Weather: Rain 75F
Time: 7:35am Monday
The last 10 days have been a good time. Hanging out with my brother in China was surely a unique experience. We are heading towards the airport this morning and begin our long trip in the afternoon.
We will be leaving the dorms at 9:30 to head for the airport. We will be leaving 1 pm China time to South Korea. All posted times below are local times.
http://www.flightstats.com/go/FlightStatus/flightStatusByFlight.do?airline=(OZ)+Asiana+Airlines&flightNumber=364&departureDate=2010-05-17&x=28&y=11
http://www.flightstats.com/go/FlightStatus/flightStatusByFlight.do?airline=(OZ)+Asiana+Airlines&flightNumber=236&departureDate=2010-05-17&x=37&y=8
I have to get back to packing.
Jon
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Flight Information
I'd like to write more information on this tomorrow.
Depart 1:05pm
Arrive 3:50pm
Asiana Airlines (OZ) - 364
PVG to ICN
Depart: 6:50 pm
Arrive: 5:35 pm (6:35pm EST)
Asiana Airlines (OZ) - 236 (Terminal 5.. maybe)
ICN to ORD
Depart 1:05pm
Arrive 3:50pm
Asiana Airlines (OZ) - 364
PVG to ICN
Depart: 6:50 pm
Arrive: 5:35 pm (6:35pm EST)
Asiana Airlines (OZ) - 236 (Terminal 5.. maybe)
ICN to ORD
Friday, May 14, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
Seeing Shanghai
Weather: 70F Sunny
Time: 9:20am
My brother arrived not long ago and now we've been seeing the city as much as we can. Today we're heading to Beijing for a few days to enjoy a more traditional China scene.
So Far, Day 1
We saw a lot of the town, moving quickly though the fabric market - we headed to lunch at People's Square. Saw the future of Shanghai in the Urban planning museum and headed out shopping after that to the Nanjing Road pedestrian street. We walked to the Bund and also crossed the river to have dinner near the Oriental Pearl.
9th
We spent a lot of time getting places and got a few menial tasks done and got to old town for most of the day. The time was split between the traditional Chinese garden, Yu Yuan, and seeing what small shop vendors had for sale.
10th
World Expo all day.
Beijing
Today we're heading to Beijing in the early afternoon. Every night has been very short because of the long days, we're taking this opportunity to get ready for some more long days. We're flying out of PVG at 2:10pm and landing back in Shanghai on Friday at 9:15pm. Planning on seeing the sights! Great Wall, Summer Palace, etc etc etc.
Heading Home
I am looking forward to being back in the United States. Some of the friends on this trip left on the same flight I am taking, one week early. They touched down in Chicago at 6:35pm EST and it was the first thing I thought of when I woke up today. I am really looking forward 7 days from now.
Biber
Time: 9:20am
My brother arrived not long ago and now we've been seeing the city as much as we can. Today we're heading to Beijing for a few days to enjoy a more traditional China scene.
So Far, Day 1
We saw a lot of the town, moving quickly though the fabric market - we headed to lunch at People's Square. Saw the future of Shanghai in the Urban planning museum and headed out shopping after that to the Nanjing Road pedestrian street. We walked to the Bund and also crossed the river to have dinner near the Oriental Pearl.
9th
We spent a lot of time getting places and got a few menial tasks done and got to old town for most of the day. The time was split between the traditional Chinese garden, Yu Yuan, and seeing what small shop vendors had for sale.
10th
World Expo all day.
Beijing
Today we're heading to Beijing in the early afternoon. Every night has been very short because of the long days, we're taking this opportunity to get ready for some more long days. We're flying out of PVG at 2:10pm and landing back in Shanghai on Friday at 9:15pm. Planning on seeing the sights! Great Wall, Summer Palace, etc etc etc.
Heading Home
I am looking forward to being back in the United States. Some of the friends on this trip left on the same flight I am taking, one week early. They touched down in Chicago at 6:35pm EST and it was the first thing I thought of when I woke up today. I am really looking forward 7 days from now.
Biber
Friday, May 7, 2010
Adventure to the End
Weather 64F and Sunny
Time 845am Saturday
This week is finally over, I am happy to be finished with school. I am officially no longer a student and I am only a short term tourist. Thankfully, so is everyone else on the trip. I will now also be able to go see some sites with my brother - who arrived yesterday afternoon.
End of School
This week we all had to sit down and finish school with some finals. I thankfully only had two finals, one from the distance Purdue course and another final for the local Purdue Students Only Thermodynamics II course. I had studied plenty for the Purdue course and I believe it strongly paid off. The Thermo test could have gone much better. I am very excited that school has finally come to a close here in China. It marks the beginning of the end.
The end coming around is a big deal because I am looking for to coming home. I recognize that I will likely not be able to come back to China for quite sometime. I am looking forward to coming back and speaking more Chinese than I do now. It is very exciting to be a tourist again, very little responsibility and staying active each day with a goal of seeing everything there is to see. School and homework no longer are in the way!
World Expo 2010 Visit 1
On Thursday May 6th, I visited the Expo for the first time. I made my way to plenty of the pavilions and it was a bit of a scouting mission for the rest of the folks on the trip. Since I only had the two finals, I was able to go out while many students had a final on Thursday evening. The top pavilions I saw on Thursday were, Italy, Netherlands, Canada, United States, Sweden, Germany, Spain. For more details click "Read More" The other pavilions were either not worth visiting or not worth mentioning. It was a pretty cool experience. It is along the lines of what I was expecting.
Arrival of Brother
Surprise! My brother has come as a surprise to many people, friends and family. He is here for a ten day blitz of China until we leave on the 17th. We are planning on going to see the sites of Shanghai and have flights booked for a short trip to Beijing during the middle of the coming week! I am happy to have be able to share some of this with someone so close to me. It also is a great conclusion for my trip because I have become accustom to the happenings in China. Dropping in a fresh perspective that is seeing all of these differences for the first time is a very interesting contrast.
Biber
Time 845am Saturday
This week is finally over, I am happy to be finished with school. I am officially no longer a student and I am only a short term tourist. Thankfully, so is everyone else on the trip. I will now also be able to go see some sites with my brother - who arrived yesterday afternoon.
End of School
This week we all had to sit down and finish school with some finals. I thankfully only had two finals, one from the distance Purdue course and another final for the local Purdue Students Only Thermodynamics II course. I had studied plenty for the Purdue course and I believe it strongly paid off. The Thermo test could have gone much better. I am very excited that school has finally come to a close here in China. It marks the beginning of the end.
The end coming around is a big deal because I am looking for to coming home. I recognize that I will likely not be able to come back to China for quite sometime. I am looking forward to coming back and speaking more Chinese than I do now. It is very exciting to be a tourist again, very little responsibility and staying active each day with a goal of seeing everything there is to see. School and homework no longer are in the way!
World Expo 2010 Visit 1
On Thursday May 6th, I visited the Expo for the first time. I made my way to plenty of the pavilions and it was a bit of a scouting mission for the rest of the folks on the trip. Since I only had the two finals, I was able to go out while many students had a final on Thursday evening. The top pavilions I saw on Thursday were, Italy, Netherlands, Canada, United States, Sweden, Germany, Spain. For more details click "Read More" The other pavilions were either not worth visiting or not worth mentioning. It was a pretty cool experience. It is along the lines of what I was expecting.
Arrival of Brother
Surprise! My brother has come as a surprise to many people, friends and family. He is here for a ten day blitz of China until we leave on the 17th. We are planning on going to see the sites of Shanghai and have flights booked for a short trip to Beijing during the middle of the coming week! I am happy to have be able to share some of this with someone so close to me. It also is a great conclusion for my trip because I have become accustom to the happenings in China. Dropping in a fresh perspective that is seeing all of these differences for the first time is a very interesting contrast.
Biber
Thursday, April 29, 2010
April Comes to an End
Weather: 60F
Time: 10pm Thursday
This is a general post of life in Shanghai now that it the expo is about to kick off and April is coming to an end.
Expo Tickets
I know I have mentioned it before, but students are having trouble finding tickets to the Expo. The stores who should be selling them all claim to not have any tickets remaining. It makes me glad that I have a some tickets already lined up. It is hard to believe how little publicity the expo has had on a global level when I have been living through the expo publicity for the last five months. The World Expo 2010 is a continuation of what Americans have come to know as the World's Fair. The same idea as the world's fair that built the Eiffel Tower. Expo 2010 is the largest expo in the history of the event. There have been articles here and there online that I have come across but nothing that has gone into as much of a love fest as the local media. This expo is expected to attract seventy million people from May first to the end of October. I hope it is as grand as the local media has made it out to be!
Bird Crap
There happens to be a road that connects the dorm to the cafeteria that is lined with plenty of overhanging trees. As the title suggests, the road is covered with small white splatters to the point where it appears to have been the target of a shotgun style paintball gun. It has become quite a game to avoid getting crapped on when going to and from lunch. Everyone in the group gets to play, the rules are simple if you get pooped on you get a point. The person with the least points wins. Today, I left the leaders column. I was having a bad day, so I bought myself some ice cream when leaving the dining hall. Sadly, I was unable to finish my ice cream because not only did I get crapped on but so did my delicious treat. Thankfully, the splatter damage was not like someone launched a taco bell burrito at me but much closer to having a gigantic non-delicious ice cream cone melt above my shoulder. I missed the blunt force of it, just down my arm and shirt. Nothing life ending, just sad that it ruined my ice cream bar.
Exams & Homework
I spent a large part of this afternoon working on my final homework assignment. I am happy that school is coming to an end. I look forward to traveling around China a bit and seeing some thing in Shanghai after school ends. I have two exams early next week. I do plan on spending quite a bit of time this weekend studying. After this weekend and the first few days of the next week - I will finally be available about to go out and see Shanghai again. I am really looking forward to seeing all the things that HAVE changed since January. Many buildings have been torn down, walls have been built, buildings have been finished and tourist attractions will be 100% ready for prime time.
Google Voice
The Google Voice experiment has been quite well. Throughout the trip, I have been able to use text messaging to stay in contact with people back at home. I would currently label it as a success. I am planning on keeping my GV phone number when I return to the states. I am working on figuring out what I will be doing about a new cellphone. I am looking into Boost Mobile, if anyone has good or bad review on Boost let me know. If anyone knows of a BETTER pre-paid option, I am in the market. I am looking for a cheap phone that will get me by until the Christmas season when the new phones will be out on the market with new features.
American Food List
It is only a dream at this point, but there is growing whispers among our group of the delicious food we are missing at home. There is such excitement surrounding this issue for many of the students on the trip that it is a topic that comes up almost daily. We never talk about it for more than just a few words here and there because of how much we miss it. It is usually a few words like, "I really miss grilled cheese" "I want real milk" "I want beef that doesn't taste like grass." It is an easy talking point for me, but I try to avoid it as much as I can. I won't lie, the last four months have not been full of the most scrumptious meals I have ever been dealt. That is not to say I have not enjoyed some of the meals, but it clearly is not my first choice of foods. I am truly looking forward to many American staples that are often imitated but never EVER duplicated. If it is served at a Fourth of July lunch, it is on the list. Burgers, Steak, Milk, Chips, MacNCheese, Pasta, Pizza, Garlic Bread, Apples, etc etc etc. I am really looking forward to being home.
If anyone knows of a good motorcycle deal, I am considering it. I am looking for a nice cruiser style bike for about 3500 and 750cc or more. Something comparable to a VTX 1300cc would be right up my alley.
I look forward to seeing all of my friends and family. I hope we can see each other throughout this summer.
Biber
Time: 10pm Thursday
This is a general post of life in Shanghai now that it the expo is about to kick off and April is coming to an end.
Expo Tickets
I know I have mentioned it before, but students are having trouble finding tickets to the Expo. The stores who should be selling them all claim to not have any tickets remaining. It makes me glad that I have a some tickets already lined up. It is hard to believe how little publicity the expo has had on a global level when I have been living through the expo publicity for the last five months. The World Expo 2010 is a continuation of what Americans have come to know as the World's Fair. The same idea as the world's fair that built the Eiffel Tower. Expo 2010 is the largest expo in the history of the event. There have been articles here and there online that I have come across but nothing that has gone into as much of a love fest as the local media. This expo is expected to attract seventy million people from May first to the end of October. I hope it is as grand as the local media has made it out to be!
Bird Crap
There happens to be a road that connects the dorm to the cafeteria that is lined with plenty of overhanging trees. As the title suggests, the road is covered with small white splatters to the point where it appears to have been the target of a shotgun style paintball gun. It has become quite a game to avoid getting crapped on when going to and from lunch. Everyone in the group gets to play, the rules are simple if you get pooped on you get a point. The person with the least points wins. Today, I left the leaders column. I was having a bad day, so I bought myself some ice cream when leaving the dining hall. Sadly, I was unable to finish my ice cream because not only did I get crapped on but so did my delicious treat. Thankfully, the splatter damage was not like someone launched a taco bell burrito at me but much closer to having a gigantic non-delicious ice cream cone melt above my shoulder. I missed the blunt force of it, just down my arm and shirt. Nothing life ending, just sad that it ruined my ice cream bar.
Exams & Homework
I spent a large part of this afternoon working on my final homework assignment. I am happy that school is coming to an end. I look forward to traveling around China a bit and seeing some thing in Shanghai after school ends. I have two exams early next week. I do plan on spending quite a bit of time this weekend studying. After this weekend and the first few days of the next week - I will finally be available about to go out and see Shanghai again. I am really looking forward to seeing all the things that HAVE changed since January. Many buildings have been torn down, walls have been built, buildings have been finished and tourist attractions will be 100% ready for prime time.
Google Voice
The Google Voice experiment has been quite well. Throughout the trip, I have been able to use text messaging to stay in contact with people back at home. I would currently label it as a success. I am planning on keeping my GV phone number when I return to the states. I am working on figuring out what I will be doing about a new cellphone. I am looking into Boost Mobile, if anyone has good or bad review on Boost let me know. If anyone knows of a BETTER pre-paid option, I am in the market. I am looking for a cheap phone that will get me by until the Christmas season when the new phones will be out on the market with new features.
