So no one told you life was going to be this way.

Dan and I revisited the Friends cafe’ to get some much needed photo memories and to relax for a little with some American television.  On the way there I said, “Dan, wouldn’t it suck if they were playing the same episodes as last time” and we agreed that with ten seasons of Friends it was highly unlikely.

Guess what?! We were wrong and we watched the same exact episodes as last time.  I didn’t mind too much because now I will really remember Beijing every time I watch those particular re runs.

Also, Dan and I decided to play along this time when Ross tried to name the 50 states.  I started out confident but came up 5 short (Sorry Wyoming, Connecticut, Utah, etc. ) then we tried for capitals and I came up 10 short.  Looks like I have been in China for too long!  Here are our lists, congratulations on your victory Dan!

Our waitress wore a name tag that said, “Rachel”, she was so sweet, she translated the menu for us and delivered me the most delicious iced macchiato.

Enjoy the pictures! I will miss the Friends Cafe’ … Gunther especially.

Au revoir (goodbye in French) China.org.cn

Today I am celebrating my last day as a China.org Intern.  I had a great experience here and definitely learned a lot.  I learned about Chinese business practices and how companies function.  I also realized that maybe a 9am – 5pm desk job can wait a couple of years while I explore the world (sorry dad).  Most importantly I met wonderful people who welcomed me to their company and were enthusiastic about my time here.

This morning we gave our final presentation highlighting our accomplishments this summer, including:

• Anaylsis of the website
• Research on American Internet Usage
• Suggestions for Layout Revisions
• Copy Editing
• Survey Development to gain demographic information
• Business and Marketing Plan

Here are some pictures of the presentation:

Back to Qingdao

The last day of my internship is tomorrow, after that I won’t have guaranteed access to the internet but I’ll try to post as often as I can about my last days in China.  My initial plan for after the internship was to head to Shanghai to spend some time with the Fudan Holland Fellows before leaving.  Now I have added a side trip to Qingdao before arriving in Shanghai.  Our original plan was to go Dalian to enjoy the beach and a beer festival but because of the oil spill the  beaches are closed so we have decided to go to Qingdao instead.

I went to Qingdao with the Holland Fellows but when we were there thunderstorms ruined the chance to go to the beach.  This time I hope to have sunny skies for our beach vacation.  My Chinese friend told me that Chinese beaches are like “dumplings in a pot” aka crowded.  I Google image searched some Chinese beaches and found this picture:

Jesse, PA, Dan, Pang Li and I will set out for Qingdao on Tuesday by train.  It will take about 6 hours to get there and we will stay in a cheap but nice hostel I found online for only about $7 per night.  I am excited that Pang Li will be joining us because China can be very confusing at times especially train stations.

The transportation system here is really unorganized.  To get the tickets to Qingdao, Pang Li and I waited in line for about thirty minutes because people kept cutting us.  We had originally wanted to leave Beijing on the 3^rd but the tickets were sold out so we were forced to get tickets for the 4^th.  At the train station, I had hoped to buy tickets from Qingdao to Shanghai but it is only possible to buy those in Qingdao.  It is a little risky but we will cross our fingers and hope that the tickets are not sold out.  If we can’t get a train, plan B is a flight but it will cost more money.

Wish us luck!

Facebookin’

Last summer, more than 140 people were killed while another 828 were injured during riots in the western region of the Xinjiang province in China. The riots started as a peaceful protest performed by 1,000 Uighurs, a Muslim ethnic minority.  When authorities tried to break up the protest, the people refused and threw vegetables and rocks at the officers. Consequently, the police retaliated using hoses, tear gas and batons.

The Chinese government decided that the riots were instigated by outside agitators and blocked access to YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. Authorities also eliminated the ability for people in this region to send or receive text messages for almost ten months following the event.

In order to use the sites above I have been using a proxy all summer that my friends at Fudan sent to me.  I was apprehensive about downloading it on my work computer but decided that I couldn’t last all summer without it so it was a necessary step.

The other day at work my boss was telling me how much she missed Facebook so I sent her the proxy.  I was shocked to see the next day that she had sent the proxy to her other work friends and posted “Yay, I have Facebook again” on her MSN profile page that the whole company can see.  It is pretty ironic because our company is owned by the government so you would think that defying the government would have to be hush-hush.  Instead people all over the company are sharing the proxy and talking about how happy they are to have Facebook back.

Jesse comes to Beijing!

Jesse had limited time in Beijing so I had to come up with my three favorite things to do so that he could experience the best of Beijing.  Of course I chose Nan Lu Gu Xiang, Ho Hai Lake, and the Beer Garden.

The Beer Garden was by far our funnest night because we got to hang out and catch up on our experiences this summer.  Jesse has been interning in Shenyang (northern China) and has had a very different experience from me.  His boss has kept him busy pretty much every day with dinner parties, nights of drinking, and other special events.

