One of my best friends is studying in England at Durham University at the moment, and she has a blog where she has been chronicling her exploits. I felt a little guilty that I have not been posting anything to this blog, even though I said I would, so I figured I ought to try and start the ball rolling again.
So, recent events would be:
I got married on October 23rd! That is Mole Day; for those of you wondering why, think back to high school chemistry.
I am once again working at a high school in south Jersey. I love my job.
I had considered going back to China this summer, but for our honeymoon, it seems like my husband and I are going to plan a cross-country trip to see friends, family and national monuments. That should be some interesting fodder for the blog. I hope.
In future posts: ancient history trips that I have taken previously!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
Tuesday, August 10 - Huangpu Boat Ride
This evening, Allan and I took a boat ride up the Huangpu River in Shanghai. It almost didn't happen, because it became a bit of a production at one point. I had asked Allan if he would like to come with me, and last week I went and got some information about tickets from one agency. I told Allan about the information that I got, and he said it was fine, but then, yesterday, Allan said he wanted to ask a friend and get a bit more information. As I've said, Allan is always scheming how to get it so things best benefit him. I just shrugged and let him do whatever.
So, this morning, Allan said that he had asked his friend, and he said that we wanted to take a certain boat and Allan had decided that we had to take the 7 pm boat because that was right at dusk and he had to go early in order to get the tickets because they would sell out right away. Meanwhile, we are in the middle of our afternoon English corner and Mary and I are trying to get the kids talking about art, and he is pulling me out of the room to tell me he's going to go right now (1:30) to buy the tickets and he would call me when he had them and then I would meet him there.
I was kind of annoying, and at that point I almost regretted asking him to go with me, but I shrugged and went with it. After class, I went back to my apartment to wait for the phone call. Around 4, he called and gave me some of the sketchiest directions I had ever gotten on where to meet him.
Luckily, he had also copied the map and the address that Hugh had given him, so at least I was able to periodically show the Chinese characters to people and have them point me in the right direction.
I got off the train at the Yuyuan Garden stop at about 4:40 and spent the next hour and a half wandering up and down Zhongsang Road, trying to find the goddamn boat. Hugh had recommended the boat that is a twenty-freaking-minute walk down the street, and people I asked were even confused about where exactly it was. My instructions had been to meet up with Allan before 6:30, because that was when we were supposed to line up to wait to get on the boat.
At 6:15, I finally found the ticket booth for the boat that Allan had described in his extremely sketchy directions. But did I find Allan? Noooo, of course not. So, I spent the next 10 minutes getting harassed by guys trying to help me buy a ticket, who couldn't understand that I already had a ticket, I just didn't have it with me. The same guy came back three different times, persistent bugger that he was. I appreciate that they're trying to be helpful, but jeez, take a hint!
By 6:25, I was ready to either scream or cry. I was hot, sweaty, tired from walking, and tired of waving off overly-helpful Chinese men, and I was just about ready to throttle Allan, when I saw him round the corner. I ended up feeling so relieved that I had found him that I didn't do any of those things. I just said "You're the worst direction-giver ever!" and we ran for the line for the boat.
And after all that, I have to admit... Worth it. Our boat was HUGE. Five floors, with wood paneling and gold paint, two giant dragon heads on the front and a roof-top bar where Allan and I say and drank Tsingtao beer, while we watched the sun go down. It was pretty epic.
Once the sun had set, the boat left its moorings and we took a leisurely cruise down the river past the buildings of the Bund. At night, all the buildings are spectacularly lit up and the breeze from the river was wonderful.
We spent a very congenial hour getting slightly tipsy and then when the boat docked, we strolled aimlessly until we found a cab and took it home. In the end, I am glad that I asked Allan to come. Even though it was a bit of a hassle, his incessant desire to find the best possible outcome for himself wound up benefiting me as well!
So, this morning, Allan said that he had asked his friend, and he said that we wanted to take a certain boat and Allan had decided that we had to take the 7 pm boat because that was right at dusk and he had to go early in order to get the tickets because they would sell out right away. Meanwhile, we are in the middle of our afternoon English corner and Mary and I are trying to get the kids talking about art, and he is pulling me out of the room to tell me he's going to go right now (1:30) to buy the tickets and he would call me when he had them and then I would meet him there.
I was kind of annoying, and at that point I almost regretted asking him to go with me, but I shrugged and went with it. After class, I went back to my apartment to wait for the phone call. Around 4, he called and gave me some of the sketchiest directions I had ever gotten on where to meet him.
