FOR PHOTO ALBUMS FROM CHINA
Photos from around Beijing area Last updated 6/24/2005

These are entries from May thru July 2005

July 31, 2005 11:33 PM
Kaohsiung, TWN – It has been a week since arriving here from Hong Kong. I would like to say a few things about Hong Kong based on my short 3 day stay there. Don’t go if you don’t have a lot of cash to spend. Visiting Hong Kong should be called Visiting Hong Kong for Shopping. That could be because I mainly stayed in the Kowloon area off Hong Kong Island where there were stores everywhere. The most pleasant part of my stay was when I went to Hong Kong Island. The views there are (and across the strait from Kowloon as well) are amazing. I also went to Hong Kong Park and the Peak. Hong Kong Island is amazing in part that all the famous financial buildings are on the north side of the island and light up the sky at night. Then, behind the buildings the mountains rise majestically high above them at an incredible angle. You can take a tram up to the Peak for a spectacular view of it all.

Hong Kong is now part of China, but what is called a Special Administrative Region. Because the U.K. controlled it until its handover in 1997, its citizens enjoyed freedoms and prosperity not shared by the mainland. Now, as part of China and part of the handover agreement, Hong Kong is administrated differently than the rest of China. The people seem to have more freedom to do as they like. However, I did talk with the manager of a place I visited and he said people seem to be more careful about what they do and say than in the past.

I was pretty glad to get out of Hong Kong. I really felt like it was more draining than entertaining. I can’t speak Cantonese (The native language of most people in Hong Kong) and though it was once a British possession, most people didn’t seem to feel comfortable speaking English there. Again, maybe I was on the wrong side of town. There seemed to be about a 30-40% chance that anyone I spoke with really spoke any English. It was just hit or miss, some people just ignored me when I asked for directions or something and some were very helpful. Plus, I thought the town was made for people with money. Hard to believe, but it didn’t have much cultural and historical interest for me. On the other hand, maybe that was because I just had not studied it enough to know what to look for and where to go. There was one thing I liked though very much. There was an English book store across the street from the hotel. I wanted to spend all day in it. I bought a few books I knew for sure I could not buy in China such as Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I have yet to get started, but look forward to it. I’ve heard a lot about it from some good capitalists in my group.

Shanghai (July 23-25) Shanghai seemed the most modern of cities in mainland China. The first thing I noticed was that the buildings look newer and more modern than the ones in many of other cities. People seemed to actually pay some attention to traffic signals. There were even officers directing traffic at some intersections! There weren’t so many poor and homeless people all over. There were many foreigners. The stores on the streets were clean and lively. More cars and less bicycles.

My roommate Vahid and I took the bus into town and spent the day walking around the city ending by the waterfront overlooking downtown and the financial district. Downtown Shanghai has a history of foreign trade and settlement so there are many buildings in the area that have a European colonial look.

July 14, 2005 4:33 PM
Xian, China. This is the farthest west we have come. However, Xian is a very modern city. It is also pretty clean and not as polluted as other cities we have visited. Today, we visited the famous Terra Cotta army. As I hoped, it was amazing. To see the statues, some repaired, some still shattered on the ground was amazing. It was also great to see actual terrific artifacts from over 2000 years ago. The place is another reminder of the power of the man who unified China, the Qin Emperor. An amazing figure that conquered the other great six nations of his time, and ruled Tianxia or what the Chinese called "all under heaven". He additionally had the Great Wall built, standardized the Chinese written language and weights and measures, built roads and institutions, and upon his death the army of terra-cotta warriors were built to protect his tomb. Of course there were other things that he did that were cruel and infamous, such as killing many Confucian scholars and burning their books to enforce his rule. Nonetheless, his power and influence has been incredible.

The fully complete statues are mainly ones that had to be repaired. Most were destroyed by people who hated the Qin Emperor shortly after his death and the fall of his dynasty, just fifteen years after completing the unification of China. He died after a long life for his time at the age of fifty. Matter of fact, the word China supposedly comes from the word "Qin".

July 12, 2005 4:33 PM
I’m getting tired. I’ve never done this kind of trip where you go to place after place and the travel never seems to stop. I’m taking lots of pictures, but everything is starting to spin and become a big whirl of images spinning in my mind. I have seen so many places in such a short time they lose their time reference and order. I can barely remember what I did yesterday. But if you ask me, have you been to such and such a place, I can say yes or no. At least, I can remember the names of the places I am going and what they look like. If the trip ended tomorrow I would be ok, but this is still the first week! Matter of fact its just Tuesday. We started last Friday, and there is still over two weeks to go! But the last week will primarily be in Shanghai and Hong Kong, so I expect that will be slightly more stable.

I have friends within the group of ASU students such as my roommate and some of the other guys who have similar interests. One guy also speaks Japanese, another is into Shaolin Gongfu (called Kong-fu in the US). Most of the people in the group are young. Many are very intelligent and capable, but act like they are in junior high school sometimes. The other day three guys had a contest at the dinner table on how many peanuts they could pick up in ten seconds with a pair of chopsticks. I don’t think they ate anything over dinner, but they did accomplish picking up 15 peanuts within 10 seconds. I tried it once and got eight. I have to work on my peanut picking up strategy.

Actually, today we visited a Shaolin Temple today and saw a demonstration at a Shaolin Gong-fu school in Dengfeng, Hebei Province. The whole town of Dengfeng is reknown as being the birthplace of Gong-fu and all male residents are taught Gong-fu in public schools (girls can elect to participate). There are numerous private schools in the area and total students number around 50,000. The students are cool. They are so disciplined and do some amazing feats of endurance, gymnastic prowess, and fighting bare-fisted or with weapons. They seem to be trained very thoroughly. It costs $250 for a foreigner to train there for a month, accommodations, food and training all included. However if you want serious training for a year, you have to pay $8000. After three years you can graduate. I think Chinese students pay less, but their conditions are not a comfortable, such as having an air-conditioned room.

July 11, 2005 9:00 PM
Sorry I have could not write recently. I have been on trains and buses since Friday. I am writing from an Internet cafe in Zhengzhou City in Hebei Province in east central China. I have seen Buddhas, and temples, and old Imperial Cities and fortresses and lots and lots of people. Traffic is crazy, food comes in all shapes and sizes, and the more rural it gets and more real poverty you see. But I also sense some positivity and hope as the country opens up and the economy improves. I talk to as many people as I can and I'm just happy I can communicate. Everything is pretty interesting to say the least. I don't know when I can write again because we will be going farther and farther west to Xian, the old capital and see the terra cotta army etc. I have been taking plenty of pictures.

