The pictures of this trip are on http://picasaweb.google.com/mr.walker.tkd23, http://picasaweb.google.com/mr.walker.tkd6, and http://picasaweb.google.com/mr.walker.tkd7.
We woke up around 10 a.m. and ate the fitting "bicycle" breakfast that the hostel offers. We rented bikes from the hostel and biked around Yangshuo. Jeremy, Marit and Bjoernar wanted to stop at a shop on the street that we had passed on the motorcycles the day before where the owner was selling hats. We then planned on riding to Moon Hill, a strange shaped rock formation with a sort of half moon shaped hole in it, but went the wrong way. We turned around and saw people celebrating the Qingming festival (also known as Tomb Sweeping Day) where family members remember and honor their ancestors. They visit their family members' graves, which in the countryside are where ever there is room since there are no cemeteries, per se. The descendants burn candles, incense and paper money (which the ancestors are supposed to use in the afterlife), bring food, pray, and tape red paper and paper money on the tombstone in order to scare away the Nian monster.
Once we arrived at Moon Hill, we payed the entrance fee, locked up our bikes, and ate lunch at the Moon Hill restaurant. After lunch, we started climbing the steps up to the top of Moon Hill. An older, skinny lady followed us all the way up, trying to sell us water and souvenirs and whatnot. We felt bad because we didn't want to buy anything and tried to tell her this, but she wouldn't listen to us and kept following. We just kept going and tried to ignore her. Once we reached the top, we stopped for a photo shoot. We saw rock climbers on the side of Moon Hill. Marit climbed onto one of the posts of the safety fence and balanced on one leg. We were pretty astonished and scared at her acrobatics since, if she would have lost her balance, she would have fallen off the side of the mountain. All the other tourists were, of course, watching her dumbfounded, thinking the same thing. Luckily, nothing happened to her. Jeremy and Marit went down the same way we climbed up, but Bjoernar and I went down a less beaten path covered with leaves that appeared to have been abandoned for quite some time. The good thing was that there were no tourists on this path, so we could enjoy it more. We also got rid of the old lady that had been following us the entire time. Once we reached the bottom, we saw Marit and Jeremy sitting with the old lady. We stood up to unlock our bikes. Jeremy unlocked mine and his bike, but Bjoernar couldn't find the key to his lock. We looked everywhere for it, but had no luck. One of the other ladies trying to sell stuff to tourists came up to Bjoernar's bike and reached under his seat. We saw the key in her hand and thanked her. We told Bjoernar to buy something from her for her help. We figured he must have dropped the key and she picked it up and stuck it under his seat, so no one would steal the bike. Either way, we were grateful for her courtesy.
From Moon Hill, we returned to the hostel, riding back through the beautiful karst mountains towering over us, observing the inhabitants honoring their ancestors or working in the rice fields with their oxen, and just enjoying the marvelous day. At the Giggling Tree, we relaxed for a little while and then rode our bikes back down to the lady that sold the hats. As the three of them (Bjoernar, Marit and Jeremy) were deciding what hats to buy, I kept riding on my own to explore some more of the area. I saw a group of ducks swimming in one of the rice fields, a herd of oxen grazing in a pasture enclosed by several of the karst mountains, and a small but eerie cave. I used my cell phone as a flashlight and noticed that the cave walls seemed to have scratches. I also discovered an opening, but couldn't even use my phone to see inside of there. Instead, I used the flash on my camera to look inside. I saw that there was a large boulder in the middle surrounded by water. At this point, I decided it was time to leave since the sun was setting. I rode back towards the hostel, but didn't feel like returning just yet. I took another detour on the path next to the one by the one that led back to the hostel. This path had homes next to it. I watched a woman with her baby on her back pumping water from a well, kids roughhousing outside of their house and even puppies playing with each other. At the end of the path, I saw another bike parked and decided to park mine there, too. I quickly noticed Bjoernar sitting on the edge of one of the rice fields. The end of the path opened up to more rice fields, karst mountains and even orange groves. I joined Bjoernar and we sat there, taking in the view, listening to the millions of what I assumed were frogs croaking in the water. I went to see the orange fields and plucked one of the oranges, hoping they were ripe. When I peeled it, however, I realized they weren't ripe yet. Meanwhile, Bjoernar walked in between one of the rice fields and tried walking in one of them. We returned to the hostel, sat down outside with Jeremy and Marit to order spaghetti for dinner, took a shower and went to sleep after our long but amazing day.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Spring Break: Guilin to Yangshuo (April 5th)
The pictures of this trip are on http://picasaweb.google.com/mr.walker.tkd23, http://picasaweb.google.com/mr.walker.tkd6, and http://picasaweb.google.com/mr.walker.tkd7.