Luckily, he had also copied the map and the address that Hugh had given him, so at least I was able to periodically show the Chinese characters to people and have them point me in the right direction.
I got off the train at the Yuyuan Garden stop at about 4:40 and spent the next hour and a half wandering up and down Zhongsang Road, trying to find the goddamn boat. Hugh had recommended the boat that is a twenty-freaking-minute walk down the street, and people I asked were even confused about where exactly it was. My instructions had been to meet up with Allan before 6:30, because that was when we were supposed to line up to wait to get on the boat.
At 6:15, I finally found the ticket booth for the boat that Allan had described in his extremely sketchy directions. But did I find Allan? Noooo, of course not. So, I spent the next 10 minutes getting harassed by guys trying to help me buy a ticket, who couldn't understand that I already had a ticket, I just didn't have it with me. The same guy came back three different times, persistent bugger that he was. I appreciate that they're trying to be helpful, but jeez, take a hint!
By 6:25, I was ready to either scream or cry. I was hot, sweaty, tired from walking, and tired of waving off overly-helpful Chinese men, and I was just about ready to throttle Allan, when I saw him round the corner. I ended up feeling so relieved that I had found him that I didn't do any of those things. I just said "You're the worst direction-giver ever!" and we ran for the line for the boat.
And after all that, I have to admit... Worth it. Our boat was HUGE. Five floors, with wood paneling and gold paint, two giant dragon heads on the front and a roof-top bar where Allan and I say and drank Tsingtao beer, while we watched the sun go down. It was pretty epic.
Once the sun had set, the boat left its moorings and we took a leisurely cruise down the river past the buildings of the Bund. At night, all the buildings are spectacularly lit up and the breeze from the river was wonderful.
We spent a very congenial hour getting slightly tipsy and then when the boat docked, we strolled aimlessly until we found a cab and took it home. In the end, I am glad that I asked Allan to come. Even though it was a bit of a hassle, his incessant desire to find the best possible outcome for himself wound up benefiting me as well!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Home again!
Well, hello America, nice to see you!
I'm back in the States; I arrived on Saturday the 14th at 9:30, after leaving Seoul, Korea on Saturday the 14th at 7:30 and flying for 13 hours. Weird, eh? I count that as time travel, I don't care what you say!
Anyway, don't forget about me over here because I have more adventures from China to share, and, like I said, I'm hoping this will be a travel blog for my life past China as well, so I will be making posts about any other travel adventures I have, even if they are not outside the country.
I also think that in slow stretches where travel is not possible, I will post memory blogs about times that I have traveled in the past, before I made this blog. So, never fear! I will keep updating!
I'm back in the States; I arrived on Saturday the 14th at 9:30, after leaving Seoul, Korea on Saturday the 14th at 7:30 and flying for 13 hours. Weird, eh? I count that as time travel, I don't care what you say!
Anyway, don't forget about me over here because I have more adventures from China to share, and, like I said, I'm hoping this will be a travel blog for my life past China as well, so I will be making posts about any other travel adventures I have, even if they are not outside the country.
I also think that in slow stretches where travel is not possible, I will post memory blogs about times that I have traveled in the past, before I made this blog. So, never fear! I will keep updating!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Monday, August 9 - Happy Birthday Singapore!
Just finished watching the live feed of Singapore's 45th anniversary as a nation celebration. My friend Alvin is from Singapore. They had a giant music, dance, and fireworks display, and a parade of all of Singapore's armed forces might that then traveled all across the country so that people in neighborhoods around Singapore could see the vehicles. It was a large and very impressive display. One thing I noticed, though, was that Singapore's president is a pretty grouchy guy. They only time I saw him smile was when he greeted the people wanting to shake his hand as he was leaving. But hey, Happy Birthday Singapore and Happy National Day to Alvin and the people of Singapore!
Monday, August 9 - Weekend in Hangzhou, Part 2!
When we woke up on Sunday morning, we went down to the complimentary breakfast. It was interesting to see the spread- they had eggs and french fries and donuts, and then they had green beans and cabbage and lomein as well as rice porridge and steamed dumplings and another dozen or so dishes, none of which looked particularly breakfast-like to me. The variety fascinated me, and I tried a little bit of almost everything.
