A new day, a new city.

Here I am blogging to all you lovely people from Lanzhou, China, the most polluted city in the world. Great huh?

I've been reading my China guidebook for stuff to do in Shanghai, and oh man I'm so excited =]. I was worried that I wouldn't know what to do for ten days, but now I'm worried I don't have enough time to do everything. My friends and I have already decided that we're going to have one dinner at an upscale French restaurant in the French district because Lord knows we can't afford a dinner like that in the U.S. I've been missing home for a bit, but now that I'm planning out my stay in Shanghai, my enthusiasm and energy is getting refreshed.

I miss cereal. A lot.

Oh and Michelle, I'll be skipping out on this theater adventure. I already saw Rent on Broadway in NY with Laura and Brian, so I'm good =]. Have fun though...you'll really enjoy it.

There's not much else for me to say except that my diarrhea's gone. That's pretty cool.

My hotel room reeks of cigarette smoke. Effing Chinese people and their bad smoking habits.

Well, I've got a full day ahead of me tomorrow. Next time I update will probably be from Shanghai. Bye all!

Are you getting tickets for Rent, Michelle? Well, I've never been to the Golden Gate Theater in SF but my sister might have. So Serena, are balcony seats or orchestra seats better, when the orchestra seats cost $25 more?

Thanks for everyone's concern for my health. The flu-like symptoms have stopped, but (sorry if this is crude) I haven't had a solid shit in days. But not to worry, it seems like everyone else I'm traveling with currently has diarrhea or had it a couple days ago. But my appetite for food really has waned.

And YAY, I have Alias episodes waiting for me when I get back =]

I still have two nights left in Xining. We just got back from an overnight trip to Qinghai Hu, a lake about 6 hours from here. It was really gorgeous. And even though we were still in China, politically speaking with the boundaries and all, we were culturally in Tibet. I really don't think I've ever been that isolated before. Tons of yaks, sheep, and goats everywhere. We ate yak meat in a tent for dinner. Quite delicious. While we were taking pictures by the lake, there was a huge group of young Chinese men that were swarming us and taking pictures with us because we were Americans. It was hilarious. They were such cute men though...each of them rushing towards me and my friends to take individual pictures. And before anyone gets gross thoughts, it wasn't in some kind of creepy, perverted way. They just had never met Americans before, and I don't know if they had ever seen a white person before this, so they were really excited.

Anyways, I have a summer job as a Playgrounds leader =]. Much much much much thanks is owed to Daveed who recommended me for this job. I wouldn't have been given such a last-minute interview or so much consideration had it not been for Daveed. So now his butt is on the line and I can't mess up. Oh dear. I'm having a lot of doubt about whether or not I'll be good at this because I really haven't worked with kids before, and I don't think I'm very good at it. But this leads me to another point. I had been praying for a long time for a job this summer because as school was winding down and China was getting closer it was looking like I wouldn't have a job. And no job means no income, and I was wondering how I'd be able to fulfill my financial aid package. But prayer does work, and God provided, so I'm thankful =]

There's tons of good stuff to buy here in Xining. Lots of cool Tibetan things. And my time is going to run out soon. Until next time....

I've been missing Alias!!! Sarmad, do you have the episodes on your computer? Is there a way you can download them so I can watch the last 3 (or 4?) when I get back? Who died? Vaughn? Again? Wait, no, Sydney? How can I guess? I didn't expect anyone to die. Sloane? I dunno. I'm just gonna go through the main characters. WHO DIED!? Wait don't tell me I don't want to know.

Anyways, the rest of this entry is not for the weak of heart or weak of stomach. You've been warned so proceed with caution...

Ok, so I think the last time I updated was in Yulin. I didn't update in Yinchuan because I got dog sick. It was pretty gross. I had diarrhea (sp?), and I was throwing up all over the place. It was pretty gross when I threw up too because I could see the food I had eaten that my stomach hadn't digested. Chunks of meat and spinach. Yeah, nasty. And it smelled gross...like rotting Chinese food. And it's always disgusting when you throw up and tiny pieces of food are still in your mouth. I'm past the throwing up now. Consequently I didn't get to see Yinchuan since I stayed in the hotel and rested. I don't know if I still have diarrhea or not though. You know, diarrhea would be a good word to spell for cranium. I have no idea if I'm spelling it right or not. Anyways, I don't know if I still have diarrhea or not. I'm taking medicine for it so I should be fine. But food certainly is a lot less appealing now. I think I've reached my food saturation point. I can't consume much more. Which is probably a good thing.

Well I'm in Xining now...heavy Muslim population. And we're also pretty close to Tibet, so today we went to see a bunch of temples and monks and what not. I'm liking Xining a lot. It's very different from all the other places we've visited. Traveling is very draining. I'm getting quite tired from it, so it's a good thing we're staying five nights here in Xining.

I think my time is almost up and I don' t want this entry to get deleted so I'll update more later. []Deace out.

