days 39 - 46: beijing

It has been quite a while since my last entry. My last days in Ulm were wonderful. My blog is blocked here and I can't remember the last entry I wrote, but I think it was the pizza. The day before I left, Flo and I went to the park and played a giant game of chess and then went to read under a tree. It was perfect weather and a good way to end my time in Ulm. That night, Flo, Stefan, Jonas and I went out to eat at a German steakhouse and got ice cream after. That Monday was kind of sad and I packed and got the last of my things together before going to the Frankfurt Airport. I said bye to Stefan and Flo at the airport and made my way to Dubai.

The trip to Dubai was uneventful, which I like on trips on airplanes. I got the entire row for myself and was pleasantly surprised with Emirates Airlines. My favorite part was by far the little stickers that went on the top of your seat that read "Wake Me Up For Meals" and "Do Not Disturb." The Dubai airport was very crowded and chaotic. All the women wore those clothes that covered their heads and faces and there were souvenir camels all over the place. On the plane to Beijing, I flew over the Himalayas and crossed a huge desert in China. I arrived in China and found a guy with a sign that read "Tsinghua University" and met the other two teachers on my flight. We came back to the University and after a long process of checking in, I finally went to bed. The next few days were full of going to seminars about teaching English as a second language and meetings with my province, and meeting with the other teachers and volunteers.

I bought a bike and named it Steve Irwin. The name has nothing to do with Steve Irwin, but it was the cheapest one I could find and another girl has a bike named "The Stingray" and we race. Unfortunately, and like in real life, The Stingray won. There's not much to write about Tienanmen Square except right after I bought a kite from a vendor, he was chased by the police and he got away. Going out here is kind of a blur. There are lots of clubs that are more than happy to welcome foreign tourists and give them free entry and drinks. As a foreign tourist, I like that a lot. A few nights ago, I went out to karaoke (or KTV as they call it here). That was like a really nice club and you sing in a private room instead of in a bar where everyone can laugh at you. Yesterday, I went to the Forbidden city with three other people in my group. My favorite part was the most random situation so far. Some lady handed me her child and I thought I was about to be mugged when she pulled out her camera and started taking pictures. Then a crowd formed and other people got into the picture and the people I was with came over and the crowd got even bigger. I took a picture of people taking pictures of us. Very random but funny. I guess that's my 15 seconds of fame. My favorite part of this picture is the guy in orange that's smiling for my picture.

We walked along the hutongs (narrow alleyways), the homes of 1/4 of the city. They're the poorest and oldest houses in Beijing. Last night, I had some Peking Duck. I really liked it. The skin kind of melts in your mouth. Our duck, Frodrick, was the 30,000 something duck cooked in that restaurant. You can even go out back and see the duck pin and choose the duck you want for dinner. If this is how restaurants work in Beijing, I can't wait to try dog. Only kidding...kind of. It's getting late and I have my first day of classes tomorrow!

-As dictated to Flo 8/7/07