American Food List
It is only a dream at this point, but there is growing whispers among our group of the delicious food we are missing at home. There is such excitement surrounding this issue for many of the students on the trip that it is a topic that comes up almost daily. We never talk about it for more than just a few words here and there because of how much we miss it. It is usually a few words like, "I really miss grilled cheese" "I want real milk" "I want beef that doesn't taste like grass." It is an easy talking point for me, but I try to avoid it as much as I can. I won't lie, the last four months have not been full of the most scrumptious meals I have ever been dealt. That is not to say I have not enjoyed some of the meals, but it clearly is not my first choice of foods. I am truly looking forward to many American staples that are often imitated but never EVER duplicated. If it is served at a Fourth of July lunch, it is on the list. Burgers, Steak, Milk, Chips, MacNCheese, Pasta, Pizza, Garlic Bread, Apples, etc etc etc. I am really looking forward to being home.
If anyone knows of a good motorcycle deal, I am considering it. I am looking for a nice cruiser style bike for about 3500 and 750cc or more. Something comparable to a VTX 1300cc would be right up my alley.
I look forward to seeing all of my friends and family. I hope we can see each other throughout this summer.
Biber
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Guilin / Yangshuo / Shanghai Pictures
Some Photos from the Guilin + Yangshuo trip.
Slideshow from Hike in Yangshuo and some Guilin photos *unsorted*
Pano with Water Buffalo
Pano from Dragon Bridge
Showbiz Rooftop Bar (Hostel)
Shanghai Riverfront (from Pearl TV Tower)
Biber
 |
| From Guilin Skydrive |
Slideshow from Hike in Yangshuo and some Guilin photos *unsorted*
Pano with Water Buffalo
Pano from Dragon Bridge
Showbiz Rooftop Bar (Hostel)
Shanghai Riverfront (from Pearl TV Tower)
Biber
Trip Recap (2 of 2) Yangshuo: The China Experience
Weather: 54F
Time: 12:25AM
I was “just along for the ride.” In short, this was a fantastic leg of the trip. A group of five total visited many beautiful outdoor locations and finally got to see the China countryside. I left America hoping to this China. Something so different that it felt like I was an alien. We went for a hike and only saw locals for the entire day. While the hike was the highlight, we also met some new friends and rode a boat on the Li River from Guilin to Yanghshuo.
Yangshuo
This town is not a very large place. It has a tourist area about the size of two large city blocks which serves at the home base for travelers going into the real countryside. It offers many amenities found in large cities but all of that is gone after five minutes on a bicycle. Surrounded by mountains that were naturally eroded, every street corner offers a unique view. This area of China seemed to be the least fake place I had been to yet.
Li River Cruise
The cost of the cruise was $55 / person. It costs more for foreigners to take the cruise because the cruise boats have to have a different license to carry foreign people. The boat was 100 to 120 feet long and 3 decks tall. Two dining decks and an observation deck. The cruise lasted about 3 hours and went past many famous cliffs and scenic picturesque areas. One of the more famous areas can be found on the back of the 20 yuan bill. It was a nice peaceful way to get from Guilin to Yangshuo and a unique way to see the Chinese countryside.
Small Village Tour
On our boat, we had heard from our tour guide there would be an opportunity that afternoon to see the four items listed above for what seemed like a good price considering travel was included. We registered and went to see these things for the afternoon. We later found out that all of these things were at the same location, but it was still an okay price.
The highlights from this trip were seeing how the village was built, the fantastic views, hanging out with some water buffalo and riding a bamboo raft. The village was made mostly from mud bricks and wood. Almost none of the buildings had glass windows but rather a large opening in the wall where windows should be. This is due to the fluxes in funding the farmers experience.
The bamboo rafts were interesting water going vehicles, the pictures will do a better job explaining this than I can. We floated out to see some water buffalo, that was pretty neat – but the experience was the fantastic scenery.
The last experience on this tour was watching the Chinese technique of Commodore fishing. The commodore is a duck with a long neck and apparently is quite good a fishing. The technique is to tie a rope around the duck's neck loose enough that it can breath but tight enough it can not swallow the fish it catches. While it is incredibly cruel, it is also highly effective. This duck can catch up to 50kg a day of fish. Any to make it less cruel, it was said they they give 1 of 7 fishes caught to the duck to keep it happy. I have some video of this – it is interesting if nothing else.
New Friends / Dinner
After the trip ended we bumped into some students that study in Beijing. The group was a very nice set of students who are studying from American University at the number one university in China. It was a real pleasure to meet these people and we ended hanging out with them a few more times the rest of the trip. We all enjoyed a dinner together and had a few drinks on the roof of our hostel.
Day Hike
The next morning, we had read about a nice hike in the countryside. We got on a local commuter bus and went an hour into the fields. When we got out we were at a river and on the other side of it started at 20 km hike. Unfortunately, the local bamboo boat owners knew that we had no other choice than to pay them to cross the river. They thought a fair price was 100 RMB and we had no room to negotiate. Considering the traveling distance and time it takes to cross the river, 15 RMB would more reasonable. This is a practice I will refer to as “getting bamboozled.” We paid and started our hike on the other side, knowing that the hike would cross the river two more times made us a bit unhappy. The hike from here on is fairly indescribable. We spent the rest of the afternoon, walking through farmer’s fields, climbing on rocks, and being surrounded by nothing western at all. Surprisingly, it was not upsetting to the farmers to have us wandering around on the land they farm. I wonder if this has anything to do with the farmers not actually owning the land, since the government owns it all.
We again got bamboozled on the next river crossing and sadly we had nothing we could do about that. We continued hiking and taking lots of pictures of anything that was interesting. I captured plenty of video of some of the small towns we visited, but it is very shaky since I was walking the whole time.
At one point during the hike there was a man sitting by a creek. The creek had no easy way to get across and he had a bamboo raft. His deal was 1 yuan per person as a toll to cross without getting wet. He even looked like a troll, so rather than trying my luck – I paid the $0.13. It was just odd that there was a man waiting all day for someone to pay him to cross this small creek.
We came across many other things during our walk. We climbed through fields to get to a water fall, visited an orange grove built on the hill, and encountered water buffalo on the trip. Our trip concluded with a bamboo raft to our destination city. We completed around half the hike because we spent so much time off trail looking at things. We got a raft at the end of the day for forty yuan, this raft ride lasted nearly twenty minutes. As we had read, the man would not drop us off in the actual city – instead he chose to drop us off right by his friend’s motorcycle-bus. I cannot describe this better than the pictures, so be sure to look at those. Twenty more yuan to get to town and it was still much cheaper than both of the previous river crossings. It was a great trip and really a unique China experience.
Moon Hill
Sunday morning we rented some bicycles and rode out into the country to find a famous rock, reminiscent of Arches National Park in Utah – just only one arch. We rode for thirty minutes and found the entrance but due to time constraints could not go in and hike up it. We tried to view it from the ground, but it was very cloudy and difficult to get a good picture.
Traveling to Shanghai
We hired a private car from Yangshuo to Guilin Airport, a nice leather interior van. Arrived a bit early so did some studying for my exam the next day and then flew home. Thankfully, we were able to find a cab driver that was willing to take 5 passengers in his cab from Shanghai’s Pudong to school. It saved quite a bit of money by doing this.. despite being super uncomfortable.
Biber
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Trip Recap (1 of 2 ) Guilin: Another Tourist Town
Weather: 68F sunny in Shanghai
Time: 220pm
As we left on Wednesday afternoon I had no expectations for this trip. I was “just along for the ride.” In short, this trip was a fantastic experience. A group of five total visited many beautiful outdoor locations. The train was alright. Guilin is a larger town with many things available to do and see. We had a condensed Guilin schedule because we had heard that Yangshuo was a better place to visit – less touristy. This is a very long series of blog posts, I hope the detail is appreciated.
Guilin
As an overview of Guilin, this town is like many of the places I have seen before in China. There are plenty of things to buy and places that exist for tourism only. We were told that over fifteen million people visit Guilin each year. It was a clean town and was very much an modern place. The only relics were are now tourist sites.
Train
The train left Shanghai just after 5pm Wednesday. My expectations were set very low from the last train ride to and from Xi'an. I had decided that trains take a long time, tend not to be on schedule, and could feel very crowded very quickly. We had soft sleepers, four to a room. Thankfully, I was not the odd man out – though the fifth man only was not in our room when he was sleeping. I studied a little for my exam on the following Monday. We played cards for a while before going to the food car. Watching a movie and drinking beer with friends on the train was a good time.
The next day we killed time by plays cards and discussing things we could do in Guilin and Yangshuo, since we had not yet hammered out an agenda. The discussion drifted from locations to pick pockets and other bad deals. One of the books had written about pick pocketing being especially bad in the Guilin area because of the high volume of tourists. Another article discussed a common scheme that I had seen in Sanya. A little girl (less than five years old) approaches with flowers and uses aggressive sales techniques into pressure the target to buying a flower. If the sale is unsuccessful, the parents who are usually nearby and watching report the tourist to the police for abuse, then you have to explain to the police what happened. Explaining that to the police can be very difficult if the police do not know English. In Sanya the little girl was leaning and begging for the target to buy a flower from her and despite attempts could not get away. I had shouted that a spin move would be the key to success, but it was not attempted at the time. Another warned of Bamboo Rafts on the Li River not dropping passengers off at requested destinations as well as outrageous prices. At the end of the train ride, I was happy to leave the train station just about 23 hrs after I had left Shanghai.
Pagodas
After checking into the hostel and eating a delicious Chinese restaurant, we walked around Guilin. We came across the twin pagodas built in one of the lakes there. As night fell, we took many pictures. The picture taking and posing was drawing the attention of the Chinese tourists, particularly the college aged girls. As we were taking pictures I noticed one of the girls was taking pictures of a fellow in the group with blonde hair and blue eyes. I walked up behind her and called her out on it by inviting her to join the gentleman who was being candidly photographed. She was very embarrassed and insistently said no thank you. Her friends however, took up my offer eagerly. I tried to get the girl in the photo, but she was adamant about not being in the picture.
It seems to be that once the picture with a foreigner practice starts it does not come to an end until everyone there has had a chance to get a picture with a foreigner. After the first group of girls went through and had their picture taken, another group of five or six girls also wanted their picture taken with all of their cameras. Following that, another group of many girls asked for the picture. It concluded with a group picture of all five Americans being squeezed into a picture with a few of the Chinese girls that started it all. As the excitement started to die down from the group pictures, the first flower kid was spotted.
Flower Child
One friend of mine and I both spotted this five or six year old girl approaching with a hand full of roses. He and I made our exit quickly and apparently without the other Americans noticing. The little girls are very persistent that you buy the flowers they were selling. Her golden tactic here was to take a flower and stuck it in to the opening on a half zipped jacket. She was selling the flowers for only five yuan, but still – there was no need for a flower. The guy who got flowered tried to hand it back and say he did not want it. I realized she was being stubborn and started shouting from a distance “no want!” in Chinese. My thought was if we made a scene out of it there was a smaller chance of this guy having to deal with an abuse / assault charge from the police. It is difficult to be rude to these children because they are very cute and do not know that what they are doing is considered socially unacceptable. Eventually he tried to set the flower down and that ended the sale. This event made us come up with a keyword to avoid this situation again.
Soon after, I spotted another child and yelled the keyword. The group began moving quickly but for one guy it was just too late. He was engaged by the child and I started to suggest, more specifically yell, “Spin move!” The guy performed the spin move very well, like the ex-high school football player he is. This spin move leaned on the kid a bit and almost toppled the child over. It was a fantastic sight because – as noted in previous posts Chinese do not know much about American football and these techniques are fantastic evasion tools.
Bus Driver
The next morning we had ordered a tour package to ride a boat on the Li River. A bus came to pick us up and this driver clearly learned his English by watching movies and MTV. Every sentence he said was cliché. It partly entertainment value and also quite literally his lack of knowledge of the English language. As we parted ways with him we got the, “Hasta la vista, baby!” style goodbye. I have some video of this man speaking in the car, hopefully you will get to hear it when I return home.
Part 1 of 2
Biber
Time: 220pm
As we left on Wednesday afternoon I had no expectations for this trip. I was “just along for the ride.” In short, this trip was a fantastic experience. A group of five total visited many beautiful outdoor locations. The train was alright. Guilin is a larger town with many things available to do and see. We had a condensed Guilin schedule because we had heard that Yangshuo was a better place to visit – less touristy. This is a very long series of blog posts, I hope the detail is appreciated.
Guilin
As an overview of Guilin, this town is like many of the places I have seen before in China. There are plenty of things to buy and places that exist for tourism only. We were told that over fifteen million people visit Guilin each year. It was a clean town and was very much an modern place. The only relics were are now tourist sites.
Train
The train left Shanghai just after 5pm Wednesday. My expectations were set very low from the last train ride to and from Xi'an. I had decided that trains take a long time, tend not to be on schedule, and could feel very crowded very quickly. We had soft sleepers, four to a room. Thankfully, I was not the odd man out – though the fifth man only was not in our room when he was sleeping. I studied a little for my exam on the following Monday. We played cards for a while before going to the food car. Watching a movie and drinking beer with friends on the train was a good time.
The next day we killed time by plays cards and discussing things we could do in Guilin and Yangshuo, since we had not yet hammered out an agenda. The discussion drifted from locations to pick pockets and other bad deals. One of the books had written about pick pocketing being especially bad in the Guilin area because of the high volume of tourists. Another article discussed a common scheme that I had seen in Sanya. A little girl (less than five years old) approaches with flowers and uses aggressive sales techniques into pressure the target to buying a flower. If the sale is unsuccessful, the parents who are usually nearby and watching report the tourist to the police for abuse, then you have to explain to the police what happened. Explaining that to the police can be very difficult if the police do not know English. In Sanya the little girl was leaning and begging for the target to buy a flower from her and despite attempts could not get away. I had shouted that a spin move would be the key to success, but it was not attempted at the time. Another warned of Bamboo Rafts on the Li River not dropping passengers off at requested destinations as well as outrageous prices. At the end of the train ride, I was happy to leave the train station just about 23 hrs after I had left Shanghai.
