Meagan and the tailor who made her coat...and remade her coat...and remade her coat.....Megan likes things perfect.
From the urban planning museum, the character who repesents the shooting range.
The Urban Planning museum, with a to scale model of the city...my section was unfortunately cut off by a pole, and fire extingusher placed styrategically over the section of town I live in. I was seriously hoping to look at this floor map to determine where the hell I live so I can plan routes to explore the area and not get too lost.
Maggie does this look familiar...Jia Long Sunny. This is the section of the model that included the hotel Maggie and I stayed in the first week.
Uncle Eddie.....here are the lanscape architecture plans your friends designed but got ripped off by the Chinese government!!!
"Home of the Future" This was a section of the museum that was like a flash back to 1950's America, it boasted the home of the future for Bejingers... Extremely hokey but everyone took it very seriously.
The bed of the future....
Jason, Meagan's friend from college and Meagan test the bed of the future...all little hard we all agreed.
We also watched a 3D movie on urban planning for Beijing and its future....my glasses did not work, they were broken and after sitting through a 1/2 hour fuzzy show I told the usher this and instead of an apology he got really mad and accused me of breaking them, telling me he hand picked all of the glasses..... I decided to drop the subject and run...Pictured are Jason and Meagan in their stellar working glasses.
Jason at a restaurant with the steamed fish.
Christene is a friend of Meagan's from Holland who happened to be in the right spot at the right time....Holland festival on the street of Wanfujing!
Holland festival tulips!!! (they are very fake tulips)
Mystery fruit. We all picked out one thing from the grocery store to try, Megan got this fruit which turned out to be a bit like a large kiwi.
The hike day....soooo Meagan wanted to hike somewhere and she found a place further out than the Great Wall in the mountains. We decided to take a bus there, and at first couldn't figure out which one and then had a Chinese girl help us find the right bus to the town nearest to where we were going. Then she helped us get on a very small green bus that goes off into the mountains. It was slightly larger than a mini van and operated somewhat like a regular bus in terms of it actually making routine stops (sometimes in the middle of nowhere) and was jammed packed, however it was as far as we could tell privately run, a man at the wheel and a woman at the door shoving...no more of a hurling action.... people on and off and charging people a random non constant amount of money. This little bus took us way up into the hills (we got good views) and actualy did drop us off at the right place ( were a bit skepticle). We were told to just come back to the spot they dropped us at and the bus would probably come back that way. This was literally in the middle of nowhere, no cars, no people, nothing. We got off the bus, everyone packed in the bus was just staring at us like we were crazy and we just started back at them just as we slowly began to grasp that we had just gotten off of possibly the last vehicle we would ever see. In the distance of this picture is the green bus.
Our first reaction.
The park.
The park office. The whole place was closed, the guide book as well as the sign said it opened March 1st. We thought we might sneak by and go for a hike anyways but two ladies stopped us. They first said it cost 100 yuan. Then we said we had student id's and they said it cost 50 yuan. Then they said no 110 yuan. Then they said the park was closed and tried to get us to leave. We were bewildered. Just then a car with a family of Koreans pulled up. They too were shooed away. We gave them sad puppy eyes to see if they would help us get back to the town but they didn't. As we were leaving some man in a Mercedies Benz was backing out of the drive. We ran to the car. I tried to explain in English and Chinese what had happened and he simply said please get in. We really didn't have any other options so we did. He didn't speak to us very much at all, I am not sure if he was Korean and with the previous family from the park or what, but it seemed like neither Chinese nor English were his language of choice. He was missing a tooth and had a crazy looking eye, but he was in a suit and driving a benz and said he lived in Beijing. Meagan, Christene, and I were a bit worried and were wondering if he was going to try and charge us a lot to get to the next big town (many black cabs do, but this wasn't exactly a cab....) or take us there free, or what...so we all began speaking in French plotting our strategy. We worked it out so that we would only make it seem like we had 400 yaun if he tried to make us pay. The guy ended up leaving us in town at a restaurant exactly where I specified and when I tried to offer him 100 yuan he wouldn't take it. We have no idea who he was or what the hell he was doing in the middle of nowhere on that mountain.....But thank god for him!!!!We then got lunch and proceeded to catch a bus back to Beijing.
Joni eating the stick of sugar fruit.
