Good Bye...For Now

I cannot believe that this adventure is about to come meet its end. I will miss it so. However as I look back at the past four months I realize that I have no choice in the matter, I must return. I also must encourage people to take the steps like the one that took me here. Maybe not to China, but to bother to learn a difficult language and go abroad, see the world outside of US borders, it might be the most important thing they ever do with their lives.

However, I do look forward to seeing everyone back home. As I have told my mother, it is the people and not the place that I truly miss. I come back to the States baring stories and gifts (I apologize in advance to anyone I forgot to buy something for...Im not a big shopper).

I have too many stories to tell here, whether they be happy or kind of tragic. So ask and you shall recieve.

Until then...I bid you good night and good luck

Sorry...its bin a while

Like I said...sorry for the delay, buts it been a long couple of weeks. Lets see what happened since we last had communications...

I discovered that Dragon Place's "Won-Ton Soup" aint got jack on the stuff I can get a enormouns bowl of here for about 1.25US. Also, if your Korean friend yells at a cab driver for being incompetent he WILL cut the price of the ride by quite a bit.

Back to food...Im gonna miss it. Bad. Dont get me wrong I miss a good plate of Carne Guisada plenty, but this stuff is amazing, as well as dirt cheap. Probably the biggest reverse culture shock I'll have when I get home.

Also discussing food, I hope everyone reading this enjoys their thanksgiving, rest assured we here in Shanghai will celebrate in our own special way.

Also, I pick up my new suit Wednesday. A three piece pinstripe I got customed tailored out of a very nice wool/cashmere blend. Ridiculously cheap.

On a less positive note, my class was upraded from the level 2 book to the level 3 book last week, which means even more work. But if I didnt want it I wouldn't be here, so no point in complaining.

I have no other thoughts for you now...until next time.

Kyle

Study Study Study

I've been practicing characters for the past two hours and decided I would take a break to say hi to everyone. I've been busy, its been good. I had a cool celebrity sighting this week, tennis star Roger Federer. Very cool. That same weekend my roomate and I had some friends who live in Shenzhen came and stayed with us for a weekend here in Shanghai...we had a blast.

Other then that it has been business as unusual. I try to experience something obscure or new every day whenever I can, and I am always up for an adventure. That is how you make life experiences, and that is how I am trying to make mine...

Another one bites the dust...

As you may expect, I followed the election to its end...and was not surprised in the least by its outcome. However, enough cnn bull, thats not what you read this for.

Since my last blog, I have had my fair share of adventures. First, was haloween, which I thoroughly enjoyed, even though I was in a nation that does not celebrate it like we do back home. It was alot of fun and I saw how another nation views our hollidays, which was interesting.

Then, on Monday night, I went to a Kanye West concert, which was really cool. Seeing as American performer in a foreign country was a really cool experience, followed by beers with an Australian restrauntier.

Tonight I again got to witness America in a foreign country, watching the new James Bond movie here in China (a week before its US release). It was an interesting and worthwhile experience. Plus the movie was awesome.

Also i passed my last test and am loving every day more then the last.

Kyle

Home in Shanghai...

I am back in Shanghai now, my adventures in Beijing over...for now. I got to see alot, but for a city with so much history, I feel like there will always be more for me to see.

On my final morning I went and saw Chairman Mao. Well worth for the irony if nothing else. I know this is me being nerdy but I found the fact that after you see the dead body of China's great Socialist leader you are dumped into a gift shop to be absolutely hilarious.

I also saw the Birds Nest/Olympic Park. I did not go into the Water Cube because paying 8 bucks to see a swimming pool does not appeal to me. However inside the Birds Nest You can see costumes and stuff from the opening ceremonies which are really cool to look at.

I'm tired so...thats all for now...bye yall

Good times

One advantage to traveling to a random place that I have noticed is the extremely diverse spectrum of people that I have met. In the last few days, I have argued over prices with Chinese people, shared a beer with a French man, had an interesting talk with a Spanish waiter, shared adventures with a Floridan world traveler, and went to an Opera with a philipino girl from New Zealand. It is my opinion that only travel can bring this kinds of experiences. In fact I rather like the motto of one of the local establishments..."Better Travel Then Dead".


Aside from this I have had another adventure as of late... I have been the victim of Pick Pocketing. Last night my camera was stolen from my pocket, as well as a map of Beijing that I had grown quite fond of. So this means that pictures from Beijing will be limited, however I do have my video camera so I have some good footage.

Things I have seen this week include: A spectacular Buddhist Lamasary that was suggested by a friend and was very close to my hostel (Thanks Jess, thought I did not find the noodles), that holds many different very unique images. I spent some time in Prayer and reflection here, because it just felt like the right thing to do. I have also visited a very interesting Chinese take on a flea market, which was full of people yelling and shouting, much of which I could not understand. For lunch that day I enjoyed Tim's Texas BBQ. Perhaps the only legitimate BBQ place in China, a great taste of home to be sure. Before these (On Sunday Afternoon) I visited two on Beijing's Landmark attractions. First was the Forbidden City, which I recommend anyone who has the chance, PLEASE GO SEE IT!! It was an amazing experience to be sure. After this I went to Tiananmen square, which took my breath away. I have seen may pictures of this monster, but being there was something different all together.

All in all this has been a great week and worth the loss, as I am seeing what I want to see in China...

Till next time
Kyle

China For Sale

Ni Men Hao!