Pagodas
After checking into the hostel and eating a delicious Chinese restaurant, we walked around Guilin. We came across the twin pagodas built in one of the lakes there. As night fell, we took many pictures. The picture taking and posing was drawing the attention of the Chinese tourists, particularly the college aged girls. As we were taking pictures I noticed one of the girls was taking pictures of a fellow in the group with blonde hair and blue eyes. I walked up behind her and called her out on it by inviting her to join the gentleman who was being candidly photographed. She was very embarrassed and insistently said no thank you. Her friends however, took up my offer eagerly. I tried to get the girl in the photo, but she was adamant about not being in the picture.
It seems to be that once the picture with a foreigner practice starts it does not come to an end until everyone there has had a chance to get a picture with a foreigner. After the first group of girls went through and had their picture taken, another group of five or six girls also wanted their picture taken with all of their cameras. Following that, another group of many girls asked for the picture. It concluded with a group picture of all five Americans being squeezed into a picture with a few of the Chinese girls that started it all. As the excitement started to die down from the group pictures, the first flower kid was spotted.
Flower Child
One friend of mine and I both spotted this five or six year old girl approaching with a hand full of roses. He and I made our exit quickly and apparently without the other Americans noticing. The little girls are very persistent that you buy the flowers they were selling. Her golden tactic here was to take a flower and stuck it in to the opening on a half zipped jacket. She was selling the flowers for only five yuan, but still – there was no need for a flower. The guy who got flowered tried to hand it back and say he did not want it. I realized she was being stubborn and started shouting from a distance “no want!” in Chinese. My thought was if we made a scene out of it there was a smaller chance of this guy having to deal with an abuse / assault charge from the police. It is difficult to be rude to these children because they are very cute and do not know that what they are doing is considered socially unacceptable. Eventually he tried to set the flower down and that ended the sale. This event made us come up with a keyword to avoid this situation again.
Soon after, I spotted another child and yelled the keyword. The group began moving quickly but for one guy it was just too late. He was engaged by the child and I started to suggest, more specifically yell, “Spin move!” The guy performed the spin move very well, like the ex-high school football player he is. This spin move leaned on the kid a bit and almost toppled the child over. It was a fantastic sight because – as noted in previous posts Chinese do not know much about American football and these techniques are fantastic evasion tools.
Bus Driver
The next morning we had ordered a tour package to ride a boat on the Li River. A bus came to pick us up and this driver clearly learned his English by watching movies and MTV. Every sentence he said was cliché. It partly entertainment value and also quite literally his lack of knowledge of the English language. As we parted ways with him we got the, “Hasta la vista, baby!” style goodbye. I have some video of this man speaking in the car, hopefully you will get to hear it when I return home.
Part 1 of 2
Biber
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Guilin Departure
Weather: 64F
Time: 130pm Wednesday
Today I will be boarding a train and heading to Guilin. I believe we leave at 5pm and arrive tomorrow at 3pm. I am not looking forward to the train ride.
Exam
The exam that I stayed from the F1 race to study for has been moved to Thursday. I will be on a train at that point. My professor has been generous and pushed the exam back for some of us until Monday. This means I have a couple homework assignments and plenty of studying I can do during the long train ride.
Guilin / Yangshuo Info
I am not really sure what these two cities have to offer. There are some really great outdoor activities that are available and I am hoping to grab a few good pictures during the trip. I will be packing lightly because we will be moving from hostel to hostel. I do not know what to expect, but it is something to do! I am hoping for good weather despite the rainy forecast.
Shanghai
Our group of 5 will arrive back in Shanghai via a 2 hr plane ride. We arrive Sunday at 8pm at Pudong airport, I hope to be back early enough to get some studying done and catch up with my friends, family, and girlfriend a bit. I do not expect to have much contact over the next few days, but if I get a chance - I'll post here first.
Biber
Time: 130pm Wednesday
Today I will be boarding a train and heading to Guilin. I believe we leave at 5pm and arrive tomorrow at 3pm. I am not looking forward to the train ride.
Exam
The exam that I stayed from the F1 race to study for has been moved to Thursday. I will be on a train at that point. My professor has been generous and pushed the exam back for some of us until Monday. This means I have a couple homework assignments and plenty of studying I can do during the long train ride.
Guilin / Yangshuo Info
I am not really sure what these two cities have to offer. There are some really great outdoor activities that are available and I am hoping to grab a few good pictures during the trip. I will be packing lightly because we will be moving from hostel to hostel. I do not know what to expect, but it is something to do! I am hoping for good weather despite the rainy forecast.
Shanghai
Our group of 5 will arrive back in Shanghai via a 2 hr plane ride. We arrive Sunday at 8pm at Pudong airport, I hope to be back early enough to get some studying done and catch up with my friends, family, and girlfriend a bit. I do not expect to have much contact over the next few days, but if I get a chance - I'll post here first.
Biber
Monday, April 19, 2010
Formula 1 Photos
A few photos from practice and the race.
Also - check out the first few photos from things I saw on the road.
Also - check out the first few photos from things I saw on the road.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
F1, Exams, Guilin
Weather: 63F & Rain
Time: 1130pm Sunday
This weekend I spent sometime collecting things for my trip this coming week. I went to see the F1 practice. I studied hard for my exams.
Exams
This coming week I have two exams. It was originally scheduled for Monday and Wednesday with Monday being the more important exam. It has since been pushed back to Thursday, which conflicts with a trip to Guilin I have already scheduled. We are working with the professor to resolve this issue.
Formula 1
This weekend I finally got to go out to the Shanghai Circuit. I have come to a few conclusions; sports where the viewer can not see everything that is going on at one time do not interest me, HD television programming not only gets your closer to the action - but will save time and money, and it is difficult to travel around shanghai sometimes.
Time Table; Depart Dorm at 8am - by 10am look for a bus to take us to the track from downtown - take a taxi 180RMB and arrive at 11:40 - Eat non-american hot dog for 40RMB - Watch racing til 4pm - Stand in line for subway until 5pm - Arrive downtown at 6:30pm - Followed someone who didn't know where they were going til 7:30 - Ate Papa Johns and then got back to the dorm at 9pm
The day took longer than I wanted it to. I was very tired and went to bed at 9:30pm and I did not get to study when I arrived home like I was hoping. The next morning (today, race day) I decided that I could not go to the race today because of my exam on Monday. It was a difficult decision, but I think it was the right choice. I spent over 120USD on that ticket, but if I do not perform well on these exams I may put my summer job in question. I stayed home when people left and sent my ticket away with my roommate to be sold on location. I later received and email saying the exam was delayed until Thursday. I did not feel too cheated because of the travel time to and from the track. I got to see some of the race on local TV stations (in Chinese). I did get a lot of studying done, though more will definitely help!
Guilin
This week I will be going to Guilin, China. It is a scenic area that is pictured on the back of the 20RMB bill. Water and Rocks... perhaps some good places to hike and adventure. Sadly, it is 21 hours by train. I will be departing on Wednesday evening at 5pm and I hope I can make it. The last train ride was a bit more than I was wanting and it was only 18 hours. Though, it is good practice for the trip home - I think it will take about 22 hrs to get home. The weather is not looking very good for the trip, lots of rain during the end of the week. We will be flying back to Shanghai at least.
Expo Gearing Up
It is very apparent that the Expo is starting on May 1st. The videos in the subway have news and public announcements (in Chinese). The news almost exclusively is showing video from the expo and that is broken into segments by commercials that indicate good behavior in public spaces. Don't run backwards on escalators! Carry your children on stairs! Report suspicious activities! Things of that sort.
Volcano Disrupts Air Traffic
There is currently a volcano in Iceland spewing ash into the sky that is covering the better part of the northern European countries. I hope that this volcano stops soon and air traffic can resume! I am currently operating under the theory that nothing will stop me from going home on May 17th. I hope there are no natural disasters that ruin my trip back to the USA.
Graduation
I want to make it abundantly clear to my friend who will be graduating this May that I regret missing your graduation. Many of you I have known for six and more years and I congratulate you on your upcoming accomplishment. I thank my friends who have been in the military for the last few years while we have been in school. I thank my friends who are still in the military and wish for the best for those who will be entering the military after graduation. I am lucky to have smart and honorable friends who have gone through college and the military. Good luck to those who will soon be entering the real world and graduate schools around the country. I wish you all the best in your upcoming adventures!
Biber
Time: 1130pm Sunday
This weekend I spent sometime collecting things for my trip this coming week. I went to see the F1 practice. I studied hard for my exams.
Exams
This coming week I have two exams. It was originally scheduled for Monday and Wednesday with Monday being the more important exam. It has since been pushed back to Thursday, which conflicts with a trip to Guilin I have already scheduled. We are working with the professor to resolve this issue.
Formula 1
This weekend I finally got to go out to the Shanghai Circuit. I have come to a few conclusions; sports where the viewer can not see everything that is going on at one time do not interest me, HD television programming not only gets your closer to the action - but will save time and money, and it is difficult to travel around shanghai sometimes.
Time Table; Depart Dorm at 8am - by 10am look for a bus to take us to the track from downtown - take a taxi 180RMB and arrive at 11:40 - Eat non-american hot dog for 40RMB - Watch racing til 4pm - Stand in line for subway until 5pm - Arrive downtown at 6:30pm - Followed someone who didn't know where they were going til 7:30 - Ate Papa Johns and then got back to the dorm at 9pm
The day took longer than I wanted it to. I was very tired and went to bed at 9:30pm and I did not get to study when I arrived home like I was hoping. The next morning (today, race day) I decided that I could not go to the race today because of my exam on Monday. It was a difficult decision, but I think it was the right choice. I spent over 120USD on that ticket, but if I do not perform well on these exams I may put my summer job in question. I stayed home when people left and sent my ticket away with my roommate to be sold on location. I later received and email saying the exam was delayed until Thursday. I did not feel too cheated because of the travel time to and from the track. I got to see some of the race on local TV stations (in Chinese). I did get a lot of studying done, though more will definitely help!
Guilin
This week I will be going to Guilin, China. It is a scenic area that is pictured on the back of the 20RMB bill. Water and Rocks... perhaps some good places to hike and adventure. Sadly, it is 21 hours by train. I will be departing on Wednesday evening at 5pm and I hope I can make it. The last train ride was a bit more than I was wanting and it was only 18 hours. Though, it is good practice for the trip home - I think it will take about 22 hrs to get home. The weather is not looking very good for the trip, lots of rain during the end of the week. We will be flying back to Shanghai at least.
Expo Gearing Up
It is very apparent that the Expo is starting on May 1st. The videos in the subway have news and public announcements (in Chinese). The news almost exclusively is showing video from the expo and that is broken into segments by commercials that indicate good behavior in public spaces. Don't run backwards on escalators! Carry your children on stairs! Report suspicious activities! Things of that sort.
Volcano Disrupts Air Traffic
There is currently a volcano in Iceland spewing ash into the sky that is covering the better part of the northern European countries. I hope that this volcano stops soon and air traffic can resume! I am currently operating under the theory that nothing will stop me from going home on May 17th. I hope there are no natural disasters that ruin my trip back to the USA.
Graduation
I want to make it abundantly clear to my friend who will be graduating this May that I regret missing your graduation. Many of you I have known for six and more years and I congratulate you on your upcoming accomplishment. I thank my friends who have been in the military for the last few years while we have been in school. I thank my friends who are still in the military and wish for the best for those who will be entering the military after graduation. I am lucky to have smart and honorable friends who have gone through college and the military. Good luck to those who will soon be entering the real world and graduate schools around the country. I wish you all the best in your upcoming adventures!
Biber
Thursday, April 15, 2010
About One Month til Departure
Weather: 45F, Sunny
Time: 7:45am Friday
This week has been a relatively good one. Got one exam back and if it weren't for having a Chinese professor grading it (stubborn and inflexible grading) I would have done very well. The rest of the week I have filled with hanging out with friends. I should be doing homework and studying for my exam, but I did not want to start that today, yet.
Local vs Home Weather
In the last week, the weather at home has been unseasonably warm. Weather at Purdue has been in the lower 80s which is generally not the case for this time of year. I have been living through mid to upper 50s with regular rain and clouds and sunlight being the exception. This has been a bit of a disappointment because the average temperature almanac says that it should be around 66°F over the course of the month. Also, the group of us had an expectation of warmer weather because we are farther south, landing between Montgomery, AL and Jacksonville, FL in terms of latitude. All in all, just another reason to look forward to being at home!
Expo Tickets
I spent sometime downtown yesterday walking around and seeing the sights. While I was out I was determined to find Shanghai 2010 Expo tickets. I bought them at a China Mobile store. I was excited to see there was an English speaking expo associate there to help for that reason! I am happy to have bought my tickets, there were many people saying the tickets were selling out quickly and despite being in China for two weeks while the Expo was happening, we may not have been able to go. Hopefully there is not some crowd control policy I do not know about, only letting in 300,000 per day or something. The tickets are not for specific days, just a ticket for admittance between May 4th and September 29th. More on this later.
F1 Weekend
This weekend is the Shanghai Formula 1 race. I have a grandstand seat in turn 1, 2. I have an exam on Monday and homework due Monday as well! Not the best time for a weekend adventure, but hopefully it all balances out well! I will have to balance going to the race with homework and studying!
Silverlight
I was not thinking about it, but I suppose many of the items I have posted on the blog (photosynth) requires Silverlight. Silverlight is a competitor to Flash, a different web language. I understand why you may not want to install another piece of software. I will keep this in mind when posting Silverlight enabled items.
Donations
This summer I will be needing some furnishings for my apartment. I am looking for a full size bed + frame, a table for dining, a few chairs, maybe some living room style furniture. I also will need some good cooking equipment - pans and utensils, as well as devices like skillet, crock-pot, gas grill, etc. The real challenge is that I try to move to Cincinnati in a single CAR load. If you have anything I can borrow / keep let me know. Last year I lived on an air mattress for 3 months - I could do it again, but I really would rather not.
Looking forward to being home,
Biber
Time: 7:45am Friday
This week has been a relatively good one. Got one exam back and if it weren't for having a Chinese professor grading it (stubborn and inflexible grading) I would have done very well. The rest of the week I have filled with hanging out with friends. I should be doing homework and studying for my exam, but I did not want to start that today, yet.