We spent the night drinking and swapping stories of different Chinese challenges.  The table next to ours was occupied by a group of high schoolers who were getting a bit rowdy.

They came over to our table and gave us a whole watermelon which we thoroughly appreciated.
About twenty minutes later, they brought us a round of draft beers and after that a bag of fruit.

We wound up combining our tables and drinking with them for the rest of the night.  Their English wasn’t too good so Pang Li acted as a translator.  I met one girl named “Strawberry” and convinced her to change her name.  She told me that she loved the “s” sound, and that was her reason for picking strawberry so I renamed her “Stella” and she was satisfied.

Here is a picture of us and our new friends.  Of course, the victory sign is key in pictures with Chinese people.

The Best Weekend: Great Wall Fresh

My roommate discovered “Great Wall Fresh” the other week and highly recommended it so I decided that I had to fit it in to my stay here in Beijing. Here is a picture of the Chen family with their two sons. The Chen Family has a family farm right near the Great Wall and they opened “Great Wall Fresh”, a small business, that allows people to stay at their home and do a guided hike of the great wall.

I had previously gone to the Great Wall with the Holland Fellows group but it was such a touristy experience that I felt unsatisfied.  So, I invited my friend Jesse (a Holland Fellow who is interning in Shenyang) to come down to Beijing for the weekend and experience “Great Wall Fresh” with me.

I felt like I was really prepared for the “getting there” part but it turned out to be more challenging than I thought.  Turns out we took the wrong 919 bus and instead of getting dropped off near the Chen’s we wound up at Badaling (about 30 minutes away).  The 919 bus experience was miserable, Jesse and I had standing tickets and the road was bumpy and curved.  I have never gotten car sick before but I was definitely feeling nauseous.

So we arrived 30 minutes away from our destination and although a really nice Chinese man with minimal English tried to help us, there was no bus to where we wanted to go.  At this point I called my Chinese friend and he arranged for Mr. Chen to pick us up. (The Chens don’t speak any English so that is why I had to call my friend to communicate with them)

After we arrived at the Chen’s it was smooth sailing.  We were greeted by Mr. Chen and his wife, who always had the biggest smile on her face.  Immediately we were served a delicious lunch that was way too much for two people.  The meal included quail eggs, a green onion omelet, almonds, potato and green bean dish, cucumbers, and lettuce.  All the veggies were from the Chen’s garden and they were delicious.  I especially loved the lettuce, it didn’t need any sauce it was just perfect.

After lunch we took a little rest and then got ready to hike the great wall.  Mr. Chen gave Jesse and I two bottles of water each and tried to get us to wear hats but we just didn’t want to (I hope we didn’t offend him).

We could decide between the easy or hard hike and we opted for “easy” because our morning had been so strenuous and I was still feeling a bit queasy from the bus ride.  I am so glad we chose “easy” because I thought it was pretty hard.

The hike up to the Great Wall took about 45 minutes and some parts were straight uphill climbs.  I was pouring with sweat by the time we actually got to the wall. We hiked for another 3 hours on the actual wall and the views were extraordinary and I was amazed by how quiet it was.  Living in Beijing where it is always noisy, I had forgotten how nice silence was.  Here are some of my pictures of the wall:

After an amazing hike we enjoyed a meal and fell asleep after such a long but great day.  We got to sleep in a kang style bed which you can see below, kang beds have a space below them where you can light a fire in the winter to keep warm.  The bed was so comfortable and both Jesse and I fell asleep almost instantaneously.  Here are some pictures or our living quarters:

Finally, here is the Chen’s dog.  His name in Chinese can be translated as “Iron Egg”.  He was so spoiled because all the guest’s leftovers were his to eat.

The experience at Great Wall Fresh was amazing and I would recommend it to anyone traveling to Beijing, you can read more about it here: http://greatwallfresh.com/

The Chen’s are the nicest people in the world and even though you won’t be able to communicate with them you can still pick up on how much they value their business and making sure their guests are happy with every aspect of their stay!

Ho Hai Lake

One of my favorite areas in Beijing is Ho Hai Lake.  During the day it is a place for shopping, biking, playing games, and swimming.  Although swimming is prohibited there are always about 30 middle aged men in their underwear enjoying the water.

I used to have the goal of jumping in the lake and shocking all the men but then I realized how dirty the water was and quickly changed my mind.

The lake is surrounded by hutongs, which are narrow streets or alleys containing homes.  Near the lake, you can take a rickshaw tour of the homes but since the rickshaw drivers don’t speak English it is pretty much pointless for non-Chinese speakers.

At night, Ho Hai Lake transforms into the place to be for nightlife.  Bars and Clubs line the street and almost every single spot is offering a Tsingtao 20 RMB special.  Street Vendors attempt to sell laser pointers and roses.

