Nashay in China

We had a 1 week break for the national holiday so I went traveling to HeNan Provence. I went to KaiFeng and LuoYang which are two cities which were each once the "capital" of China several thousand years ago.

Well, I would guess that several hundred people now have their picture with me. Every five minutes someone else wanted to take my photo, and half the time it was when I wasn't looking. Wow, it really does get old There were a few times that probably more than 12 people were standing in line to take their picture with me. And once time their camera stopped working, so they paid 10 yuan (about $1.50) per photo to have someone else take photos for them. I really had no idea I would be so famous! But anyway, this is not new news! I'm used to it by now

First I went to KaiFeng which is one of the seven ancient capitals of China (960AD-1126AD), so there is a lot of history in the city although it was distoyed and abandoned. There is a large wall surrounding the city that is still standing.

One of the best things about KaiFeng is the lakes, but when I was there it was raining about 80% of the time, and there wasn't a drainage system on the streets so it ended up being pretty dirty and not much fun to go out. I would like to return sometime when the weather is nice though! But surrounding the lakes are many temples and parks, although each one costs around $5 to enter, and some are pretty small but from the outside it looks big because it is nearly attached to the one beside it. I wanted to go to most of them, but then I realized that I was just wasting my money

The pictures below were an advertisement for the 2nd anniversary for a store, but they wrote 2th, I thought it was pretty funny. And they lit off like a thousand firecrackers on the street, it was kind of crazy-- but that's how it is here around the Chinese New year, except much worse!

The pictures below are of TongTing temples which, like many things in china, was probably decorated for the Olympics. But it was pretty cool because they had flags from every country hanging up with a short description of the country.

The photos below from a park that had different buildings with replications of what it was like when KaiFeng was the capital of China. It was really interesting to see, and really tells a lot of history.

The Tsinghua University campus is really beautiful. This university and Peking University are the two most famous Universities in China and are right beside each other here in Beijing. When people come to China (such as the president), they will likely be taken to one of these two Universities. Tsinghua also has the largest Campus of all of the universities. I would say that it's about the size of ISU's campus. There are still several places on campus that I have not yet visited!

Well, I guess I didn't explain much about the bicycle traffic jam which was the title of my last post. I think pictures are probably the best way to express this, though. I couldn't believe how close people ride, and really how many bikes there are on this campus right before classes. I am pretty scared sometimes when I'm riding my bike-- but I think it's because I'm really not used to riding my bike everywhere everyday yet. One day, there was a taxi in front of me, and he did not use his blinker and turned out in front of me. I was sooo mad because I was trying to figure out what he was doing, but he didn't use his blinker so I assumed he wasn't turning. I stopped in time, but there was an older man riding behind me and he ran right into the back of my bike. He was so mad, and started yelling at the taxi driver. But you really have to watch where you're going because people will come out of no where!


These pictures don't even describe what it's like to ride between two people on each side, and several people behind and in front of you. You don't want to make a wrong move-- and you better try to move over before you have to turn off, because if you're on the opposite side of the street- there's no getting over there! The last picture is my bike! Thanks to money from the grandparents for my birthday, I was able to buy this nice bike. I originally thought that I may have spent a little too much money, but I was told that it's the best brand- "Forever", and a Chinese classmate of mine said that he even paid more than me! Oh yeah, and I'm so afraid that it will get stolen that I bought 2 locks. One chinese friend said that it's useless, if they want to steel it they'll steel it anyway- but i figure that it would make it a little harder anyway. And another friend of mine said that I should kick it every time I get mad so it doesn't look so new. I just laughed!

After I arrived in China, I was able to meet up with a friend of an Iowa State friend who is from Beijing. It was nice, he took me to the Water Cube and the Birds Nest, he also took me to Tienanmen Square.

He introduced me to his cousin who is working here in Beijing. I have met with her a few times, and she took me to Wang Fu Jing which has lots of shopping, and many "traditional" Chinese things that you can buy. The picture below is us riding double on her bike. She's pretty short, I would say under 5 feet-- so I was pretty nervous that I was too heavy!! The mid-Autumn festival was last Sunday, and she decided that I needed to eat moon cake. Eating moon cake is very traditional on the mid-Autumn festival, and it's common to buy some and give them to your friends. I also gave her several moon cakes, but she told me that she went to the store and asked how many flavors they had. They said 11, so she bought me 11 large moon cakes! I still have lots left, and don't know when I will finish them! But it makes a good breakfast when I'm in a hurry!

I visited her house a for the mid-Autumn festival, and I stayed the night there. She was pretty worried because they don't have a shower so they just take a bucket and use it to bathe. I figured that I can figure out how to use a bucket to take a shower! But it turns out, that I figured I would just sponge off, but I was really supposed to use all the water in the bucket! Wow, it was sooo funny, because she was standing outside trying to explain to me how to clean myself in Chinese (she doesn't speak much English). Well, now I know for real how to bathe using a bucket! And am more thankful that we have toilets and showers in our homes with a sewage system!!