On Sunday, April 5th, we woke up at 7 a.m. because we had to check out of the hostel and make it to our bus that would take us to the boat tour. Jeremy, Marit, Bjoernar and I booked a boat tour the day before for about 250 RMB that goes from Guilin to Yangshuo on the Li river through the beautiful karst mountains. The bus took us to the docking area, but we had to wait 30 minutes in a tourist trap, a building where they were selling jewelry, before we could get on the boat. The boat trip took about four hours. The boat had a large cabin where all of the passengers could sit while eating, relaxing or enjoying the view outside and a large deck on top where everyone could get a better view of the mountains. We spent our time going to the deck and returning to the cabin for food or to relax. Jeremy and I talked to some of the Chinese people. I talked to a woman who sat at our table , along with her parents and son. She told me that she lives close to Xian and was visiting family in Yangshuo. She gave me her number and invited me to visit her when I went to Xian. I said I didn't know exactly when I would be going to Xian, but that I would contact her when I knew more about my plans. When we arrived in Yangshuo, we went our separate ways. Later, when I returned back to Chengdu on April 12th, I googled the city she lived in and realized it was much further from Xian than she made it sound, so I told her that I wouldn't be able to visit her.
Anyways, in Yangshuo, we began walking towards the hostel we would be staying in. It didn't seem that far away and we figured we could make it there pretty quickly. However, an hour later and no hostel to be seen, we realized that we might have been going the wrong way. We stopped at some houses and asked them where the hostel is. Some of the people were older and didn't seem to know this hostel existed, but one of the younger men said he knew where it is and offered to take us on his and his friends' motorcycles. We asked how much it would cost and he said 30 RMB each. At this point we were so tired that we just said yes and didn't even try to bargain with the guy, not that 30 RMB is a bad deal. Three other guys came out with their motorcycles and each one of us picked a guy and climbed onto the back of the motorcycle. The guy that I picked kept asking me questions in Chinese, but I couldn't really understand him because of the noise of the motorcycle and the wind. Bjoernar, Marit and I made it to the hostel at the same time, but the motorcycle that Jeremy was on kept breaking down and the guy got lost, so it took him a couple of minutes extra to make it. We saw the hostel, named "Giggling Tree", and thanked and paid our chauffeurs. As they left, we made our way inside the hostel and checked in with the Dutch owners. The hostel is located out in the countryside a little ways outside of the city of Yangshuo. It seemed as though it had been recently renovated from its original barn house. The room we booked had four beds and it own private bathroom. The hostel also has a restaurant, a lounge and a courtyard in the middle for the guests to enjoy the views of the mountains surrounding the area and to eat their meals outside. I really enjoyed staying at this hostel.
Nonetheless, I was so exhausted by the time we checked into our quaint room that I took a nap for about 2 hours. Jeremy, Marit and Bjoernar ate dinner at the hostel during this time. Still, when I ordered my burger, Marit and Jeremy joined me since they ordered milk shakes for themselves. Shortly after dinner, we went to the lounge of the hostel and Jeremy, Bjoernar and I watched "Horton Hears a Who" while Marit went to bed. After the movie, we all went to sleep in our beds equipped with mosquito netting.
On Sunday, April 5th, we woke up at 7 a.m. because we had to check out of the hostel and make it to our bus that would take us to the boat tour. Jeremy, Marit, Bjoernar and I booked a boat tour the day before for about 250 RMB that goes from Guilin to Yangshuo on the Li river through the beautiful karst mountains. The bus took us to the docking area, but we had to wait 30 minutes in a tourist trap, a building where they were selling jewelry, before we could get on the boat. The boat trip took about four hours. The boat had a large cabin where all of the passengers could sit while eating, relaxing or enjoying the view outside and a large deck on top where everyone could get a better view of the mountains. We spent our time going to the deck and returning to the cabin for food or to relax. Jeremy and I talked to some of the Chinese people. I talked to a woman who sat at our table , along with her parents and son. She told me that she lives close to Xian and was visiting family in Yangshuo. She gave me her number and invited me to visit her when I went to Xian. I said I didn't know exactly when I would be going to Xian, but that I would contact her when I knew more about my plans. When we arrived in Yangshuo, we went our separate ways. Later, when I returned back to Chengdu on April 12th, I googled the city she lived in and realized it was much further from Xian than she made it sound, so I told her that I wouldn't be able to visit her.
