I am home from China, and depart for the Haiti mission trip on Monday.
Things are rather strange back in Iowa. Upon leaving the Des Moines Airport, I was confused by how "dull" Des Moines feels.. what is this thing called cross-cultural shock?!
Some things that I have noticed are different: (mind you, I am not really focused on noticing differences, I am preparing for Haiti)
1. I have a TON of clothes. I mean, I made it 7 months in China wearing the same clothes every week..
2. Iowa really is small. (For those of you who don't know, this is my first time being in a "big city."
3. People's lives move on without you... My brother is almost taller than me, my mom had (and broke up with) another boyfriend.. etc.
4. American food is too rich. I'm really sorry but there must be a mention of food in every blog... My dad made me Mickey Mouse pancakes and I spent most of the day in the bathroom.. lots of butter and maple syrup could have been saved :)
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
reasons that I love black taxis
Today we took a train to Shanghai so we could pick up Michael's dad tomorrow... and my ohh my was it an interesting adventure.
In order to get to the train station in Hangzhou, we usually take a bus, which takes about an hour.. and only costs you 2 RMB (or less) but since we had so many suitcases (that's our crap), we decided to take a taxi... We tried to put our things into one taxi and the guy wouldn't let us, so I headed off to the train station and Mike waited for another cab. As we were driving my cab driver said, "If you give me 10 RMB, I'll get both of you there." I told him that would be good, but Mike already had his cab. Money down the drain (only 20 RMB more).
We get on the train, which we have taken to Shanghai twice and there is no English (WHY?!)over the loudspeaker to tell us when we arrive. Keep in mind that we are tired, grumpy and sick of hauling all of the luggage that we have. We aren't paying attention, and we get off when the train stops. After bargaining a black taxi down to 80 RMB, we load our things in his van and his friends tell us we got off at the wrong station. Why didn't the people who check our tickets tell us this?! Now that they actually know where we want to go, they are asking 400 RMB. Forget it. We go back into the train station...
Remember, refunds are seldom given in China. Once again we pay for being stupid. 30 RMB to go to Shanghai from Jinxing (where we got off.).
We arrive in Shanghai, and have to bargain another black taxi to take us to our hotel that Michael's dad reserved. The hotel is near the airport, but the guy wants 300 RMB because it's far away. We ask him for a real price and finally settle for 260, which is less than a taxi.
We ended up having to pay the toll, and the driver asked for money to go back (even the driver didn't know it was sooo far), but Mike said he didn't have any money other than US dollars. Mike gave him ten US dollars and got some RMB back.
After all of this, I do still love black taxis. Why?
1. You always know how much you will pay before you get to your destination.
2. Chances are, the drivers are more lively because they don't get too many customers.. they will talk to you (or try) just because they have probably had a worse day than you.
3. They let you put your suitcases on the seats. Enough said.
In order to get to the train station in Hangzhou, we usually take a bus, which takes about an hour.. and only costs you 2 RMB (or less) but since we had so many suitcases (that's our crap), we decided to take a taxi... We tried to put our things into one taxi and the guy wouldn't let us, so I headed off to the train station and Mike waited for another cab. As we were driving my cab driver said, "If you give me 10 RMB, I'll get both of you there." I told him that would be good, but Mike already had his cab. Money down the drain (only 20 RMB more).
We get on the train, which we have taken to Shanghai twice and there is no English (WHY?!)over the loudspeaker to tell us when we arrive. Keep in mind that we are tired, grumpy and sick of hauling all of the luggage that we have. We aren't paying attention, and we get off when the train stops. After bargaining a black taxi down to 80 RMB, we load our things in his van and his friends tell us we got off at the wrong station. Why didn't the people who check our tickets tell us this?! Now that they actually know where we want to go, they are asking 400 RMB. Forget it. We go back into the train station...
Remember, refunds are seldom given in China. Once again we pay for being stupid. 30 RMB to go to Shanghai from Jinxing (where we got off.).
We arrive in Shanghai, and have to bargain another black taxi to take us to our hotel that Michael's dad reserved. The hotel is near the airport, but the guy wants 300 RMB because it's far away. We ask him for a real price and finally settle for 260, which is less than a taxi.
