate in the next day or so.

I'm in China. Bloody hell, it's just sort of hitting me now. I am the only Caucasian person I have seen so far on campus (except maybe for a runner last night). It's a totally new experience being a visible minority in a country where you don't have a decent command of the language. I've been to a few different countries before, but always with my hand held or with fluency in their language.

Here I'm sort of on my own. I've used Mandarin a lot over the last 10 or so hours since I arrived. It's difficult because my spoken mandarin is decent enough in that everyone I've talked to understands me, but their responses are damned near impossible for me to make out. I say something nice and simple like

Ni3hao3, ce2suo4 zai4 nar3? (Hello, where is the washroom?)

They rattle off something that's about 15 words long and I catch 1 word. I ask them to slow down and I get a look like they are scared of me.

It's frustrating to be this helpless, but I'm guessing it'll get better. I'm curious about what the campus looks like in the daytime. I wandered around for an hour last night looking for toilet paper of all things. Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is to mime 'toilet paper' to a group of 18 year old girls because you don't know the words?

I'll hopefully get a bike today and a bank card. I'm also hoping to snag a phone so text messaging is a reality.

Anyhow, lots on my mind and more to do.

Hope everyone is well,

Nathan

T-Minus 1 Day

2008-09-03T09:22:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning I check into my airline at 8:00 am after what's definitely going to be a sleepless night. At 10:00, I take off for 'the adventure of a lifetime' as so many have described it.

I'm nervous and more than a little apprehensive right now. I always get this way when I'm going on a trip, no matter the duration. It's that sort of 'shit... what if I forget the little dongle to charge my camera batteries and can't find one over there. Wait, do I have enough shirts? 5 months... should I have some spare contacts or not?'

It's driving me a little batty right now.

I do love my new apple remote to go with the Macbook Pro though; I like being able to surf through my tunes while I pack.

My bloody moneybelt is a little uncomfortable, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.

Working diligently,

- Nathan

T-Minus 2 Days

2008-09-02T10:30:00.000-07:00

I'm a moron; I had blog set up with a couple posts...

Then I pressed the button marked 'delete' instead of okay. Being impatient, I just clicked okay through the warnings and confirmations.

Ah well; it's not like I lost months and months of stuff.

Anyways, back to the preps.

- Nathan