After we checked out of the hotel, we took a taxi back to the restaurant where we ate the night before to meet up with Luna's dad again. An interesting note: When we flagged down a taxi, two of them stopped, and we got into the second one. When we stopped at a traffic light, the taxi we had not chosen pulled up next to us, rolled down his window, and yelled at us. Did I break some kind of code of taxi etiquette by picking the second taxi?
Either way, the taxi we did pick dropped us off and a few minutes later, Luna's dad arrived. He had his bike with him and we walked until we found a bike rack and Luna and I rented a couple of bikes again.
The plan was to ride the bikes out to the XiXi Wetlands and then bike through them. It was pretty far and it was very hot that day, and I am not used to riding a bike that far, but I was feeling pretty good and I was enjoying seeing the city and the breeze on my face.
The Wetlands are beautiful and peaceful. I've noticed an interesting trend in China, where there will be speakers playing traditional Chinese instrumental music in parks and things. The wetlands had this too. I also enjoyed riding through the wetlands because, periodically, there are signs posted with messages like: "Wetlands: Water, Life, Culture" and "Care for Environment, Benefit Humanity." There are a number of stopping points along the path, with helpful little signs that tell you it would be a good spot to stop for a photo and, of course, because we were with Luna's dad, we stopped at every single one of them so he could take a picture of the two of us. We also stopped at the little gift shop village to take a look at the dragon boats that are kept there. They were making another candy specialty of the area, so I bought it and got myself full of some kind of caramel thing because I didn't know how to eat it. I tried watching the five-year-old who got a candy before me for a clue, but he wasn't much help because he didn't mind getting himself all sticky. Luna's dad took a picture of me failing before he told me how to do it properly.
We biked to the end of the park and back again, then took the road back into the city. By this time it was around 1 o'clock and they asked if I was hungry. I was getting really tired, so I said I didn't know, but they tried to find a restaurant anyway. We wound up eating at a KFC, where I got french fries and an ice cream. The KFC was insanely crowded. KFC was the first foreign fast food chain in China and it is SUPER popular. I'm not sure why, but Chinese people, especially kids, love to eat KFC.
After lunch, to my dismay, we continued biking. Originally, the plan was to ride to the Botanical Gardens and see them before heading back to the train station. I had no idea how long we had been biking for, but at this point, I was so tired that I started muttering curses to myself- cursing the bike for only being one-speed, cursing the various hills for not all being down, cursing myself for being so out of shape- and I fell far behind Luna and her dad. They would periodically stop and wait to make sure I could catch up, but they would always pull ahead again. I didn't want to complain, so I just doggedly pushed on, hoping we would stop soon.
After what felt like forever, I realized that we had ridden far away from the lake itself and so at a red light, when I caught up to Luna, I asked her where we were going and she told me that it was almost time for the train, so we were riding to the train station.
Oh.
We were close, though, only a few more blocks and the station came into sight. We rode another block looking for a bike rack that had open spots to return Luna's and my bikes. At this point, I had a headache and I'm sure I was dehydrated. Luna's dad went into a nearby supermarket and bought us some water. I asked if we could sit for a few minutes and rest.
That's when Luna's dad noticed that I was hella sunburnt. The line where my shirtsleeves were during our ride that day was very distinct. He found this very funny, so we took a picture. I asked how long we had biked that day...
30 kilometers. That's 18 miles! No wonder I felt like I was going to die! I am so not in shape enough to bike 18 miles in a day! But hey, I did it. I'm not planning on doing it again anytime soon, but I did it!
After I was able to move again without collapsing, we walked into the train station and prowled around until someone else got up to leave, and we pounced on their seats. I fell asleep during the train ride home, and I can tell you, I have never been so glad to see my shower and my bed.
I loved my weekend in Hangzhou, and there is still so much I haven't seen. I never got a chance to go to the other famous temple, I didn't get to see the Botanical Gardens or the silk factory, I didn't get a chance to visit the tea village that is nearby, where they grow longjing cha (dragon well) tea, and there are dozens of hiking and biking trails up into the mountains around the lake. I could have easily and happily spent another few days in Hangzhou. I'd like to go back again and also take one of the boats for a ride on the lake, in addition to all the other things that I missed. As it comes time to leave, I realize all the things that I have not had a chance to do, and it makes me want to come back next year so that I can.
Also, as we were leaving, Luna and her father invited me to go to their town, Jiaxing. So that's another opportunity that I could take!