Anyways, in Yangshuo, we began walking towards the hostel we would be staying in. It didn't seem that far away and we figured we could make it there pretty quickly. However, an hour later and no hostel to be seen, we realized that we might have been going the wrong way. We stopped at some houses and asked them where the hostel is. Some of the people were older and didn't seem to know this hostel existed, but one of the younger men said he knew where it is and offered to take us on his and his friends' motorcycles. We asked how much it would cost and he said 30 RMB each. At this point we were so tired that we just said yes and didn't even try to bargain with the guy, not that 30 RMB is a bad deal. Three other guys came out with their motorcycles and each one of us picked a guy and climbed onto the back of the motorcycle. The guy that I picked kept asking me questions in Chinese, but I couldn't really understand him because of the noise of the motorcycle and the wind. Bjoernar, Marit and I made it to the hostel at the same time, but the motorcycle that Jeremy was on kept breaking down and the guy got lost, so it took him a couple of minutes extra to make it. We saw the hostel, named "Giggling Tree", and thanked and paid our chauffeurs. As they left, we made our way inside the hostel and checked in with the Dutch owners. The hostel is located out in the countryside a little ways outside of the city of Yangshuo. It seemed as though it had been recently renovated from its original barn house. The room we booked had four beds and it own private bathroom. The hostel also has a restaurant, a lounge and a courtyard in the middle for the guests to enjoy the views of the mountains surrounding the area and to eat their meals outside. I really enjoyed staying at this hostel.
Nonetheless, I was so exhausted by the time we checked into our quaint room that I took a nap for about 2 hours. Jeremy, Marit and Bjoernar ate dinner at the hostel during this time. Still, when I ordered my burger, Marit and Jeremy joined me since they ordered milk shakes for themselves. Shortly after dinner, we went to the lounge of the hostel and Jeremy, Bjoernar and I watched "Horton Hears a Who" while Marit went to bed. After the movie, we all went to sleep in our beds equipped with mosquito netting.
Spring Break (April 4th)
The pictures of this trip are on http://picasaweb.google.com/mr.walker.tkd23, http://picasaweb.google.com/mr.walker.tkd6, and http://picasaweb.google.com/mr.walker.tkd7.
We woke up at 10 a.m. after I had had a bad night's sleep. We had breakfast in the hostel and Jeremy (who was basically our tour guide) asked if we could stay in the hostel for another night. We had only booked that hostel for one night and didn't really have a set plan as to where we would be staying for the rest of the nights. We only knew that we wanted to be in Guilin, visit Yangshuo and see the surrounding area. The rest we would figure out as we went along. It turned out that the room we were staying in was vacant for another night, so we booked it. We decided over breakfast that we would visit some sites in Guilin, including Elephant Trunk Hill (one of the many karst mountains that makes the Guilin area famous) and the Reed Flute cave. After breakfast, we got ready and started walking through the wet and muddy streets (it had been raining) of Guilin to Elephant Trunk Hill. We got a little lost, but eventually made it. We didn't know if we should pay and go in to Elephant Trunk Hill to walk around since it looked like it could rain any second. Instead, we took a 20 RMB bamboo raft ride on the Li river around the Trunk. The ride was pretty fun. The driver even stopped on a "beach"across from the Trunk where locals were selling all types of seafood. We didn't buy any because we didn't trust the quality of the Li river and the food didn't look that appetizing. Afterwards, we ate lunch at a nearby Chinese restaurant. I accidentally dropped my phone in the bathroom and the back cover of my phone went into the toilet. I knew I couldn't get it out, so I just left it there. Luckily, my phone didn't fall in. After our filling and delicious lunch, we took the #3 bus to the Reed Flute cave. We were taking pictures outside of the cave with the karst mountains in the background and a fairly large group of Chinese came up to us to have their picture taken with us. It started to rain, so we went to buy our tickets and stand in line to go into the cave. The cave itself was enormous and beautiful. Pictures of the cave are on the Picasa websites, which give you an idea of how pretty the cave is. I think Jeremy's pictures of the cave came out better than mine. The tour was, of course, in Chinese so we didn't understand what they were saying about the cave, but I don't think we really needed to understand the tour guide to appreciate the magnificence of this cave. From the cave we took a taxi back to the hostel, where we relaxed for a little while until we decided to go to dinner in a restaurant near the hostel since it was pouring and we were tired. We ordered Sichuan dishes that were familiar to us, but it turned out that the food was not that great at this restaurant. We returned to the hostel after dinner in the still pouring rain and stayed there for the rest of the night.
