Some of the things I am up to

Well, here is a long overdue update. I am sorry that the updates have been few and far between. We still do not have Internet in our room, but some other people have it in theirs so I have been able to get on to check my email periodically and upload pictures. I have added some new pictures, but after the next upload there won’t be anymore from my camera. I would like to say RIP to my Cannon that took beautiful pictures for the first week of my trip. My camera had a less than three-inch fall to the ground and “died” of a lens error. I will miss my camera, but thankfully I have 50 other people taking the exact same pictures AND an amazing roommate who will let me take some sweet snaps on her camera. As soon as I can find an inexpensive camera (film anyone?!) I will probably get one so I can take some sweet pictures. I can upload some snaps from Rachel’s and other people’s cameras so you can still get a taste of what China looks like.

Here is a brief update of what I’ve been up to (if you want more details, leave a comment and I can specifically answer or ask to see my journal when I get back J)

ERIC: He is our tour guide and pretty much the best ever. He has definitely made our experience in China. He is a 21-year-old Beijing resident who has pretty good English. Basically, anything he says is insightful and genuine. He is the one who told us that we would all be heroes if we climbed the great wall. He is magical.

RUNNING: I know that I am on a Health and Exercise Science department trip. People get up early to run everyday. When I come back from running with the non-cross country runners there are people lined in the hallway doing planks, crunches, and sit-ups. The runs are a good way to explore our surrounding area. I don’t go everyday, but the days I do go I usually enjoy. It is sometimes hard to breathe, but mostly from the smell and not the smog. I just concentrate on not breathing through my nose as much. There are garage like structures that people through their trash in every couple of blocks. People also use the street as a bathroom. The children even have slits in the back of their pants so they can easily use the bathroom.

CLASS: On the days we don’t have excursions we have class. I am taking the History of the Modern Olympics and it is pretty interesting. We watch videos and discuss the papers that we are writing. We are also going over some current Olympic events (basically, the only news I know since I have such limited access to the internet). I just learned today that the International Olympic Organizing Committee is banning Iraqi athletes from participating (because of Iraq’s policies, not sure what specifically). These athletes may be able to compete under the Olympic flag. It is interesting the amount politics play into the Olympics when the whole point is to not involve politics and have international truces.

GREAT WALL OF CHINA: Climbing the Great Wall was one of the most exhilarating experiences in my life. We climbed 1650 steps (and then back down) to the highest portion of the Great Wall in our vicinity. The steps are very steep most of the way and the steps are not evenly spaced, some steps will be 6 inches, others are 2 inches tall. At the top we climbed up a look out tower. The view was beautiful, but would have been even more beautiful if there was no smog. At the top, Eric (the wondrous tour guide) started singing We are the Champions. That day, we all became heroes J

Wal-Mart & KFC: Oh, what an overwhelming experience. On our way home from the Great Wall we were able to stop at a HUGE, Chinese mall, which included these two American favorites. Ordering in Chinese at KFC was fun, because it was a SURPRISE! I can count in Chinese so I figured it was safe to order a numbered meal. However, I don’t know enough Chinese to indicate what kind of side or drink I wanted. They gave me a side that looked like coleslaw with potatoes and raisins. They gave French fries to another girl in our group, so I brought her box up and played charades to exchange my side for French fries. The chicken was spicier than the chicken at home, but it was GOOD. It was also a much-needed break from the repetitive food that we eat at our hotel. Wal-Mart was like our Wal-Mart, but more things and everything is in Chinese. You could still recognize all of the branded food because of the logos. I bought coffee flavored Chips Ahoy, some juice boxes (for 1 rmb = about 14 cents), peanut butter (helloooo protein!) and some crackers to hold me over when the hotel food is less than bearable.

TEA DEMONSTRATION: We was a Kung Fu Tea Master, who had a long spouted tea spout and did crazy moves to pour his tea. I have videos.

I will update you next on Temple of Heaven and Summer Palace (my favorite spot so far, it is BEAUTIFUL!)

LOVE!

B

FIRST WEEK IN CHINA UPDATE!!!