We ended up having to pay the toll, and the driver asked for money to go back (even the driver didn't know it was sooo far), but Mike said he didn't have any money other than US dollars. Mike gave him ten US dollars and got some RMB back.
After all of this, I do still love black taxis. Why?
1. You always know how much you will pay before you get to your destination.
2. Chances are, the drivers are more lively because they don't get too many customers.. they will talk to you (or try) just because they have probably had a worse day than you.
3. They let you put your suitcases on the seats. Enough said.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Ramblings.
I am currently angry because the internet will not let me upload beautiful pictures from Tibet! Check back at a later date for pictures of me riding a yak!
Other ramblings... please keep in mind that this is a blog, most of you are not used to me sharing opinions, so please do not be offended, I am just standing my ground.
1. Facebook. I am beginning to dislike facebook more and more everyday. I mean, do I really need to see 1,000 pictures of people smoking weed and chugging bongs, I mean that's your life.. but I can't even upload one picture during my entire stay in China. Also, all facebook does is suck people into stalking each other instead of trying to communicate with friends. Seriously, everyone who has ever had an ex.. you know how often you check out their page, it's stupid.
2. Boyfriends. For those of you who are still in either the shocked, or don't know it stage, Mike and I are not dating anymore. We dated for 2 years and we are still friends, we are still traveling China together, and I am not heartbroken. If anything, I have learned who I am, and I know that things will always work out for me. My life doesn't suck , I'm not going to die.
For those of you who are from my High School, you all lose the bet, I am in-fact not the first person to get married or have a baby. I'm more than grateful to say that. I give you credit if you have stalked my page to figure out that I am also not living in Oskaloosa for the rest of my life. I love all of you, but I hope that everyone has to opportunity to experience the world before they get sucked into the family business.
For those of you that are married/have children/are working.. whatever category you fall under.. you are so damn strong. I could never do that. Even if I had to.
3. English. Why is this beautiful language so complicated? I mean, is it necessary to have so many rules! I never realized how complicated English was until I saw so many other people who could speak broken English, but why doesn't Pig Latin become the international language of choice? Or more importantly, why don't English speakers take the initiative to learn another language?
I think that is all I have to say for the current moment, but feel free to leave me comments or send me an email.. I'll start checking that for real forms of communication as opposed to this facebook junk.
Other ramblings... please keep in mind that this is a blog, most of you are not used to me sharing opinions, so please do not be offended, I am just standing my ground.
1. Facebook. I am beginning to dislike facebook more and more everyday. I mean, do I really need to see 1,000 pictures of people smoking weed and chugging bongs, I mean that's your life.. but I can't even upload one picture during my entire stay in China. Also, all facebook does is suck people into stalking each other instead of trying to communicate with friends. Seriously, everyone who has ever had an ex.. you know how often you check out their page, it's stupid.
2. Boyfriends. For those of you who are still in either the shocked, or don't know it stage, Mike and I are not dating anymore. We dated for 2 years and we are still friends, we are still traveling China together, and I am not heartbroken. If anything, I have learned who I am, and I know that things will always work out for me. My life doesn't suck , I'm not going to die.
For those of you who are from my High School, you all lose the bet, I am in-fact not the first person to get married or have a baby. I'm more than grateful to say that. I give you credit if you have stalked my page to figure out that I am also not living in Oskaloosa for the rest of my life. I love all of you, but I hope that everyone has to opportunity to experience the world before they get sucked into the family business.
For those of you that are married/have children/are working.. whatever category you fall under.. you are so damn strong. I could never do that. Even if I had to.
3. English. Why is this beautiful language so complicated? I mean, is it necessary to have so many rules! I never realized how complicated English was until I saw so many other people who could speak broken English, but why doesn't Pig Latin become the international language of choice? Or more importantly, why don't English speakers take the initiative to learn another language?
I think that is all I have to say for the current moment, but feel free to leave me comments or send me an email.. I'll start checking that for real forms of communication as opposed to this facebook junk.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
The New and Improved Blog!
So now that I am coming home in about a week, I finally decided that it would be would an awesome time to start CARING about my blog. I know, some of you are annoyed, I should have done this sooner, but hey, it is a great way to keep people up to date on my always-changing-always-moving life.
