Some Things Never Grow Old

When I was a little kid, well, even at a not so little age, I used to get sick at least every other month. This occurred throughout high school resulting in me missing many many days of school, which I guess isn’t that bad. These bouts of sickness would also obviously come back every time I was about to go on vacation. Yes, the day before I go somewhere fun, somewhere exciting, somewhere I have been dreaming about for at least a few days… my body would mysteriously decide to pull a sore throat up on me… leaving me at the peak of my sickness during the trip. The last few years, I thought my body had finally matured, finally snapped out of this not so desirable way of getting sick, after all, with age comes… er… more immunities to sickness? Yea, not so much. If you guys recall, Shanghai trip in the summer. No exception to this rule. And this past week: Henan, likewise simply followed along with this stupid rule my body seems to be fond of.

a happy group of people at the beginning of the trip. I was happy too.

That’s not to say I didn’t see some pretty sweet things on the trip. The first day we go off to the Longmen Grottoes. I had no idea what to expect here, and we come to a place with tons of buddhas carved into the side of the mountain.

Many of these things...

Of course I’m thinking… wow these people had WAY too much time on their hands, maybe could have done something a bit more… useful with their time, no?

a wall full of mini Buddhas

so detailed! Gah!

Audrey, Jeff and I are bashing, half-jokingly, these people… when suddenly we come to this:

I’ve seen this before!!! In textbooks! Most likely in my MMW book (shout-out to ERC kids!!!) For all the million of other buddhas they carved, and every single one that we bashed on, this humongous one made it worth it. I’m not sure whether it’s because I’ve seen it in books, or because of the sheer size of the thing (the ear itself is supposed to be larger… taller … stronger… (ok, not stronger) than the average human being. But here I was standing there like a true tourist, gaping at the Big Buddha. Lucky for me, there wasn’t a million other people there. Only a couple hundred…

we couldn't resist, had to sneak behind the rail...

That same day we went to Yuntai Mountain. I admit the scenery here was pretty nice. Waterfalls, caves, bridges, stones, trees, rushing water…

so tranquil...

Yey! with my sick buddy Malissa. :D

Ugh, i look deceptively happy at this point. No, actually i was. It was all so pretty!

human nature really is quite the … scene. At this point in our trip, I already wasn’t feeling too hot. Or maybe better words would be feeling a little too hot. Just a small fever... nothing some walking around wouldn’t take care of… so I thought. After walking for a few hours, and then climbing up stairs for about an hour, and back down, I felt GREAT.

some very steep steps to go up..

and equally steep steps going down (of course they are the same stairs)

and more steep stairs coming down. I love the look of terror on Audrey's face... teheh

At that point I would have been an advocate of exercise to cure sickness. However, a couple hours on a tour bus later, I was dead. Feverish, headaches, chills, coughs, runny/stuffy nose (it couldn’t seem to decide what it wanted to be). Nothing a good nights sleep couldn’t take care of, right? WRONG. The next morning I woke up (after a terrible nights sleep, dreaming the weirdest, most troubling things ever) with the world’s greatest headache, at least in my books. My tour guide comes in, freaks out when she touches my forehead. Her reaction after taking my temperature: 40 degrees Celsius!? We are going to the hospital right now. Running back and forth only a couple times to see different doctors (the hospital situation in china is quite different, and dare I say less efficient and effective), to get my blood tested, I finally escaped the hospital after they gave me shot in the butt, while I sat on a super sketchy wooden chair. Okay, that’s enough details about the hospital, and about this sickness… let’s just says the past week has not been pleasant, lots of time in my room. But I’m doing better, minus the fact that every time I step outside my nose turns into a faucet again. It’s consistently at 0 degrees Celsius here.

our sickness/coldness mask :D

This is very random – and I think of this because I was about to say it’s so cold that I would never want anyone from California to come over here… I’m not sure how I’m surviving this cold, but then … I heard that plane tickets over here are only 650 dollars. ROUND TRIP. Yes. 650. They are usually close to 1000. :D okay, that’s my shameless plug. Plan a trip, I promise to take care of you once you’re here… especially since now I am no longer a working person. So besides school, I am FREE.

Before this random insert I was talking about my trip to Henan. So basically the hospital trip was the last thing that I did in that province. My classmates got to see the city Kaifeng while we were there, supposedly it’s pretty and fun; but all I got to see was the hospital in Kaifeng, which was not pretty nor fun.