(This pictures were not taken by me, they are from Google images)

Language Barrier

Today, I took off from work and went on a tour of Peking University with Neo and Sherry.  Peking University is the top university in China and it had been Sherry’s dream school.  (Fudan is ranked #3)

We went on a long stroll throughout the campus and what stood out to me was that it seemed like more of a park than a campus.  I don’t know how much relaxing the students there are able to do but it really was a wonderful place to sit outside and unwind.

After the tour we were in desperate need of some air conditioning so we found a small little restaurant and enjoyed some typical Beijing noodles.  Then we walked over to the Ho Hai Lake area and met up with some of Neo’s classmates from high school.

I really enjoyed Neo and Sherrry’s visit because it gave me the chance to interact with Chinese people outside of my office.  Once on the bus a man was trying to talk to Dan but only knew about three words in English.  Afterwards Sherry told us that he was on the phone telling his wife how he was sitting next to a foreigner on the bus.  It pretty much made his day.

Also on the subway one day, a woman approached us and asked if I would talk to her little brother in English because he was learning but was too shy to approach me.  I told him a couple of sentences about myself and only got a small reply of “nice to meet you” but it  felt good to interact with the people I have been living beside all summer.

My Interpreter

Neo promised me in Shanghai that he would visit me in Beijing but I never actually thought this was going to happen.  Lucky for me Neo kept to his word and came to Beijing on Sunday, and brought along Sherry Wang, my Fudan partner!!!

Although Neo has been to Beijing many times, this was Sherry’s first time in the city.  They traveled to Qingdao before they came here and unfortunately they had standing only tickets for their 8 hour train from Qingdao to Beijing.  The consequence of this was that Sherry became very ill on the train and started vomiting.  She was basically immobile so I had to meet Neo at the metro stop in order to practically carry Sherry into a taxi and then to my apartment.  We nursed her back to health with some porridge and hot water.  (Porridge is the Chinese equivalent to Chicken soup, apparently).  The next day she was feeling fine and ready to explore.

My roommate, Courtney, was kind enough to move to the couch for the duration of Sherry’s stay which worked out really well.  It allowed for Sherry and me to have many late night talks (catching up).  It was just like in DC when we stayed up talking even though we were exhausted from the day’s activities.  Also since we shared a room, I got to hear all of Sherry’s sleep talking in Chinese, Shanghainese, and English.  It is quite amazing that she is trilingual even in her sleep.

Having Sherry in Beijing was awesome because it made my life so much easier.  No matter how well I am adjusting to life here, things are still really hard for me because of the language barrier.  With Sherry, simple tasks were actually simple again: ordering food, riding in a taxi, etc.  I tried to get Sherry to teach me some key words for ordering breakfast.  She repeated the word “egg” about ten times but every time I tried to mimic her, she told me I was saying “bomb”.  So, it looks like I might be eating bombs for breakfast.

Our first day together Neo suggested that we go to the military museum because when he went there last time, he took 400 pictures.  Sherry and I were a little less interested than Neo but we still enjoyed our day viewing the tanks, planes, and weapons.  I got an English headset because all the descriptions were in Chinese however only about 20% of the exhibits were programmed into the headset so it wasn’t that helpful. Still, I had a nice day learning about the Chinese military.

That night we went to Nanluogu Xiang for Keith’s 24^th surprise birthday party.  Ithzel planned the whole thing and all of Keith’s friends were there.  I met a lot of cool people; my favorite was a Chinese guy, Jeremy.  Jeremy had a strong English accent because all of his teachers had been from the UK; he also spent two years studying in France and is eager to go abroad again.  He invited me for a foot massage sometime but I have to say that people touching my feet freaks me out so I won’t ever get one of these massages.

Keith’s birthday party marked Sherry’s first time at a bar.  I convinced her to get a mojito and she loved it.  Since she will be a student next year at SUNY Buffalo I think it was a good first bar experience to ease her into the American college student culture.

The Canteen

My internship provides me a lunch pass for the cafeteria every day.  (Chinese people who know English refer to “cafeteria” as “canteen” because they learn British English in school.)

One of the other interns compared this cafeteria to something that you would find at jail.  I have never been to jail and I don’t really know what jail cafeterias look like but I agree that it would be similar.

The “cafeteria ladies” wear all white outfits with white surgical masks and galoshes.  The food is all quite mushy and although there are Chinese labels above every dish, everything is a mystery to me.   The menu for the day is posted online in Chinese every morning so whenever I enter the cafeteria and see a lot of people I know it will be good, and vice versa.

Today was a good day:

Here is my tray (before):

Here is my tray (after):

As you can see the dishes look like mush, generally they are just a vegetable and meat medley with some kind of sauce.  Along with white rice it makes for a pretty good lunch.  There is watermelon almost everyday which is a good dessert and sometimes they have a little extra dessert.  Today you can see to the left of my plate, I ate three mini egg tarts, so delicious!