So here it goes, my new blog. If I make spelling or grammatical errors, shoot me a nasty message.. I can not use China as an excuse any longer. I would have to admit using the word "that" over 50 times unnecessary in my Political Science paper is a little bit of a downfall.
So some updates (also someone please help me STOP USING "SO"):
I come home from China in 9 days! (July 15th for those who can't do the time change)
In 13 days I leave for a Haiti mission trip! I am going through Central College, and we ARE NOT going to Port au Prince. We are going to Pignon! If you pray, pray for me. If you don't.. well pray anyway! ;)
For those who stink at math, I have 4 days home with family.
I'll leave the after Haiti plans as a surprise, after-all I have to keep my lovely readers attention somehow!
By the way, for those who are looking for my ever-so-funny stories, they shall come.
So here it goes, my new blog. If I make spelling or grammatical errors, shoot me a nasty message.. I can not use China as an excuse any longer. I would have to admit using the word "that" over 50 times unnecessary in my Political Science paper is a little bit of a downfall.
So some updates (also someone please help me STOP USING "SO"):
I come home from China in 9 days! (July 15th for those who can't do the time change)
In 13 days I leave for a Haiti mission trip! I am going through Central College, and we ARE NOT going to Port au Prince. We are going to Pignon! If you pray, pray for me. If you don't.. well pray anyway! ;)
For those who stink at math, I have 4 days home with family.
I'll leave the after Haiti plans as a surprise, after-all I have to keep my lovely readers attention somehow!
By the way, for those who are looking for my ever-so-funny stories, they shall come.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Oddities.
Sorry that I haven't blogged in a long time.. I am on the home stretch and I have been doing a lot of traveling.. Tibet.. Huangshan.. Dengfeng.. the list goes on, and on.
I want to share with all of you some things that I don't find "strange" anymore, but they are really strange.
1. Little boys (or girls) not wearing pants and pooping on the side of the road. (Particularity in Dengfeng)
2. Meat hanging from a wall. No refrigerator needed. ever.
3. Almost everyone can say "hello," but as soon as you say something else, they are really confused.
4. In addition to number 3, most people that work at stores (mainly in Tibet) say "LOOKEE" instead of "look."
5. It is completely acceptable to pull someones arm until they buy something. literally.
6. If you bargain someone down to an acceptable price, and they agree, then you have to pay.. or else you may die..
7. There are no food standards in general. Most people wear flip flops while cooking, and do whatever else they please..
8. Refunds don't exist. We once had dumplings with ROCKS.
9. People are paid to sweep water.. while it's raining.
10. No matter what, if you are white, you are beautiful.
11. Chinese food is NOT the same state-side. I would DIE for American Chinese food right now.
12. "Chinese" may have many dialects, but some are just accents, and some are completely different.
13. Just because you have wireless internet doesn't mean you can get internet on your ipod.
14. If you get a tan, you are "turning black," and that's never a good thing.
15. Crab Apple Popsicles. so tasty.
16. Phones ALWAYS run out of money as soon as you leave town. (meaning you can't use your phone until you get back)
17. You can buy a DVD for about $1 but it's not real.
18. Nobody likes (or has tried) raw vegetables.
19. "Squatty potties" are supposed to be cleaner and safer than a regular toilet, but not when the floor is covered in urine.
20. People believe that any meat is tastier with a lot of bones. Who can say, "the more bones the better?" not I.
21. It hardly costs more to fly somewhere, but when you think of it in RMB (Chinese currency) it seems like a TON!
22. If someone says "I give you best price" walk away.
I want to share with all of you some things that I don't find "strange" anymore, but they are really strange.