Back in Beijing, things have gotten continuously chillier. October 31 was the first time I experienced true cold, as I know it to be. For Halloween, a few friends and I went to an amusement park (Happy Valley) to … torture ourselves … in the cold. It was sort of overrated – too many people, no rides open, there wasn’t even anything slightly scary to help me forget how cold it was. I miss trick-or-treating for sure. But in all… it was alright, got to hang out with some friends, and freeze.

this was at the beginning of the night, before we realized how cold it could be.

of course though, with friends (ellie) the cold becomes... less cold.

Yea, okay, I’ve mentioned cold, freezing, cold, and more freezing a lot. It wasn’t that great. It was so cold… that I froze. Haha. Just kidding… enough. Now in all seriousness, it was so cold that the next day it snowed! For the first time ever, I saw snow fall from the sky, and slowly cover the ground, and the trees, the buildings, in a beautiful white sheet.

For someone who hates cold as much as I do, I surprisingly like snow, especially when it is falling from the sky. Snowball fights, snowmen, snow angels… its all so much fun. If it snowed in San Diego, maybe once in a while, but maintained it’s low of 10 degrees Celsius on other occasions, I would without a doubt argue that San Diego has hands down the best weather. (Yes, I realize that was redundant, but all to say, I would love it)

I was so excited to see snow i ran outside to take a picture of this. exciting i know.

I'm pretty sure this was the snowball Nelson was gonna throw at me...but didn't. Lucky for him.

Our really ugly ... i mean beautiful (of course) snowman named Fredrick.

Anyways, I digressed as usual. Before the weather gets worse, (degree wise, it supposed to maintain constant; but wind speed is supposed to pick up, causing the cold to STING your face), anyways… before the weather got any worse, I’ve finally managed to make it to the Summer Palace. This is probably one of my favored tourist places, maybe because of the sheer size of the place, making all the tourists that were there, seem less, because they were all over the place. It’s such a pretty place though, although the amount of money they must have spent on the place has to be in the … disgusting range. One of the empress, Empress Dowager, took a lot of tax money to redecorate, add to, and what not, this place, just so her ‘summer palace’ could be … like this.

the lake was massive. I've gotten to hang out with Crystal here in Beijing!

entrance to the thing... with a good number of tourists.

He was writing chinese phrases on the ground with water. Pretty sick.

pretty bridge that connects different parts of the place. has wedding spot potential. :p

this Marble boat makes absolutely no sense to me.. really? marble boat?

So as old things go, I still haven’t managed to learn how to be a good college student. I thought last year, I had finally gotten over the procrastinating, waiting till the last minute to study, yada yada, but nope. Most of this was written BEFORE my midterm, and I also managed to churn out a number of emails as well. WHY?! And to make matters worse, I don’t know if any of you guys remember my addiction with watching dramas … end of junior year, but that has come back to haunt me again. Deng it. Lately, it’s been “How I Met Your Mother,” “The Big Bang Theory” and “Glee.” But I guess once I finish them; I’ll stop. Ha. GAH. I need to sign a contract with someone to make me stop. Or at least limit myself. Self-restraint… self-restraint Michelle!

It’s probably not just the dramas though. It doesn’t help that this is my last quarter of college, and I thought I had senioritis spring quarter… but nope. I have senioritis right now. And I have it BAD. I just do things like clubbing, go-carting, working, movie watching, and eating... all instead of studying, researching and paper writing -- which really does need to get done (although I cannot forget that I am an ERC student... and thus 25 page papers do not intimidate me in the least. THAT'S RIGHT independent study project!... :x I mean, I should probably start tomorrow)

go-carting hella gives me a rush. and i get way too competitive. trust me, you don't want to be in my way...

the face can be deceiving... i know ;p

but this is the price I am willing to pay to win. the nastiest bruise up to date.

went to watch the Beijing Marathon. Look at all those old Chinese men going! I'm determined to run another one... soon.

celebrating Ellie's birthday! I caked her good that day :p

happy birthday jason! this night probably didn't help my sickness at all.

hosting a mixer even for work... how fun.

managing to still bike around sometimes. found a sign that says: "love Beijing, ride bikes"

As for future plans, I can’t guarentee there will be another blog in the horizon, I’d like to think I will write one more before America sees my face again, but, as old things go… I don’t know if that’ll happen. General update on my plans: I’ve applied to work at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai. If I get that, I’ll be back in Milpitas for a few months before returning to … here.

If not, then thus begins the search for a JOB… anywhere. Suggestions are welcomed.

I really do miss everyone from home, and I can’t wait to see everyone. Till I do, much love.

and this is just because I've been thinking about old things... freshmen year of college with the first roomie: SARA!!!! some things really do never grow old; I still giggle every time I see this picture..

To milestones!