Local vs Home Weather
In the last week, the weather at home has been unseasonably warm. Weather at Purdue has been in the lower 80s which is generally not the case for this time of year. I have been living through mid to upper 50s with regular rain and clouds and sunlight being the exception. This has been a bit of a disappointment because the average temperature almanac says that it should be around 66°F over the course of the month. Also, the group of us had an expectation of warmer weather because we are farther south, landing between Montgomery, AL and Jacksonville, FL in terms of latitude. All in all, just another reason to look forward to being at home!
Expo Tickets
I spent sometime downtown yesterday walking around and seeing the sights. While I was out I was determined to find Shanghai 2010 Expo tickets. I bought them at a China Mobile store. I was excited to see there was an English speaking expo associate there to help for that reason! I am happy to have bought my tickets, there were many people saying the tickets were selling out quickly and despite being in China for two weeks while the Expo was happening, we may not have been able to go. Hopefully there is not some crowd control policy I do not know about, only letting in 300,000 per day or something. The tickets are not for specific days, just a ticket for admittance between May 4th and September 29th. More on this later.
F1 Weekend
This weekend is the Shanghai Formula 1 race. I have a grandstand seat in turn 1, 2. I have an exam on Monday and homework due Monday as well! Not the best time for a weekend adventure, but hopefully it all balances out well! I will have to balance going to the race with homework and studying!
 |
| From J Biber |
Silverlight
I was not thinking about it, but I suppose many of the items I have posted on the blog (photosynth) requires Silverlight. Silverlight is a competitor to Flash, a different web language. I understand why you may not want to install another piece of software. I will keep this in mind when posting Silverlight enabled items.
Donations
This summer I will be needing some furnishings for my apartment. I am looking for a full size bed + frame, a table for dining, a few chairs, maybe some living room style furniture. I also will need some good cooking equipment - pans and utensils, as well as devices like skillet, crock-pot, gas grill, etc. The real challenge is that I try to move to Cincinnati in a single CAR load. If you have anything I can borrow / keep let me know. Last year I lived on an air mattress for 3 months - I could do it again, but I really would rather not.
Looking forward to being home,
Biber
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Xi'an Photos
Just wanted to share a few photos from Xi'an. This is as opposed to using the slide show feature, let me know if you like it better. Read More to see the pictures.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Return from Xi'an
Weather: 52F and overcast
Time: 11am
It was a short trip that felt long a long time. A group of four of us got out there and did as much as we could with the 29 hours we had to work with. We visiting the terracotta warriors and went to Mt Huashan. The train rides were longer than expected. We are back in Shanghai and working at school til this weekend's F1 race.
Train to Xi'an
I was hoping for a very nice train ride to Xi'an and in retrospect, it was a rather nice ride there. We left at Friday at 8pm and were scheduled to get in at 10am Saturday. The train car was a private four bed "soft sleeper." I would not really call it soft, but maybe they mean nice amenities. It had a door and four televisions (that did not work). There were two bathrooms per car, each car holding 36 people. Small but somewhat comfortable. Probably a lot of room of a Chinese person and kind of small for an American person, in terms of comfort space. We did not arrive until noon, which hurt our time table a bit, but really hurt morale more. I did not enjoy the extra time on the train. My roommate's Kindle (from Amazon) has some internet access so I tried using that without killing the battery.
Private Driver
Getting off the train, we were approached by a broken English speaking man trying to drive us to see the warriors. Our plan was to see the warriors and continue to the mountain, so we needed a special driver not just a bus. We eventually hired him for 700RMB for the whole day. He drove us 30 minutes to TerraWar and then another 2.5 hrs to Mt Huashan. He was the brother of the broken English character and unfortunately spoke little English. One of the four of us spoke enough Chinese to get us where we needed to go, that was not me.
Terracotta Warriors
An interesting exhibit. The idea here was to protect the emperor in his after life. They built many pits and put roofs over all the clay soldiers at the time of construction. As many people know, each one is actually based of a real solider. Each was hand painted and colored. Over time, the roof collapsed and crush ALL of the warriors in all of the pits. They started in pit 1 and they've been restoring the originals by gluing them back together. The paints that were used have faded in all of the pit 1 soldiers. Since this has happened, they did not uncover pit 2, which is over 6000 m^2 of soldiers. They will not unearth these statues until they have found a way to keep the paint from fading.
Pit 2 from Terracotta Warriors Panorama
Mt Huashan
We arrived 15 minutes before the Gondola closed. We arrived at the top with no map and one flashlight. We asked a man where to get a map and he gave us his. Then we started walking to the east peak. We wanted to see the sunrise and get some hiking in, so we did. It was getting dark quickly and it was more than a two hour hike. We ended up hiking one of the more dangerous mountains in China with just a headlamp and no idea where to go. This is not because we can not read a map, this is because it a map in chinese and more of an artistic rendition of where to go rather than a typically american trail map.
We eventually made it to the East Peak and found a hostel/hotel to sleep at. It was a bit expensive, but it was a four bed; room. I hope to post the pictures in the future to explain this. There was no way to call home and internet on the Kindle did not work either. The wind was gusting beyond 50mph with 30mph sustained. The door faced the wind and leaked air around it. With the windows closed, the curtains still moved around and blew in with the wind leaking around the window. Air temp was just over 40F and it was a cold night sleeping in bed.
Sunrise
We guessed the sun would rise about 545 so we woke at 530 and moved out. We climbed up to the viewing platform less than 5 minutes away. There were thick clouds but it was still very beautiful. We never saw the sun come over the peaks, but the sky got light enough to takes some cool pictures. We continued moving because of our tight time schedule.
Climbing
There was a small stone temple like shelter that was only reachable via a series of rock climbs. Kyle and I rented some equipment and set out to get some pictures. It was not easy to capture the angles and footholds on camera because it was fairly vertical and curvy. It was a good warm up for the planks that would come later in the morning.
Planks of Mt. Huashan
A fun find and my main reason for going to Xi'an. I am always looking for a thrill like this and for $4.38 it is hard to beat this. It was really too bad the clouds were too thick to see the bottom. This is a plank walk that leads to a small temple carved into the mountain side. It is 1000 meters from the bottom of the mountain on a vertical rock face. I recorded some video and posted it to youtube. I am slightly embarrassed by my comments, but since mostly my friends and family will watch it - there is no secret that I say stupid stuff all the time.
I did not do any editing, so it is REALLY shaky.
Train to Shanghai
This was a hard sleeper. It is a smaller compartment with six beds. I had a top bunk which gave me about 2 feet of vertical room. It was really really boring. I did not enjoy this 16 hr stint of my life. I would not wish to travel by hard sleeper too many more times, especially not knowing other people in the train car. There was no door for security or anything. Loud people up early in the morning and only the other Americans spoke English.
This week
The Forumla 1 race is this weekend. It will be nice not to be out of town for awhile. I am eagerly looking forward to coming home. I also look forward to seeing all my friends who haven't left Purdue for the summer and seeing all my GE friends too.
Biber
Time: 11am
It was a short trip that felt long a long time. A group of four of us got out there and did as much as we could with the 29 hours we had to work with. We visiting the terracotta warriors and went to Mt Huashan. The train rides were longer than expected. We are back in Shanghai and working at school til this weekend's F1 race.
Train to Xi'an
I was hoping for a very nice train ride to Xi'an and in retrospect, it was a rather nice ride there. We left at Friday at 8pm and were scheduled to get in at 10am Saturday. The train car was a private four bed "soft sleeper." I would not really call it soft, but maybe they mean nice amenities. It had a door and four televisions (that did not work). There were two bathrooms per car, each car holding 36 people. Small but somewhat comfortable. Probably a lot of room of a Chinese person and kind of small for an American person, in terms of comfort space. We did not arrive until noon, which hurt our time table a bit, but really hurt morale more. I did not enjoy the extra time on the train. My roommate's Kindle (from Amazon) has some internet access so I tried using that without killing the battery.
Private Driver
Getting off the train, we were approached by a broken English speaking man trying to drive us to see the warriors. Our plan was to see the warriors and continue to the mountain, so we needed a special driver not just a bus. We eventually hired him for 700RMB for the whole day. He drove us 30 minutes to TerraWar and then another 2.5 hrs to Mt Huashan. He was the brother of the broken English character and unfortunately spoke little English. One of the four of us spoke enough Chinese to get us where we needed to go, that was not me.
Terracotta Warriors
An interesting exhibit. The idea here was to protect the emperor in his after life. They built many pits and put roofs over all the clay soldiers at the time of construction. As many people know, each one is actually based of a real solider. Each was hand painted and colored. Over time, the roof collapsed and crush ALL of the warriors in all of the pits. They started in pit 1 and they've been restoring the originals by gluing them back together. The paints that were used have faded in all of the pit 1 soldiers. Since this has happened, they did not uncover pit 2, which is over 6000 m^2 of soldiers. They will not unearth these statues until they have found a way to keep the paint from fading.
Pit 2 from Terracotta Warriors Panorama
Mt Huashan
We arrived 15 minutes before the Gondola closed. We arrived at the top with no map and one flashlight. We asked a man where to get a map and he gave us his. Then we started walking to the east peak. We wanted to see the sunrise and get some hiking in, so we did. It was getting dark quickly and it was more than a two hour hike. We ended up hiking one of the more dangerous mountains in China with just a headlamp and no idea where to go. This is not because we can not read a map, this is because it a map in chinese and more of an artistic rendition of where to go rather than a typically american trail map.
We eventually made it to the East Peak and found a hostel/hotel to sleep at. It was a bit expensive, but it was a four bed; room. I hope to post the pictures in the future to explain this. There was no way to call home and internet on the Kindle did not work either. The wind was gusting beyond 50mph with 30mph sustained. The door faced the wind and leaked air around it. With the windows closed, the curtains still moved around and blew in with the wind leaking around the window. Air temp was just over 40F and it was a cold night sleeping in bed.
Sunrise
We guessed the sun would rise about 545 so we woke at 530 and moved out. We climbed up to the viewing platform less than 5 minutes away. There were thick clouds but it was still very beautiful. We never saw the sun come over the peaks, but the sky got light enough to takes some cool pictures. We continued moving because of our tight time schedule.
Climbing
There was a small stone temple like shelter that was only reachable via a series of rock climbs. Kyle and I rented some equipment and set out to get some pictures. It was not easy to capture the angles and footholds on camera because it was fairly vertical and curvy. It was a good warm up for the planks that would come later in the morning.
Planks of Mt. Huashan
A fun find and my main reason for going to Xi'an. I am always looking for a thrill like this and for $4.38 it is hard to beat this. It was really too bad the clouds were too thick to see the bottom. This is a plank walk that leads to a small temple carved into the mountain side. It is 1000 meters from the bottom of the mountain on a vertical rock face. I recorded some video and posted it to youtube. I am slightly embarrassed by my comments, but since mostly my friends and family will watch it - there is no secret that I say stupid stuff all the time.
I did not do any editing, so it is REALLY shaky.
Train to Shanghai
This was a hard sleeper. It is a smaller compartment with six beds. I had a top bunk which gave me about 2 feet of vertical room. It was really really boring. I did not enjoy this 16 hr stint of my life. I would not wish to travel by hard sleeper too many more times, especially not knowing other people in the train car. There was no door for security or anything. Loud people up early in the morning and only the other Americans spoke English.
This week
The Forumla 1 race is this weekend. It will be nice not to be out of town for awhile. I am eagerly looking forward to coming home. I also look forward to seeing all my friends who haven't left Purdue for the summer and seeing all my GE friends too.
Biber
Friday, April 9, 2010
Leaving for Xian
Weather: 55F and cloudy
Time: 4:45pm Friday
I am in my final hour before leaving for Xian. I have packed my bag for a short weekend trip. We are leaving tonight by train at 8pm local time and will arrive at 10am Saturday. The plan is to do as much as we can before leaving 5pm Sunday. We hopefully will get to Mt. Huashan and get to walk the plank path.
I really do want to hike that path, but I am not sure we have enough time to get there. It will remain my goal and hopefully someone else will be crazy enough to come with me.
Best wishes, I will return to Shanghai on Monday morning after sleeping on the train for 14 hrs.
Biber
While surfing the net before leaving, I came across a gizmodo posting an article that had the plank path in it, and I enjoyed known that I may be doing just that this weekend. Whether there is a restaurant up there or not... I'll let you know.
http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/the_worlds_most_remote_restaurant_16355.asp
http://gizmodo.com/5512636/worlds-remotest-restaurant-only-reachable-via-scariest-walking-path-ever
Time: 4:45pm Friday
I am in my final hour before leaving for Xian. I have packed my bag for a short weekend trip. We are leaving tonight by train at 8pm local time and will arrive at 10am Saturday. The plan is to do as much as we can before leaving 5pm Sunday. We hopefully will get to Mt. Huashan and get to walk the plank path.
I really do want to hike that path, but I am not sure we have enough time to get there. It will remain my goal and hopefully someone else will be crazy enough to come with me.
Best wishes, I will return to Shanghai on Monday morning after sleeping on the train for 14 hrs.
Biber
While surfing the net before leaving, I came across a gizmodo posting an article that had the plank path in it, and I enjoyed known that I may be doing just that this weekend. Whether there is a restaurant up there or not... I'll let you know.
http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/the_worlds_most_remote_restaurant_16355.asp
http://gizmodo.com/5512636/worlds-remotest-restaurant-only-reachable-via-scariest-walking-path-ever
Thursday, April 8, 2010
3 Month Summary
Weather: Overcast + 50F
Time: 330pm
The last three months have been a great experience. I have enjoyed seeing and living in a different culture. It is a fantastic contrast to the United States. I am not opposed to living abroad in the future, but I will always call the USA my home. I am very happy to have been raised in the USA. All of this taken into consideration, I am trying extra hard to really experience China from many angles and get some cool pictures in the process. I will be very happy to be home with my family, friends, and girlfriend and working for a great company.
General Electric
People really light up in China when I tell them I work for GE. My thermodynamics professor enjoys talking
about GE engines and Boeing airplanes. I am happy to be returning to a great job in Cincinnati this summer with a lot of friends with whom I have worked with before. I also look forward to traveling a little bit this summer going to see friends in other cities and weekend trips.