1. Little boys (or girls) not wearing pants and pooping on the side of the road. (Particularity in Dengfeng)
2. Meat hanging from a wall. No refrigerator needed. ever.
3. Almost everyone can say "hello," but as soon as you say something else, they are really confused.
4. In addition to number 3, most people that work at stores (mainly in Tibet) say "LOOKEE" instead of "look."
5. It is completely acceptable to pull someones arm until they buy something. literally.
6. If you bargain someone down to an acceptable price, and they agree, then you have to pay.. or else you may die..
7. There are no food standards in general. Most people wear flip flops while cooking, and do whatever else they please..
8. Refunds don't exist. We once had dumplings with ROCKS.
9. People are paid to sweep water.. while it's raining.
10. No matter what, if you are white, you are beautiful.
11. Chinese food is NOT the same state-side. I would DIE for American Chinese food right now.
12. "Chinese" may have many dialects, but some are just accents, and some are completely different.
13. Just because you have wireless internet doesn't mean you can get internet on your ipod.
14. If you get a tan, you are "turning black," and that's never a good thing.
15. Crab Apple Popsicles. so tasty.
16. Phones ALWAYS run out of money as soon as you leave town. (meaning you can't use your phone until you get back)
17. You can buy a DVD for about $1 but it's not real.
18. Nobody likes (or has tried) raw vegetables.
19. "Squatty potties" are supposed to be cleaner and safer than a regular toilet, but not when the floor is covered in urine.
20. People believe that any meat is tastier with a lot of bones. Who can say, "the more bones the better?" not I.
21. It hardly costs more to fly somewhere, but when you think of it in RMB (Chinese currency) it seems like a TON!
22. If someone says "I give you best price" walk away.
Monday, June 14, 2010
So here's to NOT hiking the mountain
Li Shumin has always told us that there is a major difference in the people that live in the east and the people from the west. I am afraid that yesterday we discovered that difference for ourselves.
Mike and I tried to go to Mt. Hua Shan using the same system that we did to go to the Terra Cottas. We found a bus that was 33 yuan and hopped on. After 5 hours we arrived at this hotel near the Hua Shan mountain area, then the guy began explaining the Mountain to us and we realized that we were not where we wanted to be. In fact, we were near Dengfeng, which Mike and I are visiting in a few weeks. The guy was saying that you can only hike the mountain at night (our friends told us it was BETTER at night, but not required) AND that this hotel was the one we could stay at. As a funny side story, there was a German that was on the same bus as us, and he was really confused because he didn’t speak any Chinese, and he thought it was just a bus that drove you around for an hour! We explained to the Chinese guy that we all needed to go back very soon and we couldn’t stay but they took us to see a room and in the meantime our German friend left (wherever he went, I hope he is okay). After explaining again that we couldn’t stay (mind you all of this is in Chinese) they told us to eat lunch and then the bus would come back and we could go back to Xi’an. Mike and I ordered 3 dishes… fish, vegetables, and soup but this meal was the most expensive meal we have ever eaten in China.. totaling 179 yuan! This was outrageous for a Chinese meal, in fact it is the most expensive meal we have EVER had in China. We asked why it was that much, and she said that you buy fish by the jin (Chinese measurement, 1 jin is ½ a kilogram), and we had 4 jins…. More like they gave us 4 jins, they never even asked how many we wanted, nor did the menu say “per jin.”
In a situation like this.. in a rural area of China, it is best not to argue- just pay and leave. We left with most of our fish still on the table and decided to do some walking and find the train to take back instead of that bus.
We walked around the base of the mountain range and then asked some people how far away the train station is, they said we would have to hire a taxi. Since this is a small town, there were not any real taxis, but just people you have to bargain with to drive you somewhere (Yes, a black taxi; only ours was silver). This driver said 20 yuan, and Mike talked him down to 15 and we got in and went to the train station. On the way, the road was blocked by police and the driver automatically decided to play this crazy English CD. I am not sure if it was because of the police, or us, but none the less we listened to some crazy music. Upon arriving at the train station, we were ripped off AGAIN! We handed the driver 15 yuan and he told us it was 15 yuan per PERSON! A real taxi would have only cost about 12 yuan.. but there were none, and we just had to hand over our money and leave. We were just happy to be at the train station by 2:00 P.M.! We bought our tickets which were 60 yuan per person and had to wait until 8:00 P.M. so we decided to go to this temple that I saw while we were in the taxi. It is called Xi Yu and it looks very much like the Forbidden City, only there were not very many people there. Mike and I decided that this was the only good part of the trip, and we were happy that no one ripped us off there; in fact, we had a student discount making it only 10 yuan to go!