Ice skating in China with Joni and Gerry. A surreal experience, I felt like I was back in the U.S. However my skates were really tight and really dull, so I slipped a lot and had some bruises afterward. Fun to try but I don't think I'm going back!
Joni and I skating.
Joni skating under the Chinese skating banners. (she brought her own skates from the U.S. since she is an avid skater and also is here for a longer amount of time)
Joni in the arts district of beijing.
The temple of Heaven, Gerry and I woke up at 5:30 am to get here bright and early before the tourists. Only one camera man was there with us.
As wew were exiting maybe 30 minutes later the tours started piling in.
Tour groups lined up to go inside the temple of heaven.
Everyone was woking out in the park, this is a group of dancers.
These people are playing badmitten and some other game sort of like ping pong just with out a net. You could hear the sound of balls being hit back and forth all over the park. As well as people singing to music while stretching and dancing.
Lady teaching Gerry how to play a special game. (Gerry is my next door neighbor at the residency from Philladelphia).
Gerry playing.
Man standing on "center stone"
Friends on "Center Stone"
Couple on "Center Stone", there were so many people trying to grab a picture on this thing that literally it was a running match and who ever got there first was able to then take a picture. Literally three groups of people would be running head on simultaneously trying to get on this thing.
This is the look of horror as Joni sprawls out to "get a good shot" in the restaurant...
This is me still looking a bit worried...
I believe I might be cowering under the table at this point as Joni is standing on her chair in muddy boots and all to get the "above the table shot"
And me again trying to persuade her to end the photo session...
Some little buildings I have been cutting out and photographing outside.
My really good cut!!! Unlike most of you are probably thinking I didn't get it from my e-xacto while paper cutting...I was actually buying some stickers in a market and reached into my bag to grab some money and had a normal razor in my bag (in its packaging and all...Joni and I were headed to the bath house later) and gouged my finger. The sales lady didn't know what to do, threw me a couple of tissues (still made me pay way too much) and I went to find Joni who I was supposed to be meeting up with. The whole thing was quite an ordeal and and I wasn't sure if I needed stitches. But thanks goodness, the guy KO living three doors down from me has his wife visiting from Clarion Ohio and she is a pediatrician. She cleaned it off for me and bandaged it. No Chinese stitches!!! YES!!!!
A frame shop I visited earlier in the morning.
Several more views of it....
The village behind me.
The sun on a clear day...you can stare directly at it due to the amount of stuff in the air.
Crop fields near by. Note the garbage in the foreground...it just kind of all mixes in....makes the plants hardier....ehhh
This is my favorite, the public toilet maybe a good ten feet from the irrigation ditches and another 15 feet from the actual crops.
Morning breakfast! Kind of like a crepe, but with lettuce and hot sauce and all sorts of good things. Gerry and I have a routine of going to the same guy every morning.
This I title "Laura finds donut"...the donut she has been searching for in China for over a month.
Ten hours later I title this, "When potatoes go bad...aka Cooking with out Maggie"
Despite its appearance...this concoction made me almost hurl and stink bombed my apartment. Something went terribly wrong!!!! To the best of my guess it was either the potato was rotten, the onion absorbed Peking duck smell, or I just can't cook. Frankly I think it was a combo of all of the above.... Someone really needs to make a website where you can key in ingredients you have and come out with something delicious. As for me I think my appetite has disappeared.
Meagan and the tailor who made her coat...and remade her coat...and remade her coat.....Megan likes things perfect.
From the urban planning museum, the character who repesents the shooting range.
The Urban Planning museum, with a to scale model of the city...my section was unfortunately cut off by a pole, and fire extingusher placed styrategically over the section of town I live in. I was seriously hoping to look at this floor map to determine where the hell I live so I can plan routes to explore the area and not get too lost.
Maggie does this look familiar...Jia Long Sunny. This is the section of the model that included the hotel Maggie and I stayed in the first week.
Uncle Eddie.....here are the lanscape architecture plans your friends designed but got ripped off by the Chinese government!!!
"Home of the Future" This was a section of the museum that was like a flash back to 1950's America, it boasted the home of the future for Bejingers... Extremely hokey but everyone took it very seriously.
The bed of the future....
Jason, Meagan's friend from college and Meagan test the bed of the future...all little hard we all agreed.