July 10th 10:45 AM
I am in the very old city of PingYao. This city is at least 2700 years old. We are staying within the walls of the original city. The flavor of the town is very very Chinese. Today is Sunday. On Friday we left Beijing from the Beijing Trainstation and took a train going west. It was a sleeping car with several compartments. There were six beds to each compartment. The fun thing was I met some people on the train and was able to chat with them. That was the nice thing about the train, but it was crampt. I slept surprisingly well on the train.

The next morning our group had breakfast in Datong City and took the bus to the see the Grottos, or statues of Buddhas and the Hanging Buddhist Temple. Finally we came back to Datong and saw the great wooden Pagoda. The street leading to the Pagoda was very interesting. It had a old mysterious quality. All these shops with very few visitors. People outside playing card games and chess on the street. I kid you not, driving in China seems like moving chaos at times. I am sure there are some unsaid rules of the road, but is seems like chaos in motion. Horns honking all the time, people trying to squeeze through one vehicle drives, people cutting off others to pass quickly, its scary to watch.

We arrived in PingYao last night. This place was an early market and banking center for the province. It predates the unification of China and used to be the largest city in Xianxi province.

Going through the outskirts of the city I would not have guessed. Rural China is not modern. Actually it has really blown my mind to see people living in much less cleaner and modern conditions than the states. Of course I heard what 2nd world countries looked like and poverty etc, but it was a shock to see it with my own eyes. I don’t really fathom the livelihoods and conditions people live here by. I took for granted the housing, stores, restaurants, all the conveniences, cars, convenience, and reasonably smooth traffic flow, clean water, stop signs and stop lights, everything in the states. There is a modernization gap between rural China and Beijing.

July 5, 2005 2:27 PM
Sprite, the drink of choice for me in China when I can’t get bottled water. They call it Bi-xue here. I prefer it to Ke-kou-ke-le or Coca-Cola. I typically drink Nongfu Spring bottled water, which happens to have almost the same design and look as Arrowhead water bottles in the states.

Living in China and being forced to use Chinese to get things done is a two-sided coin. On one hand its good because your Chinese listening and speaking skills improve. You can use Chinese and get things done faster. I don't want to rely on trying to find good English speakers. On the other hand, there is miscommunication, misunderstandings, and some frustration on both sides of the conversation. Sometimes I feel this way when I go to the school’s office to ask questions etc. I can get the general idea of what people are talking about, but I can not always grasp clearly what they saying in detail. It is my habit to nod in understanding, but sometimes I don’t understand! So I may just look at them while my brain is processing what they just said. Give a five to ten second delay in any response and you can guess that the speaking party might get a little frustrated. You may think, well the school staff may be used to that and give some leeway for lack of understanding and language skills. There is a little bit of that, but not much. Sometimes I have a better idea of what people are saying if I can get them to write it down.

I think this kind of experience is partly what makes living overseas so exciting. It’s a challenge yet rewarding when things actually go right. The sense of accomplishment is high. It makes even the most seemingly mundane things like going to the school office exciting. Can you believe that?

July 4, 2005 5:22 PM
I was interested in buying some rechargeable batteries today. I went by bus to the largest electric store in Beijing with some other students. I discovered the building is not a single electronic store like some electronic stores in the US, i.e. Best Buy. Rather, the building is full of little stores with clerks barking at you to find out what you want. I don’t think the clerks bother the Chinese as much as the foreigners. I think this is because the clerks think they can get more money out of the foreigners. Nothing in the whole store is marked with a price. You have to negotiate/haggle to buy anything. Plus, I’ve discovered it is easy to find products that have been expertly copied but may or may not have the same quality.

My immediate impression was like it was a free-for-all. I was surrounded on all sides by clerks calling at me. It’s kind of funny or sad that they think I have money to burn, but in reality I probably have less than the average customer there. I picked a clerk and looked at some products. I had a heck of a time explaining that I wanted a battery recharger. Plus, I later discovered that I was pronouncing it wrong. No wonder I was having a hard time. They were telling me to speak or write what I wanted in English, but they couldn’t understand the English word "charger." Then they kept trying to sell me chargers that I would use for cars that would be inserted into the cigarette lighter.

Well, they didn’t have exactly what I wanted so they asked me to go to another part of the store. I hesitantly agreed and ended up going to the 7th floor then the 13th. I was just too uncomfortable with the chargers they were showing me. I didn’t recognize the brands etc. Anyway, they became pushy and started bringing down the price on a charger I was somewhat interested in. But my friends were waiting for me, so I just left with a dui bu qi, wo xiang yi xiang which means “excuse me, I’ll think about it.” And I took off.

July 4th passes me by with little fanfare. I may have forgotten if it weren’t for the English news I can read on the Internet. Some ASU students were busted last night for purchasing and trying to use fireworks on campus.

July 3, 2005 4:33 PM
Bicycles have to be one of the great symbols of Beijing. There are Bicycles everywhere. And one noticeable point is that they all look 50 or more years old. They are rusted and have no paint. The seat cushions are torn, the chains hang loosely, and the breaks squeal painfully. Most people park their bikes outside and thieves are a real problem. Thieves will steal any bikes that look new, so few people will buy new bikes. Thus, everywhere you go you will see old rusted bicycles. You may see nice expensive cars in the parking lots, but I have never seen a new bicycle parked outside.

From my perspective, the law in China is still under development. Particularly in one area, traffic law. I hear that the number of cars has really taken off since China opened its doors but traffic law has not caught up. Pedestrians be warned, cars seem to have the right of way. They go through red lights, honk at pedestrians to move out of the way, and cut across pedestrian traffic at intersections. I always am very cautious walking around in China, much more so than I was in the states. I have never seen police pass out tickets for speeding or bad driving or anything. Matter of fact, traffic police seem non-existent. I heard that the incentive for drivers to pay any attention at all, is if they get into an accident, or injure someone, custom and culture and the family of the victim will lay mountains of guilt on the guilty party. I hear the guilty party may also have to pay a lifetime of fees to the family. This is the same in Japan as well, but traffic police are much more prevalent there.

I have noticed that I have become less and less conscientious of my environment and the Chinese language as the days pass by. I start to take things for granted. I think this is part of the acclimation and language absorption process. In the first days I arrived I studied every billboard sign written in Chinese, the make of many cars, the style of people’s clothes. It just seems I was very focused when everything was new. I may be just as focused now, but on different things. I pay attention to nearby conversations and try to pick up what people are saying. I pay less attention to how to get somewhere that I have been to several times and focus on new developments. Its only when I think, “Oh that’s different” that my attention is grabbed. However, this causes time to go by faster. When you see the same things again and again, it all becomes one vision in your mind and time seems to slip by faster unless there is something different, new or unusual to attach a time reference.