We woke up at 10 a.m. after I had had a bad night's sleep. We had breakfast in the hostel and Jeremy (who was basically our tour guide) asked if we could stay in the hostel for another night. We had only booked that hostel for one night and didn't really have a set plan as to where we would be staying for the rest of the nights. We only knew that we wanted to be in Guilin, visit Yangshuo and see the surrounding area. The rest we would figure out as we went along. It turned out that the room we were staying in was vacant for another night, so we booked it. We decided over breakfast that we would visit some sites in Guilin, including Elephant Trunk Hill (one of the many karst mountains that makes the Guilin area famous) and the Reed Flute cave. After breakfast, we got ready and started walking through the wet and muddy streets (it had been raining) of Guilin to Elephant Trunk Hill. We got a little lost, but eventually made it. We didn't know if we should pay and go in to Elephant Trunk Hill to walk around since it looked like it could rain any second. Instead, we took a 20 RMB bamboo raft ride on the Li river around the Trunk. The ride was pretty fun. The driver even stopped on a "beach"across from the Trunk where locals were selling all types of seafood. We didn't buy any because we didn't trust the quality of the Li river and the food didn't look that appetizing. Afterwards, we ate lunch at a nearby Chinese restaurant. I accidentally dropped my phone in the bathroom and the back cover of my phone went into the toilet. I knew I couldn't get it out, so I just left it there. Luckily, my phone didn't fall in. After our filling and delicious lunch, we took the #3 bus to the Reed Flute cave. We were taking pictures outside of the cave with the karst mountains in the background and a fairly large group of Chinese came up to us to have their picture taken with us. It started to rain, so we went to buy our tickets and stand in line to go into the cave. The cave itself was enormous and beautiful. Pictures of the cave are on the Picasa websites, which give you an idea of how pretty the cave is. I think Jeremy's pictures of the cave came out better than mine. The tour was, of course, in Chinese so we didn't understand what they were saying about the cave, but I don't think we really needed to understand the tour guide to appreciate the magnificence of this cave. From the cave we took a taxi back to the hostel, where we relaxed for a little while until we decided to go to dinner in a restaurant near the hostel since it was pouring and we were tired. We ordered Sichuan dishes that were familiar to us, but it turned out that the food was not that great at this restaurant. We returned to the hostel after dinner in the still pouring rain and stayed there for the rest of the night.
Beginning of Spring Break (April 3rd)
The pictures from my spring break are on another website. Since I didn't have enough room to keep all the pictures on my camera, I had to use Jeremy's computer to upload my pictures. He then put them on the internet. So, if you want to see the pictures (which you do since they are BREATHTAKING), just go to http://picasaweb.google.com/mr.walker.tkd23 to see my pictures and go to http://picasaweb.google.com/mr.walker.tkd6 and http://picasaweb.google.com/mr.walker.tkd7 to see Jeremy's pictures, which include beautiful panoramas that my camera can't take.
My spring break started on April 3rd. Jeremy, Marit, Bjoernar and I decided that we would go to Guilin and Yangshuo, which is in the southeast part of China near Hong Kong, from April 3rd to April 12th. I went to Chinese class in the morning, returned home and then went to my last cooking class where we were to have our final. Our final consisted of making two dishes, fried tomato and scrambled eggs and tudousi (very thin french fries with green pepper), on our own. We (the students) still collaborated with one another on how to cook the dishes. Brian and I worked together and I did fairly well. My teacher said that my scrambled eggs and tomato were good, but that my tudousi was too bland. After our last cooking class, I returned home, surfed the internet, and ate dinner with Jeremy and Erik at the "rice place" right around the corner. Marit, Jeremy, Bjoernar and I left for the airport around 7 p.m. and waited there for an hour and a half for our plane to depart. The four of us didn't have seats next to each other, so I did some homework and tried to sleep. The flight only took about an hour an a half or so, but the landing was very weird and shaky. As we were waiting for Bjoernar's and Marit's luggage (Jeremy and I had taken our backpacks on the plane), Jeremy went to find out what the best way would be to get to our hostel. We took a 20 RMB bus from the airport to downtown Guilin. We didn't know exactly where our hostel was so we asked a taxi driver to take us there. It turned out we were only about five minutes away from the hostel, which was located in the sketchy back alleys of Guilin. The hostel itself, however, was very nice. We checked into a room with four beds, dropped our stuff off, took showers and went to sleep around 1 or 2 in the morning.
My spring break started on April 3rd. Jeremy, Marit, Bjoernar and I decided that we would go to Guilin and Yangshuo, which is in the southeast part of China near Hong Kong, from April 3rd to April 12th. I went to Chinese class in the morning, returned home and then went to my last cooking class where we were to have our final. Our final consisted of making two dishes, fried tomato and scrambled eggs and tudousi (very thin french fries with green pepper), on our own. We (the students) still collaborated with one another on how to cook the dishes. Brian and I worked together and I did fairly well. My teacher said that my scrambled eggs and tomato were good, but that my tudousi was too bland. After our last cooking class, I returned home, surfed the internet, and ate dinner with Jeremy and Erik at the "rice place" right around the corner. Marit, Jeremy, Bjoernar and I left for the airport around 7 p.m. and waited there for an hour and a half for our plane to depart. The four of us didn't have seats next to each other, so I did some homework and tried to sleep. The flight only took about an hour an a half or so, but the landing was very weird and shaky. As we were waiting for Bjoernar's and Marit's luggage (Jeremy and I had taken our backpacks on the plane), Jeremy went to find out what the best way would be to get to our hostel. We took a 20 RMB bus from the airport to downtown Guilin. We didn't know exactly where our hostel was so we asked a taxi driver to take us there. It turned out we were only about five minutes away from the hostel, which was located in the sketchy back alleys of Guilin. The hostel itself, however, was very nice. We checked into a room with four beds, dropped our stuff off, took showers and went to sleep around 1 or 2 in the morning.