I am here in Beijing now, only having arrived here in the last few hours, and I notice and believe now above all that if the price is right(and the price is ALWAYS right) the Chinese will sell you just about anything. Whether it be something their "great grandparents made"(YA RIGHT) or a fake Gucci bag, everything you could imagine seems to be for sale here. It is enjoyable and comical, and I deffinately know more then a few people who would find their shopping paradise here.

For a while I thought that it might be a Shanghai thing, seeing as I did not feel it as predominately during my Silk Road trip, but being here in Beijing, which has a much more Chinese feel to it then Shanghai does, I realize that this thrill of buying and selling things to whoever will pay attention to you is truly a phenomon across all of this country.

Now that I am here in Beijing I intend to do alot of sightseeing, including Tienamen, The Forbidden City, and maybe the Great Wall(Though I saw it in JiaYuGuan once already). As well there are many local temples and towers that are very old and very near to my hostel. Which is in a very old Beijing neighborhood with many interesting souvenier shops(so email me if you want anything specific). The only other thing I am really looking forward to is a place here is Beijing called Tim's BBQ run by a man from South Texas that is apparently very authentic.

Other then that I think I will end this blog with a quote from a woman in a TeaShop in Shanghai that I think sums up much of the Chinese spirit..."Come Back. Bring Friends. Bring Money!"

Keepin Up With The Times

This week has been a good one, not too difficult. The biggest obstical I came across was trying to buy a train ticket to Beijing for next Saturday. The woman at the registar and I deffinately had our fair share of communication problems, but I eventually got the point across with only one minor snag, she ended up booking me on a bed that was a step above the one that I had wanted to take, I guess I just get to ride in a little better style on my way to Beijing.

Other then that I got a rockin silk robe this week that I can lie around my apartment in, It is comfortable and was really cheap. Great Purchase! I didnt even intend to buy it, but after haggling with the woman for 10 minutes for no reason I decided I should go ahead and buy it from her.

About the only other thing I have going on is my mid-term next week, followed by my trip to Beijing to go see the Nation's capitol. I am going by myself and am going to stay in hostels and spend the week seeing what Beijing has to offer.

Until next time,
Kyle

Round and round she goes...

Today I took a test, and I feel good about it, at least by standards of a Chinese test. It was pretty brutal. Other then the test, its been a good week, we got to visit a propoganda museum I have been anxious to see since I arrived in Shanghai. It is the largest collection of pieces of Propoganda from China between 1949 and 1979. It was really interesting to look at. That was pretty much the highlight of my week.

The Silk Road

This past week has been absolutely amazing! As a group, all of us studying with the alliance here in Shanghai met up with those studying in Beijing and took a week long tour of the ancient silk road.Our trip began with a 20 hour train ride from Shanghai to Xian. In Xian we went straight from the train station to the Xian museum, which was loaded with interesting artifacts. After the museum we went back to a very nice hotel and crashed pretty hard. The next day started with the "8th wonder of the world" the infamous terra cotta warriors. Trust me no video or picture you have ever seen can do true justice to these antiques. We left the terra cotta warriors and went to the largest Mosque in China, and we were then given time to explore the local muslim area and taste their cuisine, which was delicious!!!After the market we caught a 19 hour train to Jiayuguan, on which I shared a cabin with some Chinese gentlemen who seemed to like to collect turtles. Jiayuguan is a largely industrial city, and the day after the train ride we got to see its 2 main attractions. First, a fort that has been there for 400 years, it was really amazing. Not only was it huge but they had some really fun attractions inside. After the fort we visited and climbed to western edge of the great wall of China, which was very vertical and a very tiring climb. After the great wall we took a 5 hour bus ride to the city of Dun Huang, where we were let loose to explore a night market filled with interesting food and even more interesting vendors. The next day began with going out into the dessert. Here we got to slide down sand dunes on tobagans, and ride camels around the sand dunes, a truly unforgetable pair of experiences. The afternoon we went to the Mogao caves, also known as the caves of a thousand budas. These contain many very ancient and very amazing budhist paintings and statues.That night we caught a 12 hour train to the city of Turpan. Turpan is the "lowest, hottest, and driest place in all of China" as our tour guide explained it too us. In Turpan we first visited the remains of an old village that was created over 2000 years ago. After the village was a famous MT. in China known as fire Mountain for its remarkable red color. Then after lunch we visited the home of a Uygar family. Uygar is a very prevelant Chinese minority which dominates the North Western area of China and is very prevelantly muslem. Their home was amazing and was even more remarkable because they, like many people in Turpan grow grapes and make raisons, both of which are amazingly delicious.We did not spend the night in Turpan, instead we took a three hour bud ride into the City of Urumqi, which is very close the borders of both Russia and Kazakstan, which can be seen very prevelantly upon arrival. In Urumqi we only saw a few things, and instead of structured time we were given alot of free lease to explore the City, which was very different then any other place I had ever seen in China. However we did see some amazing things as a group, including what is considered by many to be the most beautiful lake in all of China, Tian Chi lake. Here I climbed around the lake to find a 300 year old temple to the goddess of the lake. Near the lake we visited a model of how a traditional kazak family in China would live, which was really very interesting.The next day we visited the museum of the Urumqi which contained the well preserved bodies of people who had been found in the region and dated to have lived over 4000 years ago, a real sight to see. Our final stop on this long trip was the Da JiaBa international Bazaar, which is the largest international market in China. It was interesting, because quite often while their I felt like I was more in the middle east then in China, but many of the goods they sold were very interesting to look at.After the Bazaar we caught a late flight from Urumqi back here to Shanghai, which is beginning to feel more and more like home away from home.