After we checked out of the hotel, we took a taxi back to the restaurant where we ate the night before to meet up with Luna's dad again. An interesting note: When we flagged down a taxi, two of them stopped, and we got into the second one. When we stopped at a traffic light, the taxi we had not chosen pulled up next to us, rolled down his window, and yelled at us. Did I break some kind of code of taxi etiquette by picking the second taxi?
Either way, the taxi we did pick dropped us off and a few minutes later, Luna's dad arrived. He had his bike with him and we walked until we found a bike rack and Luna and I rented a couple of bikes again.
The plan was to ride the bikes out to the XiXi Wetlands and then bike through them. It was pretty far and it was very hot that day, and I am not used to riding a bike that far, but I was feeling pretty good and I was enjoying seeing the city and the breeze on my face.
The Wetlands are beautiful and peaceful. I've noticed an interesting trend in China, where there will be speakers playing traditional Chinese instrumental music in parks and things. The wetlands had this too. I also enjoyed riding through the wetlands because, periodically, there are signs posted with messages like: "Wetlands: Water, Life, Culture" and "Care for Environment, Benefit Humanity." There are a number of stopping points along the path, with helpful little signs that tell you it would be a good spot to stop for a photo and, of course, because we were with Luna's dad, we stopped at every single one of them so he could take a picture of the two of us. We also stopped at the little gift shop village to take a look at the dragon boats that are kept there. They were making another candy specialty of the area, so I bought it and got myself full of some kind of caramel thing because I didn't know how to eat it. I tried watching the five-year-old who got a candy before me for a clue, but he wasn't much help because he didn't mind getting himself all sticky. Luna's dad took a picture of me failing before he told me how to do it properly.
We biked to the end of the park and back again, then took the road back into the city. By this time it was around 1 o'clock and they asked if I was hungry. I was getting really tired, so I said I didn't know, but they tried to find a restaurant anyway. We wound up eating at a KFC, where I got french fries and an ice cream. The KFC was insanely crowded. KFC was the first foreign fast food chain in China and it is SUPER popular. I'm not sure why, but Chinese people, especially kids, love to eat KFC.
After lunch, to my dismay, we continued biking. Originally, the plan was to ride to the Botanical Gardens and see them before heading back to the train station. I had no idea how long we had been biking for, but at this point, I was so tired that I started muttering curses to myself- cursing the bike for only being one-speed, cursing the various hills for not all being down, cursing myself for being so out of shape- and I fell far behind Luna and her dad. They would periodically stop and wait to make sure I could catch up, but they would always pull ahead again. I didn't want to complain, so I just doggedly pushed on, hoping we would stop soon.
After what felt like forever, I realized that we had ridden far away from the lake itself and so at a red light, when I caught up to Luna, I asked her where we were going and she told me that it was almost time for the train, so we were riding to the train station.
Oh.
We were close, though, only a few more blocks and the station came into sight. We rode another block looking for a bike rack that had open spots to return Luna's and my bikes. At this point, I had a headache and I'm sure I was dehydrated. Luna's dad went into a nearby supermarket and bought us some water. I asked if we could sit for a few minutes and rest.
That's when Luna's dad noticed that I was hella sunburnt. The line where my shirtsleeves were during our ride that day was very distinct. He found this very funny, so we took a picture. I asked how long we had biked that day...
30 kilometers. That's 18 miles! No wonder I felt like I was going to die! I am so not in shape enough to bike 18 miles in a day! But hey, I did it. I'm not planning on doing it again anytime soon, but I did it!
After I was able to move again without collapsing, we walked into the train station and prowled around until someone else got up to leave, and we pounced on their seats. I fell asleep during the train ride home, and I can tell you, I have never been so glad to see my shower and my bed.
I loved my weekend in Hangzhou, and there is still so much I haven't seen. I never got a chance to go to the other famous temple, I didn't get to see the Botanical Gardens or the silk factory, I didn't get a chance to visit the tea village that is nearby, where they grow longjing cha (dragon well) tea, and there are dozens of hiking and biking trails up into the mountains around the lake. I could have easily and happily spent another few days in Hangzhou. I'd like to go back again and also take one of the boats for a ride on the lake, in addition to all the other things that I missed. As it comes time to leave, I realize all the things that I have not had a chance to do, and it makes me want to come back next year so that I can.
Also, as we were leaving, Luna and her father invited me to go to their town, Jiaxing. So that's another opportunity that I could take!
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