So I have officially made it to China! After our 13 1/2 hour flight, Julie, who works for KSU Study Abroad offices, and Dr. Holland picked us up
from the airport. My flight was long, a girl behind me puked 10 times, and we 
didn't have our own T.V.'s. So it wasn't the best flying experience that I have ever had. In fact, I fly quite often and have never had someone puke on a plane, let alone in the seat directly behind me! The most significant thing we all noticed when we landed was the pollution in the sky. No blue sky here. Just a foggy haze. I think I already miss the blue sky! We are staying at a University here in Beijing for really cheap! It is pretty nice too (all things considered). Not your 5 star hotel experience by any means, but it works good for us. The beds are a lot harder than I am used to. However, I still slept really well because I was pretty exhausted by the time we got to the university. In fact, we all slept straight through dinner hours and didn't wake up until around 5:30 in the morning. So I pretty much slept from 5 pm to 5 am. I think my internal clock has adjusted pretty good though. : )
So today we woke up super early and decided to take a walk before breakfast. Because that is definitely what I should be doing with my foot, right? Well, lucky me my foot held up as I got my first good look at what Beijing had to offer. We say street vendors with some tasty food. We were a little nervous to try it but I think we might tomorrow. I guess we wanted at least one day stomach problem free. haha. Really, I think my stomach could stomach it. Plus, my Mom hooked me up with some Pepto. : ) Another cool thing we saw was a lot of people out exercising. There was this group of older women playing hacky sack and people lifting weights outside, people waking up there body parts with few slaps on the butt, and even some b-ball.
After our walk we ate some breakfast. It was rice and a couple of unknowns. Good unknowns at least. I took a picture to show you all. So it was pretty good considering all that I really wanted was a banana. Got to expereince things like the people though. : )
After breakfast we ventured forth to Silk Road. We all got to put our bartering skills to test! i pretty much spent more than I should have but got a lot of cool stuff. Scarves, rings, stamp of my name, jade stuff, chopsticks, fan, calligraphy pens.... So sorry if you wanted your gift to be a complete surprise because I sort of ruined it. But at least I got that shopping out of the way. Everyone would always yoller at us, saying you are my friend so I will give you a "special" price. Yeah right. They would start us out at 600+ RMB and we could usually get them down to 35 RMB. I am definitely not the best bargainer because I am a touch to nice but I had a few pretty "ruthless" friends with me.: ) We actually got pretty good by the end.
Next we had some lunch as this place that was China's version of Burger King. It was a little hard and confusing to order and find seats but it cured our hunger. It actually wasn't too bad and it was fun trying each other's food. All I can say, is that we pointed at pictures and really didn't know what we were eating. So once again a few unknowns. : )
We braved the subway system next. One word: crowded. Denton, another KSU student on the trip, was saying that this wasn't even crowded. They definitely have a different sense of space than Westerners. So we made it through the subway travel unscathed and ventured forth to the Forbidden City. Or so we thought.
See nobody tells you that when you first walk in that it isn't the Forbidden City. So we walk around, spend 15 RMB for a ticket, another 4 RMB to check our bags that aren't allowed in. We go up a bunch of stairs, look around a bit in the "Forbidden City" and then come back down. After some more wandering in this huge place, we meet this lady who spoke English. Se invited us to look at some Chinese paintings. So sweaty and happy to find a person who speaks English we say sure. We go into this air conditioned room, look at some nice paintings and chat with her. She then ask us if we are going to go into the Forbidden City. We just kind of look at her like "you have got to be kidding?" So apparently all the walking and spending money was just to see the front gate. Nice huh? So we walk all the way back to get our bags we checked to get into the Forbidden City. We learn that you don't have to check your bags to get into the city, only the gate. So we felt a little scammed but you live and you learn. Plus, it is our own fault for not researching more!
So we spend 65 RMB to get a ticket to the big show (about 7 bucks) and head on in. We walked a lot. Not good for me and my bum foot. The pavement was ancient and broken in many areas. There were many steep ramps and steps. But I am a trooper and made it through. People really liked staring at my foot. : ) Also, I had people approach me several times and ask me if I wanted a wheel chair. One guy said I was crazy when I told him no. I am sounding like such a complainer here but I really did find it all worth the pain and sweat. We saw some interesting things. Next time I go back, I won't be on crutches and I will get some sort of tour guide or automatic tour guide. Just a side note, the forbidden city is HUGE and you will get a workout no matter what. The best part was the Imperial Garden at the end. The whole thing was pretty much void of all plant life until the end. Silly Chinese.
So upon exiting the Forbidden City, (which I was happy to do, so I took a pic of the exit sign) we were bombarded with people trying to get us to buy stuff. I was a little irritated by this at this point, so i ignored them all. We walked a little, then decided on a taxi. The taxi was my savior. It was cheap, a little cramped, and a heck of a lot better than trecking through Beijing.
We ate supper (about $1.25) and had short logistics meeting. Now I am sitting here typing you this lovely blog. it is about 8:30 pm here (7:34 am in US) and I am pretty much completely exhausted. A very eventful and fun day. My foot feels fine too; so Mom don't worry.
It feels odd to miss all the 4th's activities, I guess I haven't missed them yet though. It is just now the 4th for you. Have fun and enjoy one of my favorite holidays!