July 1, 2005 3:14 PM
Today’s lunch: Grilled squid with onions, fried cabbage with slices of ham, and Baozi (steamed soft bread stuffed with an assortment of meat and vegetables). Not bad.

Chinese cafeterias operate differently than ones on the US. First you order your food, get you receipt and sit down. A waitress takes your receipt and gets your food and brings it to your table. China does not have consumption tax or tipping. So the price you see is the price you pay. This is a wonderful thing for people who are used to seeing the price balloon after taxes and tips.

There are really only two units of Chinese currency. Yuan (sometimes called Kuai, officially called Renminbi or the People’s Money) and Mao (sometimes called Jiao). There are 10 Mao in a Yuan. So when I go to buy a bottle of water, the clerk usually says “yi kuai er”, which means….1 yuan and 2 mao. 1 yuan is about 12 cents. Chinese rarely use coins. You can get a 1 mao coin back in change, but rarely. So that is another convenience, less coins. However, I have yet to use my credit card in China. Most places operate using cash. I might only use my card to just get more cash from an ATM. That is the best way to bring money from the states to China. Don’t bring any. Just take your credit or debit Visa/Mastercard to the local Bank of China ATM at the airport and withdraw money in Chinese currency. A 1000 yuan is plenty to get into town and find a hotel and have several dinners.

This was the end of week five. Only one week left for the intensive study part of the trip. I always felt that six weeks was not enough time to study Chinese in China. I wanted to stay here longer. I feel a little sorry for the other students with me on the trip. They will all be going back to the states in a few more weeks after the travel portion of the trip ends. However, many of them seem ready and looking forward to going home. I suppose some people discovered how much they like or dislike China, or how much they miss the states. I know some students can’t stand Chinese food. Others can’t read or speak enough Chinese to feel comfortable in China. Others miss their families and friends a lot. Some are just plain bored. Some only wanted to do shopping.

I will be FINALLY graduating in a few weeks. Sometime after the final grades for summer classes are posted in August. I feel free (freedom means options!) I have options I didn’t have before. That’s very exciting. Knowing more than one, or two languages, also gives you more options.

Next week we will have a comprehensive exam. Then we will leave Friday by train to Xian in central China to begin a three week tour of imperial cities. Near Xian is the famous Terra Cotta Army linked to the Qin Emperor, who unified China nearly 2000 years ago.

June 29, 2005 3:30 PM
There is an elderly Chinese guy who sits outside the foreign students dormitory for a few hours everyday. He wears a wide brimmed hat to stay cool and carries a large tattered sack. He collects used bottles and cans for recycling. I heard he can make a few yuan for every sack of cans and bottles he collects. It is the only kind of recycling to be found on campus. There are no recycling bins around campus like there is on the ASU campus. In addition to this guy there are elderly women who seem to roam the campus with their bags. If they catch you with a bottle they will wait in the background and eye you until you finish then walk up to you and kindly ask for your used bottle.

Today I was accepted by Renmin University to attend language classes from the fall. I was told they are eager to take language students. If I was to apply as a regular student and study law or some other field here, it would have been much harder. So I don’t want to give you the impression being accepted as a language student is a great honor of some sort. The classes start in September and end in January. The school faculty gave me the paperwork to also get my Visa. Now I have to find an immigration office to get that taken care of. I have to get a residency card and open an account with a Chinese bank. Those should be more new interesting experiences. They also recommend medical insurance, but I really can’t afford to get any. I have been living without medical insurance for years so that’s not new. I just have to stay healthy and watch out.

The room situation is a little tricky. I can get a room with its own bathroom for 90 yuan a day, or a room with no bathroom for 35 yuan a day. The rooms without a bathroom are on floors that have public restrooms and showers. I decided to try that until either I start making enough money to move up to a “with bathroom” apartment or can’t stand using public facilities any longer. Whichever comes first. Again that is a reason I only applied for half a year. There are a few things I’m a little leery about. I don’t know what “regular” language classes will be like here. I’ve heard good and some bad. I don’t know how bad winter weather will be. Beijing is farther north than Tokyo, and Tokyo could get pretty cold. Also, the winds travel over a long long continent, maybe including Siberia to get here. I suppose they are pretty dry and cold by the time they get here in the winter. Now its a little muggy, but I can't guess what it will be like in November-December.

I don’t even have a pair of jeans with me. I just have my summer clothes, or should I call them my Arizona clothes. It’s just a collection of shorts and T-shirts. I am a little apprehensive about buying things in China. I don’t like to haggle over prices. But the store clerks don’t know how tough I can be when I don’t have any money. It’s only when I have money that I am a danger to my wallet because I don’t like to haggle as much as I should.

June 27, 2005 9:45 PM
I was able to watch my favorite NBA team, the Phoenix Suns, and the NBA Finals on TV in China. The games started about 9 in the morning, so I only caught the end of the games, but that was better than nothing. Basketball has become popular in China, greatly thanks to Yao Ming becoming a top player in the NBA. You can imagine all the kids thinking someday they could be tapped by an NBA team and go to the states.

Everywhere I go in Beijing or from what I see on TV, China is gearing up for the 2008 Olympics. Beijing will host the games and I have seen the construction sites where the stadium and water sports facilities will be built.Street vendors are already trying to sell me hats with the official logo on it all the time. But I wonder if those are originals or copies?

Anyway, our ASU group went to the Emperor’s Summer Palace and the Forbidden City on Saturday. Both were awesome. I need a new site just to show all the pictures. However, besides it being a rainy day with little light, we couldn’t see all of buildings because restoration and refurbishing are going on all over. I suppose that China is making special efforts to make those places look good because those will be the ultimate tourist hotspots during the Olympics. Thus the Chinese are doing their best to make them ready for all the attention they will receive.

June 24, 2005 8:05 AM
Thermoses in China are sometimes built with a metal sieve at the opening. This is to prevent any tea leaves from coming out. Tea drinking is very prevalent here. I was given a few small boxes with dried tea leaves as a gift recently. I put some of the dried tea leaves in my thermos and poured in hot water. To my surprise the dried tea leaves became so big after adding water that my thermos was filled to the brim with leaves. My first lesson in making tea with dried tea leaves in China is that you only need a few.

After talking with people here, I think I have a better understanding of what freedom is. Is freedom not options? Having choices? Many people here tell me they want more freedom, but what does that mean? For example, I have heard stories of people having to work unpaid overtime because if they don’t and get fired, there is a long line of people willing to take their place. I hear the phrase “ren tai duo, jihui tai shao” which means, too many people, too few opportunities. I would clamor for more freedom too if I felt so constricted in the labor market that I had to work for free sometimes.