WOW, sorry for the lack of posts, but I have not had internet...here are some updates from my journal:

July 23^rd 2008 – Night

Wow! We are finally in China! Today (well, the past two days really) have been spent traveling to our destination in Beijing. We left Newark this morning via bus and drove to JFK. We then started our long plane ride. Before we took off in New York we had to wait for about an hour because there was air traffic congestion. During the plane tide, the very kind flight attendants fed us several times. The food wasn’t bad at all. I ate chicken and rice. During the trip I played the dot game with my future roommate Rachel, watched a little bit of 27 dresses, slept and read the English language Chinese newspaper. When we disembarked off the plane in Beijing, we walked down stairs and caught a bus. We went through the line for foreigners to get our passports stamped. There was a tiny machine in front of the post that allowed you to electronically rate the customer service. It was coded with a smiley face scale: a smile for good service and a frown for bad service and faces in between that you could click. The Beijing airport was absolutely stunning. It is huge and clean and obviously prepared for all the Olympic travelers. After waiting for our baggage for an hour we went through customs to scan our checked luggage. I got stopped to open my bag because of a "suspicious" item, which turned out to just be my American flag pins, that my Dad gave me for trading. After customs, we met our tour guide, Eric (oh my gosh...I LOVE HIM), who is a first time tour guide. He is young and energetic. After a group picture, we boarded a bus to our hotel. The neighborhood we drove through to get to our hotel was poorly lit, but it seemed like everyone who lives there was sitting outside. Int the hot and muggy weather of Beijing it seems like the best thing to do. There seems like there is not a lot to do right around our hotel. When we arrived at our hotel we were given keys and told to pick roommates. I picked Rachel, well we picked each other after chatting all day. Our room has two twin beds, a desk, a television, two chairs and at table. The bathroom has a western style toilet, but the shower is the entire room. Attached to the hot water tank there is a hose with a shower head attachment. They even provided shower shoes! After a quick time relaxing in our room, we headed downstairs for a welcome banquet. The traditional welcome meal is noodles (whereas the farewell meal is dumplings). The noodles were tasty and they were served with vegetables. The people here are extremely hospitable. Tomorrow we will get the internet for 120 rbm/room for the month, so less than 10$ per person (*EDIT*this is actually a lie, room by room we STILL do not all have internet...my room does not). At the banquet we met the local police who recomended that we did not go outside of the hotel at night (excellent, makes me feel safe). The bed, as I am about to go to sleep is firm, very firm. It also does not have sheets. A bottom sheet and comforter, but no flat sheet. Overall, I am very excited to begin my experience in CHina. I am happy to not be sleeping on a plane.

July 24, 2008

Today we woke up and had a “western” breakfast. This consisted of bread, which had a sweet flavor, jam, hard boiled eggs and coffee that was served in a large bowl. After breakfast we had our first Chinese lesson with Sarah. We learned the basics that we would need to survive shopping in the afternoon. After breakfast we headed out to the bus to stop at the bank to exchange our money. Our professors exchanged all of our money for us and we walked around a large shop. We saw how silk was made and saw many traditional Chinese goods (pearls, jade, tea sets, calligraphy, etc.). We then moved on to another market. The name of the game is haggling down the price as far as you can go. The shopkeepers know key English words: “Hello Lady, you want a purse” “Hello Lady, come look” etc. The shopkeepers would grab onto you if you looked at all interested and would not let you go until you bought goods. Every shopkeeper was pulling us in different directions calling out at us to buy their goods. The name of the game was bargaining! It was a lot of fun to get the shopkeeper to knock down the price I do think that they raised the price because they knew we were foreigners. After shopping was lunch, which was delicious! We had a traditional Chinese meal. After lunch we had another shopping adventure in one of the largest shopping markets in all of China. There were many different types of goods and there was a lot of shouting to get us to buy different goods. The would offer "very good price, just for you!" When we got back we rested for a while and then had a welcome banquet. We had lots of food, beer, and there was "karaoke". Karaoke was Chinese Idol, with music playing in the background and you singing the song of your choice. The manager of the hotel came around and toasted every table. Later, the manager of the hotel let me use his computer to send an email home :-) Then there was some hanging out and bed.

July 25th

Rachel and I both woke up before 6am, I guess we are not totally on the Beijing sleeping schedule yet. We sipped tea and viewed out our window at the stillness around us. While Rachel organized her bag (as there are no dressers in our hotel), I braved the shower. Today was better than yesterday. Yesterday, I turned the shower on and off between lathers in attempts not to get everything soaked. Today I let the water run at a lower pressure and managed to only get half the room soaked. I like the leisurely mornings to journal, sip tea and upload pictures to my computer.

Later:

After tea and showering, Rachel and I took a short walk around our neighborhood. People were sitting outside, eating at a restaurant. People were riding on bikes and walking through the streets. We then ate a breakfast of eggs, sweet bread &jam, and rice bread rolls. Afterwards, we ventured to Tian'amen Square, the largest public square in the world. It was huge! (obviously) The Chinese people took pictures of our group, which was pretty funny. We met the Women's US Olympic Soccer team in the square and took pictures of/with them. We then went to the Forbidden City, which was much larger than I ever expected. The temples were beautiful. It is amazing to me that it was built just for the emperor. After the Forbidden City, we went to lunch and then to Bei Hei park, wher there is a HUGE lake with THE COOLEST PADDLE BOATS I HAVE EVER SEEN (see pictures). Some had chicken heads in the front. We then went to another park to climb to a high pavilion to "see all of Beijing".