Friday, March 27, 2009
March 23 - April 2
On Monday (March 23), I went to my Government class from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and then returned home to relax for the rest of the day.
The next day, I went to Chinese class, to a noodles restaurant by our apartment with Kevin and Marissa for lunch, and returned home. I worked on homework and my blog until the evening when Marit and I watched Sex and the City.
On Wednesday, I woke up around 11:30 a.m. and headed to Culture class around 1 p.m.. After Culture class, I returned home to blog and then headed to dinner at a new restaurant with Kevin, Gloria, Christie and Jared. We ate outside and shared our dishes, which included shredded potatoes, beef, rice and vegetables. After dinner, I returned home and helped Marit clean the apartment.
On March 26, I went to Chinese and then got lunch with Gloria by the apartment. I returned home to take a shower and went to Crayon Club for my internship. At Crayon Club, Wang Yan wanted me to write down instructions for games, so Wilma told me how the games are played and then I wrote down the directions. We finished about five games and returned home to talk to Joey, take a nap and then study for my Chinese test the next day.
On Friday, I had my Chinese test in the morning, grabbed some baozi and ran into Da Bing (the guy from the hair salon) on my way back home. At home, I napped for about 45 minutes before I had to go to my Cuisine class. Gloria, Christie, Emma and I shared a cab there, but they were heading to Tiger Leaping Gorge right after class. I didn't want to take a cab back home by myself and Will offered me a ride on the back of his bike for about half of the way. This proved to be uncomfortable, but still somewhat fun. I walked to the bus stop and took a bus the rest of the way. About 2 hours after cooking class had ended, I was finally home. I relaxed there for the rest of the night.
On Saturday, I was supposed to go back to Crayon Club to ask the older students questions about school, but I completely forgot about it. I only remembered the next day about it and felt horrible about it. Instead, I blogged for most of the day.
On Sunday, I did homework, blogged and relaxed until about 6 p.m. when I was supposed to teach English. Kimmy, one of Emma's and Marit's friends, asked Emma if she and her friends could teach English, so I volunteered to teach that evening. Kimmy brought three kids, from grades five through seven, (two of whom came later on that evening) to my apartment. Kimmy told me to teach them about food, so I began by teaching them the different names of fruits and vegetables. I used my laptop to show them pictures of the fruits and vegetables so they could associate the names with the pictures. Kimmy then suggested that we go to the grocery store right down the street, so at about 7 p.m., the five of us (the three students, Kimmy and myself) went to the store and I showed them the fruits and vegetables that we had just gone over. The students were pretty good, especially one of the boys named Henry. I had a girl, who was shy but smart, and another boy, who was the most energetic and hyper of the group. Around 8:15 p.m. we returned back to my apartment complex where I left Kimmy and the students and went back to my apartment as Kimmy went to meet the parents.
On Monday (March 30), I took a shower in the morning, walked to my Government class, and returned home to do some research for my essay for Economy class. I also did some homework, blogged, and sent some emails. I went to get some take-out fried rice for dinner and then did some more research until I went to bed.
The next day, I went to my Chinese class in the morning, Calligraphy in the afternoon, and Economy in the evening. I then returned home to do more research for my paper before going to sleep.
On Thursday, I had Chinese class in the morning and met Marissa after class. The two of us went to eat lunch with a couple of classmates and then took the bus to Roots and Shoots, an English school that teaches children about the environment while also teaching them English. They told us they needed interns to teach English to young kids. Marissa and I were interested in doing this, so we took the bus to their office after we finished lunch. We got off the bus where we were supposed to, but still didn't know where exactly the office was. We asked around and got to the area the office was in, but couldn't find the exact building. I called the woman that was going to interview us and asked her if she could meet us downstairs to take us to the office. She, however, told us she couldn't come down and told us to go into the building that was in front of us. We went into it, but realized it was an apartment building, not an office building. We called her again and eventually she came down to meet us. We walked through the first set of buildings, down an alley and to another building that her office was in. I don't know how she expected us to find that building since it was so hidden. Anyways, she interviewed us and told us more about the program. We told her we our schedule and availability and she told us she would contact us after Spring break to let us know when she needed us to teach. I contacted her after I came back from Spring break, but she replied telling me she would contact me later to teach since they hadn't figured out the program schedule yet. I never heard from her after that and didn't feel like pursuing it any further because I was only going to be in Chengdu for less than a month. After the interview, Marissa and I went home where I did some research for my paper and worked on my blog.
The next day, I went to Chinese class, to a noodles restaurant by our apartment with Kevin and Marissa for lunch, and returned home. I worked on homework and my blog until the evening when Marit and I watched Sex and the City.