Its nice that Americans can visit other countries much more freely than people from some other places. Even in China, Americans seem to have a fantastic reputation for being friendly and easy-going. It’s really nice that I can start a conversation with almost anyone and see the enthusiasm.

Yesterday I went to the English Corner for a few hours. People here have a lot of questions. Some people really want to get to know me, but their means of doings so is a little strange. For example a guy wanted to write his name in my notebook. I havn’t even talked to him before or knew him at all, but that is how he approached me. I changed the format from last time I went to English Corner and asked the audience questions. I learned Renmin University is ranked among the top schools in China. I learned that for students to be accepted by the top schools they must take difficult examinations that require a great deal of study. I feel even more fortunate now to have gone to ASU without the hassle of going through a laborious examination process.

June 23, 2005 9:00 PM
I caught a cold. First a sore throat, then the sniffles. I don’t know what medicine to buy. Actually, I prefer not to go out and buy medicine. But some people gave me some tea, and that’s been very good. Today, I submitted my application for going to school at Renmin from the Fall. I was surprised that the front desk clerk is not a placid paper shuffler like some people. She will chastise and give dirty looks to the students who are not going to class or just bad students. When I turned in my application she warned me about another American at the school who has a bad reputation for being a ladies man and not going to class. I told her that my goal is to learn Chinese and that I will be attending my classes. I backed it up with copies of my transcripts from ASU where I got good grades and worked my butt off. I was surprised and a little perturbed by having to do this, I mean, its my money isn’t it? But I think some people in China may have a different mind set based on being brought up differently. Anyway, I always try to remember what the cultural anthropologist told me on the plane coming to China. You simply observe, you don’t let the differences affect you personally. Well, that is summarizing what I was told, but the gist of what I heard. Anyway, thinking about it further, you should allow things to effect you only if you decide to let them. But that is easier said than done. My friend Jason also told me something important that experience has proven right. We make our own destiny. It’s the decisions that we make now that determine what our future will be like. So like Jane said, decide what you want to do and do that. My decision has been to learn Chinese. There are good logical reasons for this, but also some intuitive reasons as well that I can’t put my finger on. I can say, though I feel I could have gone back to Japan or Hawaii, I wanted to learn Chinese, to speak it fluently, so I am here now. It has not happened too many times in my life that I decide to do something with all my heart and soul, but I feel like learning Chinese now, not waiting until I’m past 40 to start. As I write this, my roommate Vahid is singing “hug me hug me, squeeze me squeeze me, kiss and caress me” etc at the top of his voice from the bathroom while listening to his I-Pod. I hope he doesn’t get mad at me for writing this.

Yesterday we visited one of the nicer temples and parks I have seen thus far. The Fragrant Hills Temple was particularly nice because I could take some pictures of the Buddhas without being yelled at “No Photo! No Photo!” Moreover it was beautiful. I decided if I had any visitors to Beijing, that is where I would take them. Its also not far from the city.

Today I was walking around and talking with some Chinese people selling books. Because they were finance majors at the school and easy to talk to, we had similar interests and talked for a long time. I can speak more and more about various things. Sometimes its amazing that you will hear a word used in conversation that you just learned that day in class.

June 21, 2005 5:40 PM
If I can make at least 100 yuan an hour (about $12) for any part time jobs such as teaching English, I would be making more than I made at FEDEX per hour. I can get a decent meal around here just about anytime for about 6-12 yuan. I bought a foot-long subway sub (at a real Subway Restaurant) for 19 yuan about $2.28. Less than two dollars. Its funny, all the things that I need to live, food, clothes, shelter, are cheaper than the states. And I can make about the same salary I did in the states. That’s good for the bottom line. However, I want to find work that does not include teaching English. So that’s why I want to go to language school here. If I can speak Chinese fluently I can get a superior job than just teaching English and make good money. Renmin University offers an English program for about US $1300 a semester. I have heard about some other schools as well. I decided to go ahead and apply to Renmin at least for the fall semester and see how things go. I heard that Beijing’s winter is pretty cold. If I come back I will need to get some winter clothes, because all I have now is summer clothes.

Yesterday was kind of funny. I talked to some people in the lounge area of a nearby building with AC. They said “Oh, can we make friends?” I said “Oh, you mean like language partners”, and they nodded. Haha, but they didn’t know how difficult it would be! Once we started going over vocabulary, having to pronounce each word again and again and again trying to get it right, they seemed to begin to lose enthusiasm. I’m pretty diligent in my study of Chinese when I’m studying. I think they thought it would be easier. At first they wanted to exchange numbers and e-mail addresses. By the time we were done, they just wanted to leave. I wasn't mean, I was just serious.

June 19, 2005 2:25 PM
Well, I worked for the first time in China. I was asked if I would like to teach English over the weekend for about 1500 Yuan (also called Renminbi or RMB). I thought it would be good money and maybe a useful experience. I left Friday night with 4 guys from the U.K. It was interesting to talk with the guys from there. They all had strong British accents and used some vocabulary that was right out of Monty Python or some other British TV show. It was fun to listen too.

The teaching went well. I had experience teaching little kids before so I played lots of games and taught simple things like numbers, colors, and things in the classroom. The kids were really cute. The place I taught at was in the countryside outside of Beijing. The kids seemed unspoiled and were diligent and fun loving in class. I had as many as 34 students in one class. During the lunch breaks the teachers were split up and taken to the house of one of the students. The families I met on Saturday and Sunday treated me incredibly well, with lots of food, drink, and whatever they thought I would like. I was given gifts and the kids gave me lots of little, really cute, gifts as well. Overall it was a very nice experience.

June 16, 2005 7:21 AM
Last night my teacher took us to a student-made concert. It included dancing and singing. I was really impressed. The Chinese did as good a job of performing on stage that I have ever seen. They belting out songs with great voices and danced really well. It really showed me a different side of Chinese people. I always expected that the best performers would come from the states, but the Chinese were great.

They also displayed variety I never expected. One kid danced to hip-hop music, two twins played accordions together, others sang modern popular Chinese hits and others sung some nationalistic patriotic songs.

I also was surprised how outgoing the audience response was. They of course clapped, but some yelled out and really were enthusiastic. I like that Chinese people can be modest but also enthusiastic and outgoing.

Afterwards, we went to a Chinese restaurant. I ordered Kung-pao Chicken and spicy Tofu …regrettably. The spicy Tofu was so spicy I could hardly eat any of it. And we ordered too much and couldn’t finish it. Fortunately, China also has Take-home boxes so we don’t waste the food.