Today at lunch the Yulin history scholars that we were eating with tried to get us drunk. And they succeeded with Dylan. So in China there's basically no drinking age and at every meal we order Chinese beer, which is much better than crappy American keg beer at parties. Today we were lunching with our Yulin hosts, and one of them kept on doing cheers with us. And in accordance with Yulin custom, once you clink cups you can't set it down until you've drained your cup. I kind of skirted that custom since I didn't particularly feel like chugging beer, but Dylan did it every time. And every time he said, "This is my last one," but it never was. Our host also explained to us that a cup can never be empty, so the waitresses were constantly bringing in more bottles of beer and refilling his cup. And each time his cup was refilled he'd have to chug it. When Paul (our professor) was out of the room, the Yulin guy told us that if Paul hadn't told him not to get us drunk then he would've given us Chinese hard liquor. haha. Well, even without it he did fine.

Dylan told me a few hours later, after a three hour nap, that he had never been hung over at 5 in the afternoon before. We found out later from our professor that the guy who kept on chugging beer with Dylan was very well-known for being able to hold his alcohol. Apparently he can drink three bottles of Chinese white wine, which is really intense alcohol, not to mention pretty disgusting.

Whenever we dine with people, they offer us cigarettes each time. And after we refuse, they always tell us that we should smoke. Not that it's good for us, but that we should do it. Wtf.

So anyways, that was just a taste of the cultural differences we've been experiencing. I have to pee really badly now and don't feel like doing it in this sketchy place, so I'm going to hightail it back to the hotel. Tomorrow we're headed to Yinchuan. I'm sure I butchered that spelling.

Oh and bumper cars in China are 100x more fun than bumper cars in the U.S. It's good that people here have no safety precautions or legal bindings that make rides no fun =]

Ok so to clear things up about the staring thing...I'm not getting stared at because I sort of look Chinese and sort of not. Only people in Beijing can probably tell that I'm Chinese-American, and they don't stare at me because they're used to seeing foreigners. There's always a good number of foreigners walking the streets, and especially at historical monuments and touristy sites there are tons of foreigners. It's the people in more rustic areas who stare because they don't get as many foreigners as the coastal cities of Beijing and Shanghai. And they don't stare at me because they think I'm Chinese-American. Those people can tell I'm not from their city but they just assume I'm from a more modern, urban city like Beijing. They stare because I'm with white people. They usually stare at my traveling companions first, all of who are white. Then when they see me talk to them in English, they start staring at me. Then after they stare, they approach me and ask me questions about the people I'm traveling with assuming that they don't speak or understand Chinese. But in reality although my Chinese pronunciation may be better than my teachers, they know far more Chinese vocabulary than I do and can usually understand the people better.

So today I'm in a new city: Yulin. I believe this is the most rustic we're going to get. People here stare WAY more than in the last city. Like walking the streets everyone stops what they're doing and just stares. And it's always funny when they call out the one English word they know: Hello. So everyone's always saying hello to us. I have a feeling that by the time I get to Shanghai, I'm going to be so thankful that I'm not being stared at. One of the people on the trip, Dylan, brought his skateboard, and in every city he spends a couple hours skating around the streets. And naturally heads turn as he skates by. And everywhere he goes everyone from little kids to old men ask if they can play with it.

I have so many pictures of little kids on my camera. And a lot of self-taken pictures. If someone randomly came across my camera they'd think I was a narcisstic pedafile. But I'm not.

I'm trying to get onto aim express now, but it's not working. dangit.

Oh and since I've been in China I've had two dinners with two Party leaders. In fact yesterday, we spent the afternoon with a Party leader. He taught modern history (more like modern ideology) at a Party leaders academy where they basically train professionals to be good leaders. They go through 3-4 weeks of intensive training and usually afterwards they all become Party leaders. Well anyways, yesterday I really got to experience special treatment. The car we were in was specially marked as a Party leader's car, and consequently it could go anywhere it wanted and police were especially helpful to us. In addition we didn't have to pay admission to go to this one historical site, and we got a private tour also. Yeah, I'm in cohoots with the Party now. Cool huh?

Well tomorrow the guy in charge of the Yulin Historical Museum, who happens to be a friend of yesterday's Party leader, is taking us around for the day. Should be fun.

I'm dying of second-hand smoke. It's ridiculous.

Well I must be off now. Laaaaaater =]

Yes, Sarmad, THE terracotta soldiers. Cool huh?

And cheap food is love. I'm getting nice and rotund from it.

I'm in Yannan right now. It's a bustling, urban city literally in the middle of nowhere. We drove for 8 hours, and as we drove we were going deeper and higher into the mountains. And all of a sudden we're in the middle of this modern metropolis.

I don't think I've ever been stared at more in my life. Since we're a lot more inland the people here don't get very many foreigners, so when we're all talking in a group on the street, a small crowd will literally gather around us and they'll just stare. It's quite funny really. They stare at my traveling companions because they're white, and they stare at me because I know them. And when we're walking down the street and talking in English, the people in front of us will turn around and stare. It's funny how they have no shame in staring. I suppose they don't think it's rude. And since we find it amusing and not rude I don't suppose it's a problem then. haha

Anyways, this internet cafe I'm in is a lot less sketchy. It's still on the third floor of an unmarked building, and it's still full of boys and men playing counterstrike...but at least it's nicely lit, is a lot cleaner, and has music playing in the background.