After the temple, we didn’t want to get ripped off again, so we just bought ramen and ate at the train station. Then, it took us an hour to get back by bullet train
By the way, the difference between east and west China… (incase you didn’t catch on)
People have to be careful of being ripped off. In the east, people are better cultured but as you get farther west, the people are more likely to be farmers struggling to make it by. Most Chinese people would have known to ask “Do I pay for this per jin?” or “how much for 2 people?” Not only did we get ripped off because we are white, but also because it’s just what they do. All in all, the day didn’t cost us to much money (to go to the mountain with the hostel would cost 400 yuan per person). We will also have the chance to go to the mountain when we visit Deng Feng. From a different entrance, same mountain.
Mike and I tried to go to Mt. Hua Shan using the same system that we did to go to the Terra Cottas. We found a bus that was 33 yuan and hopped on. After 5 hours we arrived at this hotel near the Hua Shan mountain area, then the guy began explaining the Mountain to us and we realized that we were not where we wanted to be. In fact, we were near Dengfeng, which Mike and I are visiting in a few weeks. The guy was saying that you can only hike the mountain at night (our friends told us it was BETTER at night, but not required) AND that this hotel was the one we could stay at. As a funny side story, there was a German that was on the same bus as us, and he was really confused because he didn’t speak any Chinese, and he thought it was just a bus that drove you around for an hour! We explained to the Chinese guy that we all needed to go back very soon and we couldn’t stay but they took us to see a room and in the meantime our German friend left (wherever he went, I hope he is okay). After explaining again that we couldn’t stay (mind you all of this is in Chinese) they told us to eat lunch and then the bus would come back and we could go back to Xi’an. Mike and I ordered 3 dishes… fish, vegetables, and soup but this meal was the most expensive meal we have ever eaten in China.. totaling 179 yuan! This was outrageous for a Chinese meal, in fact it is the most expensive meal we have EVER had in China. We asked why it was that much, and she said that you buy fish by the jin (Chinese measurement, 1 jin is ½ a kilogram), and we had 4 jins…. More like they gave us 4 jins, they never even asked how many we wanted, nor did the menu say “per jin.”
In a situation like this.. in a rural area of China, it is best not to argue- just pay and leave. We left with most of our fish still on the table and decided to do some walking and find the train to take back instead of that bus.
We walked around the base of the mountain range and then asked some people how far away the train station is, they said we would have to hire a taxi. Since this is a small town, there were not any real taxis, but just people you have to bargain with to drive you somewhere (Yes, a black taxi; only ours was silver). This driver said 20 yuan, and Mike talked him down to 15 and we got in and went to the train station. On the way, the road was blocked by police and the driver automatically decided to play this crazy English CD. I am not sure if it was because of the police, or us, but none the less we listened to some crazy music. Upon arriving at the train station, we were ripped off AGAIN! We handed the driver 15 yuan and he told us it was 15 yuan per PERSON! A real taxi would have only cost about 12 yuan.. but there were none, and we just had to hand over our money and leave. We were just happy to be at the train station by 2:00 P.M.! We bought our tickets which were 60 yuan per person and had to wait until 8:00 P.M. so we decided to go to this temple that I saw while we were in the taxi. It is called Xi Yu and it looks very much like the Forbidden City, only there were not very many people there. Mike and I decided that this was the only good part of the trip, and we were happy that no one ripped us off there; in fact, we had a student discount making it only 10 yuan to go!
After the temple, we didn’t want to get ripped off again, so we just bought ramen and ate at the train station. Then, it took us an hour to get back by bullet train
By the way, the difference between east and west China… (incase you didn’t catch on)
People have to be careful of being ripped off. In the east, people are better cultured but as you get farther west, the people are more likely to be farmers struggling to make it by. Most Chinese people would have known to ask “Do I pay for this per jin?” or “how much for 2 people?” Not only did we get ripped off because we are white, but also because it’s just what they do. All in all, the day didn’t cost us to much money (to go to the mountain with the hostel would cost 400 yuan per person). We will also have the chance to go to the mountain when we visit Deng Feng. From a different entrance, same mountain.
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