June 14, 2005 2:30 PM
I just finished a conversation test in Chinese. A fellow student and I made up a dialogue in Chinese, memorized it and recited it in front of our teachers. I was complimented that my tones had really improved. That is good! When I hear that, I feel like wanting to stay in China because I don’t want to lose what has been hard to get.

Last night I played a kind of hacky-sack with several Chinese people. Their hacky-sacks are different from the one we used in the US. It was like a ball with feathers sticking out. I will try to get a picture. Anyway, it was fun and I could learn words the Chinese use when playing games. Like Hao-qiu literally means “Nice ball”. I think it figuratively means “nice shot” or something like that. Anyway, they also say piao-liang or “beautiful”. Though in the states we never say “Beautiful!” when playing hacky-sack, because it sounds strange, you can’t expect the Chinese to know that.
Related news: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050613/ap_on_hi_te/microsoft_china

June 13, 2005 3:05 PM
You can’t drink tap water in China. You can only drink it or even put it your mouth after its been boiled. I hear that this custom is so ingrained into Chinese people that they will boil their water even if they go to places like the US. We have to thermoses in our room. We can go anytime downstairs to a machine that provides hot water 24 hours a day. The thermoses are metal but have wooden corks in the top. I usually don’t drink that water though. I usually buy bottled water in the convenience stores. For about 1.2 Yuan (15 cents) you can buy a 600 milliliter bottle of water. I think bottled water in the states is a little cheaper.

Today our teacher taught us a Chinese song. This was good practice for improving our speed, hearing, pronunciation and tones. (The MP3 file is too big to put on the site!) Its not a bad song, I may try to translate it too. The gist of it is, there is always sunshine after the rain.

I think I have been here for about two weeks and the haze over this city has disappeared for only about three of those days. Its not a dark haze, but a whitish haze, like particulates. I don’t suppose it is in any way good for your health. I wish the Chinese would take the lead in solar energy technology, but I don’t see that happening soon. I hear the most of the pollution comes for the Chinese use of coal powered electric generators. But the pollution doesn’t seem much more than Los Angeles. However, I’ve never seen a Chinese newscast that mentioned something like “health hazard warning issued for high levels of particulates and ozone” or anything like that. The Chinese seem to have a “At your own risk” policy. For example, custodians around the campus mop the floors and leave the mops in the halls. They don’t put up signs that say “WET FLOOR”. I think they think, if you slip and break your arm, it’s your fault for not watching out.

June 11, 2005 9:27 PM
Today we went into Hubei Province, about a three hour bus ride outside of Beijing to visit the Qing Dynasty Tombs and Palaces. The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty and one of the longer Dynasty’s in Chinese history. The Qing Dynasty started in the 1700s (I’ll have to investigate later to get specific dates) and lasted until the turn of the last century. The last building we visited was built in 1909.

These buildings were very pretty. The bigger buildings with yellow tiles were for the emperors and the green tiled buildings are for his wives and concubines. One place we visited for the concubines numbered 21 tombs. They were lined up by which concubine had the most seniority.

One thing I have also noticed is that the Chinese have not protected these cultural and historic landmarks as well as Americans have done to our own. People sit on and touch statues that are very old, maybe as much as 300 to 500 years. People can touch and damage things all around. I don’t mind not being allowed to get too close to objects in order to preserve them. I supposed I’m used to it from going to parks in the states.

The bus ride was interesting in its self. I have noticed that construction is going on everywhere. I constantly get the feeling of movement and activity. The Chinese certainly seem to be positive about the future of their country. I think the general feeling is they are glad and welcome change.

I have noticed that Chinese people are everywhere. They are on the side of the road even on the super highways. They are out in the fields. They are on street corners and sitting outside their shops along the streets. Maybe it is because its summer and hot inside. Also, I get the feeling wherever one or two people might do, there are four or five people doing the job.

Another thing I have discovered is that Chinese people make holes in the pants of their children. I was looking at a kid, who seemed to have nice, well-to-do parents but he had a big clean cut hole in his pants from front to back. I pointed it out to other students with me and they said, “Mark didn’t you know?” I am told many little rural Chinese kids just go to the bathroom wherever is convenient. They don’t even mess with pulling down their drawers.

Finally, after we got back, some friends and I went to play basketball at a local playground. The basketball park was packed, but we got to play. We got beat by the Chinese kids, but I learned the word for “foul” in Chinese is “gui”, pronounced “gu-way”

June 10, 2005 5:02 PM
Some people have said that my journal is full of spelling errors. Well to that I say, its full of grammar mistakes too! But I will be writing on MS Word first so I can at least spell check my material.

There is a elderly Chinese man who sits out in front of the main lobby of the building everyday collecting plastic bottles for recycling. I think that is his means of supporting himself. Many of the students including myself give him the used plastic bottles. Recycling is not big here as I can tell. I don’t see any recycling bins or centers around campus. But neither country is nearly as recycle conscious as Japan. I’ve met some Japanese people on campus and talked with them. They are very friendly and all seem to like China very much. I didn’t have the heart to ask them about how the feel about the anti-Japanese sentiment in the papers, but it obviously doesn’t bother them to the extent that they will leave.

Mosquitoes are a pest. We were given little electric machines that we plug into the wall. You are supposed to insert a small stamp sized film of something into the device and it will issue forth anti-mosquito vapors or something. It seems only somewhat effective. Vahid and I lowered the temperature on the AC, but that didn’t seem to be effective either and we were freezing. Finally we played with the window and screens to come up with a method to make it more difficult for them to get in. We didn’t realize that the windows were not completely sealed and there was enough space for bugs to get in. Since we changed the window dynamic, bugs have become less of a problem.

I got my first real compliment from my Chinese teacher today. She saw that I was working hard on my pronunciation and told the other students that I was diligent and that they should emulate my effort. Wow, that was a nice compliment.

But honestly, for me to be fluent in Chinese I need a lot of work. I’m not even close. When I ask people questions or get their responses the facial responses I get as well as the amount I can understand from their answers is not good. I am better at understanding the teachers in class, but still have problems with simple conversation outside of class.

June 8, 2005 7:20 PM
Visiting Arizona Secretary of State Janice Brewer and company took all of the students out to dinner last night. It was a fancy Chinese restaurant and including music, singing and lots of food. The singers wore Mongolian clothing and sang Mongolian songs. They were dancing and many of students joined in the fun. However, I was too busy eating to stand up and partake. But many of us got sick as of today. Fortunately I have several pills for bacteria caused diarreah.