Sanya
I enjoyed the trip to the southern part of China. I made some new friends from Hong Kong and enjoyed the very warm weather. There was plenty of good conversation and good company. In the below post, you can see it is part of China most people do not think about when China is mentioned. It is a vacation destination for Russians and Chinese tourists. We saw a lot of Russian people and restaurants. It was very similar to visiting the Bahamas in some respects like the weather and sun intensity. The prices were lower and it was generally safer. There were resorts that had expensive price tags, but we opted to stay in a cheap hostel / bed and breakfast for about $25 a night per person. The whole trip was a vacation and I spent more than I am used to. It was a fantastic break from the usual. Many of the Chinese characteristics of the culture existed down there.
Xian
I was sitting in my room this morning when I got a call from my roommate at the train station. He asked if I wanted go to go see the Terracotta Warriors. I said sure, so I am going to head on a train tomorrow night up to Xian to check that out this weekend. It was not too much money, about $115 for round trip and sleeping cars both ways. Sadly, this is just about the price it costs to send a small package home my friends said. It is also more than a suit, which makes it very tempting to not spending the money. It seems like the right choice though, get a couple of cool photos and maybe see some Pandas or go hiking.
Other Upcoming
The next few weekends are going to be busy for me as I prepare to have the semester coming to an end. I will be going to Xian this weekend. The following weekend I will go to the F1 race on the north side of Shanghai, 1.5 hrs by subway + bus. I will also be traveling to Guilin the weekend after that. I will study for finals and then I'll be ready for my last couple weekends and the World Expo.
10-APR-2010: Xian
17-APR-2010: F1 Race
24-APR-2010: Guilin
01-MAY-2010: Study for Finals
08-MAY-2010: World Expo + inner city travel
17-MAY-2010: Exit China
Look forward to seeing everyone when I return home! Please keep in touch - keep writing emails!
Biber
Time: 330pm
The last three months have been a great experience. I have enjoyed seeing and living in a different culture. It is a fantastic contrast to the United States. I am not opposed to living abroad in the future, but I will always call the USA my home. I am very happy to have been raised in the USA. All of this taken into consideration, I am trying extra hard to really experience China from many angles and get some cool pictures in the process. I will be very happy to be home with my family, friends, and girlfriend and working for a great company.
General Electric
People really light up in China when I tell them I work for GE. My thermodynamics professor enjoys talking
about GE engines and Boeing airplanes. I am happy to be returning to a great job in Cincinnati this summer with a lot of friends with whom I have worked with before. I also look forward to traveling a little bit this summer going to see friends in other cities and weekend trips.
Sanya
I enjoyed the trip to the southern part of China. I made some new friends from Hong Kong and enjoyed the very warm weather. There was plenty of good conversation and good company. In the below post, you can see it is part of China most people do not think about when China is mentioned. It is a vacation destination for Russians and Chinese tourists. We saw a lot of Russian people and restaurants. It was very similar to visiting the Bahamas in some respects like the weather and sun intensity. The prices were lower and it was generally safer. There were resorts that had expensive price tags, but we opted to stay in a cheap hostel / bed and breakfast for about $25 a night per person. The whole trip was a vacation and I spent more than I am used to. It was a fantastic break from the usual. Many of the Chinese characteristics of the culture existed down there.
Xian
I was sitting in my room this morning when I got a call from my roommate at the train station. He asked if I wanted go to go see the Terracotta Warriors. I said sure, so I am going to head on a train tomorrow night up to Xian to check that out this weekend. It was not too much money, about $115 for round trip and sleeping cars both ways. Sadly, this is just about the price it costs to send a small package home my friends said. It is also more than a suit, which makes it very tempting to not spending the money. It seems like the right choice though, get a couple of cool photos and maybe see some Pandas or go hiking.
Other Upcoming
The next few weekends are going to be busy for me as I prepare to have the semester coming to an end. I will be going to Xian this weekend. The following weekend I will go to the F1 race on the north side of Shanghai, 1.5 hrs by subway + bus. I will also be traveling to Guilin the weekend after that. I will study for finals and then I'll be ready for my last couple weekends and the World Expo.
10-APR-2010: Xian
17-APR-2010: F1 Race
24-APR-2010: Guilin
01-MAY-2010: Study for Finals
08-MAY-2010: World Expo + inner city travel
17-MAY-2010: Exit China
Look forward to seeing everyone when I return home! Please keep in touch - keep writing emails!
 |
| From Great Wall |
Biber
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Some Pictures
Some Sanya panoramic photos. They are good representations of where I was that week.
Room View (Garden)
Dadong Hai Beach
Room at the hostel
Slide Show
Room View (Garden)
Dadong Hai Beach
Room at the hostel
Slide Show
Monday, April 5, 2010
Modern China in Pictures
Just wanted to share this article.
Modern China in Pictures by MSNBC
I thought it did a decent job describing the troubles from 1900 to 2008, briefly touching on large events.
Biber
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Break In Sanya
Weather: Hot & Humid 31C
Local Time: 10am
This has been a really fun break from school. Today (Monday) is the Qing Ming holiday. It is called "Tomb Sweeping Day," in English.
We have spent a lot of time on the beach down here. The first day, I did not ask for help applying sun screen and it resulted in an embarrassing sunburn on my upper back. I apparently can not reach a certain part of my back because of my inflexibility. It was kinda painful, but it was also pretty cool.
We also made some new friends. There were a few folks from Hong Kong who were international business people staying in our hostel. We met them and told them a nice place to grab dinner and met them there. We hung out the next day and went around town as a large group of nine people. We ended up visiting some of their friends at a resort across the island.
So far, the beach has been lots of fun. We have seen how the Chinese and Russian people vacation and it is quite a bit different than the style I am accustom to. The adventures of this trip like backpacking and trail riding that I was hoping to go on were squashed by the malaria carrying mosquitoes.
I will be leaving the Sanya airport in just over a day, and until then I will likely be out on the sand.
Biber
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Sanya Departure
A quick programming note, there will be a lack of blog posts from March 31st to April 7th. I will be going on my adventure to Sanya China. I really feel like I'm going out on a limb here, so here are a few details of my trip.
Depart: Pudong Shanghai ~7pm Wednesday (+8 GMT)
Arrive: Late @ SYX
The home base for the trip is:
Sunny Sanya Family Inn
I will not have my computer so there will not be many easy ways to reach me, I will rarely check email via a friend's computer.
Depart: SYX Tuesday @ ~Noon
Arrive: Hongqiao Shanghai Mid Afternoon
Have a good weekend,
Jon
Depart: Pudong Shanghai ~7pm Wednesday (+8 GMT)
Arrive: Late @ SYX
The home base for the trip is:
Sunny Sanya Family Inn
I will not have my computer so there will not be many easy ways to reach me, I will rarely check email via a friend's computer.
Depart: SYX Tuesday @ ~Noon
Arrive: Hongqiao Shanghai Mid Afternoon
Have a good weekend,
Jon
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Meet & Greet
Weather: 48F
Time: Mid-night
Tonight there was a meet and greet type of event. Another member sent out an email this morning talking about meeting up with some chinese students to grab dinner. There is a restaurant on campus that is called Times Cafe, they serve pretty decent pizza for the price. It costs 20RMB to get a 9inch pizza. The popular choices are "Smoked Chicken" "All Meat" and "Hawaii."
Meet & Greet
Walking in to the cafe I had been to many times already, a group of about nine Americans joined a party room full of chinese students. It was probably 30 chinese students total. I did not really know what was going on until I got there, but the students are in the same materials class as the purdue kids. I did not know anyone in the room since I am not in that class. I was excited to hear how good their English was for the most part, complete sentences. It was very fun to get to meet all of these students.
After talking to the cstudents for a bit I found out that all of them are also mechanical engineers. They pay more than double the regular students at the university to be in courses taught in english. There were many interesting conversations I was involved in for the evening. All of the cstudents wanted to talk to an American. In fact, my night was so busy talking to people I was never able to get to the table to make my own pizza. I really was looking forward to making my own pizza, but I did get to meet a lot of new friends. It was a unique experience from the rest of China adventure so far because all the cstudents really wanted to talk to an American. There was a point where a student went and grabbed four Coca-Cola's and offered it to me and the other guy I was standing with before offering it to the chinese girls standing right there. I offered it to the ladies first, then took a drink after it was forced on me by the young man.
The topics of the night ranged greatly. There was one conversation where I learned about the foreign exchange programs. Another conversation was based around how much money is spent to go to school in China vs USA and year over year spending to live and go to school. There was also discussions about Google and the censorship debate, which bloomed into a further discussion on government control of the media. A less serious topic of "Where do you see yourself in 20 years?"
Shanghai Jiao Tong University has an exchange program that started with the University of Michigan and has expanded to include Purdue University. Originally, U of M professors would come over to China and teach engineering courses in English. Now there are programs to start two years at SJTU and then finish at Purdue / U of M. Some of the cstudents at the event are actually going to be transferring to Purdue this fall. It was really good to make that connection! We talked about how there are large differences between the lifestyles and discussed some of their concerns. One student was concerned about guns, because he is always reading about shootings in America and he assumed that everyone is carrying a gun. I told him that it was nothing to be worried about and assured him he would be safe. He then challenged me with the question, "Do you think the guns create violence?" I told him he has nothing to worry about when he gets to Purdue.
There was also quite a bit of concern about pricing. They wanted to know how much it costs to live at Purdue and I told them is much more expensive. I detailed that a meal in the dining hall costs 56RMB at Purdue and that they can save money by going to the grocery store. It lead up to the question, "How much do you spend in a year?" We roughly approximated for living, tuition, food, and entertainment it can cost up to 25,000USD. When we added the costs of their living in Shanghai, their summation came up to 21,000RMB. The current conversion rate is 6.853 RMB for 1USD. Their tuition is about 5000RMB and for some students it is subsidized by the government. We briefly discussed scholarships and how being a minority can land you more money in the USA. When I told them that minorities can get more money for ethnicity, religion, or sex they said, "How is that fair?" I told them it is privately funded and so there are special interest groups for giving money.
The short of the censorship conversation came down to stating a few points. America has a different type of censorship - bias media. Anyone who takes all their news from one source, be it the government or a single news station, does not get to see the whole picture. In terms of the internet the cstudents said that Google was acting inappropriately and was just trying to draw attention to get a large search base and more name recognition. There was also discussion about freedom of speech on the internet in China and allowing the people to criticize the government and how this can cause trouble. The cstudent I was talking to pointed out that some people are not capable of handling the extreme emotions on the internet and this causes trouble because some people act on these single minded opinions. It was an interesting point.
Most fun, the cstudents had slightly different goals than some of the Americans in the group. The six students we were talking to four of them were wanting a life in China after getting a masters of ME in the US. Two of the students wanted to live abroad and go to Europe and the USA for a long time. Most of them aspired to be content and providing for their family. A few of them wanted to return to China to serve the country with their engineering knowledge. Some of them truly desire to be design engineers and some of them have a path of business as part of their extended education.
All in all, it was a very interesting evening getting to meet these students for the first time and having serious conversations with them. I am happy to have had this experience and I am looking forward to seeing some of these students again.
Delivery McDonald's
The conversations were so involved I did not get anything to eat for dinner except one can of Coke and a few french fries. This drove to me to order McDonald's for the first time over the phone. It took 30 minutes. I called into the central order hotline. They took my order in English and asked for my address and phone number. They then put the order into the nearest McDonald's location and had a man bring be a double cheese burger value meal + some chicken nuggets for 36RMB. 7RMB was the delivery fee and they bought it to my door. And of course, since it is China there is no tipping.
Email is Fast
I asked my roommate to send me an email while I was writing this blog post. He sent me the picture above. I was impressed that the email took less than five seconds to go from his laptop in China to the Purdue campus and then ended in my inbox. I like to think that five seconds is very quick considering that information traveled roughly 20,000 miles, but I laughed at myself for this thought. I am looking forward to the future. Some day, my children will read a hard copy of this blog and they will get a chuckle out of so much that I have written, and that is okay.
Biber
Time: Mid-night
Tonight there was a meet and greet type of event. Another member sent out an email this morning talking about meeting up with some chinese students to grab dinner. There is a restaurant on campus that is called Times Cafe, they serve pretty decent pizza for the price. It costs 20RMB to get a 9inch pizza. The popular choices are "Smoked Chicken" "All Meat" and "Hawaii."
 |
| From J Biber |
Meet & Greet
Walking in to the cafe I had been to many times already, a group of about nine Americans joined a party room full of chinese students. It was probably 30 chinese students total. I did not really know what was going on until I got there, but the students are in the same materials class as the purdue kids. I did not know anyone in the room since I am not in that class. I was excited to hear how good their English was for the most part, complete sentences. It was very fun to get to meet all of these students.
After talking to the cstudents for a bit I found out that all of them are also mechanical engineers. They pay more than double the regular students at the university to be in courses taught in english. There were many interesting conversations I was involved in for the evening. All of the cstudents wanted to talk to an American. In fact, my night was so busy talking to people I was never able to get to the table to make my own pizza. I really was looking forward to making my own pizza, but I did get to meet a lot of new friends. It was a unique experience from the rest of China adventure so far because all the cstudents really wanted to talk to an American. There was a point where a student went and grabbed four Coca-Cola's and offered it to me and the other guy I was standing with before offering it to the chinese girls standing right there. I offered it to the ladies first, then took a drink after it was forced on me by the young man.
The topics of the night ranged greatly. There was one conversation where I learned about the foreign exchange programs. Another conversation was based around how much money is spent to go to school in China vs USA and year over year spending to live and go to school. There was also discussions about Google and the censorship debate, which bloomed into a further discussion on government control of the media. A less serious topic of "Where do you see yourself in 20 years?"