On Wednesday, I woke up around 11:30 a.m. and headed to Culture class around 1 p.m.. After Culture class, I returned home to blog and then headed to dinner at a new restaurant with Kevin, Gloria, Christie and Jared. We ate outside and shared our dishes, which included shredded potatoes, beef, rice and vegetables. After dinner, I returned home and helped Marit clean the apartment.
On March 26, I went to Chinese and then got lunch with Gloria by the apartment. I returned home to take a shower and went to Crayon Club for my internship. At Crayon Club, Wang Yan wanted me to write down instructions for games, so Wilma told me how the games are played and then I wrote down the directions. We finished about five games and returned home to talk to Joey, take a nap and then study for my Chinese test the next day.
On Friday, I had my Chinese test in the morning, grabbed some baozi and ran into Da Bing (the guy from the hair salon) on my way back home. At home, I napped for about 45 minutes before I had to go to my Cuisine class. Gloria, Christie, Emma and I shared a cab there, but they were heading to Tiger Leaping Gorge right after class. I didn't want to take a cab back home by myself and Will offered me a ride on the back of his bike for about half of the way. This proved to be uncomfortable, but still somewhat fun. I walked to the bus stop and took a bus the rest of the way. About 2 hours after cooking class had ended, I was finally home. I relaxed there for the rest of the night.
On Saturday, I was supposed to go back to Crayon Club to ask the older students questions about school, but I completely forgot about it. I only remembered the next day about it and felt horrible about it. Instead, I blogged for most of the day.
On Sunday, I did homework, blogged and relaxed until about 6 p.m. when I was supposed to teach English. Kimmy, one of Emma's and Marit's friends, asked Emma if she and her friends could teach English, so I volunteered to teach that evening. Kimmy brought three kids, from grades five through seven, (two of whom came later on that evening) to my apartment. Kimmy told me to teach them about food, so I began by teaching them the different names of fruits and vegetables. I used my laptop to show them pictures of the fruits and vegetables so they could associate the names with the pictures. Kimmy then suggested that we go to the grocery store right down the street, so at about 7 p.m., the five of us (the three students, Kimmy and myself) went to the store and I showed them the fruits and vegetables that we had just gone over. The students were pretty good, especially one of the boys named Henry. I had a girl, who was shy but smart, and another boy, who was the most energetic and hyper of the group. Around 8:15 p.m. we returned back to my apartment complex where I left Kimmy and the students and went back to my apartment as Kimmy went to meet the parents.
On Monday (March 30), I took a shower in the morning, walked to my Government class, and returned home to do some research for my essay for Economy class. I also did some homework, blogged, and sent some emails. I went to get some take-out fried rice for dinner and then did some more research until I went to bed.
The next day, I went to my Chinese class in the morning, Calligraphy in the afternoon, and Economy in the evening. I then returned home to do more research for my paper before going to sleep.
On Wednesday (April 1), I went to my Culture class and met with Mabel afterwards. The two of us went to Starbucks, where we stayed for a while talking about various things. We then went to eat hot pot. This time, however, Mabel treated me to fish hot pot. She ordered one fish that the waiter boiled in the oil for us. The fish was delicious, but we felt that we would still be hungry, so Mabel ordered some smaller fish for us. By the end of the meal, we were both getting stuffed. We finished as much as we could and left. We noticed it was raining outside and ran to Mabel's car. We were pretty wet by the time we reached her car. Mabel drove me home where I surfed the internet for a little while before going to sleep.
On Thursday, I had Chinese class in the morning and met Marissa after class. The two of us went to eat lunch with a couple of classmates and then took the bus to Roots and Shoots, an English school that teaches children about the environment while also teaching them English. They told us they needed interns to teach English to young kids. Marissa and I were interested in doing this, so we took the bus to their office after we finished lunch. We got off the bus where we were supposed to, but still didn't know where exactly the office was. We asked around and got to the area the office was in, but couldn't find the exact building. I called the woman that was going to interview us and asked her if she could meet us downstairs to take us to the office. She, however, told us she couldn't come down and told us to go into the building that was in front of us. We went into it, but realized it was an apartment building, not an office building. We called her again and eventually she came down to meet us. We walked through the first set of buildings, down an alley and to another building that her office was in. I don't know how she expected us to find that building since it was so hidden. Anyways, she interviewed us and told us more about the program. We told her we our schedule and availability and she told us she would contact us after Spring break to let us know when she needed us to teach. I contacted her after I came back from Spring break, but she replied telling me she would contact me later to teach since they hadn't figured out the program schedule yet. I never heard from her after that and didn't feel like pursuing it any further because I was only going to be in Chengdu for less than a month. After the interview, Marissa and I went home where I did some research for my paper and worked on my blog.
