Beijing Trip: Day 3

On my third day in Beijing, Boba and I went to the Summer Palace!!!! We were both super excited; we were also supposed to visit Tian'amen Square and the Forbidden City, but it was SO hot and we both had seen enough! We just wanted to relax after the Summer Palace. 

Boba and I woke up around 10 am to eat before we left. I didn't know if there were any decent food options around the Summer Palace, so I wanted to make sure we wouldn't get hungry. The last thing you want to deal with is intense hunger, crazy heat, and expensive prices.

We walked to the DongSiShiTiao station and transferred to Line 4 at XiZhiMen. Then we got off at BeiGongMen which wasn't too far from the Summer Palace. The Beijing subway system is super easy to navigate and very affordable at 2 kuai per ride. 

We did have some interesting moments on the way. These two older Chinese women stared at me like I was an alien and to make matters worse they did it the whole ride. After a few stops a white gentleman got on the train. They didn't even look at him. Some Chinese people think that white people are normal and everyone else is not. The excuse I often hear is that the majority of foreigners that come to China are White. I also think it has to do with China's discrimination against non-white teachers. A lot of schools here only want White teachers to work at their school. This tends to be a bigger problem at training schools, but it's still a rampant issue in China. Here's a post from a tumblr run by a 22 year old Black man living in Taiwan about this issue. I do know that Taiwan is a separate country (although the Chinese government will swear up and down it isn't and teaches its people this), but they both tend to treat foreigners the same. 

I just ignored them, but there would have been a problem had phones or cameras popped out. I have only had a few annoying picture incidents during my time here. There comes a point during your time in China that you have to not become annoyed or irritated by the staring. One thing that wasn't hard for me to overcome was having people talk about you while you're near them. Heck, rude people do this back in America, but in a language that I can understand. As long as the person isn't pointing and/or laowaiing the hell out of me, we're fine (laowai is kind of a rude term for foreigner. Some non-native born Chinese embrace it, and some dislike it. I'll talk about this in a later post). 

Most Chinese people on the train weren't staring. I think when Chinese people live in Beijing, they see a lot of foreigners, so it becomes normal to them. So, I figured they were tourists from their behavior. I could also tell by their attire. Most people in Beijing dress very stylishly regardless of their age. Turns out my observation was correct, they got off at the same stop as us.

Next, we followed the crowd of people to the Summer Palace. It wasn't too far down the street. There were some ladies selling bottles of water. I decided to ask how much they were, and to my surprise they were really cheap and the bottles were big. I bought one for us since we had forgot to bring water. Boba and I were starting to feel the heat. I figured prices would go way up once we got inside. We came to an opening and then we saw it!

Beijing Day 2: Picking Up Boba

I'm surprised I was able to fall asleep so easily considering the fact that I would be picking Boba up the next day. I think all the dancing tuckered me out. I woke up around 8:30 am, but went back to sleep. I got out of bed around 10 am and went downstairs to check on Boba's flight's progress. The hostel had computers that you could use; I recall 1 kuai would get you fifteen minutes. I saw that his flight was getting in around 1:30 pm. The girls and I were supposed to meet up again, but I figured they hadn't woken up yet. I got a map to the airport shuttle from the hostel (the hostel is right by the DongSiShiTiao and DongZhiMen subway stations which you can use to get anywhere). I had to walk to DongZhiMen station to talk the airport shuttle. I decided to leave early even though it looked like it wasn't far on the map. I decided to leave around 12 to give myself enough time to get there.

After an hour or two, I received a text from Brit around telling me they had gotten dressed and would knock on my door in a few minutes. I went with them to the first desk for their check out and putting their bags away. Apparently most hostels have a room for you to put your stuff. So even if you come early or check out you can put you stuff in a locked room.

We left the hostel together; the ladies were going to get a massage  I was going to walk with them until I noticed that it was about to be 12. I am SO happy that I left early. The walk didn't even a lot of turns. You leave the Sanlitun hostel and make a right on the main road. Then when you hit a street (I forgot which one, but it was one the map) and you make a left and walk down it until you hit the airport shuttle. The problem is that it's a loooooonnnnggg walk. I stopped a few times to ask people if I was going the right way.