After class today we went to the Song Mansion and the Bell Tower. The Song Mansion was the home of some of the wealthiest people in the Qing Dynasty. It looked like a giant park full of rocks, trees, water, and pavilions. It was beautiful. We had riksha drivers take us to the location. Riding in these rikshas may have been the most terrifying thing so far in Beijing. They went really fast up and down these alleys, crossed traffic without a green signal, and crossed in front of on coming traffic. They didn't know the word line up, they were always trying to pass each other. One actually crashed when three tried to go through the same narrow opening at the same time. And their brakes consisted of a steel cable that ran from the handlebars to the rear tire. There were no hand breaks. When the driver wanted to break he took his foot off the peddle and stepped on the cable. You could see the cable had a counter weight underneath the carriage like half of a brick strung to the cable, and several used plastic bottles filled with water. Another thing that has not been introduced to China is break fluid. These tires squealed like mad. Annie and I gave our driver a tip of 10 yuan because he didn't get us killed.

The bell tower was cool. In central Beijing are the big towers. They would beat drums or hit the bell to help people keep time, mark celebrations and other rituals. The bell is still rung here at the beginning of the Spring Festival.

June 7, 2005 7:12 AM
I learned how to play Chinese Chess yesterday. Vahid and some of the other students were able to borrow a board and pieces and had a English speaking Chinese person teach them how to play. To me, it is a combination of Western Chess and Japanese Chess. But like all chess games, checkmating the opponent's king is the way to win. About four or five of us were really getting into it, when an older Chinese guy passed by and started watching. He seemed to know how to play the game and Vahid, one of the better players among us challenged him. Of course the older Chinese guy really knew what he was doing and quickly won. Another interesting aspect of the game is that the inferior player always makes the first move.

I had to quit early and finish up an essay in Chinese. The assignment was to write about if you were the emperor, how would you protect your people against the Mongol hoards. I wrote that I agreed with emperor's in the Qing Dynasty that to rebuild the Great Wall would be a waste because the Mongols had been able penetrate it several times over history. Rather I would have little mini-fortresses built throughout the countryside where people could escape to in an emergency. They would store lots of food and water and be filled with anti-horse and siege weapons. It would be like a minefield for the invading Mongols and would slowly use up their energies attacking these mini-fortresses. The Mongols would have to divide up to effectively attack all these fortresses scattered throughout the country. Hopefully the Mongols would lose interest and go back north.

June 6, 2005 11:47 AM
What is freedom? At least three or four Chinese have told me they don't have freedom. They said they feel "pressure", though I have not yet discerned from where. When I heard Chinese talk about freedom, my first thoughts were "what are they missing." I mean, they seem to think, say and do whatever they want. But I have discovered they do have some roadblocks against them. For example, Chinese can not easily leave their country and visit other countries. Matter of fact, few of the Chinese I have met have ever left China. Many can speak some English and have knowledge of foreign countries, but because of the difficulty of getting permission from the Chinese government and foreign governments as well as costs, the average Chinese doesn't seem to do much travel overseas if at all. I feel like the state of mind I brought from America, the feeling that I am free to think, speak, and move around as I want is very nice. Many Chinese ask me where I have been. When I said Mexico, Canada, Singapore, China, etc, they seemed more envious of the fact that I could go wherever I wanted rather than the fact that I had been to those places. Of course for me it would the opposite. I would say, wow I wish I could go there, and the idea that I couldn't because of visa difficulty would barely enter my mind...

Chinese class starts at 8 AM and finishes at 11:30. We have a 30 min break. We usually have two teachers, one for the early morning session and another after the break. We usually read new vocabulary and go over the reading. The teachers speak and explain everything in Chinese, rarely using any English. I don't know if one can understand English at all. There are 3 students in the class now, so there are plenty of opportunities to ask the teachers questions and practice.

I need to take some pictures of the chalkboard. Just looking at the chalkboard covered in Chinese characters is a real spectacle for me. I never would have dreamed that I could be having this experience. Yes, its like a dream sometimes. But what's even more amazing is that I can understand it. Not everything, not even 90%. I can only pick up about 80%+ of what my teacher is talking about at any given moment. But when I ask questions, or the teacher writes the characters on the board, or other techniques, like mimicking an action, the level of understanding goes up. Also, Chinese sounds are hard to grasp and reproduce for me. This experience in China is surely helping to improve that deficiency.

June 5, 2005 11:45 PM
I saw something today that I only could imagine for so long. The Great Wall of China. The most amazing thing to me about the wall, other than the fact it is several thousand miles long, is that it runs over the very peaks of the highest mountains. I actually didn't even know that Beijing was surrounded by mountains to the north and that the the part of the Great Wall that I saw was directly responsible for protecting the capital.

The part I saw had been partially restored. The actual unrestored parts of the wall looked like what a ruined and eroded wall might look like after several hundred or so years.

Also, the Great Wall is very steep. It took alot of energy to get up and down it. The air was hazy all day. I wondered if that haze comes from pollution emanating from Beijing.

June 4, 2005 6:15 AM
Last night I went to English corner. Its a park near my dormitory where people gather to speak English. I got there about 6 PM. Upon arriving I was immediately surrounded by about 30 Chinese people asking me questions. Their questions including everything like trivial matters like who do I think will win the NBA championship and Yao Ming, to what are my feeling about the Declaration of Independence, abortion, relations between the US, Japan and China, and what do I think of George Washington. I was really impressed when they would quote from the great documents of our democracy and ask how I felt about them or why they were important. I talked for about 4 hours. The students even went to buy water for me on several occasions so I didn't lose my voice.

June 2, 2005 8:33 PM
Manners that you would expect in the US can not be taken for granted in China. For example, tonight I bought some water bottles, and I mistakenly gave the lady a 5 Jiao bill instead of a 5 yuan (10 Jiao in One Yuan) bill. She got upset and raised her voice at me when I wasn't in complete understanding at the counter. On second thought, I've seen American clerks do the same thing to foreign students around the ASU campus as well. Their eyes roll, they raise their voices, they act like how in world can these people not understand what the problem is. I decided to pay more attention to the bills in my wallet.

My sense of humor doesn't always get acknowledged here either. Sometimes I crack a joke with Chinese people, that I think would be funny in any language, but they act like the wind just blew by, no expression just a blank stare.

I am hoping to make some Chinese friends here. But my luck has not been good thus far. I was sitting at the lunch table in the cafeteria when some guys next to me struck up a conversation. They didn't seem like people I would really want to be friends with, but I figured we were all trying to learn each other's languages. We had only been talking a couple minutes when one guy said what was my cell phone number. I said I didn't have one. Then he said "Well what's your room number." Well I sure as hell didn't feel like giving him that. I don't think that would be something Americans would ask right away. So I said why? And he said so we could talk later. I said we can talk now, and he began to ignore me like I offended him. Well, I decided not to care too much. But I forgot that people in the orient can be much much more forward without hesitation than we in the states.