The Traveling Bogart,
Kasie
didn't have our own T.V.'s. So it wasn't the best flying experience that I have ever had. In fact, I fly quite often and have never had someone puke on a plane, let alone in the seat directly behind me! The most significant thing we all noticed when we landed was the pollution in the sky. No blue sky here. Just a foggy haze. I think I already miss the blue sky! We are staying at a University here in Beijing for really cheap! It is pretty nice too (all things considered). Not your 5 star hotel experience by any means, but it works good for us. The beds are a lot harder than I am used to. However, I still slept really well because I was pretty exhausted by the time we got to the university. In fact, we all slept straight through dinner hours and didn't wake up until around 5:30 in the morning. So I pretty much slept from 5 pm to 5 am. I think my internal clock has adjusted pretty good though. : )So today we woke up super early and decided to take a walk before breakfast. Because that is definitely what I should be doing with my foot, right? Well, lucky me my foot held up as I got my first good look at what Beijing had to offer. We say street vendors with some tasty food. We were a little nervous to try it but I think we might tomorrow. I guess we wanted at least one day stomach problem free. haha. Really, I think my stomach could stomach it. Plus, my Mom hooked me up with some Pepto. : ) Another cool thing we saw was a lot of people out exercising. There was this group of older women playing hacky sack and people lifting weights outside, people waking up there body parts with few slaps on the butt, and even some b-ball.
After our walk we ate some breakfast. It was rice and a couple of unknowns. Good unknowns at least. I took a picture to show you all. So it was pretty good considering all that I really wanted was a banana. Got to expereince things like the people though. : )
After breakfast we ventured forth to Silk Road. We all got to put our bartering skills to test! i pretty much spent more than I should have but got a lot of cool stuff. Scarves, rings, stamp of my name, jade stuff, chopsticks, fan, calligraphy pens.... So sorry if you wanted your gift to be a complete surprise because I sort of ruined it. But at least I got that shopping out of the way. Everyone would always yoller at us, saying you are my friend so I will give you a "special" price. Yeah right. They would start us out at 600+ RMB and we could usually get them down to 35 RMB. I am definitely not the best bargainer because I am a touch to nice but I had a few pretty "ruthless" friends with me.: ) We actually got pretty good by the end.
Next we had some lunch as this place that was China's version of Burger King. It was a little hard and confusing to order and find seats but it cured our hunger. It actually wasn't too bad and it was fun trying each other's food. All I can say, is that we pointed at pictures and really didn't know what we were eating. So once again a few unknowns. : )
We braved the subway system next. One word: crowded. Denton, another KSU student on the trip, was saying that this wasn't even crowded. They definitely have a different sense of space than Westerners. So we made it through the subway travel unscathed and ventured forth to the Forbidden City. Or so we thought.
See nobody tells you that when you first walk in that it isn't the Forbidden City. So we walk around, spend 15 RMB for a ticket, another 4 RMB to check our bags that aren't allowed in. We go up a bunch of stairs, look around a bit in the "Forbidden City" and then come back down. After some more wandering in this huge place, we meet this lady who spoke English. Se invited us to look at some Chinese paintings. So sweaty and happy to find a person who speaks English we say sure. We go into this air conditioned room, look at some nice paintings and chat with her. She then ask us if we are going to go into the Forbidden City. We just kind of look at her like "you have got to be kidding?" So apparently all the walking and spending money was just to see the front gate. Nice huh? So we walk all the way back to get our bags we checked to get into the Forbidden City. We learn that you don't have to check your bags to get into the city, only the gate. So we felt a little scammed but you live and you learn. Plus, it is our own fault for not researching more!
So we spend 65 RMB to get a ticket to the big show (about 7 bucks) and head on in. We walked a lot. Not good for me and my bum foot. The pavement was ancient and broken in many areas. There were many steep ramps and steps. But I am a trooper and made it through. People really liked staring at my foot. : ) Also, I had people approach me several times and ask me if I wanted a wheel chair. One guy said I was crazy when I told him no. I am sounding like such a complainer here but I really did find it all worth the pain and sweat. We saw some interesting things. Next time I go back, I won't be on crutches and I will get some sort of tour guide or automatic tour guide. Just a side note, the forbidden city is HUGE and you will get a workout no matter what. The best part was the Imperial Garden at the end. The whole thing was pretty much void of all plant life until the end. Silly Chinese.
So upon exiting the Forbidden City, (which I was happy to do, so I took a pic of the exit sign) we were bombarded with people trying to get us to buy stuff. I was a little irritated by this at this point, so i ignored them all. We walked a little, then decided on a taxi. The taxi was my savior. It was cheap, a little cramped, and a heck of a lot better than trecking through Beijing.
We ate supper (about $1.25) and had short logistics meeting. Now I am sitting here typing you this lovely blog. it is about 8:30 pm here (7:34 am in US) and I am pretty much completely exhausted. A very eventful and fun day. My foot feels fine too; so Mom don't worry.
It feels odd to miss all the 4th's activities, I guess I haven't missed them yet though. It is just now the 4th for you. Have fun and enjoy one of my favorite holidays!
The Traveling Bogart,
Kasie