*Side note- I recommend coming prepared with some survival Mandarin, even in Beijing. I figured I would have to use it, but I tried to speak English slowly as a test and the person looked at me crazy. I only used Mandarin when I was there.*

I reached the station, bought my ticket, and head down the escalator; the shuttle comes every ten minutes and costs 25 kuai. (Also I noticed that people in Dongying say kuai, while folks in Beijing say yuan). It took about thirty minutes for me to arrive at Terminal 3 (the International terminal). I arrived around a little before 1 pm and got in position. The airport wasn't crowded which was nice because I got to stand right against the railing instead of behind people.

Boba and I already had a plan in case we couldn't find each other. I remembered there was a green bank directly to your left when you leave the airport. I told him what I would have on and even made a sign that read his first name, his last name, and then it said aka Boba haha I showed him the sign before, so that he would know what it looked like. I decided to stand in front of the bank as well just to be on the same side. As I was waiting a few annoying people would come and stand near me and stare at me. I just ignored them and listened to my Ipod. I refused to let anyone even slightly frustrate or annoy me. 

One lady standing beside is holding up a sign that has the same flight number on it as Boba's. I figured I would keep an eye on her in case her clients arrived before he did; I would know that he would be out shortly after. I waited and waited and the anticipation kept building. I finally saw the lady pick up her passengers, so I knew he would be coming out soon. Every time a person would come out I would be break my neck to see if it was him (I am super short, and I was a good distance away). I kept standing on my tippy toes to see him. And then I finally saw him!!! I was SO SO SO excited, and he looked super handsome as always. I held up my sign super high (it probably wasn’t that high lol My short butt). I was to his right, but he kept looking to his left. He later told me he was looking for his extraction point!!! He was right in front of me. I was like, “Boba! Boba!” Then he looked at me and I saw his whole face light up. It made my heart smile! We ran to each other, and he gave me a huge hug. 

We made our way down to the taxi queue. We got a little lost, but a nice guy took us to where it was. We only needed to go down one more escalator instead of heading outside. I updated him on my last few days before he arrived and my crazy night. He had a good laugh about the club situation. He told me that’s why he never wanted to take me out dancing. I gave up going out dancing after my first year of college. I didn’t go often, maybe once or twice a semester, but always enjoyed having mini parties with my friends more. We arrived back at the hostel and saw the cutest dog ever! The hostel owned him, and he was the cutest thing ever. Joe played with him a little bit. Here’s a picture of him:

He had a little ball that he would fetch for you. Simply adorable! In my next post, I'll talk about our trip to the Summer Palace!

My Interesting Night in Beijing

Britni texted me while I was still on the bus inquiring about when I would arrive in Beijing and to her my room number when I get settled. So, after I checked in I quickly texted her before I took the pictures of my room. Sleep was about to take me out with the quickness. She texted me they were watching a movie and were going to come back to the hostel to take a nap. We agreed to meet up for dinner.

I received a knock on my door at 7 p.m., and Brit tells me that they were across the hall in 409 (I was in 410). We both had a mini laughing fit; the four of us walked to the mall area near Sanlitun. It’s about a ten or fifteen minute walk straight ahead. During the walk, we were all talking and laughing. We grabbed dinner at Bite-a-Pita, and as soon as we sat down the mood shifted. Nicky and Eileen went silent and grabbed their phones. This is where the drama begins.

My Mini Break: Beijing Day 1

I was lucky enough to have five days off in a row and I SO needed it! In China, you really don't get a real vacation. The schools require that you make up the days you have off. I had to work seven days in a row the week before and after break. Believe me when I say that it's super rough. The kids are pretty crazy due to their normal routine being broken.

The first day of my break I woke up super early to Skype Boba. To my dismay I discovered I had no internet. This happens a lot at my school. The internet will be off during the early morning and will magically turn on during lunch time when we would attempt to use it. Brit and I are convinced that they are turning it off. I went back to sleep to gain some much needed rest. I wasn't able to sleep well the week before Boba's arrival. I think I was super excited and just wanted the day to hurry up and arrive. Monday went by super duper slow!