June 2, 2005 6:17 AM
Finally, one night of pleasant sleep. I went to bed around 10 last night and woke up around 6 am. I am on my way to getting over jet lag. This is probably due to the fact we had a field trip yesterday after class and we were all exhausted by the end of it. It was really exciting though. A trip to a Buddhist temple, Yong He Lamasery, The Temple of Confucious where the imperial civil service exams were taken for the last several dynasties (including Kublai Khan's era, and finally the Peking Opera house. The pictures are on the photo album.

The Lamasery was great. however, we were not allowed to take pictures inside the buildings. They housed many great statues of Buddhas and Boddhisattvas including one of Maitreya, the next Buddha, carved out of a single tree (but looked as big as 10 trees) who was 18 meters high (really high!). It was really cool. I knew who he was too, because I took the Buddhism class last semester.

The Temple of Confucius was important historically because that is where the people took the civil service exams to join the imperial government. There were giant stones the had listed the names of those who passed the top test, or Jinshi exams for like the last 1000 years. This temple was in some ways at the epicenter of the Confucian Tradition as institutionalized by the various imperial governments for centuries. I think it was somewhat neglected over the past 100 or 50 years as a symbol of traditionalism.

Later we visited Culture Street, where you can buy all the antiques, drawings, little statues etc by professional artists that you can imagine. I almost bought a little stone in which they would have inscribed my name for free at 150 yuan. But decided it was too expensive and would bargain down later when I had the time.

Finally, we went to the Peking Opera. I thought maybe it would might be a little boring, but by the end of it I was so impressed I was trying to sing and dance like one of the performers. I have never seen acrobatic feats in a live performance that were sooooo amazing. The costumes, singing and dnacing were nice too. The translations into English of what the performers were saying were on a electronic billboards on both sides of the stage, but they need a native speaker to check them.

When Vahid and I got back to the dorm, we immediately crashed.

June 1, 2005 5:47 AM
I personally don't like to look at the heads of animals whose bodies lie in front of me waiting for consumption. Last night a visiting professor from ASU, Dr. Wong took us out for the famous Peking Duck. The first dish was a medium sized chicken with the head cut off but still on the plate. Why, you ask. I assumed it is Chinese style to do so. But nowadays, that doesn't stop me from eating the meat. The final dish, the Peking Duck, is not what I thought it would be. It is cut up duck meat that you put on top of a small flour shell, like a tortilla shell. You add cucumber and sliced onions dipped in a thick sauce. Roll it like a taco and eat. Its the sauce that really makes it delicious. I also tried Chinese beer. I think it was called Beiyang. It was some of the best beer I've ever had. My general commentary on Chinese food here thus far is, it is pretty good, but sometimes too exotic.

Last night's meal made up for a difficult day. I discovered I was in over my head in these classical Chinese classes that were required for my major. By the end of class yesterday I was so distressed that I went straight to the ASU group leader and made the choice to drop down a level. That means I will not get the degree I hoped for in Chinese unless I go back to ASU for another year, and that is probably not going to happen. But I expect my new class to be right what I want and need as far as modern Chinese proficiency. I checked the text book and talked with fellow students about this new class and heard good things, so I feel like I'm back on track to completely enjoying my stay and study.

May 31, 2005 5:42 AM
I'm still dealing with jet lag though I've been here for a few days. I woke up a couple of hours ago and couldn't get back to sleep. I look at my computer clock which is still set for Arizona time and its about 2 PM. Yesterday, after class, a bunch of the students and I went to a mall-like building across from the universtiy called "Modern City". It looked as nice or nicer than any mall I've ever been into the states. The lighting was great, super clean, and all the stores with all the things you might want in China. It even had staff outside to help cars get in and out of the parking lot quickly. On the top floor there was a food court. But compared to American mall food courts, this was like Heaven's food court. There was so much actually delicious looking food for unbelievable prices. Like a 10 inch diameter plate packed 2 or 3 inches high with delicious looking chinese food for 10-12 Yuan, that about $1.20 to a $1.48!! Having eaten Chinese alot lately, I opted for a Japanese dish that a little pricier. A giant plate of Curry rice, a bowl of Miso soup, and I added a hefty sized salad bowl. Total: 28 Yuan, or $3.36. Anyway, many of us agreed we would eat there more often.

I went shopping in the market downstairs. I bought a loaf of bread for 3 yuan ($0.36) and two oranges for 20 yuan ($2.40) which was a rip-off maybe anywhere, but I wanted some vitamin C. Chinese food has plenty of vegtables but not enough fruit. Now that I think about it, I should have gone to a fruit stand, they are cheaper.

It's good practice to talk with the shopping clerks. I had to determine how much the oranges were. And they told me 10 Yuan per jin. I didn't know how much a jin was, so I had ask well how many oranges in a jin. It turns out to be about 1 orange.

In the evening about 8 of us went to the field and played ultimate frisbee. Many Chinese stood by and watched us. Some looked like they were thinking what the hell are we doing, and others seemed like they wanted to play. One eventually did join us.

On a bad note, I found out my classes will be more focused on Classical Chinese than modern. Its a bit of a bummer for me because modern Chinese would be more useful now in this enviroment. Also Classical is much harder and will require alot of effort, which will cut down of my out-of-class activities. But if I want to get a major in Chinese through Arizona State University, this is what is required.

I've already decided I really enjoy being in China and want to stay. I wish after these classical Chinese are over that I could enroll in regular Chinese courses at Renmin University like some other long-term students I've met.

By the way, I was warned to not eat salads because they are washed in un-boiled water. But I didn't get sick.

May 30, 2005 1:30 PM
Today was the first day of class. My professor is Ms. Zhong. The class focused on Chinese a 4th year student would study. There is only one other person in my class, Gordon. Gordon knows how to speak Cantonese because his family is from Hong Kong. We are at about the same level of Mandarin, but his pronunciation is better. We were given three textbooks. One for practicing conversation, another for reading exercies, and one as an introduction to classical Chinese. I'm happy we'll be studying both modern and classical in class. Ms. Zhong spoke in Chinese over the entire class period. My concentration was a little exhausted by the end of the period. I suppose this is what intensive study is all about. But I was happy that nothing was beyond my grasp of understanding. I had to ask some questions and get clarification on some things (by asking in Chinese, and being answered in Chinese) but that is the best way to learn. Tomorrow, we'll have a different teacher for Classical studies.

One interesting note, Ms. Zhong brought a bottle of a brownish colored drink with what looked like bean sprouts at the bottom. I asked her what it was and she said because she expected to talk alot, this special drink would help save her voice. I didn't ask her what was in it, but never having seen anything like it in America, I thought it was possibly some kind of Chinese medicine and interesting.