Shanghai Jiao Tong University has an exchange program that started with the University of Michigan and has expanded to include Purdue University. Originally, U of M professors would come over to China and teach engineering courses in English. Now there are programs to start two years at SJTU and then finish at Purdue / U of M. Some of the cstudents at the event are actually going to be transferring to Purdue this fall. It was really good to make that connection! We talked about how there are large differences between the lifestyles and discussed some of their concerns. One student was concerned about guns, because he is always reading about shootings in America and he assumed that everyone is carrying a gun. I told him that it was nothing to be worried about and assured him he would be safe. He then challenged me with the question, "Do you think the guns create violence?" I told him he has nothing to worry about when he gets to Purdue.
There was also quite a bit of concern about pricing. They wanted to know how much it costs to live at Purdue and I told them is much more expensive. I detailed that a meal in the dining hall costs 56RMB at Purdue and that they can save money by going to the grocery store. It lead up to the question, "How much do you spend in a year?" We roughly approximated for living, tuition, food, and entertainment it can cost up to 25,000USD. When we added the costs of their living in Shanghai, their summation came up to 21,000RMB. The current conversion rate is 6.853 RMB for 1USD. Their tuition is about 5000RMB and for some students it is subsidized by the government. We briefly discussed scholarships and how being a minority can land you more money in the USA. When I told them that minorities can get more money for ethnicity, religion, or sex they said, "How is that fair?" I told them it is privately funded and so there are special interest groups for giving money.
The short of the censorship conversation came down to stating a few points. America has a different type of censorship - bias media. Anyone who takes all their news from one source, be it the government or a single news station, does not get to see the whole picture. In terms of the internet the cstudents said that Google was acting inappropriately and was just trying to draw attention to get a large search base and more name recognition. There was also discussion about freedom of speech on the internet in China and allowing the people to criticize the government and how this can cause trouble. The cstudent I was talking to pointed out that some people are not capable of handling the extreme emotions on the internet and this causes trouble because some people act on these single minded opinions. It was an interesting point.
Most fun, the cstudents had slightly different goals than some of the Americans in the group. The six students we were talking to four of them were wanting a life in China after getting a masters of ME in the US. Two of the students wanted to live abroad and go to Europe and the USA for a long time. Most of them aspired to be content and providing for their family. A few of them wanted to return to China to serve the country with their engineering knowledge. Some of them truly desire to be design engineers and some of them have a path of business as part of their extended education.
All in all, it was a very interesting evening getting to meet these students for the first time and having serious conversations with them. I am happy to have had this experience and I am looking forward to seeing some of these students again.
Delivery McDonald's
The conversations were so involved I did not get anything to eat for dinner except one can of Coke and a few french fries. This drove to me to order McDonald's for the first time over the phone. It took 30 minutes. I called into the central order hotline. They took my order in English and asked for my address and phone number. They then put the order into the nearest McDonald's location and had a man bring be a double cheese burger value meal + some chicken nuggets for 36RMB. 7RMB was the delivery fee and they bought it to my door. And of course, since it is China there is no tipping.
Email is Fast
I asked my roommate to send me an email while I was writing this blog post. He sent me the picture above. I was impressed that the email took less than five seconds to go from his laptop in China to the Purdue campus and then ended in my inbox. I like to think that five seconds is very quick considering that information traveled roughly 20,000 miles, but I laughed at myself for this thought. I am looking forward to the future. Some day, my children will read a hard copy of this blog and they will get a chuckle out of so much that I have written, and that is okay.
Biber
Friday, March 26, 2010
8k Race, Dinner, Burgers, Ping Pong
Weather: 50F and sunny
Time: 1:30pm
It has been more than a week since my last blog post. Living at Minhang is deceptive because it feels like I have nothing to write about. It feels that way until I make a list of observations, then I end up with a list of 10+ things to talk about and I feel silly for not writing more often. I am still enjoying making photos to use on the blog hopefully to add a bit more depth to my text.
Caption: This is an example of the grass / weed puller's work. They will move up and down the field by hand and leave piles where they've worked. Then this guy comes around and sweeps it up. Zoom in with the plus button or go full screen with double square button on the right. Hit escape to exit full screen. Clicking the leaf in the upper left will take you to the bigger picture at the photosynth website.
8k Race
Last Sunday a group of us went out to Pudong and ran in the Jinqiao 8k race. A few folks kept asking me if I was "going to be in the race." I did not know how to reply to this because I clearly was not going to "in the race" for the gold, but I was going to participate. I just told them I do not think of it as a race but more of a fun run. The group did very well overall with our best runner getting 64th overall. I did not do quite as well because I did not do very much training for the race. I ran it in 41m40s. I was not in the front of the pack but I was not bringing up the rear either. I am quite sure that is the longest I have continuously run ever. It was an interesting experience. I am not about to go sign up for a marathon, but maybe in the future I would consider this.
Dinner with ex patriot family
One of my friends on the trip knew a local family from when he was a kid. He had not seen them since they moved away at the age of seven and now fourteen years later invited him to dinner and asked him to bring a friend along. He was generous enough to invite me along. The whole thing was a great experience. I went into it not knowing anyone and left with a few new friends. The company and conversation was interesting and enlightening. The food was a fantastically prepared southern pork roast with mashed potatoes, veggies, and garlic bread. Desert was a strawberry cobbler and it was fantastic. It was nice to go back to America for a few hours in a Shanghai 25th floor apartment.
Carl's Jr.
Carl's Junior is located in People's Square in the heart of Shanghai. It is a fantastic burger shop that is a sibling of Hardee's. The burger I had was nothing short of America. I can't express how difficult it is to find a good piece of beef over here. I am looking forward to returning to some homemade burgers this summer with watermelon and chips. This visit to China really changes the level of appreciation for some many things back home.
The United States of Awesome
I really can't put all of my thoughts into words here. There is so much about China and living in another country that makes America so appealing. I can truthfully say that I miss many things about home. I made a list the other day talking to my girlfriend about the mid-west and why is it such a great place to live. America is great because of how it well it accommodate the people that live there. Food is cheap here, but it is not the quality found in the USA. I think the experience is so difficult to put into words, that I will just have to blindly encourage people to live abroad.
Ping pong with chinese student
I went out to play ping pong with a chinese student I have met since I arrived. He is a very nice guy. The way friendship works here is different than in the United States. The fundamental principle that helps form relationships is being in debt to someone else. When going out to do an activity for the first time, the activity is paid entirely by one person and they will not let you pay for any part of it. This creates a debt, but you are not suppose to pay off the debt immediately. The long term debt is a sense of trust and longevity of the relationship. So when we went to play ping pong, I could not even give him the money to rent the ping pong table and equipment.
Ping pong was pretty fun though. I had a friend with me and there were some other chinese students that this guy brought along. As I started to show my amazing american ping pong skills (volleying the ball) they showed their chinese prowess for the game. Just as I was starting to get the hang of it again, he went into over drive and spiked the ball at 120 mph. I just looked at him like, "Seriously? Do you know where I am from this game is for tennis players who can't hustle across the court?" I tried to take my game up a notch to compete, but it was nothing compared to their life long love for the game. Basically, I sucked at it. No one seemed to care that much, as it was just a friend game.
Science & Technology and Urban Planning Museums
Last week I spent a morning at the Urban Planning museum. I can summarize this trip by saying, "They are not moving toward the future, they are sprinting toward the future." The plans they have for this city in the next 10 years seem unaccomplishable in the United States. To a small extent, this is obviously true because we don't have the work force that can do this. I think the United States really needs to reconsider the high speed rail system.
Science & Technology was kind of cool. It felt like it was geared more for children than a twenty something year old engineer, probably because it was for the most part. There were some attractions there that were more for late teens than elementary school children. I saw manufacturing robots with some AI playing games with some of the people I was with. I had an archery competition with a robot (I lost). I saw some robots dance, it was terrible. It was cool enough I would go back, but only visit some of the exhibits again.
Chinese haircut
I went to a barber shop here on campus. I went in and asked the question, "Duōshǎo qián" while making a scissor motion in my hair to ask how much it costs for a haircut. She said 8RMB, $1.17 a good price. There were quite a few differences here than an American haircut. First off, I was watching her the entire time because rather than facing away from the mirror I was positioned directly towards it. She did most of the haircut with a comb and scissors.
I was pretty satisfied with the haircut as she was putting on the finishing touches so when she took the cloth off of me I got up and got my wallet out. She pointed over toward the sink and I thought, "Alright, thats cool." She washed my hair in the lay down chair, soap and rinse. She then dried it back at her cutting chair with a hair dryer and towel. Then she got her scissors back out and cleaned it up once more to make sure she didn't miss any spots.
I was impressed by the quality and the time she spent working with me for nearly 25 minutes. I was not expecting this for 1.17usd. It is not EXACTLY what I wanted, but my reference pictures aren't the best. She did very good work and it was surprising how much value there was for the money I spent.
Food (update)
-Vitamins
In January I started out not really ready for the chinese food. It was difficult to adjust to eating in the dining hall and I was often found off campus eating some higher quality chinese food with a bit more selection or some american food occasionally. It took some adjusting to get to that point, one of the student on the trip ended up in the hospital because he was not eating enough food. He was malnourished and was in the hospital for nearly four days.
Moving to the new campus, we no longer have all these great dining hall alternatives. I have had been adjusting to learn what can be eaten easily in the dining halls here. I have found that for almost the same amount I'd be spending in the slop line I can get some meals prepared for me, on demand, so it is actually warm. It has taken a bit of chinese language to learn how to order something I will like. I also enjoy these on-demand meals because they are typically boneless. The down side is that it is usually noodles or rice with some veggies and meat. My meat consumption throughout the day is less than 5 oz.
I decided that along with some supplementation of items from the store like crackers, snacks, and other things I should likely be taking vitamins. I bought a bottle of 60 and have been taking one per day for the last week. I am hoping it will help improve the last two months in China.
Apparently, one of the students on the trip saw a rat in the dining hall today. That is super reassuring for eating food there.
Time Wasters
-N64 Emulation
-How I Met Your Mother
We have found that there is much less to do on this campus, so against my better judgement I bought a USB game controller. We have been playing Mario Kart 64 as a group of 4 players recently. It is a great way to pass some of the nights. The controller was only about 3usd. We have been having fun, but I do not think it really is progressive in terms of experiencing China. I am still trying to get out and experience it for all it is worth and this seems counter productive.
Occasionally our late evening are filled with a couple episodes of "how i met your mother." I was quite a big fan back in the States and I have enjoyed watching it again from the pilot with a group of folks. We just finished season two last night. The positive is that it beats what some of the other students spend their evenings doing, just consuming lots of carbs. Granted, a bottle of carbs here is about .50usd for 600mL so it is not too expensive just plain unhealthy.
Expo 2010
The World Expo 2010 in Shanghai will be starting May 1st. In the States it'd be called the "World's Fair." This will be the first one the US has participated in for a couple years. It is some political game that we are showing up to show the strength of the US-China relations. It will be a cool place to go and visit. I am not sure that it will be super informative, but I will let you know when I go to it.
Man Law / Bro Code Failures
China does not have the masculinity complex that America has. There seems to be a mutual agreement between all chinese men that riding on a bike or moped broke back style is legit. I do not mind it, but it is an obvious difference with the American culture.
Men are also often seen carrying purses for the women; at least here in Shanghai.
Urinal rules are often broken as well. It is not surprising to see two urinals being used side by side with others still being available. I do not really think it is a big deal at all, just a difference. My guess conclusion to this point is the smaller amount of personal space. Growing up with so little space around seems to have shrunk all the "personal bubbles." Since I have arrived, I know I am more comfortable than expected with folks being in my bubble. I just have learned to shrink it a bit. Just another reason I really enjoy the USA, personal space is awesome.
Upcoming Travels
-Sanya
-Guilin
Next week, I'll be traveling south. I will be visiting an island city of Sanya off the southern coast of China, but will remain within China's boarders. There is a nice beach down there with some fairly cheap hostels to live in for a few days. There is a small group of us adventurers that want to see the island and get some time in the ocean and on the beach. I do not really know what to expect, so I am not going to set my bar too high.
Next month, I will be going to Guilin in a southern region of China. I believe this will be a fun trip of hiking and biking. I think we may also take a short river cruise. I will experience the chinese sleeper car on the train during that trip.
Just before Guilin, I will spend a weekend traveling back and forth to northern Shanghai to the international raceway to watch the first Formula 1 race of my life. I am looking forward to the race and I am expecting rain. It is the rainy season so I am told to expect rain everyday of April.
Please share your comments and email me! Thanks for reading. My blog posts have slowed down substantially since the move to Minhang. I am trying to keep it up to date for the benefit of the readers and for my own personal record of what has happened since I arrived in China!
I will be coming back from China on May 17th and I will likely be very tired from the time change. I look forward to seeing everyone when I get home before I move to Cincinnati for the summer!
Biber
Time: 1:30pm
It has been more than a week since my last blog post. Living at Minhang is deceptive because it feels like I have nothing to write about. It feels that way until I make a list of observations, then I end up with a list of 10+ things to talk about and I feel silly for not writing more often. I am still enjoying making photos to use on the blog hopefully to add a bit more depth to my text.
Caption: This is an example of the grass / weed puller's work. They will move up and down the field by hand and leave piles where they've worked. Then this guy comes around and sweeps it up. Zoom in with the plus button or go full screen with double square button on the right. Hit escape to exit full screen. Clicking the leaf in the upper left will take you to the bigger picture at the photosynth website.
8k Race
Last Sunday a group of us went out to Pudong and ran in the Jinqiao 8k race. A few folks kept asking me if I was "going to be in the race." I did not know how to reply to this because I clearly was not going to "in the race" for the gold, but I was going to participate. I just told them I do not think of it as a race but more of a fun run. The group did very well overall with our best runner getting 64th overall. I did not do quite as well because I did not do very much training for the race. I ran it in 41m40s. I was not in the front of the pack but I was not bringing up the rear either. I am quite sure that is the longest I have continuously run ever. It was an interesting experience. I am not about to go sign up for a marathon, but maybe in the future I would consider this.
Dinner with ex patriot family
One of my friends on the trip knew a local family from when he was a kid. He had not seen them since they moved away at the age of seven and now fourteen years later invited him to dinner and asked him to bring a friend along. He was generous enough to invite me along. The whole thing was a great experience. I went into it not knowing anyone and left with a few new friends. The company and conversation was interesting and enlightening. The food was a fantastically prepared southern pork roast with mashed potatoes, veggies, and garlic bread. Desert was a strawberry cobbler and it was fantastic. It was nice to go back to America for a few hours in a Shanghai 25th floor apartment.