The next day I woke up early to catch my 8:30 a.m. bus. I quickly found a taxi and showed him a text message Dean sent me last semester with the bus station and Beijing airport in Mandarin. Dongying has two bus stations, and only one has buses that go to Beijing. So, I put my iPod on and lean back and relax. I notice that the bus driver tries to take a wrong turn on purpose. He's trying to turn to the right (which is the opposite direction) rather than turn left. Usually when I talk to the taxi drivers in a normal tone it's like they don't hear me. I don't talk super loud and that seems to be the norm in Dongying. This noise just erupted from my core. You could equate it to "hold on one minute!" Whatever it was he stopped haha I told him to turn left. I don't know if he was trying to cheat me or if he didn't pay attention to where I pointed (the airport is first and then the Dongying bus station), but I said it in Mandarin as well. Either way I wasn't having it. Taxi drivers tend to half listen or act like they can't understand me because I'm foreign even though my pronunciation is on point. It's like they see foreigner and they cannot compute. Taxi drivers aren't the only ones in Dongying guilty of this crime.

I arrive at the bus station without anymore trouble. My bus ride ends up being way longer than it normally should be. The bus was getting super hot, and I wanted to get off asap. When we arrive at the bus station, I rush to find a taxi. It's really difficult to get a taxi at this bus station. You have to wait on the side of a highway and hope that no one takes the taxi you flag down. I have a guy approach me, and I figure he's not a legit cab driver. By this time I am super hot and tired. So, I agree, but I set a fixed amount 60 kuai. I figure that I've being severely overcharged (which I later found out I was, it's supposed to be 25 kuai at the most), but I don't care. I just wanted to take a nap.

I arrived at Sanlitun Hostel and fall out! I managed to take pictures before I took an epic nap.

I was really happy to see that I had a double bed. I was afraid that Boba and I would have two twins bed and have to push them together. In my next post I'll talk about my crazy night on the town in Sanlitun!

Things I Miss

China has been an interesting experience. It's very different from my upbringing and my experiences living in New York. I've learned a lot about myself during my time here. I'm excited to be going home next month! I'm excluding people from this list because they aren't fixed to places. Regardless, my family, friends, and Boba should know that I miss the hell out of you!

Things I Miss About Home

People looking at me like I am a normal person. 

Sometimes residents of Dongying stare at me like I am a walking unicorn or like I slapped their mother. When I am going up stairs, people walking in the opposite direction will stop beside me and stare in my face.  

Being able to fully communicate. 

My Mandarin isn't horrible and it allows me to do the basics. I can understand what's being said to me most of the time. Mandarin (as far as grammar is concerned) really isn't a hard language. As soon as you know the vocabulary; you string the sentence together and it's right most of the time. It's the writing system and the tones that are the killers. I would have loved to learn more, but unfortunately Dongying does not have any place for me to study.  

Food, food, food, food!!!!

I really really really love food, especially delicious food. I resided in New York prior to my departure to China. One of my favorite things about NYC is it's variety of food. You can pretty much find anything! I was born and raised in the South, so you know I was eating right there, too! I can't eat any bird or egg right now due to bird flu in China. I'm not willing to take the chance. I love me some chicken, but I'm not ready to die for it.

Internet

The internet in China is atrocious! The speeds are very bad (at least the places I've been); not to mention the censorship of websites. Of course things like Blogger, Facebook, Twitter, Wordpress (basically social networking) are blocked here. Brit and I also have to deal with things that we desperately need (Sallie Mae and other bill paying websites) deciding not to work one day. I have a VPN, but my connection at my school is very bad, so sometimes I can't get on it.

Not Seeing Bodily Functions

In China, it is very common to see men urinate in the grass, kids defecating and urinating on the sidewalk, and people picking their noses like there's gold inside. It's common to burp loudly with your mouth open, sneeze and cough and not cover your mouth near people.