May 29, 2005 2:00 PM
I love the stop lights in China. They have a special signal for bicycles! There are 26 students in our group, I think its kind of unwieldly, because it takes some time to get from place to place and have everyone on the same page. The level of Chinese among the students varies as well. We had breakfest at a little restuarant. For 6 Yuan or about 75 cents I ate a bowl of noodles with egg and pork. It was pretty good, and I was full. Later we visited Book City in Beijing(Zhongguo Haibian Tushu Cheng). It was more like a street with lots of book stores than a city. I bought a nice guide book in English for Beijing for 68 yuan (U.S. $8.16). China does not have a consumption tax as far as I can tell. And I have not had to tip any Taxi drivers or anyone as well.

May 27, 2005 10:41 PM
Beijing, China. I left Phoenix around 10 AM on the 26th and arrived in San Fracisco about noon. I had to make my way from the Domestic to International Terminal, which wasn't much trouble. I went to the China Air counter. Most people in the line looked Chinese. There were a few non-asian looking people scattered around, but few enough that if you saw one you felt like starting up a conversation like "What are you doing here?" The plane was one of the jumbo trans-pacific planes that have ten seats accross in the economy class. 3-4-3 pattern with two asiles. I did notice the stewardesses where not as cute as those on Singapore Airlines.
To see Photo Album click here It takes a few minutes for all the pictures to show up.

I sat next to the aisle, on the other side was a older woman from central China. It was a little bit of a lonely flight, becaue the older woman seemed content not to talk with me. As far as in-flight entertainment, China Air is deffinately not on the same class as other airlines I have flown. But the funniest moment came when we were about midway through the flight and they showed an in-your-seat exercise/loosen up video. I had never seen that before. And the video instructor was doing stretches and moves in her chair that I was embarrassed to attempt in mine.
It was fun when the stewardess asked us what we wanted to eat and drink and I answered in Chinese. Also it was fun to hear in-flight announcements spoken in Chinese. I could feel like I was really on my way to CHina.
Upon arriving I found an ATM machine to withdraw money and passed immigration and customs without any delay. Upon exiting customs though I was barked at about getting a Taxi. These barkers were a little too aggressive so I got suspicious and seeked out an information desk. I was able to find a Hotel Reservation counter and they were professional and spoke English. But the 5 star hotels were expensive, I settled on a two star hotel in downtown Beijing for 280 yuan. 1 dollar equals 8.28 yuan. I also got a taxi into Beijing for 100 yuan (about $20). My hotel room is certainly not above two stars, but it meets all my needs. The Television gets about two channels, there is just a shower head over the floor in the bathroom, the toliet seat is too small for the size of the toilet. The hotel staff put there laundry out in front of their rooms and some sleep in the lobby at night. But the location is nice. I easily found an Internet Cafe where I could send an e-mail to my family and let them know I arrived safely.
TOmorrow I can check-in to Renmin University. Before I go to check-in I plan to do a little walking around and check out the area more. After all this is downtown Beijing.

May 23, 2005 7:45 AM
Today is Moving Day! I will move from my studio apartment to Mom's house. Since I will be in China, TWN, or somewhere in Asia for a while, I can't keep the apartment. Too bad the temperature is so hot. It is expected to be over a hundred degrees today. However the fan for the cooler blew out just last night, so the timing of the move is about right. I don't think I have many things. Dad and I will rent a trailer and should be able to move almost everything in one trip.

May 21, 2005 7:39 PM
Last night the family got together for a little early graduation party at a really nice italian restaurant. It was really nice to have everyone together and laugh and have fun. I ate and drank merrily. The fact that I have almost graduated hadn't really dawned on me yet. I have just a few more classes to take in China and I will be finished.

May 18, 2005 1:04 PM
Today I return to Phoenix. This past week in Indiana has been very nice. I helped around my grandparents house. I fertilized roses, planted many flowers and tomato plants, trimmed the trees. I went to a the banks of Wildcat Creek and the Wabash River. I saw Battleground Park and the place where the Tippeconue River meets the Wabash. I even went to a farm and had a chance to see an old style farm house, farm machinery, and fed live farm animals including a horses, pigs, sheep, cows, and chickens.
I was really impressed by the pig. It's hair was strong as wires and its hide as rough as leather. Its body was thick and hard like a rock, I thought it was muscle. The air is really fresh. Unlike Arizona you can take a deep breath and almost taste the freshness of the cool, moist air.
I ate lots of good, wholesome meals, watched a few interesting movies, and started to read some interesting books. I really got to talk with and enjoy time with my grandparents.

May 12, 2005 4:15 AM
Good Morning. I'm waiting inside Sky Harbor Airport in lovely Phoenix, Arizona, waiting for my flight to depart. I've heard that I'm supposed to arrive 2 hours early for my flight, but I feel like 1 hour is early enough. Better safe then sorry I suppose.

I'm off to beautiful West Lafayette, Indiana to visit family for a week. Just yesterday, I finished possibly my last semester on the ASU campus. I say possibly, because I might someday go back as a graduate student.

This last semester was a least the busiest I think I've ever experinced at school. 18 credit hours of upper division Asian Studies courses and an Internet course. If it wasn't for the Internet course and learning more about HTML, I wouldn't have built this nice website. In addition to coursework I was in the Japanese Speech Contest (taking second in the highest division) and I spent time training for the Intercolliegent Racquetball tournament. Any time left over to socialize was not easy to find.

I took an extra course this semester so I could meet all the requirements needed before going to China and getting a major. It felt like, its one thing to get a major in Japanese, but it would be special to get a major in both Japanese and Chinese. It would make my college experience worth while and hopefully make me more valuable to a future employer, even if I start my own business and I am the employer.

Now its time to put those new skills to use in China. I look forward to going to China and TWN and really improving my listening and speaking skills. To complete the major, I must take classical Chinese in China rather than simply Chinese conversation, but to completing the major quickly is a key reason for the trip.

May 07, 2005 10:49 PM
Still not there yet. Just finishing off this semester. I have a project, a paper and two more final exams by Wednesday. then its off to Indiana to visit family. Then its back here to prepare to go to China. Things I need to get:

1. Electric Adapter
2. Digital Camera

May 02, 2005 12:37 PM
Well, I'm not there yet! I don't leave until May 26th. I will fly from Phoenix to San Francisco, then directly to Beijing China. The school I will visit is called Renmin University.
I will stay at Renmin University for six weeks studying classical Chinese. Then my classmates and I will travel the around the country visiting cities and sites such as the Great Wall, the cities of Shanghai, Nanjing, and Hong Kong etc etc.
Anyway, more later