From the top of the temple:

The smog is unreal. We cannot even see the entire Forbidden City, which is a mile long and very wide. At the top of the temple you should be able to see all of Beijing, but the smog is thick here. Apparently it is much better than before, but it is thicker that I have ever seen before. The wind is gently blowing through my hair and I feel totally relaxed. The Chinese culture seems much more relaxed than the rushed pace of the American lifestyle. We see people sitting on the side of the road, men with their shirts half up because of the humidity and children barley clothed or naked. Many children have shaved heads probably because of the heat.

WELL! That was a heck of an update, I am still behind in typing things up, but I will update it soon (tomorrow hopefully), but please check out my pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/BrittneyABaker

LOVE!

B

China, but no internet

Sorry for the lack of posts.  I am safely in China, but our hotel has limited internet.  I will be updating with pictures (300+ so far!) and my journal entries when internet is connected to our room (several days?). Check back then!

One day...

until I depart for CHINA! I just finished my last Spanish final ever (HOORAY!!!) and I am about to pack up stuff from Fredericksburg and drive home to Delaware. I have mixed emotions about leaving tomorrow. It is mostly excitement, but I am also nervous. Part of me really wishes that I would have taken more time to prepare for the trip instead of racing around wrapping up things in Fredericksburg the day before I am set to travel. I packed some stuff before I left STP, but the trick will be not forgetting anything between the stuff I moved out from STP, the stuff in my apartment, and my stuff at home.

I did take some time to de-stress yesterday. I went canoing on the Rappahannock and it was absolutely beautiful :-)

Well, I am off to finish packing and start my trek back to Delaware. Tonight I am going to hang out with my family and (shhhh! surprise:) celebrate my parent's birthdays because I will be out of the country for both theirs and mine (I am sure my parent's won't read the blog today, so they'll still be surprised!).

IOC/BOCOG RULES FOR ATTENDANCE AT OLYMPIC VENUES

If you're interested in the rules for attending the Olympic Venues...

"BEIJING, July 14, 2008http://en.beijing2008.cn/news/official/n214452343.shtml


A recent BOCOG press conference release aims at complying with IOC requirements that host nations conduct venues that maintain an orderly, civilized and peaceful environment for all competition venues. These rules are similar to those of the Sydney and Athens Olympic Games. The focus of these rules places caution on articles accompanying spectators and spectator behavior at the Olympic venues. Consequently BOCOG has issued the following rules that spectators must observe during attendance at the upcoming Olympic Games.

Restricted articles include hard-packed drinks and food; fragile articles; musical instruments; carry-on bags, suitcases and handbags which are too big to carry to the seats; flags of countries and regions not participating either in the Beijing Olympic Games or Paralympic Games and other flags over two meters in length or over one meter in width; flag poles of over one meter in length; banners, leaflets, or posters; unauthorized professional videotaping equipments; knives, bats, long-handle umbrellas, long poles, sharp-ended stands for cameras and video cameras, and other objects that may cause harm and injury to people; animals (with the exception of guide dogs); vehicles (except for strollers and wheelchairs); unauthorized walky-talkies, loudspeakers, radios, laser devices or wireless devices that interfere with the electronic signals of the Olympic Games.
Inappropriate behavior include the following: smoking at a non-smoking area; crossing over the guardrail; using umbrellas or standing up for a long period of time in the seating area, thus obstructing the field of vision of other spectators; and flash photography.
In addition, rules also ban weapons and equipment including guns, ammunition, crossbows, and daggers; fireworks, firecrackers and other flammable materials; corrosive chemicals and radioactive materials.
According to BOCOG, these rules restrict rule restricts articles and behavior that are not illegal but not in conformity with Olympic regulations and tend to interfere with order, venue environment and interests of athletes and other spectators. Note that banned articles and behavior are against current Chinese laws and regulations. Legal action may be taken against violators."

Olympic Events...

In less than a week I will be in China! Today I found out which events I will be seeing:

Aug. 7- Preliminary round for the Olympic games involving Men’s Soccer

Aug. 13 - Olympic Basketball

Aug. 14 - Softball

Aug. 15 - Basketball

Aug. 16 - Men's Volleyball

Aug. 17 - Women's Volleyball

Aug. 19 - Track and Field in the Bird's Nest

I have started packing and I am working on finishing up my papers for my China class. Today is my last day at my internship until I return in the fall semester. I take my spanish final on Monday and then I'll zip home to Delaware for some quality time with my family before I leave the following day!