Chongqing (March 22)
We all woke up around 7 a.m., checked out of the hostel, and headed to the People's Grand Concert Hall. Jeremy, however, was not going to join us. Instead, he was going to buy the train tickets for our return to Chengdu later that day and meet up with us at our next destination, Ciqikou (an ancient town).
The square in front of the People's Grand Concert Hall, which is behind me. At the other side of the square (the tan glass building in the picture below) is the Three Gorges Museum. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to go into the museum.
A 360 view of the square and the Concert Hall
The stage in the Hall
From the People's Grand Concert Hall, Erik, Marissa, Magnus, Caitlin and I headed to Ciqikou, Chongqing's ancient town. This ancient town is different from other ones I had been to because, even though it was very touristy, many people still lived here. We also found Jeremy here after searching for a while since these ancient towns are like mazes because the buildings are so close together and everything looks the same.
The square in front of the People's Grand Concert Hall, which is behind me. At the other side of the square (the tan glass building in the picture below) is the Three Gorges Museum. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to go into the museum.
A 360 view of the square and the Concert HallA woman stretching in the square
People practicing sword Tai Chi by the square
The People's Grand Concert Hall
The stage in the Hall
From the People's Grand Concert Hall, Erik, Marissa, Magnus, Caitlin and I headed to Ciqikou, Chongqing's ancient town. This ancient town is different from other ones I had been to because, even though it was very touristy, many people still lived here. We also found Jeremy here after searching for a while since these ancient towns are like mazes because the buildings are so close together and everything looks the same.
The entrance to Ciqikou and the touristy area with shops, food and souvenirs.
Erik and Magnus (with his wonderful expression) in front of a haunted house in the ancient town.
The residents of the ancient town, whom we found as we walked further in.
Erik and Magnus (with his wonderful expression) in front of a haunted house in the ancient town.
The residents of the ancient town, whom we found as we walked further in.
Some of the delicacies found in the ancient town, which includes all parts of the pig (stomach, tail, feet, etc.)
A man in his house in Ciqikou watching t.v. and reading the newspaper.
Another room in the ancient town that appeared to be abandoned.
Children walking to the entrance of Ciqikou.
A man whom we passed carrying one dead and one alive goose, who naturally was trying to escape.
Another man walking towards the entrance of the ancient town with all of his supplies.
We then left Ciqikou and went back to downtown Chongqing where the underground markets are located. Jeremy and Magnus waited at McDonald's while the rest of us went to check out the underground markets. According to Jeremy (who lived in Chongqing during the Fall semester of 2008), there are many levels of these underground markets, and the further down you go, the more dangerous it is. We only went to the first level, so I have no idea if this is true.
A man in his house in Ciqikou watching t.v. and reading the newspaper.
Another room in the ancient town that appeared to be abandoned.
Children walking to the entrance of Ciqikou.
A man whom we passed carrying one dead and one alive goose, who naturally was trying to escape.
Another man walking towards the entrance of the ancient town with all of his supplies.
We then left Ciqikou and went back to downtown Chongqing where the underground markets are located. Jeremy and Magnus waited at McDonald's while the rest of us went to check out the underground markets. According to Jeremy (who lived in Chongqing during the Fall semester of 2008), there are many levels of these underground markets, and the further down you go, the more dangerous it is. We only went to the first level, so I have no idea if this is true.
Unfortunately, Marissa had gone to the bank and realized she had lost her credit card. Jeremy called the hostel and asked me if they could look for it. We felt bad for Marissa because this had already happened to her before and she knew her Dad would be angry with her. In the meantime, we still went to the market since there was little we could do.
The underground markets can be seen in the bottom of this picture.
The shops on the first level mainly sold women's clothing. I stayed with Marissa who wanted to buy some clothes and I helped her barter for a shirt, which was pretty fun. The shirt started out at about 100 RMB or so and I told the lady 20 RMB and of course she said no. But kept persisting to pay 20 RMB and kept walking away when she said no. Eventually, she finally gave up as we were leaving and we got the shirt for 30 RMB. Caitlin bartered some pants for Marissa, who ended up paying 60 RMB for a pair that started at about twice as much.
They also sold home and bathroom supplies, such a toilets, lamps, fans, lights, etc..
At this point, Jeremy called the hostel again to check if they had found Marissa's credit card. They said they hadn't and Marissa and Jeremy went to the hostel to see if they could find it themselves. The rest of us stayed at McDonald's. Caitlin, Erik and I were getting hungry, so we went to dinner at a Chinese restaurant and ordered some noodles and fried dumplings. We then also went and bought some snacks for the train. We returned to McDonald's and the four of us (Magnus, Erik, Caitlin and I) took a taxi to the train station shortly thereafter. The taxi tried taking two different ways, but both were backed up with traffic. On his third try,however, he did make it through smoothly and we arrived at the train station with time to spare. We met up with Marissa and Jeremy (who unfortunately did not find her credit card) and went inside to a restaurant to play cards. Although no one was really sitting in the restaurant, they tried to kick us out. We eventually left and went to stand in line for our train.