Carl's Jr.
Carl's Junior is located in People's Square in the heart of Shanghai. It is a fantastic burger shop that is a sibling of Hardee's. The burger I had was nothing short of America. I can't express how difficult it is to find a good piece of beef over here. I am looking forward to returning to some homemade burgers this summer with watermelon and chips. This visit to China really changes the level of appreciation for some many things back home.
The United States of Awesome
I really can't put all of my thoughts into words here. There is so much about China and living in another country that makes America so appealing. I can truthfully say that I miss many things about home. I made a list the other day talking to my girlfriend about the mid-west and why is it such a great place to live. America is great because of how it well it accommodate the people that live there. Food is cheap here, but it is not the quality found in the USA. I think the experience is so difficult to put into words, that I will just have to blindly encourage people to live abroad.
Ping pong with chinese student
I went out to play ping pong with a chinese student I have met since I arrived. He is a very nice guy. The way friendship works here is different than in the United States. The fundamental principle that helps form relationships is being in debt to someone else. When going out to do an activity for the first time, the activity is paid entirely by one person and they will not let you pay for any part of it. This creates a debt, but you are not suppose to pay off the debt immediately. The long term debt is a sense of trust and longevity of the relationship. So when we went to play ping pong, I could not even give him the money to rent the ping pong table and equipment.
Ping pong was pretty fun though. I had a friend with me and there were some other chinese students that this guy brought along. As I started to show my amazing american ping pong skills (volleying the ball) they showed their chinese prowess for the game. Just as I was starting to get the hang of it again, he went into over drive and spiked the ball at 120 mph. I just looked at him like, "Seriously? Do you know where I am from this game is for tennis players who can't hustle across the court?" I tried to take my game up a notch to compete, but it was nothing compared to their life long love for the game. Basically, I sucked at it. No one seemed to care that much, as it was just a friend game.
Science & Technology and Urban Planning Museums
Last week I spent a morning at the Urban Planning museum. I can summarize this trip by saying, "They are not moving toward the future, they are sprinting toward the future." The plans they have for this city in the next 10 years seem unaccomplishable in the United States. To a small extent, this is obviously true because we don't have the work force that can do this. I think the United States really needs to reconsider the high speed rail system.
Science & Technology was kind of cool. It felt like it was geared more for children than a twenty something year old engineer, probably because it was for the most part. There were some attractions there that were more for late teens than elementary school children. I saw manufacturing robots with some AI playing games with some of the people I was with. I had an archery competition with a robot (I lost). I saw some robots dance, it was terrible. It was cool enough I would go back, but only visit some of the exhibits again.
Chinese haircut
I went to a barber shop here on campus. I went in and asked the question, "Duōshǎo qián" while making a scissor motion in my hair to ask how much it costs for a haircut. She said 8RMB, $1.17 a good price. There were quite a few differences here than an American haircut. First off, I was watching her the entire time because rather than facing away from the mirror I was positioned directly towards it. She did most of the haircut with a comb and scissors.
I was pretty satisfied with the haircut as she was putting on the finishing touches so when she took the cloth off of me I got up and got my wallet out. She pointed over toward the sink and I thought, "Alright, thats cool." She washed my hair in the lay down chair, soap and rinse. She then dried it back at her cutting chair with a hair dryer and towel. Then she got her scissors back out and cleaned it up once more to make sure she didn't miss any spots.
I was impressed by the quality and the time she spent working with me for nearly 25 minutes. I was not expecting this for 1.17usd. It is not EXACTLY what I wanted, but my reference pictures aren't the best. She did very good work and it was surprising how much value there was for the money I spent.
Food (update)
-Vitamins
In January I started out not really ready for the chinese food. It was difficult to adjust to eating in the dining hall and I was often found off campus eating some higher quality chinese food with a bit more selection or some american food occasionally. It took some adjusting to get to that point, one of the student on the trip ended up in the hospital because he was not eating enough food. He was malnourished and was in the hospital for nearly four days.
Moving to the new campus, we no longer have all these great dining hall alternatives. I have had been adjusting to learn what can be eaten easily in the dining halls here. I have found that for almost the same amount I'd be spending in the slop line I can get some meals prepared for me, on demand, so it is actually warm. It has taken a bit of chinese language to learn how to order something I will like. I also enjoy these on-demand meals because they are typically boneless. The down side is that it is usually noodles or rice with some veggies and meat. My meat consumption throughout the day is less than 5 oz.
I decided that along with some supplementation of items from the store like crackers, snacks, and other things I should likely be taking vitamins. I bought a bottle of 60 and have been taking one per day for the last week. I am hoping it will help improve the last two months in China.
Apparently, one of the students on the trip saw a rat in the dining hall today. That is super reassuring for eating food there.
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| From J Biber |
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| From J Biber |
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| From J Biber |
Time Wasters
-N64 Emulation
-How I Met Your Mother
We have found that there is much less to do on this campus, so against my better judgement I bought a USB game controller. We have been playing Mario Kart 64 as a group of 4 players recently. It is a great way to pass some of the nights. The controller was only about 3usd. We have been having fun, but I do not think it really is progressive in terms of experiencing China. I am still trying to get out and experience it for all it is worth and this seems counter productive.
Occasionally our late evening are filled with a couple episodes of "how i met your mother." I was quite a big fan back in the States and I have enjoyed watching it again from the pilot with a group of folks. We just finished season two last night. The positive is that it beats what some of the other students spend their evenings doing, just consuming lots of carbs. Granted, a bottle of carbs here is about .50usd for 600mL so it is not too expensive just plain unhealthy.
Expo 2010
The World Expo 2010 in Shanghai will be starting May 1st. In the States it'd be called the "World's Fair." This will be the first one the US has participated in for a couple years. It is some political game that we are showing up to show the strength of the US-China relations. It will be a cool place to go and visit. I am not sure that it will be super informative, but I will let you know when I go to it.
Man Law / Bro Code Failures
China does not have the masculinity complex that America has. There seems to be a mutual agreement between all chinese men that riding on a bike or moped broke back style is legit. I do not mind it, but it is an obvious difference with the American culture.
Men are also often seen carrying purses for the women; at least here in Shanghai.
Urinal rules are often broken as well. It is not surprising to see two urinals being used side by side with others still being available. I do not really think it is a big deal at all, just a difference. My guess conclusion to this point is the smaller amount of personal space. Growing up with so little space around seems to have shrunk all the "personal bubbles." Since I have arrived, I know I am more comfortable than expected with folks being in my bubble. I just have learned to shrink it a bit. Just another reason I really enjoy the USA, personal space is awesome.
Upcoming Travels
-Sanya
-Guilin
Next week, I'll be traveling south. I will be visiting an island city of Sanya off the southern coast of China, but will remain within China's boarders. There is a nice beach down there with some fairly cheap hostels to live in for a few days. There is a small group of us adventurers that want to see the island and get some time in the ocean and on the beach. I do not really know what to expect, so I am not going to set my bar too high.
Next month, I will be going to Guilin in a southern region of China. I believe this will be a fun trip of hiking and biking. I think we may also take a short river cruise. I will experience the chinese sleeper car on the train during that trip.
Just before Guilin, I will spend a weekend traveling back and forth to northern Shanghai to the international raceway to watch the first Formula 1 race of my life. I am looking forward to the race and I am expecting rain. It is the rainy season so I am told to expect rain everyday of April.
Please share your comments and email me! Thanks for reading. My blog posts have slowed down substantially since the move to Minhang. I am trying to keep it up to date for the benefit of the readers and for my own personal record of what has happened since I arrived in China!
I will be coming back from China on May 17th and I will likely be very tired from the time change. I look forward to seeing everyone when I get home before I move to Cincinnati for the summer!
Biber
Friday, March 19, 2010
Some pictures / photosynths
Here are some photosynths and panaormas.
View from Dorm Room
Statue on Campus
Model of China Expo Site 2010, from the Urban Planning Museum (18-Mar-2010)
I really dig photosynth. I've been having some good luck with it, sometimes it's difficult to navigate though! It is software in development!
Biber
View from Dorm Room
Statue on Campus
Model of China Expo Site 2010, from the Urban Planning Museum (18-Mar-2010)
I really dig photosynth. I've been having some good luck with it, sometimes it's difficult to navigate though! It is software in development!
Biber
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Expo Construction
Here are some photos from Shanghai Expo sites during construction. I will touch more on this in a later blog post.
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/03/shanghai_prepares_for_expo_201.html
Information on construction worker's wages (as posted in one of the comments at the article)
http://tinyurl.com/yc2n4er
ps - 8 RMB / hr is 1.17usd.
Biber
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/03/shanghai_prepares_for_expo_201.html
Information on construction worker's wages (as posted in one of the comments at the article)
http://tinyurl.com/yc2n4er
ps - 8 RMB / hr is 1.17usd.
Biber
Minhang Dorm Room
Here is a fun little test. The synth is a program that stiches together photos into a 3d environment. I didn't do a very good job of my picture taking, but thats alright - still kind of interesting!
Biber
Biber
Long Ten Days
Weather: 7C clear
Time: 1131pm
As the title suggests, it has been awhile since I have made the time to post on the blog. I have been filling my time with things that are important to me and important to the people around me. Thank you for keeping in touch with me and my blog during the past ten days. Some days are harder than others! I am missing everyone back a home, special thanks to those very few I talk to on a nearly daily basis.
Keeping Busy Lately
-New Location
-Class Length
Now that we are at this new campus and school is in full swing, things are going alright. It was a difficult start because of some of the transitions from the previous campus and timing of exams. Now I have completed the first exam in my distance Purdue class it feels a bit more organized. There is plenty of school work to actually keep our "off days" full of work. Any student who has been through thermodynamics know that a single problem traditionally take more than an hour to solve. We are assigned eight to twelve problems per week.
This is on top of the unusually long engineering courses. China just works differently. Three continuous hours of any subject leaves the brain a little numb, but when it is a technical course things go downhill quickly! I am glad that I am not enrolled in multiple on campus courses, because it would be a real challenge to keep to my work as well as I am currently doing. We have been getting the homework out of the way as quickly as possible trying to push through it all in one day so that it leaves other days open to go adventuring. This is the goal, and with weather permitting, we try and get out as often as we can.
Summer 2010
I will be returning to my summer internship again this year. I have contacted many of my friends from previous summers and I believe this has more potential than ever before to be quite excellent.
Time Change
Now that DST has sprung, the time difference is +12 hours from Eastern Standard Time. I have not completely decided yet, but I think the DST has hurt my communication to the West. It makes figuring out what time is it a bit easier.
8K Race
As part of the Shanghai Expo 2010, there is a race this Sunday. A few of the other students wanted to go run and when they came asking, I initially said, "Probably not." However after a couple of quick seconds of thought, it seems like a good thing to try. I have not done it before and why not try it here. It was a fairly cheap registration fee, 13.50usd.
Grass Pullers
-Cost of Labor
-Food Prep
On campus, we never see lawn mowers going around. They have very well kept grass that grows rather slowly. It is odd to see the laborers out in the field pulling grass by hand to the proper length. They go up and down the lawn creating long piles of "clippings." One of the labor hands will then grab a trusty bamboo stick with some dead brush on the end and sweep it up.
Needless to say, cost of labor is very cheap in China. In many cases, like the one above, it is cheaper in the long run to use labor workers than to buy a lawn mower. The cheapness takes into account these labor workers not having a job to do, machine maintenance, and some other details.
Eating in the dining halls can be a nice experience, often times food is served cold - including meats. However, for not much more (less than 0.30usd) you can have someone make you a meal to order. The meal comes out hot and within minutes. Labor is cheap, so there are people working everywhere - often times in what seems like unneeded jobs.
It is said that this could actually slow the technical progression of China. Rather than engineers thinking of ways to become more efficient, they are encouraged to solve other problems. When a machine can do a job better than the current system - people lose jobs.
Ready to Come Home Yet?
A friend asked me this question this week. As much as I miss home, I am trying to capitalize on this opportunity as best as I can. I think coming home in two more months is rather appropriate. I will enjoy being home, but until I am - I am just enjoying this experience. I think it would be ashame if I spent everyday just sitting around waiting for the end of the adventure. I want to go out there and squeeze every drop of fun out of this place.
Travel
I hope to be doing some travel in the next month to really get a chance to see some more of China. Some things that are on the radar - a mountain hike, a beach adventure, some more traditional Chinese locations. I am still looking for that "Wow!" experience.
Thanks,
Biber
Saturday, March 6, 2010
First Week at Minhang
Weather: 4C
Time: 550pm
Rain
I do not believe I have ever lived in such a rainy place. We moved to the new campus on the 27th of Feb and it's currently 1 week later. It has rained everyday since we moved. It has been very heavy at times and occasionally there has been lightening and thunder. It is surprising to see the weather be so poor. I would have thought the weather would blow out towards the ocean. It seems to be coming from the south east most of the time - which would indicate warm weather. The warmth is usually in the upper 40s to mid 50s. The rain does a good job of making it feel very cold. It has been disappointing to be so waterlogged. We are all making it through and it is not expecting to let up until mid week. We have asked out teachers about the weather and they said that April to May is the rainy season. They said, it is pretty common that it will rain everyday of those two months. They seem to be indicating light rain, but it is not always easy to translate weather related words as they are all very relative to the region.
The weather will improve next week.
Laundry
On Friday, I spent my day in downtown Shanghai. We got up and got to the bus station by 9am, unfortunately our guess was wrong. The bus comes at 8am and 10am. This bus is operated by the university to take students and faculty between the two locations. It costs less than a 1usd to take the hour bus ride. Only a couple of the students can read Chinese - and they were not going on this trip with my friends and me. We got to town and took our laundry to the laundry lady at the other campus. She will wash, dry, and fold your clothes for you. We haven't found anyone like this on our own campus, so it has been determined that going back to the other campus is probably worth it. She does it all for less than 3usd, so I consider it to be a good deal.