We also watched a 3D movie on urban planning for Beijing and its future....my glasses did not work, they were broken and after sitting through a 1/2 hour fuzzy show I told the usher this and instead of an apology he got really mad and accused me of breaking them, telling me he hand picked all of the glasses..... I decided to drop the subject and run...Pictured are Jason and Meagan in their stellar working glasses.
Jason at a restaurant with the steamed fish.
Christene is a friend of Meagan's from Holland who happened to be in the right spot at the right time....Holland festival on the street of Wanfujing!
Holland festival tulips!!! (they are very fake tulips)
Mystery fruit. We all picked out one thing from the grocery store to try, Megan got this fruit which turned out to be a bit like a large kiwi.
The hike day....soooo Meagan wanted to hike somewhere and she found a place further out than the Great Wall in the mountains. We decided to take a bus there, and at first couldn't figure out which one and then had a Chinese girl help us find the right bus to the town nearest to where we were going. Then she helped us get on a very small green bus that goes off into the mountains. It was slightly larger than a mini van and operated somewhat like a regular bus in terms of it actually making routine stops (sometimes in the middle of nowhere) and was jammed packed, however it was as far as we could tell privately run, a man at the wheel and a woman at the door shoving...no more of a hurling action.... people on and off and charging people a random non constant amount of money. This little bus took us way up into the hills (we got good views) and actualy did drop us off at the right place ( were a bit skepticle). We were told to just come back to the spot they dropped us at and the bus would probably come back that way. This was literally in the middle of nowhere, no cars, no people, nothing. We got off the bus, everyone packed in the bus was just staring at us like we were crazy and we just started back at them just as we slowly began to grasp that we had just gotten off of possibly the last vehicle we would ever see. In the distance of this picture is the green bus.
Our first reaction.
The park.
The park office. The whole place was closed, the guide book as well as the sign said it opened March 1st. We thought we might sneak by and go for a hike anyways but two ladies stopped us. They first said it cost 100 yuan. Then we said we had student id's and they said it cost 50 yuan. Then they said no 110 yuan. Then they said the park was closed and tried to get us to leave. We were bewildered. Just then a car with a family of Koreans pulled up. They too were shooed away. We gave them sad puppy eyes to see if they would help us get back to the town but they didn't. As we were leaving some man in a Mercedies Benz was backing out of the drive. We ran to the car. I tried to explain in English and Chinese what had happened and he simply said please get in. We really didn't have any other options so we did. He didn't speak to us very much at all, I am not sure if he was Korean and with the previous family from the park or what, but it seemed like neither Chinese nor English were his language of choice. He was missing a tooth and had a crazy looking eye, but he was in a suit and driving a benz and said he lived in Beijing. Meagan, Christene, and I were a bit worried and were wondering if he was going to try and charge us a lot to get to the next big town (many black cabs do, but this wasn't exactly a cab....) or take us there free, or what...so we all began speaking in French plotting our strategy. We worked it out so that we would only make it seem like we had 400 yaun if he tried to make us pay. The guy ended up leaving us in town at a restaurant exactly where I specified and when I tried to offer him 100 yuan he wouldn't take it. We have no idea who he was or what the hell he was doing in the middle of nowhere on that mountain.....But thank god for him!!!!We then got lunch and proceeded to catch a bus back to Beijing.
Joni eating the stick of sugar fruit.
Ice skating in China with Joni and Gerry. A surreal experience, I felt like I was back in the U.S. However my skates were really tight and really dull, so I slipped a lot and had some bruises afterward. Fun to try but I don't think I'm going back!
Joni and I skating.
Joni skating under the Chinese skating banners. (she brought her own skates from the U.S. since she is an avid skater and also is here for a longer amount of time)
Joni in the arts district of beijing.
The temple of Heaven, Gerry and I woke up at 5:30 am to get here bright and early before the tourists. Only one camera man was there with us.
As wew were exiting maybe 30 minutes later the tours started piling in.
Tour groups lined up to go inside the temple of heaven.
Everyone was woking out in the park, this is a group of dancers.
These people are playing badmitten and some other game sort of like ping pong just with out a net. You could hear the sound of balls being hit back and forth all over the park. As well as people singing to music while stretching and dancing.
Lady teaching Gerry how to play a special game. (Gerry is my next door neighbor at the residency from Philladelphia).
Gerry playing.
Man standing on "center stone"
Friends on "Center Stone"