We didn't actually get seats on the train, so we just sat in some random seats hoping the people whose seats we were in wouldn't show up. I was the last one to be kicked out of my seat and then we had the option of either standing or sitting on the floor, which I evidently did. The guy next to me did give up his seat for me for quite a while. We began talking to him and asked him if he wanted to play cards with us, which he didn't.
The nice view from the train.
We arrived in Chongqing at night around 9 or 10 p.m. and Magnus, Caitlin, Marissa and I went to stand in line for taxis while Jeremy and Erik went to buy Erik train tickets for Shanghai. They came back soon, but didn't join us in line. Instead, they decided to walk back home. I shared a taxi with Magnus and once we arrived at the apartments, I said goodnight to him and went home to sleep.
The shops on the first level mainly sold women's clothing. I stayed with Marissa who wanted to buy some clothes and I helped her barter for a shirt, which was pretty fun. The shirt started out at about 100 RMB or so and I told the lady 20 RMB and of course she said no. But kept persisting to pay 20 RMB and kept walking away when she said no. Eventually, she finally gave up as we were leaving and we got the shirt for 30 RMB. Caitlin bartered some pants for Marissa, who ended up paying 60 RMB for a pair that started at about twice as much.
They also sold home and bathroom supplies, such a toilets, lamps, fans, lights, etc..
At this point, Jeremy called the hostel again to check if they had found Marissa's credit card. They said they hadn't and Marissa and Jeremy went to the hostel to see if they could find it themselves. The rest of us stayed at McDonald's. Caitlin, Erik and I were getting hungry, so we went to dinner at a Chinese restaurant and ordered some noodles and fried dumplings. We then also went and bought some snacks for the train. We returned to McDonald's and the four of us (Magnus, Erik, Caitlin and I) took a taxi to the train station shortly thereafter. The taxi tried taking two different ways, but both were backed up with traffic. On his third try,however, he did make it through smoothly and we arrived at the train station with time to spare. We met up with Marissa and Jeremy (who unfortunately did not find her credit card) and went inside to a restaurant to play cards. Although no one was really sitting in the restaurant, they tried to kick us out. We eventually left and went to stand in line for our train.
Standing in line for our train, next to the bathrooms and the smoking room, so it smelled great there.
We didn't actually get seats on the train, so we just sat in some random seats hoping the people whose seats we were in wouldn't show up. I was the last one to be kicked out of my seat and then we had the option of either standing or sitting on the floor, which I evidently did. The guy next to me did give up his seat for me for quite a while. We began talking to him and asked him if he wanted to play cards with us, which he didn't.
The nice view from the train.
We arrived in Chongqing at night around 9 or 10 p.m. and Magnus, Caitlin, Marissa and I went to stand in line for taxis while Jeremy and Erik went to buy Erik train tickets for Shanghai. They came back soon, but didn't join us in line. Instead, they decided to walk back home. I shared a taxi with Magnus and once we arrived at the apartments, I said goodnight to him and went home to sleep.
Chongqing (March 21)
From Dazu Grotto, we took the bus to Chongqing, arrived in the afternoon and took a taxi to the hostel. We got out of the taxi and didn't know where the hostel was so we walked in the wrong direction for about 5 minutes, talked to a woman at the hostel and turned back around to walk in the right direction. The woman then met us on the sidewalk and showed us the way to the hostel. We checked into the hostel, got settled and walked around Chongqing.
The hostel
Our room
Walking around town
A dead rat on the sidewalk
The shopping center in downtown Chongqing with the People's Liberation Monument in the middle.
We then went to dinner at a sushi restaurant for an all-you-can-eat sushi buffet for 48 RMB. It was awesome because we were just making jokes and having fun and the food was delicious. We all stuffed ourselves until we couldn't eat anymore. The sushi came on this conveyor belt by us, so all we had to do was pick up the sushi we wanted and start eating. I felt like I was at an airport waiting for my luggage. :)
The People's Liberation Monument
On the way to the cable car.
In the cable car
View from the cable car
The hostel
Our room
Walking around town
A dead rat on the sidewalkThe shopping center in downtown Chongqing with the People's Liberation Monument in the middle.
We then went to dinner at a sushi restaurant for an all-you-can-eat sushi buffet for 48 RMB. It was awesome because we were just making jokes and having fun and the food was delicious. We all stuffed ourselves until we couldn't eat anymore. The sushi came on this conveyor belt by us, so all we had to do was pick up the sushi we wanted and start eating. I felt like I was at an airport waiting for my luggage. :)The People's Liberation Monument
On the way to the cable car.
In the cable car
View from the cable car
The six of us went to a square to see where the Yangtze and Jialing rivers meet.
We then returned to the hostel where Jeremy and I played pool on a very crooked pool table and then got ready for bed.
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