Happy 60 years to China for the coming to power of the CCP and Happy 3 months to my stay in China. (Both of which has passed already. Lame, I know. I did have full intentions though I finishing this before those events passed, but… yea. The thought that counts?)

So, 60 years. Wow, that’s a long time. The more I think about it, the longer it seems. Today my friends and I were just discussing the beginnings of AIM and AOL, all that online chatting junks, and that was only what… 10 / 15 years ago. Technology has come such a far ways since then. But 60 years… the things that have changed. 1949 to 2009. In 1949, World War II had just ended 4 years prior; the Cold War hadn’t begun. In 1949, the United States wasn’t a superpower. In 1949, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 hadn’t been passed yet. This can go on, but all this to say, in 1949, the world was a different place. It’s been 60 years since China was taken over by the Chinese Communist Party, and what an era it has gone through. For arguments sake, it is climbing as an economic power that is recognized internationally for its accomplishments with its rising GDP and whatnot, although I have varying views on this. From the land reforms, to the struggle sessions and Cultural Revolution, to the economic reforms, China without doubt has come quite a distance. Just 20 years ago, the number of foreign students allowed into China numbered somewhere in the hundreds, and now, there is a couple hundred solely at my school. I was studying at a new café today, “The Bridge” (super cute), and coming and going were probably foreigners numbered in the hundreds. It’s crazy how quickly things change. As much as we try to wrap our minds around what 60 years down the line will look like, this will only be done in vain. I’m sure if Mao Zedong was asked in 1949 whether China would be a market socialist economy (where money money money spurs individuals on), he wouldn’t respond out of shock from being asked such a stupid question. Freakish thought, 60 years from now, I am going to be 82 years old. I wonder what the world will be like then. Hahaha. (that was completely off topic) Great… this section has ended up being a very general, vague and non-academic history lesson. Hopefully I didn’t bore anyone to sleep. But anyhow, cheers, to 60 years of … change… in China… and around the world. To modernization!

And now, to my 3 months in China… wow, 3 months seems so short compared to 60 years. 3 months compared to 60 years, 60 years equating to 720 months, 3 / 720 = a very small number. What is wrong with me these days?? I hate math, but everything seems to be waiting, calling out to me, to be calculated. Maybe it’s all the counting months left, the celebrating 60 years for China, being on National Holiday for 8 days (with only 2 left now)… ok, back on track. So its come to by halfway point of studying abroad in China, I say this to point out that there is still potential of returning … eventually. An update on life abroad seems appropriate at a time like this; to reevaluate how I’m doing in Beijing, whether it’s met expectations, whether it has a future in my life, whether I can call it home, etc.

Since my Shanghai trip, I haven’t left Beijing; the life of a working woman. Weh. But being here in one place has allowed me to experience reality here. Not so much the ‘I’m on vacation, let me go here, there, somewhere else, Oh, And there sounds touristy too!’ but rather the ‘ah, let me bike to get food at my favorite café, let me go shop at the area I always hit up, let me go talk to the street vendor that I talk to all the time….’ It’s definitely a different, more… casual… local feel.  I guess I can call it home. When it becomes inevitable when I go out that I will get honked at 20 thousand times, get stared at my weird men on their bicycles as I ride alongside them, get talked to in Korean, don’t get stomach aches from eating street food, and this all seems normal. Nothing out of the ordinary to almost be hit by a taxi… every time I take Cherry out for a bike ride, nor that smoking in restaurants, and any other public space is allowed and smokers will blow smoke in your face with no regard to the fact that I hate second hand smoke, nor having to yell out ‘Fuwuyuan’ (service person) loudly in order to order our food or get our checks. I recall the first time I had to do it, I felt so rude… and simply loud. I wanted to respect the service people, let them take care of what they looked busy doing, after all, in America… waiters will come by the table to ask how things are going every once in a while, but alas, I realized, that’s just not the way it works here, waiting for them to come ask me if I am ready… unless I want to be waiting all night … until they close and tell people to get out. So Beijing being called home… meaning, there is still potential for coming back and make this home for another 2 or 3 years post-grad. It’s hitting me hard, the uncertainty of what life will look like come January, when the next step in life will be wherever I feel led to go. There is no more structure that I ought to follow. Where elementary school leads to middle school, then on to high school with sophomore and junior years being time to work hella hard to get into a 4 year university, then enter university and graduate. And GRADUATE. That’s the end, of the dream most suburban families have for their children. Minus the go out and make bank. China has treated me well, has led me to question what I really want in life, whether I’m going to let money be my driving force, whether I really have a heart for helping people and benefiting people simple because that’s just the way it should be. For this, I haven’t ruled out returning … dun dun dunnn.

