Last week, I had my first major spout of homesickness. I just got back from Shanghai and there wasn’t anyone I knew in Beijing because everyone was either traveling or already back in the States. But I had to go to work. Nice and early, I get up. I look outside and its raining, which usually isn’t a big deal. Yea, I don’t necessarily like rain, but rain happens. After some thought I decide I better catch a cab to the subway station. CAB. RAIN. There are those dreaded words again. CAB+RAIN+ME = a very sad me. I walk outside and try to hail a cab, but a few drive right past me. Me thinking, oh no worries, I have 15 minutes extra (it takes 15 minutes to walk to the bus stop to catch a bus, to the subway station). 15 minutes later. Still no cab, after I walked to about 5 different places thinking a cab MUST pick me up here. There’s no other option but to walk, walk the 15 minutes in the rain. Walking in the rain is a bad idea, for someone who is sick, and wants to stay dry, especially in Beijing where cars really don’t care. 10 minutes later, I’m drenched as a huge truck drives straight through a puddle with no thought as to maybe stepping on his brakes, leaving me covered in rainwater, which is synonymous with mud. This would never have happened to me in California. Where not only, it doesn’t rain, but I can be safe inside my car. But I guess being in China is an adventure, and what adventure isn’t filled with being drenched in mud, right? Except a week later, I still have this nasty cough. I’m pretty sure that day, having to sit 8 hours in an office in my half wet clothes did not help speed up my recovery. But back to the point: Homesickness. Needless to say, I wanted to go home.
It’s funny though, how a place so far from ‘home’ at times actually does feel like home.
Like I mentioned, I went to Shanghai for the weekend and…Shanghai. I wish I had more than 3 days there, 2 of which I was rather sick. I can’t pass judgment on that city, I can’t decide if I like it or not. But my impressions of it:
1. Felt like a downtown San Diego or Los Angeles, or maybe even San Francisco.
2. The locals are very arrogant, so much so that I feel bad for them because they seem so unhappy.
The touristy things there, more or less have been checked off my list. The Bund. Nanjing Lu. XinTianDi. People’s Square. YuYuan Garden. The Pearl Tower (from a distance)… Now that I think about it, actually we didn’t do much in Shanghai. I guess the sickness sort of killed it. Or more likely, Shanghai just doesn’t have the touristy -cultural places that Beijing does. Good choice me; to chose Beijing to study abroad at. In this case, Shanghai reminds me of San Francisco, I guess. A famous city, that you name it anywhere, and people know of it; but it has much more of a city feel than a touristy feel – at least for me.
Outside the Site of the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Yey for seeing SD friends! 
Desserts in Shanghai, just like in Hong Kong. yum.
everyone thought we were pretty weird. Ha.
Pretty pretty bank entrance. It was thus a huge sigh of relief to return to Beijing. Beijing almost feels like home after traveling to other cities in China ( 2 months is pretty long, with 4 more months to go). Here, I have gotten a waiter who when I asked a geographical question that he didn’t know the answer to, after asking his coworkers who likewise didn’t know, went around the restaurant asking customers if they knew. Or even a business man who kindly dropped me off at a subway station when I told him I intended on walking there (no, I did not just hope into a car with a random stranger… I was off doing delivery for work). It’s nice to be in a place where things are a bit more familiar.
We sat a bit off in the distance. But it was worth it. Ah. I miss Sarah already!
I finally bought a bike here. And it cost me a bunch of money, but I love her, and keep her in my room so she won’t get stolen. And pay equivalent to 4 cents (which if you add up for a week is enough to buy my breakfast) every day to park her at the subway station as I go off to work. I’ve named her Cherry.
Yea, I know. She’s not red. But I pretend she is. Cuz I went into the store having already decided Red. I was going to get a red bike. When the only red they had was this pink red that didn’t strike me the right way, I ended up having to settle for silver. But never the less, her name is Cherry, and in my mind she is Red. I rode across the city this past weekend. It was pretty sweet. You see a lot more when you’re going 5 miles an hour instead of 30. I’m praying though that I don’t get hit by another bike, a car or even worse a bus, as buses tend to drive into the bike lane. How dangerous is that…or I don’t run into a pedestrian. It’s been a few days now, and so far it’s okay. Not overly eventful has happened, except getting yelled at by a traffic man, but, the fact I couldn’t really understand what he said I was doing wrong didn’t help. I just follow what everyone else does. If they cross, I cross. It’s too complicated and rule-less to figure out myself.
Well, that’s that for now. I’m still stuck in Beijing myself for another 2 weeks before people start coming back from their travels. I’ve been keeping busy by reading. I just started Catch-22, which actually I’ve tried to read before, but found it difficult to get through – but it’s a book I do want to finish. Any other book suggestions you have will be greatly appreciated. I’ve applied for a ½ year membership to borrow books. Help me put that money to use.
And BTW: video chat is my friend. I'm just saying..
