Hello friends, family, and animals that can somehow access the internet.
Here is a long overdue update about what I did in China! It's right here, in the next paragraph:
In my 5 days there, I think we saw everything you could possibly see in such a short amount of time. I really liked the Summer Palace, which blew my mind. The fact that one person could be so powerful, have so much land, and have such beautiful buildings created before the technology we have today is astounding. It was my second favorite place, next to the Great Wall. The palace has a lake in the middle, and all around the lake are temples, palaces, and building architecture. From the middle, there was a palace on the other side that was sort of misty, like it was perfectly placed- it was the type of thing you only see in movies.
The Great Wall was also awe-inspiring. Although the wall itself isn't all that high, it's all on mountains. It's more of the scope that got me. As I walked further and further, there were always more towers in front, always more that you could see on the mountains ahead, and always more to get to. Realizing how far the wall stretched just made it amazing. Unfortunately, the pollution of Beijing even reached out as far as the Great Wall, so there was smog in the air- but it wasn't nearly as bad as the city itself. There are no words that can really describe the wall, and the pictures you'll see really don't do it any justice. I never thought I'd go to the great wall in my life, so this was just an incredible experience.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Quick China Update (and pics!)
Beijing itself was an interesting place as well. It was very polluted and there was a lot of litter. The living conditions for the common people aren't that good- I think China still has a long way to go in that regard. Also, the people were a bit rude! There was a LOT of spitting. We'd even be in a restaurant, and we'd hear the unmistakable sound of someone clearing their throat, then the splat of spit on the floor. In a RESTAURANT! It was unbelievable. Also, my friend (and native Chinese speaker) said that they were very rude when speaking to her, no "thanks" "your welcome" or even trying to find information on what train stop to get off to help us, even though they were a clerk at the station! Perhaps I've been spoiled by Japan? Maybe they are too polite here, lol. It was a big contrast though, for example, when we got back to Japan and got in the rail station, there were workers cleaning even the escalator hand-rails , when 12 hours ago there was litter and greasy stuff in the stations.
It was also a bit scary to see how things were censored firsthand. No facebook or blogging allowed! Google Tienanmen Square and there's no mention of the protests there.
That about wraps up Beijing in a nutshell. I had an amazing time, and I wouldn't mind going back to another part of the country.
Aside from that, I've been teachin' the chilluns and sitting in my office. Oh, and I climbed Iwate mountain this past weekend. It was a 2 day hike, and it was blizzard conditions on the top. It was amazing fun though, and very beautiful
For some reason, the computer isn't letting my pictures copy into the blog. So I'll try and fix that sometime later this week.
RaNdOm japan.
Did you know that the swine flu made it to Japan? Well, guess what, all of Japan is ON GUARD! There are hand sanitizers in front of every entrance to every public building. You want into the grocery store, SANITIZE NOW (please imagine the Seinfeld "Serenity Now!" line, not the 13-year old I can speak in Caps you commonly find elsewhere)! You want into my office- SANITIZE NOW! Sigh. It's a good thing I'm foreign and "can't understand japanese."
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