Oh and lastly, the reason for this title. Especially around Tienanmen Square and sometimes in the subway, people feel the need to take my picture. Sometimes they will ask if they can have a picture with me, but lots of times they just take it, and I guess they are hoping that I'm not paying attention or something. I'm waiting for my picture to show up in the tabloids or something. It's so annoying! But what do you do, I guess now I know how the stars feel when they have everyone trying to take their picture!

I left the states on Aug. 24, 2008 and I arrived in China after 2 days of massive chaos! I flew from Des Moines to Detroit, which went fine. We boarded the plane in Detroit at 2:30, which was a direct flight from Detroit to Tokyo. As usual, with-in a few minutes of boarding the plane I was asleep; but when I woke up maybe 30 minutes later, I realized that we still hadn't moved. I figured they were probably just fixing something and we would leave in a while. After about 1 hr, they announced on the intercom that they were having some problems with the fuel gauge and were really sorry. Another hour later they said that they were really sorry and proceeded to hand out coupons for frequent flier miles and discounts on tickets. After waiting for two hours, I figured that we would surely leave soon. at 6:15 they announced that we would not be leaving until the morning and that they were putting us up in a hotel. I'm sure this was the last thing that they wanted to do on an international flight! Well, from then on out it was waiting in lines- we waited in line for the hotel and meal coupons, then we waited in line for the shuttle to the hote, then we waited in line to eat at the hotel. But luckily it didn't cost us anything! I really feel bad for all the Japanese who did not speak much English though! I know they had a hard time. I ended up acquiring the job of a translator for a Chinese family who didn't speak much English. It was kind of fun meeting them, but after all the trouble all I really wanted to do was go to bed! The next morning they boarded the plane and still were having some problems, but after an hour we were off the ground and made it to Tokyo and then to Beijing in good time.

After I arrived in Beijing I hauled all of my luggage to my apartment. When I entered my room, I realized that it was pretty small and hoped that everything would fit! But I managed to fit everything. My apartment, or the student dormitory, is on campus which is very convenient. I also have my own bathroom, TV, desk, etc which is nice that they provided all of those things. The next few weeks were mostly spent trying to get settled, there are so many little things to do before classes start. I had to apply for a residence permit and a new visa which required me to get a physical. That was a real adventure because they originally just gave me the address of the hospital, but it turned out that none of the cab drivers had any idea where it was at! So I went back and picked up a map, which was a little help- but my cab driver still got lost on the way! The cab drivers here just rely on their memory and don't bother to have GPS or a map in the car, if they get lost they just call their friends and ask... if I had one recommendation to the cab drivers it would be to buy a GPS system! It would probably save on their cell phone bills!!

After a few days of staying in the dorm, it was time for registration. When I went up to the desk, they immediately knew who I was before I even said one word. I guess it's because I'm the ONLY foreign student in the class. And no one seems to know exactly what I'm supposed to do, because foreign students sometimes do things through the foreign student office, but they sometimes do things through the department. So I'm guessing there are still several things that I haven't completed yet, but I guess things will probably take care of themselves eventually-- oh wait, no usually they don't-- I guess I'll probably have to run around campus confused all day before I finally figure out what I'm supposed to be doing.

I'm probably exaggerating a little, things really aren't that difficult- but the first few weeks are a little hectic trying to get situated. I completed my class registration and attended my first class today. My schedule is pretty free, The generally only have an hour and a half for 2 credit hours, so I only have class 4 days a week and 2 of those days I only have 1 class. I will see how the first few weeks go, but if I am not too busy I will probably see if I can start working during this semester. I went to visit the Caterpillar headquarters here in Beijing, and it looks like they will probably have work for me this semester and during the breaks. Although John Deere has also requested that I send another resume to them because they are likely to offer me a position in Tianjin during the breaks. I really never thought it would come down to this, but I guess I will have e to decide which position best fits my current situation and future objectives.

I went to the doctor yesterday to have a 1+ month check on my LASIK, it looks like everything looks fine. And they suggested that I go back in 1 month, but I'm almost guessing that it's just because they want more money. Although I can't complain too much because to see the doctor only cost me $2, and it's a famous hospital in Beijing. I was a little nervous going because I thought my Chinese may not be good enough to understand what they were telling me, but I could understand nearly everything which was a surprise to me. My Chinese must be improving, because I can already notice that I am more respected. When I buy things they don't try to rip me off as much as usual Almost treat me like I'm Chinese which is a good feeling.

Well, that's all for now.. I will post pictures later