People in China smoke too much. I'm going to die from secondhand smoke.

I'm currently sitting in a hella sketchy internet cafe in Xian, China right now. I'm surrounded by teenage boys and grown men playing computer games and watching chinese dramas. The building I'm in is unmarked and there's a billiards on the second floor. Shady.

I don't want to bore you all with details as to what I've been doing, so I'll try to keep it short. We spent two nights in Beijing and I got to see my grandma, family friend, and my uncle so that was nice. Then we flew over to Xian, which is where I am right now. We've been eating tons of good, cheap food. Today we saw the tomb of the Terracotta soldiers, which definitely tops my list as one of the coolest things I've ever seen. Since the people I'm traveling with are all white, wherever we go everyone automatically looks to me to speak Chinese and translate for them when in reality the two professors have better Chinese vocabulary than I do. It's hella hot over here but that's expected. I think after I finish uploading pictures me and the guys (all two of them...haha) are going to check out a club called 1+1. Then tomorrow at 7am we board a bus at for a 6 hour ride to Yenan. I'm sure I spelled that wrong.

Anywho, stuff here is so freaking cheap and I'm tempted to buy things wherever I go but I have to keep in mind that I have to lug it around with me for another 4 weeks if I do, so I'm going to hold back until Shanghai where I plan on buying a whole other suitcase and filling it with stuff to bring back home. yay! If you want souvenirs speak now or forever hold your peace. And if you make requests, make it specific...none of that "oh whatever it doesn't matter" crap because chances are I won't know what to get, and I'll end up not getting anything then. And don't ask for electronics like Carlo unless you're willing to pay me back or are willing to risk getting something kinda crappy because I don't know how to shop for electronics.

Ok I'm getting bored with this post now. Zai jian!

Congratulations Haverford College Class of 2006. You guys rock my world.


The graduating class and Haverford professors



Bibhav



Ed



Randy



And extra special love to the following four seniors for being such good friends and wonderful people. Love you guys forever =]


JoeChai



Timmy



Josh



Min


And even more love to Joe, Josh, and Min for letting me make your apartment my second home. Thanks for all the food, laughs, movies, food, small groups, talks, food, and love. Last night Joe's cousin, Steve, made a comment in reference to me and the senior guys. I don't remember what he said exactly, but Josh's response was, "What're you talking about? We did a good job taking care of her [meaning me] this year." And as offhand as that comment may have been, it touched me because (at the risk of sounding cliche) they really took me under their wing this year. And I must admit they did a damn good job of being older seniors who were like my brothers but at the same time were my peers, my friends. I didn't think that I would become such close friends with them, but life is always full of pleasant surprises. And when second semester started I was feeling uneasy about hanging out with the seniors because I was sacrificing time with the friends my year, and these seniors would be leaving in a few months. But I'm glad I did hang out with them as much as I did because it was well worth it. I really can't imagine what my year would have been like without them.

Next year will be sad. One, I'll need to make new friends. Two, I need to find another second home to feed me. And three, I'll miss them to pieces. Graduation really is bittersweet. Because as sad as I am to see them go, I'm so happy for them. They deserve it and I know their futures only have good things for them.

Congratulations!

I've been packing for six hours.

Oh goodness, I didn't think it would take this long.

And I'm nowhere near done. Fricking. Dang.

School's really almost done. I've been having a blast this past week and a half. Been hanging out with the seniors a lot since they're all done with their work, and it's great to be able to spend time with them before they all graduate. Speaking of graduation, I'm quite sad about that. It's the same 'ol story you hear when graduation rolls around: I'm happy for them because they're graduating college and they're going to do such great things afterwards, but at the same time I'm sad because well obviously they won't be around next year and I'll miss them. Like I'm thinking about next year, and I seriously can't think of what it'll be like without them. I practically live at Joe, Josh, and Min's apt, so when they leave I won't have a second home anymore. Who's going to feed me? haha, j/k they do more than just that. But they do feed me an awful lot. Aw, they've been so good to me. Who would've thunk that I would become such good friends with them after the sugar stunt Joe pulled when he first met me? ANYWAYS, they haven't graduated just yet so I can be corny and reminisce in a few days time...but not now.

Packing is such a pain. I have to pack three separate things: stuff to put into storage, stuff to ship home, and stuff to bring to China. Yeah, I can definitely see things ending up in the wrong place.

I was balancing my checkbook today and uh it wasn't balancing. I got frustrated so I put it away unbalanced.

Well I have much preparation still to do before China. Back to packing. []Deace out.

My eyes are beady. I look like I have rabies...minus the salivating mouth and attacking people thing. But my eyes are red and evil.

OMG WTF I THINK I HAVE PINK-EYE

...I'm not sure though since I've never had it before....

I'm visiting the health center tomorrow.

At the risk of sounding like an overdramatic 5 yr. old: EW GROSS, PINK EYE IS DISGUSTING. I DON'T WANT TO HAVE IT!!!!

How upsetting.

//edit//
I DO HAVE PINK EYE. AND I THINK IT'S SPREADING FROM MY LEFT EYE TO MY RIGHT EYE.

CURSES