For 3 months, I have taxied, walked, subway-ed, biked, swam (almost, when it was pouring), ran, around Beijing and at this 3 months mark, I can legitimately point out places that one ought to see. Actually, all tour books will tell you the same thing. But for kicks, because my pictures of these places are just that exciting, and I know you guys are dying to see more pictures…

bikes here are so unreliable..(well, Cherry has been good to me so far) 

but always my friend's bikes... in the middle of the randomest places, and we have to ask the randomest people for help. but biking is still the way to go. 

Places all tourists must go:

Great Wall – to be standing on something that can be seen and distinguished from space (I honestly think that is one of the coolest things about the Great Wall)

climbing climbing..

after conquering part of the Wall, with our newly acquired shirts

Forbidden City – to see how Emperors lived (rather uncomfortably it seems from the vastness of the place)

one of the many buildings... 

places like these slightly bore me, especially when its like 100 degrees out = picture time.. 

not to say that it's not meaningful and pretty though

Tiananmen Square – to see Mao’s huge portrait

there's the potrait... 

National Park (Olympic Stadium)/ Water Cube, (if it so strikes your fancy) – to touch the land the top athletes in the world touched

outside the bird's nest

inside the water cube, after paying 78 kuai to swim in it

Houhai – to experience ‘China’; although arguably it’s been touristized

in the hutong area

rickshaw riding!

at night 

Xidan – to feel like you’re not in China, with all the malls... 

OOPS, i have failed to take any pictures of this area :x but not missing much, just imagine lots of malls next to each other

well, i guess there's this picture. we biked to xidan... 

Wangfujing – to eat some ridicously weird foods and see way to many tourist souvenirs 

colors overload

weird weird bugs...

i can't quite remember what this was, but i hella wanted it, but it was MEH

Silk Street – to say you’ve gone, and to have your skin dug into and to get ripped off

ER. no pictures again. my bad. here picture booths and booths of stores selling similar things

Temples – to … I don’t even know… OH. I know. To partake in being a tourist, because truthfully, from my point of view… I feel bad saying it, so I’ll just leave it at that… (but note from the wise :p - don’t go by yourself to these temples, unless you’re really into temples)

Temple of Heaven

... there's always these long pathways that need to another... building...

Bell thing at White Cloud Temple. supposedly if you hit the bell with a coin, you'll have good luck for the rest of the year

but architecture that these places can be interesting ..

And if you are my sort of tourist – NanLuoGu Xiang – to walk around, eat cakes and drink coffee and milkshakes… how non-Eastern.

like always, biking... 

these little cafes can honestly compete with the ones in san diego...

one of my first and favorites. bomb banana milkshakes!

what it looks like. tiramisu, cheesecake, browne (thats how its spelled here), and milkshakes! 

COME TO BEIJING, VISIT ME, and i'll take you to all the above mentioned places :D 

Classes are hard. I’m taking a conversational Chinese, Writing and Reading, Modern Chinese Literature, and TaiChi. Doesn’t sound like much… but trust me, when they are language classes, where studying isn’t done the night before a midterm… 5 weeks after class has started, the time spent and the work required simply to understand and be an average student makes them hard. Being a naturally competitive student that typically isn’t okay with being average doesn’t help. Let’s just say learning Chinese is quite a humbling process.

But, with all the cafes here, studying is not so much of a pain. :p

With each day that passes here, is one day closer to my arrival back in California, but that arrival also means steps towards the unknown, and for that excitement does not come with. Having passed the homesickness phase of being abroad, I must honestly say, (although there is still 2.maybe 7 months left) besides wanting to see familiar faces and familiar places in California, I’m not wanting to leave. But rumor (or common knowledge) has it that wintertime in Beijing is COLD. Homesickness sneaks in the way money seems to sneak out of my wallet. A California girl like me just might not survive the cold. I’ll keep you guys posted as the weather changes…

Interesting fact for this post: These past few days the weather has been exceptionally good in Beijing… beginning suspiciously on Oct. 1^st. Hmm. What does the government have to do with this? They shot some sort of missile into the air to clear out the clouds. Evening of Sept. 30, it poured. Morning of Oct. 1, nice and sunny, perfect day for a parade… these past 6 days… also super nice, mid 70s. Tomorrow. A sudden jump to a high of 59. Oh the things that can be accomplished….

So that's that for now. I completely suck and didn't write for the month of September, but i'll try to make that up and write more... yes. write more. 

But for now, Much Love. 

From the art district in Beijing.