Suits
The main reason I was wanting to return to downtown was to pick-up my suits from the tailor. I think they turned out very well. The business suit looks really good - black. The arguably more casual suit is also quite nice - grey. I have never had the honor of having something tailored, but this is quite a nice feeling to have clothes that truly fit perfectly. I think we are all getting a little tailor crazy, one of the girls has some jeans tailor made, a dress, suits, shirts, ... etc. There are plenty of good things happening at the tailor market. There are also knock-off Polo brand shirts. They are very tempting because, it is difficult to get a low grade polo in the states for less than 10usd, and here the knock-off is only 4.50usd. I hope to take some pictures soon and maybe publish them on here. I am not quite a fashion model so I do not know if I will publish the photos on the internet or not. Let me know if you're interested in seeing them.
Gym
Now that we have relocated to the new campus location, we are all very interested in filling our time at what is the local co-rec. I asked some of the graduate students who are suppose to be helping us to point out a few locations on the map. Last week I went to check it out and I think it is a pretty rough model for what China is like.
The Facility
The gym is located in one of the classroom buildings. It has many machines and a rack of barbells up to about twenty pounds. There is no place to work much on legs, no sleds, squats, or anything really leg intensive. There are three treadmills. The gym is carpeted. In the middle of the gym there are twelve chairs back to back facing the equipment. There are two changing rooms, with lockers that can be rented for free with a student ID.
Oddities
1. They gym costs 2 yuan / hour. There is a maximum of 25 people in the gym at one time. If you exceed your time, you must pay again to get your ID back. The only way to pay is to go to the front desk of the building (not the gym) and buy a small yellow ticket. If there are people waiting to use the gym, you will be asked to leave.
2. If you are a man, you can not use the treadmills.
3. If you are a woman, you may use the weights. I asked the attendent this question, because it seemed obvious. I said, "So if the men can't use the treadmills, can the women use the weights." She replied, "They usually don't." I said, "But can they?" --"I guess they could." What an odd expectation.
4. All users of the gym must wear a plastic shoe cover. It looks like a green bag, maybe something that would be worn into a clean-room or into surgery. All members, except for women on treadmills, must wear these at all times.
5. The twelve chairs are used for taking a break between the sets. A man was actually sitting in the chair between his sets. Most surprisingly there was actually a magazine rack sitting next to the chairs. The man looked very ridiculous wear green booties, workout clothes, lifting gloves, reading a magazine, reclined in the middle of the gym - and paying 2 yuan to do so.
6. I consider myself luck for this one, while I was talking to the front desk at the gym a college girl came in and wanted to run on the treadmill. She was wearing shoes that were like All-Stars, some leggings, a plaid school-girl type skirt, a formal sweater, with a few shirts under it. She was Chinese if you did not catch on to that yet. I have been told they do not sweat, but I really don't believe that.
7. Potentially the best one, the gym is only open from four pm to ten pm. The reason for this is the same reason the gym is not open during finals week at the university. The school is helping the students manager their time by not opening the gym until after study hours. Which are loosely defined as seven am to five pm. This philosophy is completely different than in the US where the individual is responsible for their own time management. At Purdue the gym opens at five am and stays open til eleven for midnight most of the time, I believe.
Sherpa
This campus is located far away from a lot of stuff. It is comparable to going to Purdue, a large university is a place without much to do. I would say that our old campus would have been like going to school in downtown Chicago or New York, so it is very different to not have as much to do. There are also a lot fewer Chinese food alternatives. In the city there is a delivery service called Sherpa's. They are delivery people that will take your order online or over the phone in English - then call participating restaurants and place your order. Then a delivery man (not woman) will go and get your food and bring it to you for a small fee, depending on the distance. We have Sherpa'd some tacos in the past. The business was very successful so both McDonald's and KFC have their own delivery service. We have grown to enjoy the cheapness of McD's and we were sad when there was not one within walking distance. We spotted a McD's delivery man on campus the other day and last night one of the students ordered up a value meal. The delivery fee was only 1$, which is a small price to pay to get a small taste of American food. The milkshakes are amazing.
Class
This week marked the end of the courses for the first half of the program. I'm glad to be done with nine credit hours this early in the semester. I can now really focus on the last few credits. I have an exam this week in my Purdue distance learning course. I really need to focus in on that exam because it is the only class where I am actually getting a GPA grade. Aside from that Purdue course, I have only one other course. We were informed this week that the other course I am enrolled in will not have Chinese students because the syllabus will follow the Purdue course in a condensed fashion. It will essentially be the exact same course as it would be taught at Purdue, same book, same homework, same everything. The obvious difference is that it will be taught by a local professor from SJTU. There will also be another course happening, however I have already completed this course. That third course will have Chinese students in with the Purdue students. I will rely more heavily on my friends to meet Chinese students because of this. I also think I will manage to meet some on my own because of my open personality. I am not disappointed with my class schedule though, I have class for four hours on Monday afternoon and two hours on Wednesday morning. Other than that scheduled course, I work my Purdue distance course on my own time.
Milk
Fun fact, other than the two milkshakes I have had at McDonald's - I have not had milk in China. They are, as a people, lactose intolerant. Much of their society, as I have mentioned, uses "Milk product" which is not milk. I was talked into getting a carton this morning from a slightly chilled beverage case. It was decent.
Large Super Store
Today, I spent a few hours strolling through what is roughly the same as a Wal-Mart back home. I went with a few things in mind and I found most of them. The showers are not particularly desirable so some of the other students bought foam puzzle pieces often used to coat a child's playroom. I like this idea, but I will let them test it before I jump on that train. I was able to pick-up a clean, new, plastic, soap holder for the shower. This was exciting because the existing soap holder is disgustingly old and even made the soap feel dirty. I also was able to buy a couple of hangers for my suits so they do not get destroyed hanging in my closest on a wire hanger. The item I was unable to find was popcorn. We have a microwave down the hall and I think popcorn would be nice to have around. A lot of popcorn is sold on the street but it is mostly kettle corn, which is okay - but not what I really was looking for.
World Expo
Today marks 57 days until the World Expo. There is quite a bit of decorating that has been done for this. I believe I have seen quite a bit of construction and painting that would not have been done without the expo coming to town. I have not recently been towards the expo site since the day we landed at the airport. I look forward to making it over that way in the coming weeks to see how construction is going. The World Expo is being taken very seriously. It is being prepared for much like the Olympics in Beijing. China seems to feel this is their chance to show off their most economically advanced and most western city.
These are my thoughts and observations,
Biber
Time: 550pm
Rain
I do not believe I have ever lived in such a rainy place. We moved to the new campus on the 27th of Feb and it's currently 1 week later. It has rained everyday since we moved. It has been very heavy at times and occasionally there has been lightening and thunder. It is surprising to see the weather be so poor. I would have thought the weather would blow out towards the ocean. It seems to be coming from the south east most of the time - which would indicate warm weather. The warmth is usually in the upper 40s to mid 50s. The rain does a good job of making it feel very cold. It has been disappointing to be so waterlogged. We are all making it through and it is not expecting to let up until mid week. We have asked out teachers about the weather and they said that April to May is the rainy season. They said, it is pretty common that it will rain everyday of those two months. They seem to be indicating light rain, but it is not always easy to translate weather related words as they are all very relative to the region.
The weather will improve next week.
Laundry
On Friday, I spent my day in downtown Shanghai. We got up and got to the bus station by 9am, unfortunately our guess was wrong. The bus comes at 8am and 10am. This bus is operated by the university to take students and faculty between the two locations. It costs less than a 1usd to take the hour bus ride. Only a couple of the students can read Chinese - and they were not going on this trip with my friends and me. We got to town and took our laundry to the laundry lady at the other campus. She will wash, dry, and fold your clothes for you. We haven't found anyone like this on our own campus, so it has been determined that going back to the other campus is probably worth it. She does it all for less than 3usd, so I consider it to be a good deal.
Suits
The main reason I was wanting to return to downtown was to pick-up my suits from the tailor. I think they turned out very well. The business suit looks really good - black. The arguably more casual suit is also quite nice - grey. I have never had the honor of having something tailored, but this is quite a nice feeling to have clothes that truly fit perfectly. I think we are all getting a little tailor crazy, one of the girls has some jeans tailor made, a dress, suits, shirts, ... etc. There are plenty of good things happening at the tailor market. There are also knock-off Polo brand shirts. They are very tempting because, it is difficult to get a low grade polo in the states for less than 10usd, and here the knock-off is only 4.50usd. I hope to take some pictures soon and maybe publish them on here. I am not quite a fashion model so I do not know if I will publish the photos on the internet or not. Let me know if you're interested in seeing them.
Gym
Now that we have relocated to the new campus location, we are all very interested in filling our time at what is the local co-rec. I asked some of the graduate students who are suppose to be helping us to point out a few locations on the map. Last week I went to check it out and I think it is a pretty rough model for what China is like.
The Facility
The gym is located in one of the classroom buildings. It has many machines and a rack of barbells up to about twenty pounds. There is no place to work much on legs, no sleds, squats, or anything really leg intensive. There are three treadmills. The gym is carpeted. In the middle of the gym there are twelve chairs back to back facing the equipment. There are two changing rooms, with lockers that can be rented for free with a student ID.
Oddities
1. They gym costs 2 yuan / hour. There is a maximum of 25 people in the gym at one time. If you exceed your time, you must pay again to get your ID back. The only way to pay is to go to the front desk of the building (not the gym) and buy a small yellow ticket. If there are people waiting to use the gym, you will be asked to leave.
2. If you are a man, you can not use the treadmills.
3. If you are a woman, you may use the weights. I asked the attendent this question, because it seemed obvious. I said, "So if the men can't use the treadmills, can the women use the weights." She replied, "They usually don't." I said, "But can they?" --"I guess they could." What an odd expectation.
4. All users of the gym must wear a plastic shoe cover. It looks like a green bag, maybe something that would be worn into a clean-room or into surgery. All members, except for women on treadmills, must wear these at all times.
5. The twelve chairs are used for taking a break between the sets. A man was actually sitting in the chair between his sets. Most surprisingly there was actually a magazine rack sitting next to the chairs. The man looked very ridiculous wear green booties, workout clothes, lifting gloves, reading a magazine, reclined in the middle of the gym - and paying 2 yuan to do so.
6. I consider myself luck for this one, while I was talking to the front desk at the gym a college girl came in and wanted to run on the treadmill. She was wearing shoes that were like All-Stars, some leggings, a plaid school-girl type skirt, a formal sweater, with a few shirts under it. She was Chinese if you did not catch on to that yet. I have been told they do not sweat, but I really don't believe that.
7. Potentially the best one, the gym is only open from four pm to ten pm. The reason for this is the same reason the gym is not open during finals week at the university. The school is helping the students manager their time by not opening the gym until after study hours. Which are loosely defined as seven am to five pm. This philosophy is completely different than in the US where the individual is responsible for their own time management. At Purdue the gym opens at five am and stays open til eleven for midnight most of the time, I believe.
Sherpa
This campus is located far away from a lot of stuff. It is comparable to going to Purdue, a large university is a place without much to do. I would say that our old campus would have been like going to school in downtown Chicago or New York, so it is very different to not have as much to do. There are also a lot fewer Chinese food alternatives. In the city there is a delivery service called Sherpa's. They are delivery people that will take your order online or over the phone in English - then call participating restaurants and place your order. Then a delivery man (not woman) will go and get your food and bring it to you for a small fee, depending on the distance. We have Sherpa'd some tacos in the past. The business was very successful so both McDonald's and KFC have their own delivery service. We have grown to enjoy the cheapness of McD's and we were sad when there was not one within walking distance. We spotted a McD's delivery man on campus the other day and last night one of the students ordered up a value meal. The delivery fee was only 1$, which is a small price to pay to get a small taste of American food. The milkshakes are amazing.
Class
This week marked the end of the courses for the first half of the program. I'm glad to be done with nine credit hours this early in the semester. I can now really focus on the last few credits. I have an exam this week in my Purdue distance learning course. I really need to focus in on that exam because it is the only class where I am actually getting a GPA grade. Aside from that Purdue course, I have only one other course. We were informed this week that the other course I am enrolled in will not have Chinese students because the syllabus will follow the Purdue course in a condensed fashion. It will essentially be the exact same course as it would be taught at Purdue, same book, same homework, same everything. The obvious difference is that it will be taught by a local professor from SJTU. There will also be another course happening, however I have already completed this course. That third course will have Chinese students in with the Purdue students. I will rely more heavily on my friends to meet Chinese students because of this. I also think I will manage to meet some on my own because of my open personality. I am not disappointed with my class schedule though, I have class for four hours on Monday afternoon and two hours on Wednesday morning. Other than that scheduled course, I work my Purdue distance course on my own time.
Milk
Fun fact, other than the two milkshakes I have had at McDonald's - I have not had milk in China. They are, as a people, lactose intolerant. Much of their society, as I have mentioned, uses "Milk product" which is not milk. I was talked into getting a carton this morning from a slightly chilled beverage case. It was decent.
Large Super Store
Today, I spent a few hours strolling through what is roughly the same as a Wal-Mart back home. I went with a few things in mind and I found most of them. The showers are not particularly desirable so some of the other students bought foam puzzle pieces often used to coat a child's playroom. I like this idea, but I will let them test it before I jump on that train. I was able to pick-up a clean, new, plastic, soap holder for the shower. This was exciting because the existing soap holder is disgustingly old and even made the soap feel dirty. I also was able to buy a couple of hangers for my suits so they do not get destroyed hanging in my closest on a wire hanger. The item I was unable to find was popcorn. We have a microwave down the hall and I think popcorn would be nice to have around. A lot of popcorn is sold on the street but it is mostly kettle corn, which is okay - but not what I really was looking for.
World Expo
Today marks 57 days until the World Expo. There is quite a bit of decorating that has been done for this. I believe I have seen quite a bit of construction and painting that would not have been done without the expo coming to town. I have not recently been towards the expo site since the day we landed at the airport. I look forward to making it over that way in the coming weeks to see how construction is going. The World Expo is being taken very seriously. It is being prepared for much like the Olympics in Beijing. China seems to feel this is their chance to show off their most economically advanced and most western city.
These are my thoughts and observations,
Biber
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